From cameras to copiers to printers, Canon is a pioneer in digital imaging and printing equipment—and today, its line of inkjet printers are shaping the world of commercial printing. However, its Marketing Executive, John Crumbaugh, suggests the biggest catalyst for change might not be a printer, but paper.

“For years, the only papers available for inkjet were bond and form papers,” explains Crumbaugh. “Now, we are seeing more and more high-end commercial papers come to market, which has opened the door for direct mail. Presses didn’t really change, until the papers available did.”

Following the shift to inkjet, Canon’s Production Printing Solutions Group has grown rapidly. “We hit all our growth targets for the past three years, added new products and expanded our transactional market into books, direct mail and general commercial work,” he commented. Crumbaugh is also seeing more printers and designers take advantage of inkjet’s variable data capabilities, to communicate with customers on a 1:1 basis.

“We are beginning to see catalogs with variable data and images, made specifically based on buying habits,” he says. “If they know my buying habits, they’re more likely to have a higher return on that direct mail piece — as much as five percent or even ten percent, compared to [the standard] two percent.”

As target marketing improves, so does efficiency in printing. Printers can now print books on demand, lowering print runs from thousands to as little as one. “You can order a book online and receive it the next day, literally hot off the press — but they only printed one or two,” relates Crumbaugh. This reinforces the concept that nothing is ever out of print.

Crumbaugh believes the shift toward using more variable data fits into larger trends in the communications industry. “A lot of printers don’t call themselves printers anymore,” he observed. “They are communications companies. Print is one way of distributing information, but they also communicate through the web, social media and other channels.”

One of Canon’s inkjet printers, the VarioPrint i300, is a cut sheet device with a lower price point, enabling much smaller companies to provide commercial inkjet printing.

“We have the largest line of inkjet products on the market today. Thanks to paper partners like Domtar, we have the widest range of papers to print with, too,” says Crumbaugh. “The sky’s the limit for inkjet. We are just at the beginning. And with the right partners, we can continue to move forward.”