For those of you who have not yet had an opportunity to visit HP’s MarketSplash site, you should. It is basically a one stop, web based, design and print fulfillment service for small to medium sized businesses. Users are able to order custom or pre-made marketing creatives (business cards, postcards, letters etc…) on the site. Orders are either shipped to a physical address or can be picked up at a local stables. This all sounds great and exciting… but think again. It is beyond great if you are a small to medium sized business, because it can greatly help you reduce cost and save time on marketing materials. What if you are in the business of printing (and/or designing) marketing materials?
HP is a reputable organization for providing cutting edge technology in the print industry… everyone knows about the Indigo printers and its consumables. If you are invested in digital printing, you most likely own or have used an Indigo printer. Now that HP is offering creative templates and print fulfillment, how does that benefit the print industry? I guess if you are a preferred printer for HP, your slice of pie has just gotten bigger.
Is HP’s new initiative intended to take business away from one of the primary industries they cater to? According to an HP executive, “We are just expanding the HP to the webspace, trying to offer people a full service deal through the internet, to cater to all of their needs, not just printing…” This was from an actual transcript of a conversation between print CEOs and a couple of HP executives I found on Prepress Pilgrim.
There are lots of speculation as to what HP’s intentions are and everyone has a different opinion. Only time will tell if this friendly and harmless splash is actually a Tsunami that will wipe out parts of the print industry. What solution will prevail and give printers a fighting chance against this massive Tsunami?
Want to know what others think about HP’s MarketSplash?…
http://members.whattheythink.com/news/newslink.cfm?id=36304
http://printedproof.com/online-services/is-hp-competing-for-print-work/
http://www.prepresspilgrim.com/index.php/archive/marketsplash-gets-reaction-from-indigo-owners/
Will V.
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Great debate. I cant wait to hear more from the users and more important the NON users of HP’s program as this gets off the ground. I have always been a fan of HP, recently toured the companies digital print head quarters in Atlanta and put together a capital request to invest in Indigo technology. Its an innovative idea from HP, lets see if it hurts non-member printers as much as it intends to help those that are.
Thanks for the inclusion,
Christian
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