Why getting in front of thousands of creative at the 100% Design show is a strategic priority for this digitally printable media supplier.
Soyang Europe’s presence at 100% Design at London’s Earl’s Court may have raised a few sign and graphics industry eyebrows but by the end of the four day show, which attracted over 25,000 visitors, the decision to exhibit was clearly vindicated. The event definitely helped raise the profile of the digitally printable media supplier who’s wide- and grand-format media portfolio comprises Asian manufactured substrates and handpicked printable media from the US and Europe.
Managing director Mark Mashiter explains his company’s approach: “Soyang Europe offers a wide variety of printable materials that not only meet the demand for commodity products, but ever more importantly, offer new creative - and profit making - opportunities for our customers.”
Recent additions to the Soyang Europe range of textiles, banner, self-adhesive vinyl and wallcoverings include two new flooring products - G-Floor and AlumiGraphics - both of which are manufactured in the US, and were shown at Sign and Digital UK earlier this year. On the back of these introductions Mashiter felt there would be significant mileage in prompting conversations not just with the companies that would buy and print the media, but with end-clients who might initially specify the products.
A bespoke, printable, easily-installed floorcovering that is durable and hygienic, G-Floor has many possible purposes. Mashiter continues: “G-Floor appears to meet a number of different challenges. Exposing the product to architects and designers has created an awareness that will potentially lead to them specifying the product at the outset. Rather than a printer having to search for something to fit a brief, it’s simpler for them if the agency specifies our product from the off.
“We found ourselves talking to design agencies who wanted to personalise or brand entrances to public spaces, architects that had domestic clients seeking a bespoke installation and retail specifiers looking for a floorcovering that could mimic wood or stone, but with easy installation and reduced disruption to the store.”
Mashiter reported a relatively low awareness of the potential for digital print amongst 100% Design visitors, which, given the creative and custom-build focus of many of the other exhibitor’s offerings, was something of a surprise. “Unlike the wide-format print shows that Soyang attends, visitors weren’t as conscious of the digital print process – or its potential,” he confirms. “In many ways, there’s no real need for them to understand the nuances of inkjet printing – our conversations suggested more interest in the creative and customisation potential of the products”.
Cost, Mashiter says, was also less of a factor. “G-Floor is not an inexpensive product when compared to most grand- format substrates, but as an alternative to stone or wood and taking into account its many advantages, visitors soon recognised the commercial benefits.”
He adds: “The obvious advantage to printers is that G- Floor can be a high margin material to print to, with additional revenue generation opportunities for those with the ability to install.”
The Soyang Europe stand featured 20 x 1m2 tiles featuring a range of simulated natural surfaces (metal, stone, parquet wood, grass and ceramic) combined with pseudo-retail designs (photographic images to convey promotional messages or lifestyle statements in-store) along with tiles depicting branding examples.
Duncan Jefferies, from Soyang Europe’s design and marketing agency UV Creative, said of the strategy: “By mixing G-Floor’s different surface textures with an array of diverse yet linked images we were able to communicate the broad opportunities the product offers.”
Mashiter reported interest not only in the flooring products (coincidentally, one of the first UK projects for AlumiGraphics - the other flooring substrate Soyang had on show, was an installation at the entrance to the London Book Fair held at the same venue earlier in the year) but in wallcoverings, seamless textiles and canvas.
As we expected, the visitor profile was highly creative,” he notes, “and particularly receptive to the potential that digital print could bring to their work. We established contact with businesses outside our traditional print industry base, with the advantage that they now have access to our catalogue of substrates that should stimulate ideas for the benefit of their clients.”
Putting Soyang Europe on the radar of a broader and highly creative audience was the primary intention of attending 100% Design and appears to have paid off, with an added bonus for the print industry, as Mashiter concludes, “It’s not just been Soyang Europe on show - we’ve gained some great new business leads for our print company clients by being there too.”
Next year’s 100% Design Show moves to Olympia, and will take place 23 – 26 September.
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