August 2008 U.S. Commercial Printing Shipments Down Sharply; Proactive Printers Can Buck the Trend

October 3, 2008 - Lexington, KY - WhatTheyThink, the leading online media organization serving the printing and publishing industry, today announced the availability of their most current report titled “Monthly U.S. Printing Shipments, Issue #35.” Authored by Dr. Joe Webb, director of WhatTheyThink's Economics and Research Center, the report is available for immediate purchase at:

http://www.wttstore.com/monthly-us-printing-shipments.html

“August printing shipments were $8.3 billion, down -$424 million (-4.9%) compared to August 2007,” said Dr. Webb, director of WhatTheyThink's Economics and Research Center. “Corporations are still squeezing discretionary spending to cope with rising costs and concerns about worldwide markets. Those tighter budgets create incentives to use more digital media for their communications. The banking, finance, and insurance industries have always been important users of print, and their troubles are also affecting the print business.” Dr. Webb noted that the slight rises in print volume in election years and from Olympic promotions has faded over the years.

There are still many areas where print businesses can aid their clients in recessionary periods, Dr. Webb explained. “Many small and mid-size retailers will find this a good time to develop print promotions, especially simple direct mail programs, that include price promotions. Recessions and periods of higher inflation mean that consumers are more responsive to taking advantage of discounts and sales. These are often times when aggressive promotional activities can establish brands and stores as having superior values, and take market share from less aggressive competitors. Print still has an important place in communications, and there are many proactive printing organizations who are actively helping their customers build sales and share, despite the negative economic situation.”

The Monthly U.S. Printing Shipments Report contains both current and inflation-adjusted analysis of commercial printing and print services shipments, and forecasts of 2008 through 2013. It is comprised of Adobe PDF, Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint files, and an MP3 file of audio commentary from Dr. Webb. The cost of the report is $50.00. Those purchasing the it can easily repurpose the charts and data in presentations, and reports.

The report contains significant and proprietary analysis and by Dr. Webb and WhatTheyThink's Economics and Research Center. It is a top-level analysis of the U.S. commercial printing and trade services markets such as commercial offset, digital, and other printing processes, as well as prepress and postpress contained in the standard business classification NAICS 323.

http://www.wttstore.com/monthly-us-printing-shipments.html

WhatTheyThink's Economics and Research Center contains a blend of free and premium content for graphic arts and publishing executives. It offers an online library of primary research reports, executive summaries of economic trends, and related industry columns, videos, podcasts and webinars.

The Economics and Research Center is exclusively sponsored by MindFireInc, a provider of software technologies that leverage direct marketing and the Internet.

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WhatTheyThink is the printing and publishing industry's leading online media organization; offering a wide range of publications delivering unbiased, real-time market intelligence, industry news, economic and trend analysis, peer-to-peer communication, and special reports on emerging technology and critical events. Serving a membership base of more than 50,000, WhatTheyThink also hosts webinars and live events as well as providing content through a syndication program, which delivers content directly to related websites and through RSS. The organization also provides consulting and speakers bureau services to the industry.

About MindFireInc

Since 1999, MindFireInc has provided innovative applications and services that help marketers synchronize their direct mail campaigns with the Internet. MindFireInc's flagship product, LookWho'sClicking, is a web-based application suite that links the impact and power of direct mail with the interactive capabilities of the Internet. MindFireInc offers its product through a network of Value Added Resellers (VARs). The company's web site is www.mindfireinc.com.

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