PrintIT issue48

PRINT.IT 15 www.printitmag.co.uk Let’s get phygital As the recent Two Sides survey (see opposite) attests, the choice facing consumers is less print or digital and more print and digital – sometimes in the same product. A case in point is the world’s first connected vinyl, which uses PowerCoat Alive technology from ArjoWiggins to provide music and vinyl fans with additional digital content on their tablet or smartphone. Revive aims to bring new life to vinyl by combining the physical, ‘experiential’ nature of an LP with the interactive, multimedia qualities of digital media. It is the result of a collaboration between three French companies: Yesitis, a French start-up that came up with the connected vinyl concept and developed the online platform & technology behind it; MPO France, a vinyl producer; and paper company Arjowiggins. Revive record labels printed on Arjowiggins’ PowerCoat Alive connected paper include NFC chips that when tapped, in store, with an NFC-enabled tablet or smartphone stream free 30-second clips of each song to the shopper’s device. On purchasing the album, the buyer receives a voucher code that they can enter on the Revive App. As well as enabling the user to listen to the LP on their smartphone with a single tap of the label, the app gives access to a secure interface with additional content, including full HD songs, lyrics, tour dates, videos, pre-sale concert tickets, social media and any other material the artist wants to share. YesItIs refers to the fusion of the physical (vinyl) and online (digital) experiences as ‘phygital’ – a combination that it says will bring music lovers closer to their favourite musicians and to other fans. Find out more at www.revive-music.fr Get organised The 2018 edition of the Trigg Life Mapper personal organiser/ motivational tool has been named Best Diary – Generic at the UK Calendar Awards. This follows its success at the 2017 London Stationery Show where Life Mapper was voted the Best New Product . The 2018 version boasts a number of enhancements to promote organisation and well-being across 12 key areas – intentions, planning, habits, willpower, reflection, presence, mindfulness, patience, focus, productivity, relationships, gratitude. These include a redesigned ‘Daily Quad’ organiser that people can use to prioritise what’s most important in their lives; more space for jotting down notes, thoughts and observations; a double-page ‘macro-planner’ for highlighting key dates; and a new selection of inspirational quotes. www.thinktrigg.com/products/trigg-life-mapper BULLETIN Decision-makers still unaware of inkjet technology benefits Despite the advances that business inkjet technology has made in the workplace in the last few years, business decision-makers are still prey to misconceptions about the technology, warns Epson. In September, Epson Europe surveyed more than 5,000 professionals in six European countries, asking them a series of true/false questions to gauge their knowledge of different print technologies. The results show that influencers are still unsure about the respective merits of inkjet and laser print technologies. For example, a majority mistakenly thought that a laser printer produces less CO2 (58%) and less waste (54%) than an inkjet device, and 67% thought that laser printers require less maintenance. Respondents didn’t get everything wrong: 62% correctly identified that inkjet printers consume less energy and 55% agreed that inkjet printers are faster to print.  However, only 16% of respondents agreed with Epson that inkjet performs better than laser on all five tested fronts: waste, productivity, speed, CO2 and energy use. Claire Robinson, head of business sales at Epson UK, says that as business aim to cut costs and increase productivity, they need to be made aware of the benefits of business inkjet. “Epson business inkjet products deliver speeds of up to 100 pages per minute with a low cost per page, plus reduced waste and energy consumption of up to 99% and 96% respectively when compared to laser printers. In addition, maintenance and intervention requirements are up to 98% lower compared to laser products,” she said. When Epson explained the truth about inkjet printing, 76% of Europeans surveyed switched their allegiance to inkjet. IDC expects the business inkjet market in Western Europe to grow at a CAGR of 10.2% to 2020. www.epson.eu