1/1 Interview with Rab Govil CEO Caslon and Naehas, and President of PODi

With the PODi App Forum coming up in January I was eager to speak with Rab and provide you with some more information on the event. Not only did I receive that, but Rab as kind enough to answer a few more questions about digital printing and the industry. At the end of this interview there is information on a FREE webinar PODi is hosting December 15th on the App Forum and Rab will be one of the presenters. After reading this you will most likely want to hear more from him, but as an added bonus you could actually win a FREE ticket to the conference just for attending! PODi has also made a special offer for PMC readers which you can see here, and if you are going let me know so I can see you since I will be there!

DC: Who is Rab Govil and what does he do?

RG: I’m an entrepreneur. I actually have a very keen eye for spotting market trends and opportunities. Currently I am CEO of Caslon, the management company of PODi, and Naehas. I’ve been involved in a number of companies that have built value propositions around digital printing and 1-to-1 marketing.                  

DC: What is the significance of digital printing in the changing media landscape?

RG: Digital printing is so much more than a short run alternative to offset printing! With digital printing you can add more value to direct mail via personalization and you can re-engineer value chains to create new value in applications like books, photobooks, collateral, enrollment kits and packaging.

DC: How do you define multi-channel as it is related to print?

RG: “Multichannel” infers the ability to drive marketing through more than one media channel – something most marketers have certainly achieved. “Cross media” refers to driving a single campaign with a consistent message that is coordinated across channels. Typical channels include:

• Direct Mail 
• Email
• Personal URLs (PURLs) connecting Print, Email and the Web
• SMS or Text Messages
• QR codes or augmented reality to tie in a mobile element
• Social media

Cross media campaigns have dashboards that capture visits and interaction in real time and generate reports and export new client & prospect data. This enables better tracking, campaign fine-tuning and results analysis.

DC: What role will data and data management play in the future of Print?

RG: Years ago the saying was “if you own the plates you own the customer.” Now that saying has morphed to “if you own the data you own the customer.” Data and data management play a critical role in direct marketing and customer communication programs as it’s the data that allows one to personalize the message and make it truly relevant.

DC: As President of PODi, and a keynote speaker at AppForum 12, what would be your elevator speech on why people should attend the conference? 

RG: In any business you have two basic strategy choices – be the low cost producer or add value. As the demand for print declines a terrible dynamic occurs in the market place for those competing on print alone – excess capacity drives down prices and margins for all.

To escape this scenario companies need a strategy that adds value. And that’s what the AppForum is all about. It’s where the companies who don’t want to compete solely on price come to find new ideas, new applications and new strategies for adding value.  A company might want to become a marketing service provider or they may want to move to a true Print-On-Demand model or they may want to re-engineer customer processes to create new value or they may want to find out about new opportunities in packaging. And the AppForum can show them how.

DC: If you returned to your alma mata the Rochester Institute Of Technology(RIT) to teach a course, what would that course be and what three books would be required reading?

RG: It would be “Your Parents Don’t Want You to be an Entrepreneur (but you are going to do it anyway!).” I have a lot of personal experience with this.

Hiring Winners by Richard Pinkser. The most important lesson in building a company is finding the right team members.

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson. Building insanely great products will beat any marketing plan.

The Lean Startup by Eric Ries. Building a company is not about having oodles of capital but unleashing the human capacity for creativity within constraints.