Heidelberg Unveils New Strategy; Skipping PRINT 13

KENNESAW, GA—Heidelberg USA announced a new go-to-market strategy that connects its portfolio of products and services with a highly-individualized, consultative sales approach. This new approach emphasizes an outreach to the printing community with multiple targeted opportunities responsive to the increasingly complex needs of customers and prospects.

Last month in Dallas, Heidelberg USA launched a series of interactive, application-specific road shows that will visit various U.S. cities through the end of the year. Based on the success of the Dallas show, Heidelberg already has scheduled “On the HEI Way” roadshows in Minneapolis; Columbia, MD; Richmond, VA; Boston; and other cities.

Heidelberg also has invested heavily in its Atlanta Technology Center, and will continue to make use of the facility for individualized presentations to existing and prospective customers. By the time Heidelberg holds its next customer open house in August (the third to be held this calendar year), the facility will feature new equipment including four new offset presses, digital cutsheet presses, wide-format inkjet printers, drupa-generation postpress and packaging equipment, along with CTP systems and integrated workflow. The Technology Center fits Heidelberg’s consultative approach to helping existing customers and prospects investigate multi-machine options compatible with their individual business models.

Implementation of the new marketing strategy on several fronts will preclude Heidelberg’s attendance at PRINT 13.

“Heidelberg made the difficult determination that no exhibit we could mount at a large-scale national trade show would reasonably or completely address the range of individual solutions our customers and prospects require,” said Andy Rae, senior vice president equipment, Heidelberg USA. “Given our brand image, and with as much market exposure as Heidelberg has, we have chosen to concentrate on developing a range of targeted opportunities for face-to-face engagement and have shifted our resources in that direction.”

Heidelberg said it endorses the activities of the Graphic Arts Show Co., including the value to the printing community of its annual Graph Expo and quadrennial PRINT events. “We feel we can best serve our customers as they work either to solve problems or to grow their businesses by maximizing the live equipment options for them to test and evaluate,” Rae added. “Our fully-equipped demonstration facility in Kennesaw offers market-leading ability to do this. We’re excited about this shift and believe it provides the best value to our market.”