MediaExpo celebrates golden jubilee

50th edition from 2,3,4 March in Mumbai

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MediaExpo
This year there were a couple of panel discussions on color management and the future of industrial screen printing in India. Photo PSA

The 50th edition of the MediaExpo kickstarter on 2 March 2023 at the Bombay Exhibition Centre in Mumbai. The exhibition caters to signage and indoor and outdoor advertising. The exhibition completes 20 years this year, and the inauguration ceremony started with a traditional Marathi dance performance to celebrate the grand occasion of its golden jubilee.

Rohit Yagnik, head – Non-Fare Revenue and Branding, Mumbai Metro One, Raj Manek, managing director, Messe Frankfurt, Winston Pereira, general manager, Messe Frank India Trade Fairs, Devang Sheth, secretary, Screen Graphics Association of India, and Janaid Shaikh, managing director, Roshan Space Brandcom inaugurated the exhibition by lighting the traditional lamp.

Established brands such as Arrow Digital, Skytek, Mimaki, Epson, HP, Lisco Mehta Cad Cam, Monotech, and AT inks are showcasing their digital printing solutions at the show. Along with this 32 new entrants are also showcasing their indoor and outdoor signage products at the exhibition.

This year there were a couple of panel discussions on color management and the future of industrial screen printing in India. The panel discussion on simplifying colors was held on 2 March and featured Krishna Kamath, head Technical pre-sales and business analyst at GPAKS Solutions; Vimal Parmar, editor – of Photo Imaging News, independent marketing consultant, and digital print evangelist; Vinod Krishnamurthy, director – VK Consulting/Fortuna Colours and Prints LLP; Kamal Singh, CEO – Comart Group; and Aarti Notiyal, director Marketing – Bubble Communication. The discussion was moderated by Santosh Nair, Group director, and CEO of Skytek Group. The panel discussed the need for color management in contemporary printing, the view that brands and consumers are looking for in terms of color and print, and the future of color management in India.

Another panel discussion on the future of screen printing in India was held on 3 March. The participants Dr MP Raghav Rao, managing director; Mukul Shetty, Business head, Keetronics India; Ajay Gandhi – CEO of Kunal Enterprises; Rajesh Vaity, vice president (printed product), PRS Permacel, part of St. Gobain group; M Sudharshan, managing director, Integral Labels; Shailesh Deshpande, managing director, DecalTech; and Devang N Sheth, publisher, Screen Print India magazine. The discussion was moderated by Prof TKS Lakshmi Priya, head of printing technology, at Avinashilingam University, Coimbatore. The discussion focused on the growth of the industry and the issues and challenges faced in screen printing.

The B2B exhibition also had a Screen Print India industrial zone which was supported by the European Specialist Printing Manufacturers Association (ESMA) and the Screen Printing Graphics Association of India (SGAI). The Screen Print India zone had exhibitors such as Kunal Enterprise, Duratech Automation, Snav Graphix, Swadha Screenchem, ColourStop Solutions, Keetronics India, Photokina Chemicals, Shreeji Screen and Filters, among others.

MediaExpo is supported by the Delhi Printers Association (DPA), the Bombay Master Printers Association (BMPA), Mumbai Mudrak Sangh (MMS), Offset Printer’s Association (OPA), and MSME Promotion Council.

The 50th edition of MediaExpo concludes on 4 March 2023.

2023 promises an interesting ride for print in India

Indian Printer and Publisher founded in 1979 is the oldest B2B trade publication in the multi-platform and multi-channel IPPGroup. While the print and packaging industries have been resilient in the past 33 months since the pandemic lockdown of 25 March 2020, the commercial printing and newspaper industries have yet to recover their pre-Covid trajectory.

The fragmented commercial printing industry faces substantial challenges as does the newspaper industry. While digital short-run printing and the signage industry seem to be recovering a bit faster, ultimately their growth will also be moderated by the progress of the overall economy. On the other hand book printing exports are doing well but they too face several supply-chain and logistics challenges.

The price of publication papers including newsprint has been high in the past year while availability is diminished by several mills shutting down their publication paper and newsprint machines in the past four years. Indian paper mills are also exporting many types of paper and have raised prices for Indian printers. To some extent, this has helped in the recovery of the digital printing industry with its on-demand short-run and low-wastage paradigm.

Ultimately digital print and other digital channels will help print grow in a country where we are still far behind in our paper and print consumption and where digital is a leapfrog technology that will only increase the demand for print in the foreseeable future. For instance, there is no alternative to a rise in textbook consumption but this segment will only reach normality in the next financial year beginning on 1 April 2023.

Thus while the new normal is a moving target and many commercial printers look to diversification, we believe that our target audiences may shift and change. Like them, we will also have to adapt with agility to keep up with their business and technical information needs.

Our 2023 media kit is ready, and it is the right time to take stock and reconnect with your potential markets and customers. Print is the glue for the growth of liberal education, new industry, and an emerging economy. We seek your participation in what promises to be an interesting ride.

– Naresh Khanna

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