Business

Verdigris, the not-for-profit print environmental research initiative, is inviting print companies around the world to participate in the Verdigris Environmental Awareness survey. The aim of the survey is to better understand and evaluate the strategic motivators and environmental intentions of print companies worldwide. The survey will be repeated annually to track environmental awareness and adoption trends.

The English version of the Environmental Awareness survey is online at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/GG5X8RQ and other language versions are under development and will be announced as they are ready.

The results will help people and companies develop business strategies and help them understand to what extent environmental issues are meaningful for their businesses, to plan products and assist with training. These results will be presented at Ipex 2010 during the Pira-sponsored Great Debate on Friday 21 May entitled 'Green print: is it worth it?' by Verdigris evangelist and chairperson of the debate, Laurel Brunner. Verdigris supporters will also have the results of this survey available on their stands.

"The results of the Environmental Awareness survey will provide businesses with solid data on which they can base their own decisions," says Brunner. "They will be able to get a real handle on issues such as waste recycling and the correlation between environmental interest and revenue."

The findings will be provided in raw data form to Verdigris supporters and the results will be made available on the Verdigris website at verdigrisproject.com. The survey is being promoted by Verdigris supporters, Agfa, Canon, Digital Dots, Fujifilm, HP, Kodak, Oce, Ricoh and Unity Publishing, as well as graphic associations and print industry magazines around the world.

Reference is made to the joint press release by Canon Inc. (trading symbol CAJ) ("Canon") and Océ N.V. (trading symbol OCE) ("Océ") dated 16 November 2009 in respect of the intended fully self-funded, public cash offer for all issued and outstanding ordinary shares in the capital of Océ (the "Shares") by Canon at an offer price of € 8.60 per Share (the "Offer").

Canon and Océ confirm that good progress is being made on the preparations of the Offer. Canon and Océ filed notifications with the competition authorities of the European Union, the United States, Switzerland and Taiwan. The Océ Merger Committee (Fusiecommissie), the Océ European Works Council (Europese ondernemingsraad) and the relevant Océ works councils have been and are being provided with information regarding the Offer in accordance with the applicable rules and regulations.

Canon expects to submit a request for approval of the offer memorandum in respect of the Offer to the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (Stichting Autoriteit Financiele Markten or "AFM") before 8 February 2010, which is the date by which under Dutch law a request for approval must be submitted to the AFM. Senior management of both companies is working side by side to ensure the process runs as smoothly as possible.

Photojournalist Horst A Friedrichs, who spent more than a decade recording the modern day British Mod community by travelling all over the UK, enlisted the support of Océ for the launch of a new book charting the history.

The award-winning fine art photographer had his works of art brought to life on Brighton seafront for the official launch of “I’m One: 21st Century Mods”, which is a compilation of monochrome and colour photographs, published by Prestel.

Mods, both young and old, were invited to an exhibition on Brighton seafront. Océ’s award-winning Arizona 350GT printed high quality prints of the photographs used for a display to officially launch the book. And then a follow-up event was held at club in London. Friedrich, whose photography has been exhibited internationally, was born in Frankfurt and now lives in London. He said: “Océ’s contribution was fantastic. Many people commented on the stunning quality of the prints taken from the photographs. It really helped bring a lot of colour and interest to the exhibition – book sales are going well.”

Derek Joys, Océ UK Product Manager for the Arizona 350GT, said: “We are delighted that the photographs reproduced on our award-winning Océ Arizona 350GT were so well received. And it’s great to be involved in a book that brings to life visually what people will recall is an important part of our history.”

More details of the book, costing £19.99, from This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ..  Prestel Publishing covers photography, art, architecture, design, cultural history and ethnography.

PSP Network makes it easy for agencies and enterprise marketers to leverage the benefits of digital printing

HP today launched the PSP Network, an on-line service that enables print buyers to find local print service providers (PSPs) to produce applications from business cards, professional photobooks, POP/POS displays, exhibition signage, vehicle graphics, billboards, labels, flexible packaging and more.

Accessible at www.hp.com/go/pspnetwork or via the HP Graphic Arts portal, the directory was developed for advertising and graphic design agencies and enterprise marketing personnel in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) to help them find digital printing resources. At present, more than 1400 HP Indigo, HP Designjet and HP Scitex press and printer users producing graphic arts applications are listed.

The user-friendly facility is easily searchable via country and application to be printed. Optionally, cities and post codes may be specified to help the selection process. Users will be shown a list of relevant PSP entries that include the business name, city, post code, services provided and a link to the company’s website.

Agencies, designers and enterprise marketers who have used digital printing are familiar with the advantages of short-run, print on-demand high quality printing. This PSP directory is intended to help those who have either not used digital print, and those who may have only used it for one type of application. The list of fifteen different application types to choose from presents the user with a comprehensive portfolio of digital opportunities.

Extending the reach

Though developed for the EMEA market, other regions, notably North America and Asia-Pacific have begun plans for using the PSP Network. With the globalisation of business, the requirements of international brands and the environmentally positive practice of having products printed near where they will be used, the PSP Network can become a valuable resource for large and small design and marketing agencies and enterprises.

“The launch of the PSP Network is an exciting first step that brings a new dimension of versatility and reliability to print buying,” said François Martin, marketing director, Graphic Solutions Business, EMEA, HP. “Digital printing offers great benefits (on-demand, new substrates, reduced waste) to PSPs and end-users. The challenge is that print buyers often don’t know where to find digital print service providers. The PSP Network is an ideal and accessible solution.”

The spectacular world of James Cameron’s new blockbuster AVATAR has been brought to life on London’s Cromwell Road for a four-week poster campaign.

Stretching 60 metres across and featuring blue halo lighting, sculptured front-lit lettering 2.5 metres tall and a variety of 2D cut-out characters exploding out from the poster, the interlinked billboards are the longest advertising face in the UK.

AVATAR will be released in cinemas nationwide and in Ireland by Twentieth Century Fox on Thursday December 17, 2009.

Chris Green, Marketing Controller at Twentieth Century Fox UK, said: “Avatar will be an epic film on every level and this will be reflected in the advertising. The Cromwell Road special allows us to create a real stand out piece of media that really captures the essence of the movie”.

The outdoor campaign was developed by Twentieth Century Fox with Clear Channel Outdoor’s Create division, creative agency TEA, media agency Vizeum and outdoor specialist Posterscope.

This is the first time in more than a decade that the opportunity to dominate one of London’s most famous outdoor locations has arisen. Located between Heathrow and the West End, this campaign will deliver almost 6 million impacts, according to data from the Department of Transport.

Richard Simkins at Hyperspace, the innovations and special projects division of Posterscope, said: “A movie of this quality and scale deserves advertising that is equally as impressive. We know that out-of-home campaigns of this nature are likely to be more memorable and entertaining for our audience, and think the final execution of this build will not fail to amaze everyone who sees it.”

A live action film with a new generation of special effects, AVATAR takes us to a spectacular world beyond imagination, where a reluctant hero embarks on an epic adventure, ultimately fighting to save the alien world he has learned to call home. James Cameron first conceived the film 15 years ago, when the means to realise his vision did not yet exist. Now, after four years of production, AVATAR, delivers a fully immersive cinematic experience of a new kind, where the revolutionary technology invented to make the film disappears into the emotion of the characters and the sweep of the story.

Visitor pre-registration for FESPA 2010 (22 – 26 June 2010, Messe Munich), the industry’s largest global imaging event is now open. All those who pre-register before 26th February 2010 will be entered in a draw to win an IPod Touch.

Promising a fresh and vibrant event that showcases the latest in screen, digital and textile printing, industry professionals cannot afford to miss FESPA 2010. Visitors that pre-register will not only gain admission to the exhibition free-of-charge, but they will also be kept abreast of the very latest FESPA 2010 show news and developments.

For your chance to ‘Catch the New Wave of Innovation’ at FESPA 2010 in Munich and to win an IPod Touch, simply visit the FESPA 2010 website at http://www.fespa2010.com and click on the ‘register now’ logo. The lucky winner will be announced on Friday 5th March 2010. Good luck!