Where’s the Money? Competition is Good for the Soul

“The printing press is either the greatest blessing or the greatest curse of modern times, one sometimes forgets which.” - James Matthew Barrie

Nearly everyone in the printing industry will agree James Barrie knew exactly what he was talking about. For an elite group of printers, the printing press has certainly been a blessing. Those printers have shown their commitment and skill in a number of ways, particularly through competition.

There are printing competitions worldwide, and it seems that many of the awards are spread evenly across the globe. However, there are people in our own back yard that have taken home more than a few awards.

By far, the most prestigious award in the printing industry is the Premier Print Award, aka the “Benny”. The Benny is a bronze statue honoring Benjamin Franklin, father of the printing industry in the United States. The best and brightest in the industry have taken home Bennys—sometimes more than one at a time.

In addition to the prestige of winning a Benny or another printing competition prize is the boost it can give to the company. Awards act as a promotional tool, attracting more, perhaps higher end, customers. Shops that may have been struggling can easily achieve greater success if the award is one that is marketable and relevant.

The Bennys are open to more categories than ever, as shown on the competition’s Web site: “The Premier Print Awards has categories that cover work done by printers, trade binderies and other finishing craftsmen, prepress specialists—everyone involved in the production of an outstanding printed piece!”

There is a place for every printer in this particular competition. Winners have an unusual opportunity to use that award to get more clients, and perhaps land more challenging and profitable jobs moving forward.

For example, a shop that wins a “Best in Show” award can easily promote the win in many ways and in different areas, depending on the types of jobs it wants. A printer that receives an award for its achievements in variable data may land a large direct mail account. To be certain, there is great prestige in receiving an award, but the savvy printer knows how to use it.

And the Winner Is…

Meridian Printing in East Greenwich, R.I. is one of the few printing companies that can boast the acceptance of three Bennys in one year. Meridian president Robert Nagle takes great pride in his company’s work and with good cause. Nagle stated that the company has also won the award for North American Printer of the Year at the Sappi Awards—one of four awards presented throughout the world. Meridian has also won three “Pewter” awards in the Gold Ink Award competition sponsored by the North American Publishing Co. “We feel we are in the upper echelon of companies in the world not just the United States,” Nagle said, adding that the company still looks upward. “We haven’t won the international award...yet.”

Meridian first entered the Premier Print Awards three or four years ago. This year, the company plans to enter six pieces. Among those is an entry in the magazine category for Blind Spot, a magazine devoted to publishing the unseen works of living photographers; an entry for the Yale University Gallery; and another in the poster category, which features a limited edition print by world renowned photographer Richard Avedon.

Benjamin Franklin said: “The eye of the master will do more work than both his hands.” Meridian embodies this principle by employing a team of highly skilled people, from pre-press to finishing. “We have people who have spent 25 years with Meridian,” Nagle said. “You might find other people who have spent 25 years in the printing business, but they have worked for 15 different companies.”

When a piece goes on the press, whether it is a book cover or watercolor reproduction, Nagle relies on his staff of experts to produce a piece that will amaze even the most critical eye. Nagle believes it’s important to achieve that level of quality, and being able to do so consistently is what puts Meridian a step above.

When it comes to using awards to self-promote, Nagle claims the company hasn’t utilized the opportunity enough. Still, the awards are a nice way of showcasing the work. “Once the customers see the work, it starts to put them in a place where they know what kind of printer you are,” he noted.

To those people that believe there is no difference from one printing company to another, Nagle remarked, “Some people say printing is printing but we show them that there is a difference.” Nagle uses an analogy to prove the point: “Printing is like buying a new automobile. You can pay a couple thousand for an automobile or you can pay $100,000 for an automobile. There is a big difference.”

Meridian attracts customers that know the difference, and takes pride in exceeding even the highest expectations.
“When a customer sees a printed piece we don’t want their mouths to drop open in despair, we want them to drop open in awe.”

Industry Expectations

Competition is stiff in print industry competitions, especially with the increased number of categories. Previously, a company may not have fit into a specific genre, and therefore might have missed the opportunity to showcase its work.

As the industry continues to grow and evolve, many competitions have begun to focus on the global printing industry rather than printers based in a single country.

Printing Industries of America is by far one of the leaders in the world regarding print competitions. In addition to the Premier Print Awards, the PIA holds two other contests, the Web Offset Printing Award and the Product of Excellence Award.

The Premier Print Awards is the largest competition; Web Offset Printing Award is the second largest with 26 categories, revolving around heat set, cold set and UV printing. The smallest of the three competitions is the Product of Excellence Award, which focuses on the graphic finishing industry, which means not all of the entrants are printers, but rather companies that add complementary services to printed pieces.

Justin Goldstein of the PIA is the manager of the Web Offset Printing and Product of Excellence Awards. The biggest issue the judges have is that many printers wait until literally the last minute to gather their entries. The lack of preparation shows.

“The companies that don’t win collect things right at the deadline. It’s usually not effective and it’s not their best work,” Goldstein explained. “You should see the number of pieces that are disqualified because they are not printed well.”

Instead of waiting until the last minute to gather pieces that best represent your work, keep track of exceptional printing throughout the year. Goldstein advised, “Save your pieces early and often. We even develop kits so people can bag their award winners.”

But it’s not enough to win. Printers need to tell clients and potential clients about the recognition. Goldstein states that when a company wins one of the PIA awards, it receives not only the award, but all of the self promotional tools the association has available, complete with the expertise of the PIA staff. “The gist of it is if you do get yourself involved in a competition with PIA, whether it’s the Premier Print Awards, Web Offset, etc. you get more than just an award,” Goldstein said.

Some of the self-promotional tools used by previous winners have included customer plaques, featuring the award(s) on company e-newsletters, and printing award information on the back of company business cards.

One of the easiest things is to have sales people wear the unique lapel pin given to PIA winners. It opens the door to discussing the company’s quality and achievements. And after all, as Goldstein said, “In order to beat the best you have to be the best.”

Pamela Mortimer, a freelance writer, is general manager of a commercial print firm.