NORTHWOOD SPEAKS AT DRUPA CUBE

Visual Media Association (VMA) CEO Kellie Northwood spoke at the drupa cube on the final day of the giant show, providing keypoints for printers to grow their market share.

Northwood’s topic was titled ‘Unlock your power as a trusted advisor to grow your market share'. She was the only Australian to speak at the drupa cube, which saw a conga line of top-level speakers present during the 11 days on topics including the circular economy; what advertising agencies want from print, given by David Ogilvy; and the unstoppable rise of AI.

Northwood highlighted the benefits of print businesses moving to position themselves as solutions suppliers rather than print manufacturers, and she took a deep dive into sales development, the USP, and understanding and addressing the reasons for customer indecision.

She encouraged print businesses to use sales planning meetings to move away from a sole focus on numbers, and develop problem solving, including through implementing role playing. She also encouraged printers to be genuinely curious about what the customer was trying to achieve, rather than focus on how good a printer the business is.

Northwood also said not enough printers were using evidential data on the power of print, to support their sales drives.

During a lively Q&A Northwood said the VMA was looking at ways it could assist its members with sales growth initiatives.

The drupa cube was the central discussion forum for print and packaging leaders during the 11 day mega show. Along with Northwood, a host of internationally-renowned top speakers sought to inspire visitors with a visionary range of topics, thought-provoking presentations and panel discussions. All were aimed to support the cube’s goal to engage, entertain and educate the drupa audience.