3. Why This Industry
Marketing, printing and mailing services are each very large economic sectors.
The marketing services industry—including graphic design, marketing consulting services, advertising and related services—is estimated at more than $120 billion in annual sales. At a minimum, all organizations need a graphic identity, a Website and some sort of introductory literature. Add in the fact that nearly all commercial and non-commercial enterprises need to communicate with their customers, prospects and other stakeholders in one or many ways, and you can see that the demand for the services you'll provide is nearly universal and almost always necessary.
Printing is America's third largest manufacturing industry with more than $170 billion in sales globally. The printing industry continues to grow three to five percent per year as businesses, organizations and the overall community consistently use printed materials. Key channels experiencing increased growth include digital printing businesses (growing at 25-30 percent per year), direct mail (growing at eight percent per year) and full-color printing (growing at eight percent per year).
Digital printing offers many advantages to customers including quicker turnaround, the ability to produce smaller full-color, high-quality runs less expensively, as well as customized marketing campaigns. In 2000 alone, the retail value of digital color printing rose to $4.3 billion – a growth rate of 1,000 percent since 1997, according to CAP Ventures.
The Internet has also impacted the way customers do business and has positively affected printing purchases. A recent study by CAP Ventures indicated that print volume increases when the Internet is used for marketing and communication. Today's customers enjoy the benefits of more sophisticated e-commerce technologies offered by some printing service providers such as electronic file transfer, online ordering, proofing and print management capabilities. Allegra centers offer all these enabling technologies.
As a result of advanced print technologies and marketing-driven growth possibilities, additional career opportunities have been created for those with little or no marketing services experiences. Additionally, the graphic communications industry offers longstanding career advantages of:
