Ever since I went to see Axel Springer’s hybrid printing setup last year, I’ve been puzzling about the absence of similar inkjet action at the UK’s major newspaper groups.
Now News UK has jumped into this space in a major way, with a double-quick investment in Kodak heads (Kodak’s Stream technology is firmly established as the de facto solution for this type of application).
The variable data content is a key enabler for the high-profile launch of the Sun+ packages that form part of the newspaper’s new paywall.
This is mega, MEGA news for us in print. Newspaper circulation may be falling, but The Sun’s reach is still huge, it sells something like 2m copies a day, and has estimated readership of 7.3m.
Given the ad campaign and series of cover wraps that have formed the Sun+ roll-out, even those readers who generally turn directly to page three will have noticed something different about the paper.
In terms of the normalisation of cross-media, print-meets-digital-content applications this really is massive.
In the course of just a few days millions of people will have become familiar with the concept, thanks to the Sun’s straightforward approach to explaining how it all works.
And this clever approach means print purchasers aren’t alienated, and are in fact rewarded for buying the paper.
When I visited Axel Springer the firm was doing all sorts of nifty stuff involving competitions and regional advertising promotional offers with its inkjet swathe.
It’s going to be fascinating to see how News UK chooses to use the technology, both on future Sun promos and as a facility it can also use for The Times and Sunday Times.
I fully expect other publishers to follow suit.
Rupert Murdoch is a controversial figure for many, but in the wider world of print in general, we really should be thanking him – with this investment he’s providing a massive boost to overall understanding when it comes to the power of print-meets-digital.
