Worldwide Online Printing - QLD Business Acumen

Source:	Business Acumen Queensland Yearbook
Date:	February 2008

Worldwide Online Printing

2007 was a substantial year for Worldwide Online Printing, with the company making investments in technology, production capabilities, marketing and service offerings.

Worldwide is a $60million print communications group, established in 1995 to supply digital and offset print and related services to businesses across Australia.

The company now has 82 local print and design centres across the country, including 21 in Queensland and has been voted Australia's fastest growing print franchise by BRW magazine for the past two years.

The Queensland centres have always led the pack with digital print, and in 2007 they proved it by opening Worldwide's first digital-only hub in October 2007.

Located in Murarrie, Brisbane, the hub will supply Queenland's 21 Worldwide Centres with a potential 30million digitally printed sheets per year.

It has been a busy year for Worldwide. Highlights included:

Achieving a Green Stamp Level II Certification from PIAA and the WA Department of Environment.
Successfully opening two new major print manufacturing facilities (hubs), in Queensland and NSW.
Counting amongst its franchisees the FCA Franchisee of the Year, based at Brisbane suburb Spring Hill under franchisee Andrew Robertson, awarded at the PricewaterhouseCoopers Excellence in Franchising awards.

HUBS & CMS SYSTEMS One of the company's major challenges was the combined tasks of opening the largest digital-only print facility in Queensland, relocating its NSW print hub while also implementing a new Customer Management System (CMS) for its franchised centres all in the same month.

In October, Worldwide acquired Wordplay Media, a professional writing business, which allowed the addition of words to a core design and print proposition.

Worldwide CEO Mark Manderson said the acquisition made a lot of sense when Worldwide was looking for innovative ways to expand its network and add new print-related activities and disciplines.

"As a major Wordplay client we've had a chance to see for ourselves just how important the written word is to our print clients," Mr Manderson said.

"It's one of the pivotal elements of the communication mix and it seemed very sensible to formalise the working arrangements so that we can move forward with our rapid growth plans."

"The professional writers can take a brief and produce lively and compelling copy for print or digital use (their online content is optimised for major search engines), or sprinkle 'angel dust' on existing material.

For Worldwide, two highlights in marketing were the publishing of two business guides available free from the website (worldwide.com.au).

The first, 23 Design & Print Strategies to Boost your Bottom Line and Save you Time, gives simple solutions to help businesses maximise their marketing spend.

The second, 27 Steps to Unlock the Power of Digital Printing, published to celebrate the opening of the new digital-only hub in Queensland, takes the mystery out of digital printing by giving practical examples of how digital printing and personalisation tools can turbo-charge promotional material.

WORLDWIDE ONLINE PRINTING

Industries: Printing, graphic design and, recently, professional writing.
Organisation: 82 franchises, over 300 staff employed throughout in the Centres, Hubs and support offices.

Leadership team:

Mark Manderson (CEO)

Paul Sowerby (National Marketing and Communications Manager)

David Shimell (National Franchising Manager)

Renee Turner (Press Officer)

Recognition:

Gold, Silver and Bronze medals at the Printing Industry Craftsmanship Awards (PICAS) and Gold at the National Print Awards 2002 and 1998
Green Stamp Level II Certification from (PIAA) Printing Industries Association of Australia and the Western Australian Department of Environment
Produced PwC Franchisee of the Year 2007
Recognised by BRW magazine as fastest growing Australian print franchise in 2005 and 2006.

Picture: Andrew Robertson (left) and his team won Franchisee of the Year 2007 at the PricewaterhouseCoopers Excellence in Franchising Awards in October