Your "ME" is a BRAND - Take Control with W2P.

Brand - The American Marketing Association defines a "brand" as, "a Name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers." The concept is really pretty basic. "Brand" is who you are.  

Here is a very cool short video about BRAND that was produced in 2011 by the MSc Brand Leadership team at Norwich Business School, University of East Anglia.

Now let's think about that for a minute. Think about yourself. How are you perceived by your co-workers, your family, your friends? Each one of us spends a great deal of time building the brand that is "ME". We sacrifice, we give, we win, we lose, we love, we hate, we laugh, we cry, we learn and we... the list goes on and on. The point is that all these, we statements, are what ultimately create the "ME Brand." You have spent your entire life up until this moment creating your "ME" Brand. As a matter of fact, just reading this post may have an effect on your "ME". There is nothing better than the "ME", after all we all own our "ME". It IS, "who we are."

Now lets suppose that tomorrow, your "ME" is hijacked. Everything you have done to create this unstoppable brand of "ME" is compromised. Control is gone. The choices you make become irrelevant. The power of your "ME" is now no longer "ME" it is "THEM". SCARY isn't it. Kind of like driving with no brakes. Total chaos is inevitable. The countless hours of personal sacrifice and good fortune are nothing but the past. Your "ME" has been taken on a proverbial joy ride. You are left in a future that is monopolized by damage control. There is little time to even think about improving or winning back the "ME" you once owned. Your "ME" has been eliminated.

ME

The scenario above, albeit extreme, is precisely why web-to-print is so important to your organizations "Brand." Chances are you paid significantly to get your brand to it's current level. The collateral you produce to foster and support the brands place is critical. I'd be willing to bet that if your "ME" was a flier, sell sheet, business card, brochure, letterhead, direct mail piece, package or any other piece of collateral, you would think twice about a rouge salesperson, distributor or even close personal friend making a duplicate of your "ME" on the office copy machine. So why do we let this happen to our brand identity with our print collateral. The good news is that web-to-print solutions can minimize, and if done correctly eliminate, this type of brand degradation.

One of my recent clients for web-to-print is United Capital. Based in Newport Beach CA, United Capital sought to gain control over their corporate brand. Working with over 35 offices across the country, UC used to place orders and ship them to corporate then ship to the field. This was not an efficient use of time or money and individual offices often resorted to local production or worse yet office copies for collateral. There was little to no control over the United Capital "ME." This venture into web-to-print is only a few months old but already proving to be a welcome change to everyone involved. To quote the marketing director of United Capital, "More importantly having all of our collateral, ads, templates etc. in one place has greatly increased the brand consistency among all of our offices. Working with a web to print solution has been an enormously positive change to the way we do internal business and the biggest step we have taken towards streamlining our processes here at United Capital."

Additionally, United Capital offices across the country now have one source to go where they acquire customized print and marketing collateral. Brand consistent print collateral and promotional items in a custom branded web portal. The corporate office can get reports on individual office activities, which products are moving, and billing reports broken out by office cost centers. Due to the nature of the financial services market, some products require a compliance approval step. The system also allows for compliance approval reports. There are also many other custom features that are unique to United Capital. The key here is, that not only is United Capital solving their brand control issues, they are continually expanding usage that streamlines their unique business requirements. Properly executed web-to-print creates this ability.

In today's ever changing print landscape, web-to-print is more necessary than ever. Brand control is only one of the many compelling reasons. Your "ME" is important! Protect it with web-to-print today.

Philanthropy and your Marketing

I'm just curious.

We are all feeling the effects of this down economy. However, nobody feels it more than the charitable organizations that do wondrous things for our society. Medical breakthroughs, lives saved, dreams becoming reality, species saved, recoveries realized and countless other POSITIVE realities coming true are the result of the hard work and dedication of these worthy organizations.

If there is one or more that are near to your heart, you know that each and every charity preaches that every penny counts. So, that got me thinking. What if there was a way that 1, 2, 3, 5% of your marketing spend could be donated back to these organizations? What if there was a way that every time a mail piece, email, text or other message was sent, the charity of your choice was the recipient of a donation? What would that mean to you personally? What would that mean to the charity? What would that do to our world in general?

Think about it. I know I donate to at least one charity that is near to my heart. I wish I could do more. I know that if I could by simply doing business I would. Please let me know your thoughts. I'm curious but more importantly interested in just how much this kind of philanthropy means to you.

Happy New Year and may 2012 Be AWESOME for all of us.

John
 

Print-On-Demand and Web-to-Print, What are you waiting for?

For years now you have heard and seen the acronyms POD and W2P. It seemed like a good idea but you just could not figure out how to fit into the limited, cookie cutter approach. It kind of felt like you were being forced to drive your father’s Oldsmobile. The good news is POD and W2P are not going to follow the path of Oldsmobile. No, POD and W2P have evolved to a point that really, anything is possible.

When I first sat down to write this article, I thought of a comment the owner of a film trade shop I used to work at made in 1991. We were a Scitex shop and the only way to get files from the desktop world to a printable form was through a Quark Xpress xtension called Visionary. One afternoon the owner said that someday you would be able to take a 44 meg Syquest disk to a Fotomat type store and get your print job out the other side. The general consensus was that he was crazy. The truth is he was a bit off in his assertion but never-the-less he was thinking outside the box and his thought was really a vision for POD. So we now fast forward to 2011 and in September, we will again see a major print show in Chicago that will be focusing on the continuing evolving technology of digital. Film has been gone for years and plates are following close behind although will not die as quickly and painlessly as it’s predecessor. There will be few “BIG” presses on the floor and everyone will be discussing how their product fits into the “Solution” of POD/W2P. From workflow solutions to output devices, from finishing equipment to software as a service (SaaS) platforms, from business cards to building size large format prints, the focus will be PRINT ON DEMAND.

One interesting reality is that even companies that have been providing these services for years are facing a crossroad of strategic decisions as they move forward. The main reason for this is that the cloud is real and SaaS combined with open source technologies are changing the playing field. What used to be your choice of chocolate chip or oatmeal, has turned into a 17-course gourmet dinner served in bed. Anything is possible, affordable and best yet customizable to your specific needs.

There is still one aspect of the equation that makes the move to a quality program a challenge and that is commitment. These solutions work best when they meet the needs of the end user and defining those needs is often where the development fails. I have had the pleasure of working on several successful programs and in all cases the lines of communication worked both ways and EVERYBODY came prepared. There were no miracles or mind reading. There was no rush to deploy. There was no disappointment.  There was a successful deployment and a program that works for everyone. Everyone is defined as the solution provider, the client and the end users. Anything less is a failed program.

Today there are still three basic types of POD printing.

1. Short run inventory control printing
2. Versioned printing
3. Full variable data printing

There are also few limits to piece size, type or end use. Most every piece of print collateral can fit into a POD program.

Switching to a POD program is likely to save upwards of 20-25% of an annual print budget. This savings will continue to grow as technology continues to evolve and more of the conventional process converts into the program.  Companies often start with the low hanging fruit for early deployment and quickly realize that there is so much more that a program can handle. Years two and three of a program usually result in a program boom. Often companies realize that it is no longer necessary to have that in-plant facility, that art department, that three quote process and add to their POD system. This concept was once described to me like this:  why would you create your own electricity when it is so easy and better to just buy it from a professional and reliable source. Companies quickly realize that they were spending an inordinate amount to “control costs” and were overlooking the hidden costs.

So what are you waiting for? If you are still driving Dad’s Olsmobile it is time to trade it in on a new and improved model.

Mobile Marketing Importance of Education

Education. It's hard to believe that no matter how old we get, we never are finished with our education. The funny thing about that is that we often forget just how necessary continued education is. This is even more true when it comes to utilizing mobile technology to mass market. I consider myself to be fairly advanced when it comes to understanding this new technology. That being said, I learn something new about my iPhone almost everyday. Usually it has to do with something I wish it could do but can't. However, when I put that reality aside, there isn't a day that goes by that I don't hear about a new cool app or a great new mobile web site. I also see at least one example EVERYDAY of what I call failed attempts. 

I started writing this blog to help educate, to differentiate and to minimally try to encourage readers to think outside the box. When it comes down to it, thinking outside the box requires risk. Risk often results in failure. Failure however is a great measurement for improvement. I was once told by a friend that I was never going to become a really good skier. When I asked why, he responded, because you don't fall down and you can't get better unless you push yourself. It's funny how things work. Risk life and limb to become good. Thank goodness we won't suffer broken bones from failed marketing efforts but without them it is hard to determine exactly how good we are.  

Education of the marketing audience is tricky. We, as a population, are overworked, tired, sensitive, and face it impatient. So how do you educate when all of this is against you? My simple answer to utilize all channels available to you. Drive clients to informational videos, send instructions on direct mail pieces, follow up with email blast, create banner ads that encourage someone to take a few minutes of their valuable time to learn on your home page. Do all of the with vigor and with emphasis! 

In the end, all "successful people" WANT to LEARN. Successful people are a marketing demographic no one will turn their nose up at. 

Below is an example of a simple educational video that is being used to help educate the use of Junaio Augmented Reality Browser on LCPs 2011 Calendar for the month of July. We will continue to look for feedback from our audience and "learn".

One of the best things about educating is that a byproduct of being an educator is being educated in return.

Conquering Mobile Marketing. Are you ready?... Part 1

Over the past six months I have had numerous conversations with clients about Mobile Marketing. In the US, we are still in the very early stages of using smart phones as a marketing tool. Nielsen predicts smartphone ownership in the U.S. will exceed 50 percent this year, 2011. Using this number you can make a strong case that since smartphone users are generally more engaged with their devices, this 50 percent make up the most active in the mobile marketing network. In anther study by, Yankee Group, smartphone owners have an average household income of $85,000, with iPhone owners averaging $100,000! If we combine these two thoughts it should be assumed that the market is ripe for success in the mobile marketing arena and what an arena it is. What started with SMS, has continued to evolve through MMS, viewing web content, interacting with mobile web content, custom app development, and social media content. All this and we are is still in a stake of early adoption. The graphic below shows the evolution of of innovation as it moves toward a level of mass acceptance. I believe that we are beginning to see some standards in the mobile marketing arena but still have a long way to go.

The question becomes, Do you smell that? It is OPPORTUNITY and it is right here in front of us. One of the biggest opportunities is being made possible through the use of 2D barcodes. More specifically QR codes. One of my favorite newsletters comes from eMarketer.com. In March they wrote a nice piece about QRs. Two of the charts which are shown here support utilizing QR technology in your mobile marketing efforts.

It is obvious looking at the demographic data that the age, income and education levels of those who have scanned a QR are desirable. The actions taken also give us some clear insight into what the user scanned the QR for. The "call to action" was acted on because the user could benefit. This is the key to successful mobile marketing.

There are six basic principles to remember when developing a mobile marketing campaign that include a QR. These are:

• Call to action
• Robust planning
• Use open standards
• Integrate the code with your design/message
• Testing
• Dialouge
• Educate
• Analytics

I will expand on each of these principles in the upcoming month. Stay tuned as we break down these critical keys to mobile marketing success.

I'm from the USPS and I'm here to HELP!

I really don't like to post links in my articles but I think this is a good time to make and exception.

Every so often something so obscure, something so out of the ordinary, something that makes you stop in your tracks, something that leaves you searching for words or something that makes you think Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, pops up and shocks you. This is one of those occasions. A Postage Sale.

I probably should not be all that surprised because in 2009 and 2010, the USPS had a Summer Sale to spike the use of direct mail. What makes this year unique is that the USPS has put a twist on it. The sale which is slated to run from July 1st through August 31st has both a secondary and tertiary impact. This summer, direct mail, both letters and flats that display a 2-dimensional barcode, will receive a 3% discount.

The first impact will be that it WILL increase the amount of mail entering into the mail stream.

The secondary impact will be the education factor. Consumers in the US are still naive to the use of 2-dimensional codes in marketing. The increase in saturation will serve as a necessary crash course which will benefit the technology and help it move closer to a level of mass acceptance.

Third and probably the most important is that it will free up real dollars for marketers to invest in QUALITY mobile marketing programs. It is not good enough to just add a code and not back it up with a quality mobile experience. First impressions are powerful and just adding a code for the discount that does not serve your mails recipient well can be a real turn off.

I encourage you to START PLANNING NOW!  A quality program takes time, money and planning. The USPS is helping you with these. There are a few months to work on your program and plan your attack. Plus there is some money you didn't plan on having on the table for the taking.


For more information about the sale see this link:

http://postandparcel.info/38155/news/usps-to-flaunt-mails-smartphone-potential-with-summer-sale/

An Apple a Day Keeps the Dr. Away... Isn't that Boring?

Marketing Services Provider?

The title itself is fraught with ambiguity. In my previous article, "What's in a Name", I mentioned that commercial printers have a large investment in the infrastructure that is essential for delivering marketing communications and thus are poised to be the marketing provider that you are looking for. Poised is another ambiguous word. Poised means balanced and prepared for action. There is a difference in the level of readiness a provider may have and trying to determine that level is part of your challenge. Commercial printers by nature have the largest investment in infrastructure but that in it self does not make them Marketing Services Providers. A few easy ways to qualify your existing printer is to focus on the current relationship and answer these questions.

1. Does your printer utilize or have a marketing program that showcases the delivery of information other than print?
2. Does your printer have a presence on Social Media and how do they use that presence?
3. Does your primary contact at your printer ask about your challenges and share information that can help you to overcome those challenges using real world examples and testimonials?
4. How often do you receive marketing communications (print, email, blog posts or comments, social media interaction etc.) from your printer or is the relationship one void of this interaction?
5. If you have a social media presence, blog or other form of marketing that you use, does your primary contact and or printer interact with it or have they at least asked you if you have these technologies as part of your marketing communications?

These are some fairly basic questions and depending on how you answer them you can fairly quickly determine if you should be pursuing a marketing relationship with your commercial printer right now. The key words are right now. Even advanced print organizations are in the early stages of this evolution and the really good printers out there are still for the large part in the infant stages of this transition. Smaller printers, with less overhead, have been quicker to evolve but lack some of the essential elements like full-service fulfillment and the capacity to turn large jobs on tight schedules.

I was with a prospect earlier this month and we were discussing just how much their industry would be changing as technology advances. Their core business has been enough for their continued growth but in recent years, technological advances have changed their primary market offering. Moving forward they have recognized that their primary line of products is going to start to erode with future advances in their industry.

The good news is they understand this and have already begun the process to evolve into other areas and they are doing this with great anticipation, vigor, and enthusiasm. Their core business is changing but rather than close up shop they are evolving with it and will be a player in their industry for many, many, years to come.

This discussion came after I made it clear that my organization is in the process of evolving way beyond ink on paper. I stressed the importance of our roots and explained how we see print in the future, how and when we discovered the need to evolve, the steps we have taken, and then how we look forward to helping them to succeed in their transition. We talked about the differences between taking print orders and being a member of their problem-solving team. We gained so much credibility that what we thought would be a 30 minute introduction turned into a 1 ½ hour meeting that will result in another meeting with other key individuals on the clients team. We will get to demonstrate specific successes and continue the process of selling valuable marketing services not a print job.  If I break down this meeting a little bit further there is one thing that sticks in my mind. I approached this meeting as if I were a student going into class. I was prepared to listen and take notes. As a matter of fact the only print sample I had with me was a copy of a calendar we print for our clients.  We listened to the client. We followed their lead and discussed what concerned them.

When that conversation was over I presented the calendar. It is a nice print piece but more importantly confirmed how we represented my organization. It proved that we would be able to deliver what we said we could. The calendar is a full-blown marketing program. Not only does it showcase beautiful print but it has an associated website, QR codes, variable data print, monthly interactive contests, purls, email marketing, and social media integration. By years end it will demonstrate and market our organization as a viable Marketing Service Provider. Clients and prospects will be "touched" by this program well over 50 times in a year. Some may even be touched hundreds of times depending on their level of involvement.

There will always be someone out there that can offer cheap print. There will always be someone that can blast emails. There will always be someone willing to store your inventory. There will always be someone that will host a micro-site. There will always be someone that will develop creative design. The good news is that you will soon be able to find many single sources to take care of your entire program. Bringing with it all the advantages of a fully integrated marketing program with advance metrics and proven results. When this evolution is complete everyone will win.  Your organization, the provider, the ancillary partners, and most importantly the targeted market.

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.

Do you need a Mobile Site Now - Well almost but worth taking a look!

I just came across this interesting information online.  Google has a method to automatically display web content formatted for a mobile device. This is done by adding:

http://www.google.com/gwt/n?u=

in front of the url you wish to visit.

This system works well for simple web pages that are basic information sources. For instance, here is a screen grab of the Golf.com page if I type the following url in my phones browser.

http://www.golf.com/golf/

Kind of hard to navigate and view a page like this on a mobile device. Now lets type:

http://www.google.com/gwt/n?u=http://www.golf.com/golf/

The site reformats on the fly for mobile viewing.

In some limited testing I found that the results were "pleasing" although far from perfect. What I find exciting about this is that it makes a simple way for organizations to share their content via mobile phones in a better format without having to wait for mobile site development. Yes, the ultimate goal should be to properly create web content that is specifically designed for proper viewing but in the meantime this may help you especially if you wish to utilize QR codes in print materials.

If you decide to give it a try, here is an easy way to create your own QR code.

1) Go to goo.gl in your web browser.

2) Paste the complete url into the field. In this case "http://www.google.com/gwt/n?u=http://www.golf.com/golf/"

3) Click shorten

4) Copy and paste the shortened url into your browser but add .qr to the end  http://goo.gl/oltZn.qr

5) The window will display a qr code that you can save as a .png file.

here is the result of the above instructions:

Go ahead and scan the code!  It's that simple.

Give this a shot with your content if you can't wait for proper development! Test completely as there are no guarentees but it is worth a try.

Hope this helps!

QR Codes, What is all the hype about?

Everywhere you turn you see an article about QR Codes. QR is short for quick response and they are anything but new. This variety of 2-dimensional bar codes was created in Japan, by Toyota subsidiary Denso-Wave in 1994, the QR code is one of the most popular types of two-dimensional barcodes.

What is new is the use of QR Codes in Marketing here in the US. Neilsen recently predicted smart phone penetration in the US will be at 50% by mid 2011. This means that one out of every two people in a store will have on their person a device capable of receiving relevant information about a product or service with the simple scan of a QR. I predict that you will begin to see store kiosks that do nothing more than scan QRs and display additional product information, print coupons, provide product comparisons and countless other marketing related services that can enhance the consumer buying experience. These kiosks may also be enhanced through the use of Augmented Reality. The key here is the streaming of RELEVANT content to a device.

By nature the QR addresses the issue of code orientation by utilizing three corners to define it's proper position. This makes it a good choice for mobile devices because the user can shoot the code at any angle and have success.

Another important attribute of QRs is by nature they have a large amount of error correction built in. This means that if the code is damaged it still will in most cases read correctly. While the correction was built in to assure readability the art community has taken it to the extreme by developing custom codes that still do the job. Among the more widely circulated highly customized QR Codes out there, is this code for Louis Vuitton created by Takashi Murakami. When decoded it directs the user to a mobile web site for Louis Vuitton. I think it is in Japanese!

Creating custom codes is pretty simple and only require a little bit of trial and error. Here are some codes I created for the Lake County Press 2011 Calendar. Although significantly different in appearance they all contain the exact same link information. A good rule of thumb to use if you want to make custom codes is to use a url shortener to redirect you to the desired site. This will minimize the data in the code and make customizing a bit easier.

One of my biggest pet peeves about QR codes I come across is the lack of thought put into the data presentation. Please don't waste my time and or your valued customers time by directing them to information that is not presented in a mobile device friendly format. Nothing is more annoying than trying to navigate a web page on a mobile device that was designed for a full screen experience.

Pan and zoom although possible make the experience more frustrating than informative and will more than likely force the user to leave before obtaining the information you were trying to present. Sounds like a logical rule of thumb but still to this day I will venture to bet that over 50% of the codes I scan are not retrieving mobile device formatted pages. I find this quite disturbing as we all know how easy it is to loose the attention of a customer yet we take short cuts that pretty much guarantee the loss.

If I scan more than one code for a particular brand and the experience is lack luster I cannot imagine I will waste the time again. You only have one chance to make a first impression! Don't blow it by using technology before you are ready too.

In closing I would like to share one of the best quotes about QRs and some food for thought from a recent article I read about QR Codes by Jeff Weidauer vice president of marketing and strategy for Vestcom International Inc:

Marketers are mostly interested in engaging with a higher-income, better-educated consumer. And the fact is, smartphones are already the preferred device with this demographic, whether business people or full-time parents. These valuable consumers are using a mobile device for far more than calls and texting. They are searching the mobile web for product information and pricing comparisons, and it's starting to happen more frequently right at the shelf edge in retail stores.

Another important point here is that consumers -- more accurately, shoppers -- are driving the mobile web and connectivity. To date, there is no strong influence from retail putting any wind in these sails. There is a vacuum in this space that will soon be filled; the question that remains is who will get there first?