When Antionio M. Perez was hired as the CEO of Kodak he noticed the offices were full of signs that said "Expand the Benefits of Film". He asked a room full of film factory workers how many had digital cameras at home. About 40% raised their hand. He quickly changed the signs to "If it Can be Digital...It Wll be Digital".
Every industry that had an analog base is moving quickly to a digital base. If you are in AEC reprographics you are determining how to provide more digital services. Some are moving towards display graphics because of their competency in wide format printing. This may be a smart move or may not. Time will tell. One thing is certain is that world will go digital also. If you are providing display graphics you are in the marketing and advertising ecosystem.
Here is a picture I snapped yesterday in Chicago O'Hare airport. Notice the sign hanging to the left. Notice the large LCD screen to the right of it. I was watching people at a restaurant nearby and I noticed that people were watching the LCD screen. An LCD screen can display multiple advertisements. The owner of the screen can charge more money for more frequent advertisements, or more money for certain times of the day. They could even charge a fee to advertise during certain infrequent and unpredictable events such as a winter storm when everyone is trapped at the airport. Do you even need the hanging printed sign? The point to this is as Perez said. It will be digital. If you are moving into the display graphics business you should ask the question whether you are going into the display graphics business of the advertising business. How long will the print business last before it goes to more digital than print. If you want to play in that market then what staff, skills, know-how, technology, and partnerships do you need to acquire be successful in that business.
