“The idea is that the event is iconic, in terms of its location and in terms of what we will be showing – inspirational, innovative, intelligent and integrated solutions,” said Duplo UK marketing manager Sarah Crumpler.
London Calling 5i (LC5i) will take place on 26-27 November in Somerset House, with views across the famous ice rink and Christmas Arcade.
In line with previous incarnations, the event will highlight the entire digital workflow. While Duplo said that the identities of the partners for this year’s event would be announced in the coming weeks, the company confirmed that suppliers from every facet of the production process would be involved, including a digital press vendor and “a few surprises”.
“We will be showing different applications and different ways of applying new ideas. What we want to do is create a forum to share and discuss what can be achieved and how it can be applied to create new revenue streams for our customers,” said Crumpler.
Duplo UK managing director Peter Jolly added: “The idea is that visitors will be inspired by what they see. We think of customers in terms of relationships that last five, ten, fifteen years… so while we will be showing technology that’s relevant today, we also want to highlight things that will be mind-blowing moving forward.”
Duplo invited 12 customers to brainstorm ideas for the fifth London Calling forum, where the company asked what customers wanted from the event.
“What kept coming up again and again was that our customers want to be inspired; inspired by the venue, inspired by what was on show, inspired by our partners – basically they wanted to see something different,” said Jolly.
According to Jolly the LC5i forum attendees also indicated that they want to see more of a focus on the company’s service and support at the event.
“We’ve got the biggest finishing service team in the UK, and the customers said they wanted to see more of them there,” said Jolly.
Speaking at the unveiling of the London Calling 5i last night, Jolly also revealed that one of the new strategic focuses for Duplo would be targeting the top-30 UK print groups, although he stressed that the company had no intention of doing this to the detriment of its commercial print and inplant heartlands.
“With runs becoming shorter, we’re increasingly finding that our products are becoming relevant to companies like St Ives and Williams Lea, especially now that we’re so heavily into medium- to high-end finishing,” said Jolly.