Consumables

Growing in a stagnating economy

Thursday 24. October 2013 - At Viscom Italia Edoardo Elmi (Guandong), Fulvio Rohrer (3M) and Dario Morelli (HP) invite visualcom operators to catch up the great opportunity of "weak signals from the market"

On the occasion of the important exhibition Viscom Italia (Milan – October 3rd-5th), Mr. Edoardo Elmi (Guandong), Mr. Fulvio Rohrer (3M Italia) and Mr. Dario Morelli (Hewlett-Packard Italiana) have been the outstanding speakers of the seminar: “Growing in a stagnating economy”.
A crowded room with lots of people standing, watching for new ideas to exploit the opportunities of “weak signals from the market”. This was the main concept of the seminar, handled by the three speakers through the knowledge they have acquired in the field, with a focus on how to successfully pursue innovation and change.
“In the 90s the market has witnessed boom in digital world, with double-digit annual increase. The situation has been registering extraordinary changes starting from 2008, with a constant but poor growth and a market characterized by a daily struggle for survival.” – started off Mr. Edoardo Elmi – “Within this context, the secret of success is the specialization in your own business. You must be able to identify and foresee the weak signals from the market, they are the most difficult to grasp, the most exacting to follow, but they will surely lead you far away”.
After his complete and technical introduction, giving a snap-shot on the current market situation, Mr. Edoardo Elmi gave the floor to Mr. Fulvio Rohrer: “We live in an embarrassing economic period but, at the same time, in an extremely dynamic world.” With these words, Mr. Rohrer introduced a high-impact video that, showing unforeseen data, has caught the public attention and has strikingly passed down the message of a rapidly changing world. A concept strengthened by his comment: “2009 has been our last easy year, the world has not been the same ever after. I can state with sincerity that my office is not between four walls ever, but it is among people. We have to offer solutions to our customers, not just selling products.” In short, this is the “3M method”, guaranteeing the company to keep on growing in a stagnating economy. Later Mr. Rohrer has deeply analyzed the trends of visualcom market: “It is important to be able to anticipate the needs of decorators and interior décor operators. Customers have changed: they now require a better product’s custom-tailoring, they pay more attention to the relationship between price and product quality and they are more sensitive to design. At the same time, the request of end users has changed: it is now focused on an increased interest in environmental sustainability and, therefore, in alternative materials to PVC. This tendency cannot be disregarded and it needs constant R&D investments”. What is important is to listen to market’s requires, to seize opportunities and to assist the customer with professionalism and awareness.
Mr. Dario Morelli, HP, is on the same wavelength with Mr. Rohrer. He shared the “5 steps to success” with some slogans coined for the occasion. The initial level is phase 0 “knowing yourself”, that is to decide your position and role and your mission in the market. “Only if you know yourself very well and if you constantly pique your curiosity, you can offer customers innovative solutions”, said Mr. Morelli. You go from phase 1 “looking around”, characterized by the analysis of market, competitors and customers, to phase 2 “being curious”, consisting in the creation of synergies and partnerships. You continue with phase 3 “communicating your value”, in order to prevail on competitors. After that, you need to measure results (phase 4) and always remember to learn from experience (phase 5).
“Thanks to determination and investments in R&D and aiming for innovative technical solutions meeting latent demand, we have been able to stand out from the crowd as a successful company and to grow despite difficulties. We behaved exactly as Mr. Elmi suggested, that is by identifying and foreseeing the weak signals from the market. Latex technology is an example of this method – we presented the first printing machine in 2008, but we had been talking about Latex technology since 1999, when no one else was looking for it. We trusted and the market has proven us right”.
“HP Latex technology is certainly an example of a success story, but it does exist case studies of companies not so perceptive in their business” – continued Mr. Edoardo Elmi – “It happened to Guandong as well. In 2008, we had the chance to develop a potentially innovative media, but a lack of foresight did not allow us to well understand its value. We are speaking of Magnet Visual Com, that is the duo Ferite/Magnetic, which exploits the possibility of applying up to 6 layers of digitally printed Ferite, with fine art quality, on a magnetic surface. That time, we did not figure out the weak signals from the market, we have been losing an opportunity for years, whilst some giants were born around this technology in other parts of the world. The only consolation is that we were not the only company that ignored it and today we are the first company introducing in our market this highly innovative product”.
And, after sharing theories and field experiences, the three speakers wish the participants to being able to grasp the weak signals from the market in order to develop a profitably business.