Net a Portas

Well done again to Sign and Digital UK for nabbing Mary Portas, ‘Queen of Shops’, to speak on the opening day of the show this week. “There’s no doubt about it – retail space has got to have AI,” she directed, pointing out also that: “harmonising technology and creativity is the way forward”. She added: “There can be no separate silos anymore. Good retailers are creating spaces where people want to hang, and that means delivering an experience.” And her tips for PSPs trying to get integrated print possibilities in front of those retailers and their minions as they look to rebrand their high street stores to meet this vision? “Get great jobs and associated stats in front of people - go where creatives expect to discover stuff so they think they’ve made a great discovery!” We’re making a start - look at the increased number of PSPs at the VM and Display Show last week. But we still need to get more up close and personal with would-be ‘creatives’ as a sector to maximise our potential don’t you think? We need snazzy ‘ambassadors’ who will grab the imagination of creatives by delivering scintillating talks in their own networking spaces. Or am I the only one thinking that?