Predictions of print’s decline have been circulating far and wide for over a decade, and yet the opposite is becoming unmistakably true. Print isn’t fading; it’s evolving. And for the brands that rely on trust, personal relevance, and tangible impact, it’s becoming more valuable than ever.
At bakergoodchild, our recent installation of two new Canon presses, the imagePRESS V1350 and varioPRINT 140, marks a strategic step towards that bright and shiny (in our somewhat biased opinion) future. This upgrade isn’t simply new machinery on the floor. It’s a long-term investment in quality, efficiency, sustainability, and the blending of print and digital journeys.
Five industry outlets have already covered the news of our acquisition, but we want to go deeper. Why this technology matters, what it unlocks, and how it’s reshaping the way brands approach print at scale – let’s get into it:
Why Investing in Print Technology Still Makes Sense
When our operations director, Ian Stevenson, called the upgrade a “game-changer,” it wasn’t hyperbole. Modern print technology has never been more capable, more efficient, or more aligned with today’s marketing challenges.
Here’s why smart investment in print still moves the needle:
Capacity and Reliability That Scale With Demand
According to Digital Printer, the Canon presses “significantly increase production capacity and efficiency while enhancing print quality.” For our clients, this means fewer bottlenecks, faster turnaround, and consistently high-integrity output.
Quality That Builds Trust – The Kind You Can Hold
A well-printed mailer or brochure isn’t just seen – it’s remembered. Print is tangible proof of a brand’s seriousness, and premium output earns a level of trust no digital-only channel can match. With precision-engineered colour, flawless finishing and materials chosen to reflect your brand’s standards, high-quality print becomes a physical extension of your reputation. It signals care, attention and credibility in a way customers can literally feel in their hands.
Hybrid Expectations are the New Normal
Customers don’t see “print” and “digital.” They experience a journey. Today’s technology makes it easy for print to connect directly into digital workflows, triggering mail from CRM events, linking physical pieces to personalised URLs, and feeding back real engagement data.
Sustainability is Now a Performance Metric
New-generation presses consume less energy, reduce errors, and minimise waste. Coupled with bakergoodchild’s in-house data cleansing and targeting capabilities, every piece of print is produced and delivered with more purpose and less environmental impact.
But our commitment goes deeper. We have recently become completely carbon neutral, and every mail campaign is carbon-balanced – meaning we offset the emissions associated with your mail. Our automated workflows also help us avoid overproduction, so we only print what’s needed, when it’s needed.
Simply put: in a world where digital channels are simply too noisy, legitimacy and environmental integrity give your print campaigns a serious competitive edge.
A Strategic Shift, Not Just an Upgrade
The installation of the imagePRESS V1350 and varioPRINT 140 is part of a bigger recalibration of our production environment. Together with Canon’s PRISMA software, these presses create a deeply connected, end-to-end workflow.
Here’s what that looks like in practice:
- PDF/X-4 compliant workflows dramatically reduce errors and pre-press delays
- Integration with our desktop-to-doorstep print platform, frankk, allows customers to upload, personalise, and order print jobs instantly.
- Automation replaces manual steps, output becomes more predictable, personalisation becomes scalable.
- And the results are already real: following the upgrade, one of our clients committed to an additional 160,000 booklets for the coming year.
What we’re building is a smarter, more agile operation – one where accuracy, speed, and personalisation are no longer trade-offs.
Bringing the Human Back into Print
In a world dominated by automated digital touchpoints, print offers something rare: a moment of intention. A pause. A physical experience that feels crafted, not algorithmically generated.
Our new Canon presses strengthen that human connection in three key ways:
- Personalisation at scale – Variable Data Printing (VDP) allows every piece to be tailored – name, imagery, offer, timing. Not just “personalised,” but meaningfully relevant.
- Experiences that last – People keep mail they care about. A premium-feeling piece has emotional weight, and that translates into stronger brand recall, higher response rates, and deeper customer loyalty.
- Speed without compromise – Marketing moves fast. These machines give us the agility to deliver high-volume personalised campaigns without sacrificing quality.
- Print becomes part of the digital ecosystem – Triggered mailings, CRM integration, QR codes, PURLs – print is no longer a static one-off. It becomes an interactive step within the customer journey.
The result? Print that feels more human and more intelligent – a pretty rare combination in today’s marketing landscape.
How You Can Make Sure Print Works For Your Organisation
If you’re considering how print fits into your strategy, here are the principles that matter most today:
- Choose partners who treat print like a digital channel – Your print shouldn’t sit outside your workflows; it should integrate with them.
- Demand quality and turnaround that match modern expectations – High-performance tech means fewer errors, sharper output, and lightning-fast delivery.
- Insist on traceability and measurement – QR codes, PURLs, triggered sends – modern print is trackable, accountable, and measurable.
- Make sustainability a baseline, not an aspiration – Better tech + better data = less waste and stronger ROI.
- Align print with digital journeys – A high-quality mail piece shouldn’t be the end of the conversation – it should be the beginning.
Print Isn’t Legacy, It’s Leverage
Our investment in new Canon presses is not nostalgia for a pre-digital world. It’s a forward-looking strategy grounded in capability, integration, sustainability and trust.
Modern print is infrastructure – a bridge (a beautiful one, we vote) between heritage communication and data-driven automation. And for brands ready to think bigger, it’s one of the most powerful, credible, and measurable tools available.
If you’d like to explore what these new capabilities could mean for your campaigns, or see the difference for yourself, get in touch with our brilliant bakergoodchild team at 0800 612 1972.
Let’s make your next print campaign smarter, leaner, and more meaningful.
