Posts Tagged ‘marketing service provider’

The Next Chapter – Everything I Look For In an Event!

Monday, February 13th, 2012

Jim Lichtenberg, founder of Lightspeed, LLC, sheds light on the upcoming book publishing event and his excitement to ‘turn the next page’

Jim Lichtenberg, founder of Lightspeed, LLC


There is a lot of excitement surrounding the next generation of publishing and I’m thrilled to consider myself a part of it. Between industry demands shifting to an on-demand model and customer needs expanding to support new devices, the publishing market has entered a time of sustained evolutio n.  So when Ricoh invited me to speak at “The Next Chapter” event, it’s first-ever, books-driven event, I knew I couldn’t pass up the opportunity. This gathering aims to bridge the gap between publishers and book manufacturers by addressing the challenging business issues facing the market – I knew this was right up my alley.

Perhaps only a few years ago, there was still debate about the anticipated transformation of the entire publishing industry – especially around its speed, direction, and extent. But today, that debate is over. Well, the transformation is here and it’s radical. Yet, we’re still finalizing the details, especially about how, where and when we will reach a new plateau of stability – establishing a new standard different from the 250 year old structure.   Clarity about this is a long ways off.

What we do know is that publishing continues to grow in popularity as digital product.  There’s a collapse of retail for physical product, and there’s a trend toward shorter runs and less to zero inventory. Print on demand and, the equally important, new digital print engines have also garnered tremendous movement and development.

This development and resurgence of technology isn’t the only issue. Rather, companies have to consider the transformation of the business model and the pressures facing the entire supply chain. Printers included, the new business model requires adjustments to allow businesses processes to accelerate to meet new forms of customer demand.

One of the most important ways to address these new demands is through automation. Automation it is the key to creating a sustainable business in this new environment.  Even more importantly, the key to automation is understanding and evolving the workflow, ideally from author to reader, but at least and at first across the printing industry.

During my presentation at the Next Chapter I will highlight how transformation in workflow is now mission-critical, or addressing how a change in business model puts industries in peril. This event will undoubtedly explore the challenges and possible solutions in print, e-delivery and workflow.

All in all, I am very excited for the opportunity to discuss these issues, with a range of players in publishing, because it is only through dialogue across the supply chain that sustainable and sustaining solutions can be found.

What do you think?  Are you joining us to hear more about The Next Chapter?

Best,

Jim

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Posted in Commercial print, book printing, e-delivery, print on demand | No Comments »

Who Should Assess? YOU Should Assess!

Wednesday, January 25th, 2012

This blog post is contributed from our colleague, Paul Abdool, an international thought leader in the production print space.  He is the National Practice Manager for the Production Print and Mail Practice Group within the Enterprise Solutions division of Ricoh. 

Paul Abdool, National Practice Manager, Ricoh

Don’t “Just Do It”

Nike™ and Wieden+Kennedy, Nike’s primary ad agency, coined the now-famous slogan “Just Do It” for a 1988 Nike ad campaign.  This statement encouraged us to get moving and get fit.  It inspired us to stop procrastinating with our fitness and make a spontaneous-like decision to improve ourselves. 

Although I am a big fan of spontaneity, fitness and focus, there are a few things in this world that need to be thought out to “do it” just right. 

The Patio Builder

A few years ago, I was in the market for a new deck, or at least I thought I was.  I wanted a stable, flat surface for my barbeque, a place to put a patio set to eat dinner at in the summer and a place to catch some rays.  So being a “due diligence” kind of guy, I thought I would call a few companies to get some quotes.  The approaches by the companies were very different.  Wood deck builders wanted to know where I lived and the size of the deck I wanted.  The concrete patio guys said, “We would like to schedule an appointment to check out your backyard and discuss your needs prior to providing available times and pricing.”  So I received my quote via email from the deck company in the afternoon and the next evening I met with the patio “pre-assessment” fellow.  The gentleman from the patio company inquired about my needs, asked about my time constraints and measured the area.  In about 45 minutes he gave me a description of their process, the staff, provided references and addresses in the area so I could check out their work.  He then provided an estimate and asked if that was around what I was thinking about spending.

What did he really do?

  • He listened to my needs – he did not provide a cookie cutter quote
  • He created credibility – he explained the designs he had done for others with similar wishes
  • He established my budget – he ensured that he was only going to do what I could afford
  • He knew what type of effort it would take so that I knew what to expect
  • He answered all of my questions

Now that I had an idea of the budget, the temporary disruption level and project timing, he sent in his “technical” crew leader to double check the quote, take final measurements, create a project plan and to ensure that he had a full understanding of my needs.  Ultimately, I was satisfied.  Why?  Because they did not “just do it”.

Why do we do assessments?

Like the patio builder, I do “pre-assessments” before digging into a project – pun intended.  The pre-assessments allow me to better understand the project and the potential for improving the current state.  I also conduct assessments or discoveries, as we call them, if the organization wants to optimize their document production operation and processes.

My point is simple.  Professionals from all industries conduct assessments. 

And here’s why:

  • To establish a current state = this is critical for measuring against in the future
  • customers need to know how much the proposed changes will improve their operation
  • To build a Return on Investment model – in these times of shrinking budgets and shortened timelines, a good ROI is critical
  • To create a plan = a well thought out plan is critical to reaching goals and measuring success

 So, why should you budget time and money for professionals to conduct assessments? 

  • To gain access to technical skills -it is impossible to be an expert in all areas, professionals have tools and methodologies to gather information quickly, a specialist will notice things that you may not
  • To experience and benchmark – since the specialist conducting the assessment does it every day, they are able to discuss trends and how you compare to others professionals will continually improve their processes to get better results for the next customer so you benefit from their past
  • Because you don’t know what you don’t know – professionals have to stay abreast of the latest technology and offerings in the market they know the answers to questions you have not even thought of asking yet or how to find answers through their network of expert peers
  • To deliver concise presentations – professionals can summarize goals, issues, data and other facts into a succinct message so all stakeholders involved understand the options and what is in it for them

Ben Franklin was right

In 1736, Ben Franklin said, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”  He was referring to insurance but it certainly applies to anything that you can avoid messing up by doing your due diligence or homework – including print!  Anything that is significant to you or your organization, whether it is building a deck, running a business, or even selecting a new workflow should be thought through thoroughly to truly understand to meaning and value of your ultimate decision.  

What do you think?  Do you share my practice of assessing before making large business decisions?  Please share!

Best,

Paul Abdool

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Posted in ADF, AFP, Commercial print, Precision Marketing, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Pizza, Lobster and Print…What Do They Have in Common?

Thursday, December 1st, 2011

Print is perishable. Like a pizza, printers have to deliver while the job is “fresh.” In our world, “fresh” means according to a sales order, from a menu of choices, and delivered in a timely manner.

Simple, right? And if the printer can’t deliver, the job doesn’t disappear….it simply moves to another shop.

It is hard to imagine any manufacturing business model where the manufacturer never gets the same raw materials to build their product.  Think about any industry – the auto industry, the computer industry, the fragrance industry… heck even the restaurant industry – where all their
work is perishable. Thinking of it this way, print is very similar to most of these industries.

What if you visited your favorite restaurant chain, lets say Red Lobster (since it is the world’s largest chain, who knew!) and you were there expecting to order the Shrimpfest. Except on this visit, Red Lobster only has monkfish, no shrimp. (Sidebar: If you have been around a monkfish, you’ll know it’s virtually impossible to confuse it with a shrimp. I just saw someone on an old TopChef episode try to clean one and prepare it; it officially cured me of eating any fish for about a year, but I digress.)

Back to the Red Lobster example. They may even have another type of fish aside from monkfish – but whatever the case is, it’s not exactly the same dish you had on your previous vist…which made you want to come back.  Maybe their oven has been replaced by a microwave. Maybe they don’t have panko breadcrumbs and have to use crackers this time.  No matter the reason, all the materials are slightly different, but it’s the same order!
This will not meet your expectations and you won’t be happy.  You may even stop visiting Red Lobster. The point is, due to the variation in an order, the restaurant may lose a customer and in the service industry, food or print, customers keep us alive. Consistency is vital to making customers happy.

Like lots of manufacturers, commercial printers bring together an amalgamation of different materials and technologies from different sources, some old and some very new, to fulfill an expectation.  Many times, the printer does not receive the exact same materials each time they manufacture the job.  The printer might have to chase the exact same paper, though the vendors and mills change all the time. Their conventional versus digital print processes work on completely different technologies and standards, often difficult to even get close. And the actual content or digital files they get to build the job probably have the widest variation, and unfortunately this issue is getting worse as customers create files and images from more and more digital devices and channels.

It is not a surprise that the printing industry has so much variation; the advent of new technologies has allowed many exciting new ways to capture the imagination and expectations of the print buyer.  But the industry have done little to lessen the load on the commercial printer to juggle the manufacturing process around the ever shifting sands of supplies, suppliers, people and presses, and those pesky digital file formats.  To help alleviate this issue, commercial printers should seek out true “partners” (not vendors) to aid them in adjusting to this ongoing shift and to embrace these new technologies.  Some say food is the way to one’s soul…but for many its consistent print output!

Til next time,

Joey Print Pants

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Posted in Commercial print, Precision Marketing | No Comments »

Customer Video: Helping Enhance Swiss Efficiency

Friday, November 18th, 2011

Switzerland has a reputation for efficiency. But as we have found out, its expertise extends further than precision watches and perfect chocolate to transaction printing.

With 600 employees, B-Source is Switzerland’s leading company providing business process and IT outsourcing. It aims to help its clients in the banking and financial sector become more efficient, leaner and more secure.

As one of the leading providers of outsourcing services in the field of document output management, B-Source supports its customers as they communicate with their consumers using both print and online tools.

This video interview, in German and with English subtitles, covers B-Source Outline’s decision to examine its workflow, evaluate ADF, and covers why it chose InfoPrint Process Director to help its clients communicate with their customers.

They key factors in decision making were vendor neutrality, the use of standard components including a browser interface and the management system for controlling the production environment.

Watch the video here:  B-Source and Ricoh

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Posted in ADF, Multichannel, Precision Marketing | No Comments »

What Does Stuart Smalley Have to Do With Digital Newspapers? More Than You Know…

Wednesday, November 9th, 2011

What Does Stuart Smalley Have to Do With Digital Newspapers?  More Than You Know…

This is the first installment on our InfoPrint Insights blog from our new contributor…some simply call him Joe, but here we’ll call him Joey Print Pants.  In this series, Joey Print Pants will tackle the real issues facing commercial printers as they look to successfully deploy digital presses.  Who better to advise on such a drastic shift than a man who wears print as pants?

Joey Print Pants

Newspapers are the Stuart Smalley of print. They’re good enough, they’re smart enough, and wow, people like them. In fact in most mid markets and small towns, people LOVE them.
So why aren’t newspapers pushing the “go” button on digital presses?

The simple answer is that digital presses don’t always make economic sense as a replacement to offset or conventional print in most traditional application environments. In fact, the successful installations of digital newspaper printing are for specialty short run product for international papers, and on islands with time constraints and ultra short runs.

Globally, there are only about 14 or 15 digital newspaper installations – that’s it. There were more, but the companies building these businesses missed the initial market demand and ultimately failed. They were irrelevant the minute they turned on the press, because their thinking was that people will purchase newspapers if the print is fresher and up to the minute with news. In one word – they were WRONG.

Today, people actually get real-time news.  It’s on their iPad, their smartphone, their tablet and the best part is – it’s free.  Why would they want hard copy print records of things that happened hours or days ago? The answer is they likely wouldn’t – unless it’s a story about their kid kicking the winning goal, or their parents’ anniversary. Its relevancy man! Relevant content is what continues to sell newspapers in any town USA and even beyond our borders.

The target should be advertising content, like inserts, onserts, response cards and coupons. Newspapers already know a ton of information about their subscription base (yes some people still subscribe!) They know how to bundle and distribute right down to the smallest carrier route. In many locations, the newspaper might compete as the largest commercial printer in the area.  This then begs the question, why aren’t newspapers morphing into the direct mail and advertising business?

So back to Stuart Smalley: the newspapers. The real digital opportunity for newspaper to succeed in digital print is in Precision Marketing and extending the ad window by days not just hours.  Think about your local grocery store, now hawking wines and cheese and trying to move upscale. Wouldn’t they love to target a specific neighborhood or street in town with their ads?  Or the car dealer that might want to market their vans to families but their imports to others?  This can excite all advertisers because we are talking about response rates driven by relevance. And when was the last time you heard the term relevance and newspapers in the same sentence?

So newspaper lovers, put on your favorite cardigan, put a big smile on your face, and sit down in front of a mirror and tell yourself you are good and smart and relevant. Then call your favorite digital print company and have a discussion about changing their business model ASAP…

‘til next time –

Joey Print Pants

…also known as

Joe Caruso

Global Business Development, Commercial Print

Connect with him here

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Posted in Commercial print, Precision Marketing | No Comments »

Part Two: Advice from the Top with Sandra and Lee

Thursday, June 16th, 2011

As promised, here is Part Two of our two-part series with marketing specialists Sandra Zoratti and Lee Gallagher…

How has Precision Marketing evolved over the years and what ways do you see it changing in the future?

Precision Marketing has evolved to encompass all customer communications.  A decade ago, most printers used the term “TransPromo” which really honed in on adding personalized content to transactional documents.  It was a very focused term, one that left little room for flexibility.  To top that off, it didn’t register with the marketing side of the house. 

The use of customized communications has morphed to become a broadened, more dynamic channel to promote, address and inform a targeted audience.  From direct mail to e-mail; a statement to a publication – customer-facing documents have often been an underused way to share a message.  Today, organizations across all industries including insurance, publishing, banking, utilities and more are using precision marketing tactics with an intended goal of communicating a targeted message to a targeted audience.

In the future, we will only see precision marketing take on more forms and be implemented via more channels.  Mobile and other instant forms of communications will likely be optimized as an avenue to show customers that you know them – a key goal of precision marketing.

What is one of your favorite your precision marketing best practices implementations that you have worked on?

We worked closely with the team at Los Angeles Department of Water and Power to implement a full, end-to-end operational shift, re-designing their monthly customer statements to better meet customer needs.  We worked together to refresh the look and the feel by adding color, graphs and visual elements to show customer usage patterns, and made icons for each service (water, electric, gas) – making the bill easy to follow and understand.  The main objectives were: to improve clarity of the information; in turn reducing call inquires by 20 percent; influence customer behavior to reduce energy consumption and emissions; and lower the cost of statement operations through process automation.  The overall goal was to influence customer behavior to keep costs low, while better serving the customer’s communication needs. 

Just launched in May, this new bill is sure to exceed these goals.  And we’ll be eager to share that news with you once it happens.

Is there one mistake most companies make when they are looking for content to mine to create relevant messaging for their audience?
Most companies find the data daunting.  Specifically, they are intimidated (and understandably so) by silo’ed data, disparate data across multiple databases, inaccurate data and multiple customer records.   The mistake is that this fear of data causes paralysis.  

We have devised a crawl, walk, run approach that encourages companies to start with the data they have in the format they have it in, and expand iteratively and modularly from there.  This avoids paralysis, eliminates the need for huge investments in infrastructure over longer time horizons and generates proof points along the way that help justify additional efforts.  We say the most important step is to get started and use the data you have or a simple data file that can be generated with simple data-gather techniques.  In fact, we have generated a 3-digit ROI by leveraging one 30-day transactional data file.

What is the one strategy you would say is a must when implementing a successful Precision Marketing campaign?

Set your goals early on and evaluate post the campaign to realize what worked, what didn’t and what could be changed for the next time around to enhance results.  Often times, goals are not set early on and that can cause complications, especially when tracking for ROMI.  If there’s one tip to remember, this is it!

What is the number one lesson for reader’s to take away from this book?

Marketing is one of the most challenging disciplines in business because of the rapid pace of change, increase in number of marketing channels and the threat of consumers disengaging.  In addition to these factors, businesses today require marketing to measure, prove and improve on a quarterly or monthly basis.    The number one lesson of BMA’s Top Advice is to collaborate and learn from others so that you can shine in your B2B marketing role and deliver quantifiable value to your business.

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Part One: Advice from the Top with Sandra and Lee

Monday, June 6th, 2011

Sandra Zoratti, Vice President of Global Solutions Marketing and Lee Gallagher, Director of Precision Marketing Sales at InfoPrint Solutions recently participated in the launch of the first-ever Business Marketing Association (BMA) Colorado chapter’s published book – “Advice from the Top: The Expert Guide to B2B Marketing.”

In this first part of a two part series, Zoratti and Gallagher discuss everything from the value of B2B marketing through to their inspiration behind their chapter.
 

Q1.You have spent years leading discussions and panels talking about B2B practices and tips, what inspired you to contribute to “Advice from the Top?”  

A1. There are three main reasons why we decided to take on this challenge.  First and most importantly, the BMA Colorado as an organization is a thought leader in the area of B2B Marketing Best Practices.  It was an honor to be asked by them to contribute to this inaugural book alongside 23 other B2B marketers in Colorado.  We welcomed the opportunity to share our slice of knowledge with this esteemed organization and their dedicated followers.
Furthermore, the other 23 authors who contributed to this book are true luminaries in B2B marketing.   We are honored to be part of this cutting-edge project that puts individual company interests aside to help the overall B2B marketer regardless of the industry, challenge or area of expertise.  
We wrote about Marketing ROI (also known as ROMI –return on marketing investment) and have seen this emerge as a significant requirement for marketers across industries.   Marketers today are under extreme pressure to perform better and prove the value of each campaign.  Based on this newfound pressure, the ability to demonstrate ROMI has become the key metric of success to the business.  It is the one metric which translates the language of marketing into the language of the business.  While this metric is critical for marketers to maximize and measure, simultaneously, this requirement has come at an extremely challenging time.  Our inspiration for writing this chapter is to help our fellow marketers more clearly demonstrate their ROMI and aid them in repeating it for future successes.
 
Q2. What have your experiences been like working with the BMA team on this book?
A2. The BMA Colorado has been tremendous.  The quality of their approach, editing team, selection of topics and recruitment of authors was impressive.   BMA has established itself as the leader in all things B2B marketing and is forging new ground in this field by delivering member-driven topics, speakers, authors and adding tremendous value to their members through compelling, relevant and practical content.  We believe this is truly remarkable considering that their budgets might not compare to those of the competition.

Q3. What is the best advice from the top you have ever received that has stuck with you throughout the years?
A3. Well, as it relates to Marketing ROI specifically, I think the mantra is measure, prove and improve…and repeat.   The justification and scoring of marketing’s value can go a long way in promoting marketing as an extremely valuable — and quantifiable — discipline in organizations.  Knowing this has helped me become the marketer I am today – I can’t seem to knock the habit!
 
Q4. What challenges did you face when sitting down to write this and explain your methods in a book?
A4. We strove to make this very practical and applicable to the BMA membership and all B2B members.   We used real-world examples and experiences so that readers could learn from our journey.  We have learned through hands-on experience in our own company as well as working with other companies.  We are sharing the ROMI best practices — built on both our successes and mistakes – which we believe will be instructive to other B2B marketers and shorten their learning curve.
 
Q5. How important is it for marketing campaigns to integrate online components in this digital age?
A5, Creating a unified and consistent customer experience is a laudable goal for many marketers.  It has been shown that through the unification of customer touchpoints across all functions (for example customer service, sales, marketing, financing, etc.) can exponentially increase the value of a company in the eyes of their customers.  And that in turn can generate incredible levels of customer loyalty and customer advocacy.  Further, a consistent customer experience can often drive cost out of the required marketing spend.  The only way to achieve a unified customer experience is to integrate online marketing with traditional marketing and all other customer touchpoints.  A tough goal but a worthwhile and ROI-generating one.

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Standing Out in the Sea of Spam

Monday, October 18th, 2010

Everyday consumers are flooded with spam, leaflets and other irrelevant materials.  How does one breakthrough the junk?  Companies need to go a step further when utilizing print service provider’s (PSP’s) technology and expand beyond simply the traditional color solutions and workflow systems. They must be strategic with their printed materials and provide relevant information to the recipient if they want to avoid the trash can.  This requires taking a deeper look into data analytics and reviewing document composition.

Delivering timely and accurate information with customized content is an effective and recognized method to reach individual customers.  PSPs can help their customers achieve this by transforming themselves into marketing service providers, MSPs.  As a MSP, companies can utilize data to drive every aspect of the document – including content, design, and production, which is something they have direct access to. This integration of timely and relevant data is crucial for customers who are trying to stand apart from the competition and, with the growing statistical support of this strategy – including double-digit ROI and increased customer retention – these proven communications are in high demand.

Companies who have implemented these solutions are delivering compelling content, which drives customer loyalty, retention and an easier ability to cross- and up-sell. As mentioned, a double-digit ROI increase has been seen in real-life examples, including success at a leading international hotel chain and a top US cable company, clearly justifying the need to transform into something more useful than a PSP.

The opportunity for MSPs to add new services and become a multi-faceted digital print provider has allowed innovative companies to evolve quickly and come out on top.  The MSPs themselves must be involved and apply creativity when thinking outside the “printer” to enhance their output to most effectively address the needs of their customers. 

Becoming a MSP can be as simple as integrating relevant and customized information directly onto a printed document, or it can expand to tie online and offline communications together and even take advantage of QR code technology, a two-dimensional barcode popular in tracking.  Today, the possibilities are endless and, most importantly, are vital for your customers to stay ahead of their competition.

Are you a MSP that has implemented similar solutions? Do you have other strategies to break out of being labeled “spam?”  We would love to hear your feedback!

If you would like more information about these solutions or have any questions, please feel free to contact Tracey Sheehy at tsheehy@breakawaycom.com.

Best,

Humberto Prospero

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Posted in ADF, Precision Marketing | No Comments »