Genesis Marketing turned 25 years old in January 2021. Twenty-five years of providing the news and views of companies in the printing and packaging sectors. Two central themes seem to have dominated this quarter of a century: firstly, customers staying loyal and faithful, and, secondly, businesses putting themselves in the “shop window”.Most importantly, many customers have enjoyed long lasting relationships working with me. As an early customer, Apex Digital Graphics worked with Genesis for over 20 years before the owners retired both themselves and the business. Press supplier manroland were customers for eight years initially, before the company was divided and, since then, seven more years of working with manroland web systems (now manroland Goss of course!). Other current customers include Morgana Systems, nine years, and M Partners, nine years, meaning also a relationship with Ryobi / RMGT presses for nearly 20 years.
With regard to the “shop window” aspect, a significant number of customers have used promotion and PR to highlight both a current product and to help put a business in the spotlight, with an eye on maybe attracting a potential suitor.
Aylesbury based Midsystems was an early success in this regard, following a detailed promotional feature in the Seybold Report, along with other PR successes. MidSystems founder Chris Hodges then came back to Genesis some years later with his new business, Wave2, before that too was purchased by another industry player.
Others have included RasterGraphics, whose success with the Arizona large format printing systems, focused largely on spectacular vehicle wraps, saw the business snapped up Gretag. This in turn was absorbed into Océ and that then into Canon, whose own internal marketing department then took on the promotion of the printers.
In the world of pre-press, film and plate reading became critical issues as PostScript output devices grew in capabilities in the late ’90’s. The dot measuring systems produced by Centurfax rose from nothing to be an essential tool in measuring imagesetter output quality. The Ipex show of 2002 saw the business very much in the spotlight. Genesis Marketing arranged to hire the FA Cup for one day of the show, attracting huge attention on the Centurfax stand. It also saw a significant seven figure sum agreed for the sale of the business to a major competitor.
UK packaging was also of interest for Genesis when invited to work with Benson Group. An expanded profile saw the business constantly making headlines with news and awards successes. Regular appearances in leading journals such as Packaging News went some way to attracting attention from global players, and American headquartered Graphic Packaging International paid a sum rumoured to be in the region of £100 million in order to gain further traction in the UK market.
As a result of working with Benson Group, an industry magazine editor recommended Genesis to packaging equipment supplier Airspray, a Dutch based provider of non-aerosol foam pump dispensers. These devices soon became best sellers around the world for hand soaps, children’s bath soaps, various toiletries, and shaving foam, among other applications. The exposure went some of the way in attracting packaging giant Rexam, who acquired the Alkmaar based company in 2006.
Post-press innovator Morgana Systems, a current client, continued this long line of Genesis customers to be attracted to larger businesses. The UK manufacturer was purchased back in 2017 by Plockmatic, the Swedish-based multi-national finishing equipment supplier. The business continues to work as the offline equipment supplier, as a Plockmatic company, to the global digital print and offset print markets.
In addition to the great many pieces of PR created over the years, Russell Hicks has also written a host of articles under his own name for the printing trade press, including 17 features for the magazine Pre-Press News (1996 to 1998) and some 25 features for Print Monthly magazine (since 2013). In 1996 Russell also had a book commissioned and published by Future Communications entitled “Imagesetters”, providing a thorough and detailed overview of imagesetter technology, products, and capabilities.
And that’s a brief but eventful history: a summary of 25 years of fun and hard work! It has been a delight to work with so many great people and such a diverse range of products and services. Could your business benefit from similar exposure and promotion?
GenesisNews 
