2009 Hot Markets -- Thawing In a Frigid Economy

Higher education ($164B, +17%; with $3.0B to print, -6%) is at No. 24. Too many schools, overheads and non-academic distractions are dragging grades down to a “C”—consolidate or collapse—at most campuses. Down endowments and alumni giving should be prompting fund raising and recruitment print, but the schools are terrible at marketing, even though they teach it. Alternative private education ($1.3B to print, +21%) is taking the course and getting an A+. Transit ads, billboards, signage, direct mail and Internet-to-print are the products the traditional schools will have to employ. Cultural events ($0.5B, +0%) continue as a big buyer of posters, programs, signs, tickets and other mostly sheetfed and screen printing. Curriculum materials (included in the publishing segment) are declining, as Web-based learning tools replace textbooks.