locr GmbH Follows a Map to the Industry’s Mainstream at PRINTING United

As cartographers for the digital age, the geomarketing experts of locr GmbH understand the enduring power of maps. The company will evangelize both the visual appeal and the value-adding potential of maps in printed form as an exhibitor at PRINTING United (Dallas, October 23-25, 2019).

Based in Braunschweig, Germany, locr (pronounced like “locker”) specializes in turning geolocation data into attractive, practical navigational aids that help people find the goods and services they need. Tony Hodgson, Head of Marketing, notes that while digital maps from smartphone apps and online sources are commonplace, rendering them in hard-copy formats can be challenging – particularly if the mapping is to be personalized to make it even more valuable to the recipient.

This is where locr, with its geodata expertise and its marketing insight, leads the field. “When location matters – when the objective is to get the recipient to go somewhere and do something – a personalized map really works,” Hodgson says. locr creates maps on demand by combining address lists with visual elements such as store locations and individualized travel routes. Map files created in this way are then ready to be incorporated into print, email or HTML-based formats.

Mapping for print output is what locr intends to highlight in booth 11531 at PRINTING United, according to Hodgson. “We are very focused on the print sector,” he says. “We optimize our maps for printers and print applications – and the range of applications is growing fast.”

For example, adding a personalized map to a direct-mail piece can make a brand location seem more reachable by showing how conveniently close to the recipient it is. locr’s solution lets printers integrate this ROI-building element into their direct mail projects without needing additional technology or big-data resources of their own, Hodgson points out.

For printers of photo books, locr can use the geolocation data embedded in digital photos to generate maps that pinpoint where the pictures were taken. In applications like these, the locr API lets users create customized maps within templates and then proof them on screen. Once approved, the maps can be integrated into print-ready artwork for production.

Printers can also place customized locr maps in invitation cards, real estate brochures, new customer welcome packs, personalized tourist guides, and other print-on-demand applications. “Quantity is no obstacle” when it comes to using locr technology to add value with mapping, Hodgson says. Neither is format size. At drupa 2016, for example, locr teamed with EFI to print a 16x24-ft. world map consisting of more than 2.3 billion pixels of visual information.

At PRINTING United, locr also will promote its GEOservices and GEOanalytics capabilities for marketers and brand owners. The company has chosen to be there, according to Hodgson, because of the opportunity it affords to better acquaint the mainstream of the printing industry with everything that locr has to offer.

“We are inspired by the vision for the show and its discussion of convergence,” he says. “Now is a very fluid time for the industry, with a great deal of change taking place. We have an array of products to cross that spectrum of change for printers.”

As Hodgson notes, convergence is transforming the industry as print service providers of all kinds equip for new forms of production in addition to the ones in which they specialize. Research by the Specialty Graphic Imaging Association (SGIA) and NAPCO Media indicates that most printers believe it is happening now and that the trend will accelerate in coming years.

Convergence is the keynote of PRINTING United, a joint venture of SGIA and NAPCO Media. With its exhibit space in Dallas’s Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center close to fully booked with nearly 600 exhibitors, the event will bring the industry a new perspective on profiting in segments from garment to graphic, packaging to commercial, and industrial to in-plant.

BRAND United, a co-located educational program, complements the experience with content aimed at brand owners and other customer audiences.

As the successor event to the renowned SGIA Expo, PRINTING United will be a showcase of nearly everything printable: posters, wallpaper, structural surfaces, clothing, textiles, mugs, sports gear, and much, much more. This factored in locr’s decision to participate.

As Hodgson observes, “people, now and again, like to print maps on things.” He says that by exhibiting at PRINTING United, locr will be able to demonstrate to an engaged professional audience just how easy and effective adding value with customized maps on demand can be.

Source: PRINTING United

The preceding press release was provided by a company unaffiliated with Wide-Format Impressions. The views expressed within do not directly reflect the thoughts or opinions of Wide-Format Impressions.