The Success of Print and Digital Signage 

The two-year absence from the blog was dictated by a return to active management and my "last rodeo" as a full time turnaround executive. When asked by the investor to leave the comfort of the Coloredge board and assume the CEO position, I was cautiously delighted and a bit stunned. However I accepted and immediately looked forward to building a team to better lead this "niche" company with its national footprint in consumer brands in-store signage and packaging. 

Coloredge is the largest provider of high-end visual brand imaging solutions utilizing both digital press wide format signage and digital screen advertising display solutions. We enhance brand for upscale retailers, consumer products, museums, events, and sports arenas. As the company was severely hampered by the great recession, a new team was necessary to build on the 10-year foundation of this roll-up of companies in the early part of the last decade. 

About the time we determined the best strategy to improve the company and look for new opportunities, Hurricane Sandy took out our NJ operation in the middle of our biggest volume months in late 2012. Fortunately with the help of supportive customers, industry equipment suppliers, our insurance carrier, bank, and several fellow competitors in the region who provided us with equipment time or outsourcing, we salvage the biggest season for the company. With the insurance money in place, we replaced all the damaged equipment, the building repaired, and by end of January 2013, CE was ready to complete the next stage of its evolution.

What is unique about the current retail environment is the absence of clear metrics as to what a store should do each season to improve foot traffic, website purchases, increased sales per square foot and what role social media or emerging channels should play in the marketing plan. As a printer, it became evident early on that while working daily to improve the productivity of the CE shop floor and customer experience was always a priority, the key to a niche company's future was moving beyond just improved print and brand management execution. As my good friend Dr. Joe Webb often mentioned to me, go where you customer is going and beat them there. Simultaneously, our investor and board shared that same mindset.

With that in mind, we began in 2013 identifying various strategic options. What were the best approaches to counsel our retail customers in designing the methodology and metrics around the "Retail Store of the Future”?  When identified, what role could we play?

Equally important, we began a search to find new talent to lead this initiative and will shortly hire the right executive from the retail field to build the consultative business plan and staff to bring that expertise to new and existing retail customers. With the benefit of working for years with upscale retailers in the diverse segments of jewelry, technology, entertainment, apparel, beverages, cosmetics, and sports marketing, we determined the best way to improve the Coloredge revenue stream was to help them determine ways to improve theirs.

While building new revenue streams, the team continues to invest in new digital press technology, workflows, and customer satisfaction surveys. The base business of ink on substrate remains an important part of the CE value proposition. Adding the consultative services around the Retail Store of the Future will keep the company linked to new channels and ways to monetize the revenue potential. We are now expanding our search for the other segments we serve and finding the right people in those segments to bring into the company.

Turnarounds are demanding and when they work, the pride in the team’s effort is without peer. As I move up to Chairman, the team we put in place is well ahead of the curve and its competitors in this niche space.