Know what to disrupt and how to disrupt

True, disruptive technologies remain the key to success, but before that, we must understand how to disrupt, and what to disrupt. It is about finding your strength, consolidating it and then building upon it. Take DB Corp, for example. The newspaper giant is now in a position to open centres in every Indian city, in every Indian language. One day it will do it, but it is taking it slow, without the worry of a fall.

19 Sep 2016 | By Dibyajyoti Sarma

The company opened its Gujarat editions in 2003. It could have followed it up with another edition soon, but no. It first wanted to consolidate its position in Gujarat. Eight years later, it entered Maharashtra, and it is the same story here. Today, with 52 print locations and 62 editions, DB is the cynosure of all eyes. Try to imagine the planning, and the time and patience behind the making of the giant!

Again, disruption is finding a possibility within an existing product. Take the Delhi startup Bunk Pages. In a market waking up to high-end luxury notebooks, it produces slim notebooks for college students. The paper quality is average, but the notebooks come with eye-catching covers and original content by college students, making it a ‘statement’ product. Now, the company is seeking to run ads in its notebooks. The sales pitch is simple: Notebooks have more shelf life and more visibility.

The possibilities are endless; all you need is an open mind, as Thomas Abraham said during the Manroland Conclave, with digital printing we can now think of books as special gift items, which could be personalised in both design and content. That’s a brilliant, disruptive idea right there.

The good news is our printer friends are doing this already, in different ways. As we close this issue, we are inundated with print samples for the PrintWeek India Awards entries, and we can happily report that the entries point towards a new direction in Indian printing. This year we have 30% first-time entrants to the awards. This shows a growing confidence in the fraternity. This confidence also translates into disruptive use of substrates. Name any substrate and we can deliver a brilliant print job. We can only go forward from here.

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