What's in a Name?

In the evolution of anything there is one thing that is a guarantee. Things are going to change. If you think about it you would be hard pressed to think of something that is a constant over time. Pond water freezes and evaporates, children grow up, dogs learn new tricks, and medicine advances new life changing procedures and treatments. Change, however, is something we all fear. It is the unknown that creates this feeling. It sure is easier to go with the status quo and ignore the facts that we NEED to change in order to move forward. This is true in everything we do. If we never take the first step of learning to walk just think about how different life would be for us. Those first steps are the foundation for everything we accomplish beyond walking. We skip, hop, gallop, jump, climb, dance, and run. We continue to build on the core principle of walking, putting one foot in front of the other.

Today, many commercial printers are changing their names in an effort to capitalize on the current changes we see in the marketing communication industry. To be honest, if your name is Robert and you change it to Roberta, did anything really change? It takes much more than a name change to complete a transformation. The same is true in today’s marketing communications environment. Our industry is still in the beginning stages of change. There is excitement, opportunity, and adventure ahead for all of us. Would re-branding the fictitious company ABC Litho, ABC Communications really be any different then the Robert/Roberta scenario. A name change is simply an illusion that more often than not creates disappointment down the relationship road. So why is this happening all around us?  In my opinion, printers that have too much focus on the name change are doing so for two reasons and two reasons alone.
 

1)      They are in survival mode and doing as little as possible to appear different. 

2)      They are moving away from the roots of commercial print.

Neither of these are good for the client. The first reason needs no more explanation. The second goes back to the foundation of walking. If we compare print to walking and commercial print are those first critical steps, than it is fair to say the following:

Walking = Print
Skipping = Digital Print
Hopping = Email Communication
Gallop = Distribution
Climb = Cross-Media (Web, SMS, Email, Social Media)
Dance = Fulfillment
Run = DELIVER THE MESSAGE NO MATTER THE MEDIA

Commercial printers have the largest investment in the infrastructure that is essential for delivering marketing communications. Just like walk is to run, PRINT will always be the root of the communication equation. Successful printers have a unique advantage over people. As people, we may have no issues running now, but as we age, that is going to change. The exciting thing for our industry is that it will continue to evolve far beyond running.

In my next article I will focus on the things that a customer should look for in finding a marketing partner.