Connecting the Dots

Reflections

2006-12-31T09:14:00.000-08:00

As 2006 draws to a close and some downtime available to catch up on stuff, some thoughts.

Business today is as challenging and stimulating as ever. A global marketplace, e-commerce opportunities, and excess capacity create a challenging business environment. Continuous improvement seems to be the theme for today and the future.

Warren Buffet states "I've never learned a great deal from just talking to people."

Andy Grove quoted in his biography by Richard Tedlow, "Management is the art of absorbing a task in one lump from above, cutting it into smaller lumps and putting them down one level."

The most compelling thought also from Andy Grove, "The most enduring power comes from knowledge, not status or wealth. Drive deep into the data, then trust your gut."

Happy New Year to our loyal customers, vendors and associates.

AGR

Power to the Data!

2006-11-30T16:12:00.000-08:00

In a recent post, I mentioned that both political parties were investing large sums in data mining and 1:1 marketing to influence the outcome of the recent national elections. In a recent issue of IW (Information Week) the value of this effort is discussed.

What was once almost an exclusive Republican activity, IW reports that the DNC invested over $8 million on a multi-terabyte relational database. Much of the data came from InfoUSA.

One scenario cited - female cat owners and married women with children tend to vote Democratic. Using the data acquired, the party now knows who these people are and can attempt to capture their vote through well-crafted phone calls, direct mail and TV spots.

The DNC's voter file contains 300 million records with up to 900 fields per record. Observers of this effort credit in part the party's success in Virginia and Montana, both close senate contests, to this strategy. While the D's haven't caught up with the R's in precision and database quality, they now have the validation to make further investments with the confidence that 1:1 marketing gets results.

Direct Mail Tips

2006-11-22T11:11:00.000-08:00

Some frequent mistakes in planning executing direct mail campaigns:

1. IMPROPER PLANNING
Dozens of errors are included in this category, but most of them occur by trying to rush into the mail without sitting down, thinking first, and asking for outside input.

2. FAULTY ANALYSIS
Usually the product of an "I want this piece to be the winner" or "We think this version best describes our company's image" attitude, but often the result of fondling and admiring the spreadsheet instead of examining its figures.

3. FAILING TO SEE LISTS BEFORE MAILING
Did you look at the labels or a tape dump yourself? Why not? How do you know whether you got the right selection?

4. LETTING SOMEONE ELSE ORDER LISTS
Yes, someone else - like a good list broker - can and should make recommendations, but the person in supreme charge of the mailing is the person who should make the final list determinations.

5. ASSUMING ALL IS WELL
Sorry, all is not well. Triple-check every vendor so your mailing gets printed and mailed correctly and on time.

6. USING WEAK OFFERS
Start with as strong an offer as you can afford to acquire as many new qualified leads or sales as possible. Then trim the offer by testing packages with lesser offers. Of course, this would be a side-by-side split test.

7. DECIDING NOT TO TEST
You always need to test something to get back useful information for your next mailing. Not testing is a good way to get lower results than you might otherwise obtain.

8. UNDERESTIMATING COSTS
Please add 20% to your budget for such things as author's alterations, last-minute price changes, paper stock substitutions, etc.

9. NEGLECTING INTERIM REVIEWSE
You need to review a campaign at the beginning, at the end...and, at mid-course. Most of us forget the mid-course review, preventing us from making corrective or newly-aggressive moves.

10. BELIEVING YOU'RE RIGHT
I've had clients who believed they knew how to market to their markets better than anyone. Some of them no longer are in business. A business manager should take the view that he knows his market, but a professional marketer should do the marketing. Think of it this way: you know your tooth hurts, but you wouldn't drill it yourself.

11. FAILING TO STOP AND THINK ABOUT WHAT CUSTOMERS WANT
You raise Duroc (red) and Hampshire (black and white) pigs. Your customers want Yorkshires (all white like Babe). No wonder you're not selling! Your goal should be to discover exactly what your customer wants, and then give it to him at a good deal.

12. FORGETTING PREMIUMS
Every mailing that does not offer a free gift can be improved by adding a premium to the deal.

13. SPENDING TO SHOW YOU CAN AFFORD TO SPEND
While you should be willing to spend more to make a better sale, you also shouldn't toss money away. The higher quality stock or slick brochure may indicate to some that your deal is too costly. "If they spent that much plotting and planning to catch me, maybe I can't afford their whiz-bang."

14. SAVING MONEY ON POSTAGE
Yes, take every saving possible if you mail millions. If not, perhaps you should test First Class against Bulk Advertising Mail. The forwarding benefit can more than repay the extra cost. Try it if you feel you have a first class company.

1:1 Marketing vs. Interruption Marketing

2006-11-04T08:13:00.000-08:00

As my previous post addressed, beneath the vitriol and bitterness of this election cycle, there is an interesting marketing story playing out. Seth Godin, author of "Permission Market" cites a personal example of interruption marketing and the reaction he had. I have personally heard similar stories from friends and family about the negative reaction they have/had after repetitive phone calls soliciting responses or support from a particular candidate/party.

I think as usual Mr. Godin is ahead of the curve. As previous posts have stressed, the popularity of mass marketing has peaked and "ROI" metrics are driving marketers to a personalized and many times a multi-channel effort.

____________________________________________________________________________________

The point, folks, is that with all these strangers calling me, interrupting my day, giving me unanticipated, impersonal, irrelevant come-ons, not one person I know personally has called me. And not one of the callers has tried to enlist me to call my friends.

One call from a friend is worth 100 calls from an Academy-Award winner on tape.

The mistake politicians, like most marketers, make is that they think that what they are doing is way too important. Too important to leave to citizens. Too important to leave to ordinary people who happen to be big fans with organic, authentic networks of trusted friends. Too important to respect social boundaries.

If you're in too much of a hurry to build a real network, you're probably in too much of a hurry to get elected.

Niche Market + Personalized Messaging = Success

2006-10-29T07:51:00.000-08:00

A great success story right here in the Inland Northwest.

These folks are driving four Indigo machines with a dramatic growth curve north.

http://www.spokanejournal.com/spokane_id=article&sub=2935

Audience Segmentation

2006-10-24T17:13:00.000-07:00

Recently many media outlets estimated the campaign cost of this year's national election at approximately $2.6 billion dollars. Certainly astronomical numbers. In an era of intensely partison political campaigning, the media deployed to draw undecided voters is an interesting exercise in marketing effectiveness.

In a recent article by Tom Curry of MSNBC, he states that "Each side is now pinpointing its most desirable voters using demographic, attitudeinal and consumer data. The process is called 'micro-targeting' and involves feeding defined voter groups specailly tailored messages . . . "

He quotes a Democratic strategist "The more you know about anyone, the better you can target them." He cites an example of Michigan Republicans targeting snow mobilers as the current govenor, a Democrat, vetoed funds to complete and 2,000 mile snowmobile trail in the state.

As a digital print provider with extensive variable print campaign experience, we can attest to the power of this kind of marketing. The political arena which is perhaps the best model for micro targeting will continue to develop this and we predict many affiliated marketers will follow.

Despite the huge sums dedicated to winning elections, the return on that investment will be carefully scrutinized for future investments. Few examples are more timely, acccurate and real than election returns. In many races around the U.S. this season, a swing of 2-3 points could change the outcome. Audience segmentation and other "pull" marketing concepts could win the day for the smart candidate.

Managing the Marketing Chain

2006-08-21T00:08:00.000-07:00

Digital print technology and its ability to contribute to many supply chain issues, especially in the pharmaceutical and nutritional supplement sector, have a direct and meaningful overlay to the “marketing chain” and our company’s ability to respond to these new themes.

As people like Don Peppers, Martha Rogers and Seth Godin evangelize about the personalized, data-managed customer experience along with the diminished effectiveness of mass marketing, we thinking supply chain best practices can also apply to the marketing effort.

Marketers are finding that the internet isn’t the silver bullet they had hoped for. As powerful marketing software tools and metrics evolve, managing a comprehensive and multi-channel marketing effort is reality. The marketing dashboard when used to its fullest, provides the visibility to manage each customer relationship at any point in the relationship – from initial qualifying to closing the deal.

Customers and prospects know the internet has empowered the consumer to a point where margins in many cases are tough to achieve and maintain. Customer acquisition, customer retention and customer satisfaction now become much tougher issues to manage effectively. Fortunately the tools are available to deploy multiple media messages, collect the feedback and then deploy the next message based on the data we have compiled.

As the data compiled drives to more knowledge of customer likes and dislikes, we can better tune the message and the media choice which drives to a higher level of intimacy, trust and confidence which all drive to higher response rates, cross selling opportunities, and longer retention averages. Many also say higher per/ticket activity occurs.

As these tools grow more popular with savvy marketers, our company has developed core competencies which transcend our traditional “ink of paper” role. In many cases our role is one of third party logistical support. Managing and responding to client data or accumulating data from web-based forms and then manufacturing and distributing print media (both personalized and static) along with perhaps digital media (DVD/CD) creates a timely, personalized, relevant and expected multi-media message. Response rates are quantum leaps over traditional mass media efforts which lack personalization.

Value Co-Creation

2006-06-24T15:56:00.000-07:00

Most of the time I find business "self-help" books to be pretty boring. Jack Welch and Lou Gerstner were terrific leaders but their history and experiences aren't really relevant to our challenges reinventing the medium of print.

Nonetheless, each night I found myself frequently passing over my latest Ben Franklin volume for "The Future of Competition" by C. K. Prahalad. His theories are very relevant to our efforts in web-assisted manufacturing. In a few words, he defines ongoing experimentation (in many industries) of value co-creation.

He puts the words to the barriers we at Ross have experienced in this effort, specifically becoming a partner with many different customers in their unique supply chain issues as it relates to print and packaging. Prahalad states that the key building blocks to value co-creation are:

1. Dialogue
2. Access
3. Risk Assessment
4. Transparency

or

DART

As our team reviewed our failures marketing our "value co-creation", particularly our web-based print management tools, we could assign each failure to lack of one of the above attributes.

We have had enough success stories to be believers, and they are great stories, but now we know how to qualify prospects for these services quickly and accurately. This is a great read regardless of your industry and I highly recommend it. It has changed the way we market our services so we avoid being "feature rich and experience poor".

The Tipping Point

2006-05-02T16:39:00.000-07:00

Rarely does a volume title add to the lexicon of our times. Malcom Gladwell's "The Tipping Point, How Little Things Can Make A Difference" (Little Brown, 2000) does.

Part pop economics, part pop sociology, this best seller examines how to leverage a business value solution into behavioral change. Gladwell's persuasive thesis assembles a fascinating mix of facts - from Paul Revere to the fax machine. His blend of science and culture creates a compelling read for all marketers.

We would all like to take our unique portfolio of products and transform them into a popular craze. when that happens, we hve achieved the "tipping point". As an observer of marketing trends, his study of "connectors", "mavens" and "senders" is fascinating.

Anyone involved in direct marketing through multiple channels should find a copy of this book and perhaps his earlier but equally as stimulating work "Blink".

Predictability

2006-04-16T10:00:00.000-07:00

I found the following quote on the web, an article from the UK dealing with the connection Starbucks achieves with its customers. Our mission at Ross is essentially the same. We continuously remind our team that we aren't selling ink on paper as much as a high level of confidence and trust to our friends.

Every transaction must validate our customer's perception of our level of service and quality. Our investments in new techology including roll and sheet digital reproduction and web-to-print tools merely enable quality and cycle time expectations necessary with today's "time-to-market" and supply chain issues.

Simon believes Starbucks succeeds by "selling comfort" in an anonymous, often dislocating world. He says he has lost track of the number of times people have told him that when they traveled to a strange country, "the first thing I did when I got off the plane was go to Starbucks."

"There's a deep sense of unpredictability in the modern world, and what Starbucks provides a lot of people is predictability," he said.

VDP Tools

2006-02-01T11:10:00.000-08:00

Another great testimony to the power of VDP (Variable Data Publishing) are the many new tools available to speed the publication process of one-to-one documents. First, let's revisit the attributes an independent survey (CAPV) assigns to personalized documents. (Percentages are increases over static documents.)

Response Rates 36%
Average Order Size 24.5%
Repetitive Orders 47.6%
Overall Profit 31.6%
Response Time 33.9%

These are impressive statistics and relevant to marketers as postage rates continue to head north. Increasingly single digit responses rates are going to be harder to "pencil".

Adobe, recognizing this inexorable trend in print communication has synchronized their efforts with several channel partners to offer easy-to-use plug-ins. As Adobe states in a recently published white paper, "With the Adobe Creative Suite 2 and VDP plug-ins from partners, creative professionals can easily create beautiful. personalized, visually rich campaigns tailored to each recipient."

At the agency/designer level, one especially attractive price/value solution worth considering might be Sansui Software (http://www.sansuisoftware.com/). Another might be Document Sciences, (http://www.docscience.com/).

Ultimately, designers now have the ability to easily expand their services to include VDP solutions using existing tools lilke CS 2 and Quark. Combined with Indigo level ink-based print quality, response rates make campaign ROI much easier.

Great Tips for Digital Print Prep

2005-12-06T11:03:00.001-08:00

Thanks to Molly Joss and Creativepro.com for a fine overview of many digital print issues for designers.

Printing Tips: Designing for Digital Presses Designers appreciate the flexibility of digital presses that let them print shorter four-color runs. But choices of paper and preparation of files require special care. Find out what you need to know. (PaperSpecs.com)By Molly W. Joss, creativepro.com contributing editor Thursday, November 18, 2004

This story courtesy of PaperSpecs.com.

Designers are taking advantage of the versatility of digital printing more than ever.
The ability to print four-color on shorter print runs gives them a creative freedom their budget might not have allowed on offset presses. As more digital papers enter the market and more print options become available, there are more variables to consider.
Here are some of the most frequently asked questions we receive:
Can I control the paper choices when a job is going to be printed on a digital press?
You can choose any paper that the printing company guarantees will work with their digital press for the type of job you want to print. Don't worry, though -- with digital presses, the selection of possible substrates is larger than ever and the chances are excellent that you will find a paper that you like.
Before the design work begins, talk to the printing company and ask for samples of the papers they recommend. Each digital press manufacturer evaluates and recommends paper selections (coated and uncoated) for their line of equipment. Some printing companies experiment and are willing to guarantee work done on papers they recommend, in addition to the papers the vendors recommend.
As digital printing processes become more popular, digital papers will be available in more colors and finishes. Many mills will introduce a digital sheet based on their existing lines this year. PaperSpecs.com calls out every paper that is suitable for the various digital presses, laser or inkjet printing and makes specking digital papers fast and easy.
I want to use different papers in one job. Is this possible with a digital press?
Yes, but before you make your final decision on the number of different papers, check with the printing company that will be doing the job. You need to find out how many different paper stocks the digital press can accommodate during a print run.
The NexPress 2100, for example, can handle up to three different paper selections without additional paper handling or manual paper changes. If you specify a higher number of paper stocks than the equipment can handle automatically, you will be charged extra because manual paper changes will be required.
How about Pantone colors?Most digital presses convert Pantone colors to their CMYK equivalents and print them that way. Some will allow you to specify the conversion formula yourself or allow the press operator to do so. Since Pantone-to-CMYK conversion is also a technique used for offset printing, you may have no problem with the print quality of a converted color.
If you absolutely must have a particular Pantone color, your best bet is the HP Indigo digital press using IndiChrome On-Press and Off-Press color inks, as these are the only Pantone approved digital inks in use on digital presses today.
How can I best proof a job?
Concept proofs can be done in the usual way, which often involves a high quality desktop inkjet printer these days. When you are ready for a more precise proof, ask the printing company to proof the job for you on the press they will use to run the actual job. Unlike traditional offset presses, digital presses are designed to print one-of-a-kind jobs, so they can print a few copies for you as contract or final proofs.
What about large areas of color?
Digital presses that use toner, such as the Xerox iGen and the NexPress, don't produce large areas of solid color well; some banding or blending problems can occur during a print run. With digital presses that use ink, such as the HP Indigo, these problems may occur, but chances are lessened on these types of presses.
If the design calls for several square inches or more of solid color, introduce a subtle pattern into the solid color or reduce the amount of color used altogether. When in doubt, before you spend a lot of time and money on a design, talk to the printer and ask them to run samples, so you can see for yourself what works and what doesn't.
I've had some problems in the past getting rich blacks from a digital press. Am I doing something wrong?
If you are not happy with the print quality of solid areas of black, you can use a mixture of CMYK, such as 60C, 40M, 40Y, 100K - same as you would for an offset press. By adding in the other colors with the black, you are forcing the press to overload that area with toner or ink. Your blacks will look richer and may have a slight sheen to them.
How do I make white text on a black background look more crisp?
Use the approach I outlined above for the rich blacks, but modify the formula to include less black (K). Depending upon how thin the letter forms and how small the point size is, you may have to experiment with the formula for rich black before you are satisfied. Remember, too, that duller white or colored stock will affect the appearance of white text on a dark background, making the text look less crisp. Use a bright white stock for best results.
How small can the text be and still be readable?
The print resolution of digital presses is improving all the time, so you might be more concerned about how well people can read, the type rather than how well the press can image it! Type sizes of 10 and 12 point, the usual size of body text, will be fine. Avoid using type smaller than four points.
How do I get the best gray shades from a digital press?
Use tints of black, but stay away from 10% black tints unless you want a very light shade of gray. Start with 20% and work your way up to about 80% gray. Avoid large areas (greater than several inches in area) of a single tint of gray.
Should I trap the colors in the file?
Before you take the time to do this, first ask the printer for his recommendations. Make sure to describe the project and how the colors are used or, if you can, show him a concept color proof of the job. Each digital press works differently; some like the NexPress, autotrap all files. Some don't do any trapping. Follow the printer's instructions and if trapping is a big concern, run some sample files first.
What about knockouts? Should I anticipate problems?
Problems with knockouts are usually caused by a registration problem on the press. Since digital presses have tightly controlled registration, you should not anticipate problems such as gaps appearing between two colors.
What about bleeds?
Ask the printer if the press he is using has any special bleed requirements for the kind of job you are running. Some jobs, such as those that have die cuts, require larger bleed margins. Most of the time, though, you will be fine if you prepare any necessary bleeds for the job as you would for a traditional offset press. Then, when you submit the job, tell the printer that you have set the bleeds.
Can I use any font I want?
There are so many types of fonts out there, especially on the Web, that's it's easy to find a font that won't work with a digital press -- or an imagesetter or CTP device, for that matter. To avoid type problems and the occasional type nightmare, stick with Adobe Type 1 or TrueType fonts. Do not use Multiple Master fonts.
I had a problem with the type on a job and the printer told me I wasn't using the right type style. What is he talking about?
Type families are groups of type styles -- bold, italic, bold italic, demi, condensed and even small cap style. Not every possible style is included in a particular font family or in the set of type families you have purchased.
In order to have your type image correctly, you need to designate the appropriate type style by choosing it from the type or font list. Unfortunately, when you use the bold and italic buttons or select those styles from a menu, the software won't automatically select the correct type style for you. That would be too sensible, wouldn't it?
Instead, the software will bold or italicize the plain type style and that can lead to problems with any imaging process.
The photographs in my print job look rough and chunky and that's not the way I want them to look. What went wrong?
The first thing to suspect is that the resolution of the image was too low for the print resolution. Since digital presses image at 600 dpi or higher, you must make sure the original image was captured by a digital camera or the photograph was scanned at 300 dpi to print with acceptable quality.
You can take a higher resolution scan and lower the resolution to 300 dpi, but don't try to increase the resolution of a scanned image more than 10 percent. Even though image-editing software allows you to increase resolution with a few keystrokes, increasing it significantly will result in images that look the way you describe -- or worse.
What resolution to use, in the capture or scan of a photographic image, is one of the most confusing specifications in the graphic arts because scanning equipment and imaging equipment have evolved over the years. Some printers and graphic artists are still using standards that were applicable years ago with older equipment, but are now outmoded. Don't be surprised if you hear some "rules" that sound really odd, such as scans must be done at resolutions equal to, or even two or three times, the output resolution. Another thing to suspect is that the original image was stretched beyond its limits. For images that you want to print on a digital press or a traditional press (as opposed to using them online or in electronic documents), enlarge them no more than 10 percent to 15 percent above the original dimensions. Enlarging them more than this small amount can leave the printing equipment with too little data to fill in the space -- resulting in the kinds of problems you've noticed.

Great Tips for Digital Print Prep

2005-12-06T11:03:00.000-08:00

Cost Reduction

2005-11-07T14:19:00.000-08:00

Building a print procurement model for the new world works better if it is compatible with supply chain trends. For example, a distressed company recently released a less than stellar earnings report for the period. Management solutions for years of mismanagement spoke to:

1. Centralize G & A functions
2. Consolidate Vendor Base
3. Implement Company-wide purchasing initiatives
4. Streamline I.T. processes and infrastructure

Other cost reduction opportunities were cited which were less than encouraging but darkly amusing semantics. For example, "rationalizing corporate and field human resources staff".

Why not just call it what it will be, significant staff reductions (and the unavoidable erosion of quality and customer service). As if those people didn't make some contribution to the enterprise everyday.

My point is simply that our vision of print procurement along with the mailing/fulfillment/inventory service is compatible with the harsh realities facing this company.

Let's examine each intiative and I will try to connect the dots to our offering.

Vendor rationalization would point the buyer to a print provider offering the most diverse processes. Hence our "litho/flexo/digital" brand. Tasking us to be the long-run premium litho, premium flexo, short run sheet and roll digital source makes sense if the goal if fewer suppliers.

Company-wide purchasing initiatives typically consolidate the buy-out dollar with fewer vendors to achieve maximum purchasing power and in turn lower cost of goods manufactured.

Streamlining IT processes can take on many looks - to us at Ross it includes using our web-based print management tools for ordering, proofing, tracking, archiving and customized variable forms for quick time-to-market responses.

Growth opportunities in mature markets are fewer and going to be fewer yet. Bottom line growth will include aggressive cost control. In many cases this means deploying available technology to reduce costs and manage the supply chain more effectively. We would be pleased to present examples of these tools at work in our area now.

Automated Print Procurement

2005-10-27T14:37:00.000-07:00

Virus issues (computer) have sidelined this forum for a while but not forever. Recent on-site demos/tours have been informative. Print buyer questions hopefully refine our presentation and direction.

Presentation of our vision of the future and the tools we have deployed create much excitement but also some challenges.

Most visitors agree they should automate the procurement process but they also concede that the interdepartmental cooperation to make these tools work in concert with the mission could be lacking. That makes the issue one of awareness as much as execution.

If we process map the print buyer's process this might be typical.

1. Estimate or budget calculations
2. File prep/transfer
3. Proof review/edit/review/edit/approve
4. Print date assignment
5. Finishing
6. Ship/Track/POD

Tomorrow's printer must create the digital network(s) with customer facing dashboards (web based) to reveal:

1. Overview status of estimate and on-the-fly AA costs
2. PDF images of active and previous images/jobs with digital edit/approval trail and variable data upload/revise/review
3. Production information by job w/spec. chg. capability until press time
4. Print/bind/ship/mail schedules updated by CSR's on a real time basis w/proof of delivery
5. Inventory/drop ship tools
6. Electronic invoice distributed to various accounts

All of this must be 24X7, secure and hierarchical.

At Ross, we have most of these tools in place for use now. We have also found not all buyers want all tools. Let us create an automated print management model for you. It would be hard to argue the cost reductions were not quickly visible.

PRINT 05

2005-09-17T11:34:00.000-07:00

Trade shows typically present unique opportunities to assess the validity of various assumptions many print providers claim as gospel. PRINT 05 concluded this week in Chicago. This writer had the opportunity to attend and these are some of my observations.

The overwhelming conclusion was simply this isn't your father's printing business. Our industry has seen billions of dollars of value flee since 9/11/01. This was plainly evident at the show. Kodak, Epson, Canon, Enfocus, Xerox, H-P, and Adobe created more on-the-floor activity per square foot than the “big iron” folks.

Other peripheral vendors dealing with mailing, color management, web-to-print, and pdf editing/proofing tools were popular also.

Certainly it is hard for any “ink-in-the-blood” printer to walk past a brand new Heidelberg 105 running at 18,000 s/p/h with 100# ink coverage and not get a bit emotional. Then reality strikes, about $4MM in cash and the awesome task of loading it with work 7 days a week.

The good news is that print is alive and will live for a long time. Nonetheless today’s print provider has to confront the many choices the buyer has. The output solutions must fit the buyer’s quality expectations, budget and time-to-market requirements. Those expectations can vary from crude toner products to 300 line litho. With online image repositories for photos, value statements, product specifications or special offers, promotions and even campaigns can be constructed on line in minutes. Aggressive "time-to-benefit" (read competitive advantage) loops are easily constructed. Many "web-to-print" solutions were on display also.

Print has and will continue to be the supreme "closer". No other medium provides the buyer with the tactile and visual representation of the product like print. No other medium can represent the soul of the enterprise like print. Smart marketers are buying less print but know abandoning print entirely would be imprudent.

Our Changing Role

2005-09-05T21:39:00.000-07:00

Business life lessons come often in our rapidly changing industry. Let me share some of those here. Our activity in the pharmaceutical/supplement business has convinced us the print provider’s future role will change dramatically. Our traditional role has been putting ink on paper and finishing it in a quality manner.

While that is certainly still present, our customers are expecting more non-traditional services such as content management and repurposing, immediate edits and reposts with soft proofing via the web, cycle times measured in hours rather than days, and finally a choice of print imaging solutions (digital-litho-flexor-xerography). Operational skill of a powerful internal digital network has been an enormous asset. New web-based transaction tools along with litho-quality pure digital print capability has given a unique value solution for our sheet and roll customers.

At the same time, those services are many times measured in terms of the lowest bid. Our attempts to transcend that flawed model include continuous efforts to raise the awareness of our business friends. Our efforts to create new customer/supplier relationships has been rewarding but challenging.

As we seek feedback from our constituents we fortunately hear recurring themes. Many tell us the relationship-based transactions give them more time for strategic planning or simply maximizing their model for success. They go on to say this is critical for them in an ever-changing and hostile business environment.

Others find assigning non-traditional tasks to the print provider such as image management, frequent edits, hard and soft proof distribution, and complicated distribution requirements reduce the need for managing multiple vendors or investing in redundant technology which is not critical to the mission.

Many of those process design changes today typically involve driving many parts of the print/packaging transaction to the web. Most marketers concede that print is still the most powerful channel with which to close the sale, the web speeds the approval process and enhances accuracy with collaborative editing/proofing capabilities.

We find the more we align our capabilities with customer needs the less we are compartmentalized as just an “ink-on-paper” litho print solution.

Trends in Print

2005-09-01T07:16:00.000-07:00

Barb Pellow is recognized as an astute observer of industry trends. Kodak is working very hard to reinvent itself in a digital world. As they transition from an analog company to a digital company their observations are very relevant. Some of her comments are shown below.

The awareness of versioned and personalized print is growing every month. This is a very effective way to break out from the cluttered space of excessive messaging.

Kodak
Barb Pellow, Corporate Marketing Officer at Kodak's Graphic Communications Group points out three trends shaping the industry and are reflected in the approach Kodak will be communicating at PRINT 05.
"First, I think we are really beginning to see the pendulum swing from mass to targeted communications.

This really impacts the second trend, which is that people are beginning to understand the difference between cost-per-print and cost-per-response and printers need to leverage that when talking with customers. Finally, I believe we'll be seeing more monochrome work migrating to color over the next 18 to 24 months."
Kodak is unique among other companies in the printing industry due to its roots in photography at both professional and consumer levels.

That landscape is changing rapidly as film is supplanted by bits and bytes and the company adapts to a digital world. The new Kodak is building on its color and imaging expertise and applying it across the spectrum of commercial printing, digital imaging, and consumer digital photography to be one Kodak to all customers.

Google Talk

2005-08-24T21:31:00.000-07:00

Google strikes again, their IM product is in beta. The ability of Google Talk to talk to other similar products is very hot. In other words, features no other portal can match. Google continues to dominate their space.

www.google.com/talk/

Digital Means NOW = Bottom Line Growth

2005-08-23T09:06:00.000-07:00

Our investment in the manufacture of digital pressure sensitive labels along with our famous internal manufacturing controls has attracted significant business from internet label brokers.

As e-commerce in the manufacture of labels takes hold, our friends have raised our awareness as to the criteria used in the purchase of labels via the net. They point out that their orders and file uploads are placed on a 24X7 basis and the buyer places a high value on turn time. That issue is made very clear to us when we initiate the relationship. They also point out that their customers in many cases are very visible concerns like Boeing, Microsoft and Nordstrom along with the "mom & pop" home business.

Marketers call this "time-to-benefit" and it is becoming a huge differentiator in print along with many other products and services. Basically, the value assigned for rapid delivery is growing. Pricing variances between print providers are not ignored but subordinated to "time-to-benefit" issues as savvy marketers know the longer someone waits in this instant gratification world the easier it is to migrate to the competition.

Digital Print

2005-08-21T12:05:00.000-07:00

Each month we see the world of digital printing capturing more and more of the analog space. Our Indigo sheet and roll machines acquire greater loads as awareness of the value of lower inventories, faster cycle time and brand-compliant quality grow. As label work migrates from traditional flexo to digital, packaging buyers finally can expect litho quality when designing pressure sensitive labels.

One of the most compelling value add digital print provides is providing the last leg in a total digital workflow. As we have discussed previously, the internet creates a new business standard and will dictate the role of print communications in business from here forward.

The integration of print, specifically digital print, will in the opinion of many replace a lot of analog print because that process is incapable of complete integration into the digital information workflow. Add to this the revaluing of web-based marketing as more of a qualifying or screening tool, you have a enormously powerful value model when communicating with prospects in a timely and effective way.

The traditional analog print space will continue to erode as it cannot easily overlay a totally digital loop which buyers will demand as the downside in doing so is negligible and the upside is big.

Our job at Ross is to continue to build awareness with large print buyers as to the power of this totally digital workflow. Fully implemented, the benefits of web-based print management, print/mail/drop ship-on-demand, warehousing and automatic inventory replenishment saves staff time which goes to bottom line growth. We have examples of very visible area concerns utilizing this technology now.

Call on us for assistance in development customized workflows.

A Great Article

2005-08-17T11:39:00.000-07:00

Puts words to the value add of great design.

http://www.apple.com/pro/design/stoneyamashita/

E-Mail

2005-08-11T09:50:00.000-07:00

An interesting article regarding e-mail risk and policies. Credit Peppers & Rodgers Group.

Email Is No Longer a Private Matter By John Gaffney, Executive Editor
Earlier this week, software firm Symantec released an email management solution designed to "keep message systems running, protected and compliant." The company touts that the software addresses critical corporate risk by "helping customers meet internal business and external regulatory requirements for the management of corporate data stored in email." This reflects the growing importance of email systems as crucial to a firm's operations.
Yet the concept of corporate risk goes beyond just security issues. The contents of an email document might come back to haunt (or help) a company or its employees. Companies that don't consider that may find themselves in hot water.
Emails are legal documents. Ask former WorldCom exec Bernie Ebbers. Ask Martha Stewart. They are important and legally admissible documents in employee disputes, private legal matters and civil legal cases. Your company needs to state its policy clearly regarding emails within its own culture as well as in its dealings with customers and partners.
Current concerns with email fall into two areas: E-discovery and internal corporate policy. E-discovery is the legal process by which your company's electronic documents, email included, can be subpoenaed within a certain period of time by a government agency or a legal adversary. For example, there was a recent case in which New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer charged Web site purveyor Intermix Media with spreading spyware programs, electronic documents were requested.
"E-discovery raises all sorts of difficult issues," says Scott Dailand of Washington, D.C. law firm Dow, Lohnes and Albertson. "Do you search your employees' inboxes? Do you back up all your emails on a series of tapes?"
According to Dailand, emails are admissible evidence in any kind of court case where the content of the document is proven to be relevant. So your company better make sure it has its own versions of all emails.
Rules surrounding email's legality in the corporate setting vary from country to country, so each individual firm should know exactly how its emails could be used.
Barabra Weil Gall, a specialist in intellectual property at Denver-based Ireland Stapleton Pryor Pasco, recommends keeping all emails for the length of an employee's tenure, plus the statute-of-limitations period. That's not a matter of privacy, she states in a recent Gigalaw.com article, it's the law.
Gall also says that only two major cases have tested the company right to access employee email, and both have come down on the side of the company. In the first reported decision, a 1996 case from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania known as Smyth v. The Pillsbury Co., an employee sued for wrongful termination after he was fired because he had written an email critical of management. The court determined that Smyth "did not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in his emails, despite the company's promises," adding that he "could not claim that he was fired in violation of any public policy" either, says Gall.
In McLaren v. Microsoft Corp., a 1999 Texas case, an employee was suspended by Microsoft pending investigation for sexual harassment and "inventory questions." McLaren requested access to his email to mount a defense, and he was denied full access. The email messages contained on the company computer were not McLaren's personal property, according to the court. They were an inherent part of the office environment.
Having a clear policy and communicating it effectively are equally critical. "By far the largest number of cases in which email evidence has been introduced involved employment-related disputes, including wrongful termination, employment discrimination and sexual harassment suits," states Ian C. Ballon of New York's Manatt, Phelps & Phillips. "A well thought-out email policy and employee education may reduce the creation of needlessly harmful email evidence and reduce employee friction."

Print Shipments/Text Messaging

2005-08-07T18:56:00.000-07:00

The graphic below validates (Bureau of Census) the continuing erosion of print shipments. Inflation adjusted numbers indicate a drop for the third year. We think print as a messaging medium is still the most powerful tool to close the sale. That said, it still must be timely, relevant and specific to the buyer's interests. Our Indigo digital solution for both sheets and labels assist marketers in this effort.

Text Messaging

Text messaging appears to be the wave of the future and common place among the 18-27 age group. This link explains it all and more. TM spam cannot be far behind.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/2005-07-27-text-messaging_x.htm

Web-to-Print

2005-08-03T11:14:00.000-07:00

From a respected industry pub regarding our most recent topic:

Web-to-Print Applications Poised for Growth

In our Fall 2004 Printing survey, 36% of digital printers said they offered "Web-to-print" services for clients compared to 30% of all print and prepress firms.
Why Should You Care? The potential of Web-to-print or the ability for customers to order printing on-demand using Web portals without human intervention to give printers a 24/7 online storefront has a lot of appeal and room for growth. Our research indicates that both clients and printers have yet to even scratch the surface on Web-to-print applications.

W2P applications have become more economical and simpler to implement and use.

--Excerpted from the TWGA Special Report, "Web-to-Print: Internet-Enabled Personalization," July 2005

As we wrap up this discussion, let me pass on our thoughts:

1. We have structured our WTP solution to provide for quick digital or small sheet litho with Iway. Iway is credit card enabled and also has a neat digital catalog capability for those who wish to "design/build" from stock photos, value statements, calls to action, names, addresses etc. AND still achieve next day shipment AND be brand compliant.

2. Our collaboration tool is WebWay. WebWay is typically used for large litho/projects like price lists, catalogs, annual reports, view books etc. WebWay allows you the administrator to build teams on a project-specific basis, generate automatic emails to team members requesting action/approval, annotate/edit, post revised images etc. until approval and then easily drop the file into our Nexus workflow for hard proofs or plates.

A pdf workflow present in both modules. Files are downloadable to your desktop for review/editing in both modules. Digital archiving is available in both. Both are 24X7 from most web browsers and are secure, dedicated workspaces for you and your client.

We would be more than happy to build a beta site for you to build confidence in this emerging print management tool.