Rainer Kirschke, born in Munich in 1962, studied printing technology at the Munich University of Applied Sciences. The graduate engineer started his career in 1989 as a PostScript product specialist in the Graphic Systems, Electronic Pre-Press Systems (EPS) division at Agfa Gevaert AG, Langen, Germany. Today, he is responsible for Marketing Newspaper worldwide at Agfa NV in Mortsel/Antwerp, Belgium. Rainer Kirschke is a board member of the World Printers Forum.

Your company is actively supporting the Print Innovation Awards 2019. Why – in your opinion – is print innovation important for the news publishing industry?

We see a high value in the printing innovation and are of the opinion, that there are many opportunities in the future to optimize the value of a printed newspaper in the combination of content and design.

There is a wide range of innovations. The Print Innovation Awards offer seven categories and there might even be more areas of innovations. Which kind of print innovations do you think are most interesting and why?

Each category has its priorities and strengths. Therefore, there is no category that is preferable to another. If an innovation of any kind achieves a result, that adds value and appreciation to both newspaper producers and readers, the goal of change / innovation is achieved.

Can innovations in print help publishing companies to improve their business situation or extend their market? Do you know of any examples or case studies?

Innovations certainly strengthen the market presence of newspaper publishers. Not every innovation will be directly noticeable as a success. However, it is important to continuously try new ways and to have the entire company from marketing, sales, production to customer management in one boat in order to live the innovation convincingly.

What has to happen that print innovations are promoted more widely in the international publishing industry? What can publishing companies do, and what should print customers look for?

Of course, advertising agencies and marketing departments have a key role here in pushing print innovation and boosting demand. I've seen a lot of beautifully designed, creative collections of high-quality newsprint over the past 15 years. In the case of a successful placement in the market, the implementation by the sales organization also plays an extremely important role. In order to be able to implement print innovations more successfully in the future, I believe that more investment in the area of marketing and sales must be made for know-how transfer, marketing and sales capabilities. Without efficient implementation in these areas, the best innovation does not help much.