Some major global businesses clearly believe so. Take fmcg businesses. A number of these are eschewing more conventional forms of marketing and investing increasing amounts of resources into their social media profile. Many have built up armies of followers for their brands that rank in the millions (just check out the presence of products like Red Bull and Coca-Cola on Facebook). Others are using the channel not just as a means of engaging with customers but as a direct selling tool (Heinz started selling bottles of a limited edition sauce via Facebook earlier this year and it’s not the only brand to go down this route).

But it’s not just fmcgs that are using these channels. The shining example of a print business that has successfully embraced the power of social media is Kodak. The manufacturer, which employs a social media manager, says that the use of social media has had a major effect on the business to the extent that it has been integrated into Kodak’s communication mix. It’s now actively urging printers to start engaging with their audience – talking and listening to them – via social media channels and has pulled together a useful ‘how to’ guide for clients looking to take advantage of tools such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

Some printers are already making the most of these channels. US print behemoth QuadGraphics has a presence on Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn and Twitter, where it hosts a weekly #PrintChat debate about print-related issues – the company’s Twitter feed has just shy of 4,000 followers. At the other end of the spectrum Bristol-based printer The Local Printer uses its Twitter site to inform its 1,250 followers about special offers it’s running on a particular day.

It’s a trend that shows little sign of abating. Recent research found that 88% of companies will be using social media tools for marketing by 2012 with many of these using social media exclusively as a marketing tool. And in another survey published this month by serviced office provider Regus the findings underlined the increasingly important role that social networking sites will play in the future marketing mix, with 47% of the 17,000 senior managers and business owners questioned stating that they use social networks to find new customers – up from 40% in 2010. Furthermore 35% of respondents said that they planned to devote more budget to social networking in the future.

The attractions of going down this route are blindingly obvious – it’s easy and it’s free. Neither Facebook, Twitter nor LinkedIn charge businesses to set up pages for their brands (although you can pay to put postcode targeted advertising on the former) and it only takes seconds to establish a presence.

Not only do social networking sites allow companies to interact with customers they can also make word of mouth marketing work at scale.

It’s potentially a great marketing tool that companies can take advantage of – particularly start-ups. But businesses shouldn’t rely solely on social networking sites for their marketing needs. In the Regus survey 61% of respondents said that companies would not succeed if they used social networking and online campaigns to the exclusion of other marketing methods.

So by all means establish a presence if you want to but don’t fall into the trap of believing that it’s going to be a panacea for your businesses’ ills. Social media is much more effective when it’s part of a wider marketing mix rather than in isolation.

You can follow Fespa’s social media channels here:

Twitter http://twitter.com/

LinkediN http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1890831&trk=hb_side_g

Widenetwork http://widenetwork.ning.com/

Facebook http://www.facebook.com/fespa

In the middle of a darkened building the street artist, whose modus operandi is to make black and white prints of his photographs and then paste them on the streets (his work has adorned the exterior of Tate Modern in London), has set up a high street photo booth with a difference. Subjects walk into the booth to have their portrait taken. These are then relayed to an HP Designjet Z6200 large-format inkjet photo printer, which is positioned out of sight on a mezzanine floor 40ft above the ground. The whole process from photograph to output takes around five minutes and when the portrait is complete it dramatically emerges from an elevated slot and flutters to the participant waiting below.

The artist is taking and printing around 80 90×135cm portraits per day on average, with just shy of 5,000 prints produced since the exhibition commenced in July. In addition to the portrait snaps taken at the Arles booth individuals can also submit photographs online, which are printed and then posted out by the artist.

His intention is that all of the portraits should then be pasted to the walls of the towns and cities in which the participants live.JR’s aim is to create a ‘large-scale participatory art project that transforms messages of personal identity into pieces of artistic work’. It’s a brilliantly executed creative idea that’s the perfect marriage of art and print. However, Inside Out has become a victim of its own success with hoards of locals queuing for hours to have their picture taken and printed by a well-known artist for free (mothers are taking their kids along to have family portraits taken). And judging by the lack of posters pasted on the streets of Arles itself it appears that many people are reluctant to part with these high quality prints and are keeping them as a personal memento instead.

The eco-board, which Ricoh worked on with integrated outdoor services provider Rainmaker, is powered by 96 solar panels and five wind turbines and only lights up when sufficient power has been collected during the day.

It’s not the first time the company has trialled this kind of digital signage technology. Last year it unveiled a 47ft high by 126ft long solar powered billboard on the corner of 7th Avenue and 42nd Street in New York’s Times Square. The board is powered by 62 solar panels and 24 thin-film PV solar modules and illuminated by 16 LED floodlights.

Like its UK counterpart the billboard, which earlier this year featured one of the largest QR codes ever printed to help raise funds for victims of the Japan earthquake and tsunami, does not take power from the grid to light it – if there’s a lack of sunlight during the day Ricoh has pledged that it will allow the board to go dark. It’s counter-intuitive to allow an advertisement to be shrouded in darkness but Ricoh says that it wants to challenge other advertisers and marketers to conjure up equally creative and environmentally friendly ways to promote their own and their client’s products.

“Our ethos is to go beyond simply meeting regulatory requirements relating to sustainability by proactively promoting environmentally responsible practices in our own business and for our customers,” explained Phil Keoghan, CEO of Ricoh UK, speaking at the launch of the new London board. “The launch of the Ricoh eco-board takes us one step further by reminding wider public audiences to act in a sustainable way and think beyond the obvious when it comes to protecting natural resources.”

Most billboards deliver a message but in this instance the billboard is itself the message.

To read more on how you can be environmentally proactive, click here

For many print businesses it marks the culmination of a journey that commenced in 2008, when the London Delivery Authority put a number of four-year print jobs out to tender. These jobs ranged from the production of mundane branded stationery through to marketing collateral. But the biggest job of the lot was, until last week, kept – literally – under wraps. After months of uncertainty about the viability of the project, the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) finally announced that a proposed wrap encircling the Olympic Stadium would be sponsored and fabricated by worldwide Olympic partner Dow Chemical.

The wrap’s figures make for impressive reading. It will consist of 336 panels that are each approximately 25m high and 2.5m wide and has a price-tag of around £7m (the exact specifications have yet to be released but in the original plan the wrap had an estimated length of 900m).

As well as being one of the biggest and most expensive pieces of wide-format print ever produced in the UK it also looks like being one of the greenest. The wrap will be printed on a ‘green’ fabric made by Dow’s Performance Plastics Division – the fabric is made from post-industrial recycled content and resins. Dow claims it’s 35% lighter and has a lower carbon footprint than conventional materials. And in keeping with the organising committee’s vision of creating a sustainable Olympic Games, the wrap will be reused after the Games end.

When it’s put in place the wrap will form the visual centre-piece of the Olympic park, according to LOCOG. Only one question still remains – who is going to print it? As yet the design for the wrap hasn’t been finalised but the kudos of winning such a high-profile contract will provide a windfall for one lucky wide-format printer. It’s a Herculean job that’s worthy of a gold medal in its own right.

The flipside of this is that pretty much every printer has gone down the green route (or intends to), which, from the outside at least, suggests that sustainability is no longer the differentiator that it once was.

However, anecdotally it seems like sustainability can make a difference and indeed already is. I’ve spoken to a number of different wide-format operators in recent months that pride themselves on their environmental achievements and say that in a pitch, having strong green credentials can be the deciding factor.

The findings of my unscientific research were borne out by InfoTrends research published at the end of last year. The research group identified green wide-format printing as one of its top trends for 2011 with just shy of 50% of printers have or intend to produce print in a more environmentally friendly manner. But what’s behind this push? Is it concern for the environmental well-being of the world or, rather cynically, is it because the InfoTrends research identified that 45% of printers polled stated that they were getting more requests from customers for green printers?

It’s difficult to say for sure but one point worth making to printers is if you’re going to trade on the strengths of your green leanings make sure you do it in the correct manner. Telling customers that you use FSC or PEFC paper is fine, as is informing them that you’ve attained some sort of green certification or other. But beware of falling into the trap of using woolly environmental statements or marketing to impress.

It’s an all too common mistake in the printing industry. So much so that David Shorto, print buyer for Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace has accumulated a collection of the most heinous exponents of ‘misleading marketing and meaningless logos’ on his website paper.print.environment (www.ppe.uk.net). One of the worst repeat offenders he highlights is ‘this paper is recyclable’ (after all pretty much all paper is recyclable so it’s hardly something to shout from the rooftops about).

A visit to Shorto’s site is an interesting and worthwhile exercise for any printer looking to successfully pitch itself as a green operator and provide that all important point of difference in a highly competitive market.

To read further posts covering environmental issues, click here

Find out about the Planet Friendly Guide here …the most comprehensive one-source document available for screen and wide-format digital printers, containing up-to-date relevant European environmental legislation.

Until recently custom made items of furniture were the preserve of the upper classes. However, thanks to advances in wide-format digital technology furnishings for the house of the future are available to everyone today – not just interior designers. Anyone can commission personalised home furnishings relatively cheaply – from digitally printed fabrics for the creation of bespoke cushions or curtains, through to wallpaper featuring high-resolution pictures or designs of your choosing.

Take that shower curtain, for example. US-based website photoshowercurtain.com is just one of a number of businesses capable of sticking your favourite water-related image onto plastic (prices start at $150). Then there’s the hallway floor map. UK-based PrintedSpace can print the map of your choice using its specially developed Floorink technology onto vinyl cushion flooring (the company also offers personalised blinds and wall decals).

And let’s not forget the tasteful leather sofa. US company Digital Leather has developed a clever technology that allows designers to produce digitally printed leather goods – an image is printed on a smart imaging film and laminated to the leather during the tanning process. The product is then finished like traditional leather. The potential uses of this particular technology are endless – Digital Leather has already produced wall-hanging tapestries for the Hollywood movie Prince of Persia, for a fraction of the price it would have cost the production team to buy tapestries that fit the bill made from other materials.

Some of these companies are taking existing print technologies and pushing it into new directions. Others are investing in R&D to develop new forms of printing that give them a USP in a crowded marketplace. What both groups have in common is that they’re thinking outside the box and pushing the boundaries of what print can achieve. The fruits of their labour could be coming to your living room soon.

Check out how HP are embracing such applications , by watching the video of when Dan Digital was sent out to Barcelona to report on the subject: HERE

In 2014 the South American giant will hold the World Cup and then two years later the Olympic Games. The high profile nature of the events will place the country, which boasts one of the world’s fastest growing economies, firmly on the map. The events also present boundless opportunities for printers and suppliers of printing equipment to the region.

Brazil has already witnessed the start of a printing boom with the number of printing companies in Brazil rising rapidly over the last few years – 2,000 new printing companies were established between 2006 and 2009 alone, according to research conducted by the Brazilian graphic arts association ABIGRAF. The same research highlights that 45% of printers have screen printing equipment that’s 6-10-years-old with almost 14% of screen printing kit more than 10-years-old. These figures suggest that there is plenty of scope for print equipment manufacturers to cash in. Especially as the use of screen printing is already growing rapidly. ABIGRAF says that in 2006 263 new screen printing machines were bought, which rose to 307 in 2007 and 953 in 2008, the last year for which numbers are available.

But it’s not just screen printing that’s benefiting from the Brazilian economic boom. There are also appetising opportunities in the digital space. Recent research published by InfoTrends shows that digital camera and mobile phone users in Brazil take more than twice as many photos every three months as Americans, with nearly three quarters of Brazilian consumers who take photos purchasing photo merchandising, ranging from photo books through to posters, in the past year. The trend is reflected in feedback from printers in Latin America, with more than 40% of companies surveyed stating that the shift to digital is one of their business priorities, with Brazilian companies leading the way.

The figures suggest that regardless of how well Brazil’s finest sporting specimens perform in their respective events, the county’s printing industry looks well placed to triumph.

Although 3D printing has been around for decades, most of the print engines have been housed at universities or in the development labs of large corporations. But over the past couple of years a number of cut-price machines, fuelled by the boom of the ‘maker’ culture in the United States have hit the market making 3D printing available to hobbyists.

From the plug-n-print 3D printer offered by Botmill (www.botmill.com) for just over £1,000 through to the Thing-O-Matic (available from 3D print supplier RepRap www.reprapcentral.com), which is available at a similar price point, the cost of 3D printing has reduced significantly – RepRap last month also introduced a ‘large format’ printer called the RepRap Mondo, featuring a build area of 305×460x280mm, available for the princely sum of £999. It’s not just obscure one-man-band start-ups that are offering the technology. Print manufacturing behemoths such as HP now have a 3D print presence and 3D print stalwarts like Z Corp offer larger build size machines – its ZPrinter 650 has a maximum resolution of 600×540dpi with a build size of 254×381x203mm.

Originally these 3D machines were ideal for rapid prototyping or even speciality manufacturing, with the range of proposed uses spanning aiding the design of a new mobile phone case through to the creation of human bones that could be used in reconstructive surgery. But there’s growing talk that in the not too distant future 3D printers could be used to create finished products rather than just prototypes. Prototyping expert Terry Wohlers, of research firm Wohlers Associates, predicts that by 2020 50% of the output of 3D printers will be the finished product – today that figure stands at just over 20%. Sales of 3D printers are also expected to rise significantly – in 2009 just under 5,500 3D printers were sold globally.

We’re already seeing the birth of a new breed of printer who purely offers 3D print (check out London-based Digital Forming www.digitalforming.com). But this is not a technology that will be limited to business users. The founder of Thing-O-Matic says that one day every home will have a 3D printing machine, which will allow consumers to order something over the internet and then watch their product built before their eyes. It sounds like a scene from a futuristic sci-fi movie, but if the rate of change and adoption of 3D technology continues at its current pace, it could become a reality sooner than you think.

Originally only available in the US, the social networking site rolled deals out to Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK earlier this year. The idea is beautifully simple. Smartphone users ‘check in’ to places on Facebook (eg: hotels, shopping centres, restaurants) and receive deals from nearby establishments. The perception is that the main companies who will benefit from deals are restaurants and high street retailers, but there’s no reason why savvy printers can’t offer Facebook deals themselves. For instance, high street copy shops could offer consumers deals around the printing of digital images from their smartphones or cameras.

Another way to drum up business using Facebook and Twitter, is by building a team of online followers. Most of the world’s biggest brands have Facebook and Twitter pages – indeed some online experts predict that one-day branded Facebook pages could replace official company websites. Simply adding ‘Follow us on Facebook/Twitter’ links to the homepage of your website or on company emails could see you rapidly build a substantial online following to whom you can offer exclusive deals or discounts. Mining the data of your band of followers could also identify some interesting business opportunities.

While it may be the less sexy cousin of Facebook and Twitter, the business networking site LinkedIn can also be an invaluable business tool. I spoke to a UK company the other day that had drummed up significant new business in the Middle East and Eastern Europe thanks to its presence on LinkedIn. At the moment it’s less cut and dry about how to win business through LinkedIn but the advice from social media experts is that companies should take an active part in online debates so that people see the company’s name/brand popping up regularly and also join as many groups as possible that are relevant to the business. It takes a lot of time and energy to engage with customers on a regular basis via the different social media channels, but otherwise it’s a free, invaluable tool that could help secure new revenue streams.

One sector that arguably – in the past at least – could have done more than others to better communicate the progress that has been made in this area is wide-format print. Historically some wide-format jobs by their very nature were unrecyclable and until relatively recently it wasn’t an area where clients expected or demanded a ‘green’ service. However, these expectations have slowly but surely changed and as a result the industry has been forced to take action.

And the progress made so far has been impressive. Fespa’s ‘evolution’ report, which canvassed 140 print companies from EMEA and the US, found that 45.5% of those questioned had developed green printing practices during the course of 2010.

They’ve been greatly helped by manufacturers of wide-format kit who have conjured up leaner greener presses, eco-friendly inks and perhaps more importantly a raft of green substrates.

These range from the likes of NatureWoven Gossyp – a digitally printable material made from organic cotton and backed with natural latex that can be disposed of by composting – through to recyclable high density polyethylene banners that are provide a viable and highly durable alternative to traditional PVC scrim banners. To reinforce the green message many printers also offer a free ‘pick up and recycle’ scheme for end of life banners.

But it doesn’t stop there. The next step in the wide-format sector’s evolution into greener printing is measuring the carbon footprint of individual print jobs. The likes of HP already offer ‘carbon footprint calculators’ that enable users to measure and analyse areas such as energy consumption, paper use and carbon output.

Another tool that recently hit the market is Caldera’s CostView software. Originally launched to help wide-format printers keep tags on production costs the latest incarnation of the software (version 3.0) features a carbon footprint analysis tool that measures areas similar to the ones covered by HP.

So wide-format printers no longer have an excuse not to go down the eco-friendly printing route. Thanks to advances in technology and measuring techniques, printers can accurately measure the carbon impact of their print jobs and start implementing measures to reduce that impact.

Armed with these tools it will be interesting to see how many wide-format printers ‘evolve’ into green printing operations over the course of 2011.