What comes to your mind when you think of color? A rainbow, a basket of flowers, or a pack of crayons. According to Free Online Dictionary, the word color refers to a substancesuch as a dye, pigment, or paintthat imparts a hue.

In todays dynamic world, color has become powerful and impactful. Color means commanding your audiences attention. Color means telling a story with greater context, texture and meaning. Color is compelling as it adds value and makes business sense.

According to a recent survey jointly conducted by International Communications Research and Xerox, over 90% of more than 1,000 respondents agreed that using color in their office documents and marketing collaterals has helped them attract new customers, present an image of impressive quality to their customers, and make a memorable impression. Additionally, 84% respondents expressed that greater consideration is given to their ideas and proposals when they are communicated in color.

There are numerous devices that employ technologies that deliver color output to businesses, and there is an increasing awareness among organizations that color can bring great benefits to their businesses. Color has traditionally been limited only to inkjet devices. However, this scenario is changing because more and more organizations are looking at laser technology for meeting their color printing needs.

A key factor that has driven the growth of color is price. The old perception that color is expensive has drastically changed. Today, color is more accessible, affordable, and easy to use than ever before. The price of color laser printer has almost halved since its launch in 1969.

Xeroxs technology Solid Ink for color laser printers, is protected with more than hundred current and pending patents and designed to generate billions of color pages and revenue over the decade.

Secondly, there is a huge demand for color for high volume applications such as statements, brochures, bills, etc. Of these documents, the one document type for which color has been used most effectively is the quarterly statement in the financial services industry.

Growth to Accelerate
Going forward, the demand for color printing will be fueled by marketing and sales departments of small and medium businesses that increasingly view the color printer as a necessity for their business needs.

An interesting trend in color is the demand for color laser multi-functional devices. The emergence of color laser MFDs as must-haves has been primarily due to a combination of better RoI and convenience.

The growth of color printer will accelerate as a result of price reductions and competitive pressures to improve customer experience. Color still looks like a choice. It still feels like an option. It still seems like a decision you have to make every time you create a new document. But the case for color has already been made. Our computers are not going back to black and white. Our TVs arent. Our PDAs arent. And our Web pages never have been. Black and white printing is not going away. Nor do we want it to. But color is the way we see and think and communicate. It is a strategic competitive advantage that no enterprise should be without.

Princy Bhatnagar
The author is director, Office Group, Xerox India
maildqindia@cybermedia.co.in

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