by Sandy Hubbard　

In the past you competed with other print shops for jobs.

Today you compete with traditional and online marketers, your own customers who are outputting jobs in various ways, in-house printing operations, online discount printers, your local office supply mega store, and many other types of businesses that are expanding into print.

You’ll notice that I said “today.” I’m not advising you to sell against those types of competitors; you should already be doing that.

Instead we are going to talk about The Future.

One of the things about being a Print Futurist is that people expect me to recommend the next robotic piece of equipment or the next mind-blowing technology. Of course I am always interested in those things and researching them on your behalf. Ultimately, though, preparing yourself for the future involves a lot more than buying the latest gimmick.

Your next wave of competitors will be very young, very creative entrepreneurs who can bring technologies to market so quickly you can’t plan how to outwit them.

These competitors are charismatic people with little hands-on business experience but strong networks of collaborators and angel investers. They often open their businesses sooner than they should because they want to gain market share and be bought by a bigger company. They offer customers, partners and investors heavy discounts or stock options as compensation for participating in their research and development. These energetic start ups work around the clock, often funded out of their own pockets. And they often by-pass the traditional new product debut process and jump straight to product delivery.

Despite product bugs, new customers climb on board with these entrepreneurs to get ahead in their own market sectors, using the collaboration as an opportunity to experiment with new technologies with little financial investment.

If this sounds wacky and out of the realm of your company or customers, take a deep breath and put on your creative hat. These types of arrangements are being made all around you.

Even though my specialties are print and publishing, my professional networks know that I am interested in new technologies. I am invited on a regular basis to preview, review, beta test, and partner in developments across the board, and many of these ideas could be game changers for their particular industries. Often they never make it to fruition, due to funding or inexperienced business owners, but during their innovation and testing phases they are pseudo-viable products.

As a printing company or print producer, you can safely participate in this wave a few ways.

1. Approach the manufacturer of your favorite piece of equipment or software and offer to be a beta tester. For software, this process can be as easy as going to a website and agreeing to hold them harmless if the beta product messes up your computer or a job, etc. Read the fine print to find out if you will be required to report on results or join in group meetings with other beta users.

2. Offer to participate in the beta tests of your own suppliers. You will earn their gratitude, you will see what they are working on, and they will work hard to shield you from any negative impacts of the test process. You might be able to benefit from having a new piece of equipment in your shop for a while, and sometimes you can have the cost of supplies paid for by the supplier as well. Be sure to run the paperwork past your legal team to be sure you are not agreeing to automatically buy the equipment after the testing phase.

3. Offer to beta test a technology that is not directly related to print. You might test a customer relations management (CRM) upgrade or an app that integrates your smart phone to the shipping and receiving department. Testing technologies that improve your relationship with your customers could give you an incremental edge over your competition.

4. Offer to bring one of your open-minded customers into the loop and allow them to benefit from the arrangement as well.

It all sounds dangerous and out of control, doesn’t it? It seems as though the benefits could never outweigh the negative impacts to your operation and your workflow.

But here are a couple of considerations:

We tend to use equipment and software long past its usefulness, both mechanically and market-wise. While your competitors and start ups are embracing the newest versions, we make do with what we have because it’s still in good condition, makes financial sense, integrates smoothly into our workflow, and postpones that distruptive time when we finally do install or upgrade.

But what if, by participating in beta testing, we trained our organization to be more responsive to change, to be more creative about handling disruption, and to be eager to learn about the newest advances in our field?

Trust me 100 percent when I say that the benefits of having an organization that can graciously, nimbly and cleverly address and incorporate change will more than make up for the disadvanges you might foresee.

And for all the grumbling that will go on, you will see your staff change, become more positive, and evolve into a more strategic organization. If you are a print producer or one-person operation, you will look at yourself a few months into the process and hardly recognize yourself.

There are consultants dedicated to helping your company embrace change, and it might be worth it to involve them as you start this journey.

The future of print is going to involve more and more change — some that you can control and much of it that you cannot. Helping your organization position itself for migrations in technology and business will be one of the greatest strategies you can employ today.

Sandy Hubbard is Print Futurist for Print Media Centr. For 22 years she published a regional printing magazine, advising printers of all sizes and specialties on how to maximize their operations in the face of our quickly evolving industry.

After I checked to see if the sky was falling, or perhaps hell had frozen over, I called her. Yep it’s verified, she is on Facebook.

For many years now Grandma, who is over 80 and closer to 90 and would kill me if I revealed her exact age, has been using email via AOL. I don’t think she has really gotten the hang of that though since all I get from her are mass email forwards. When it comes to actually communicating, she calls or get ready for it, sends a card or a newspaper article she thinks I’d like through the mail.  A few months ago as a matter of fact she called and told me to be on the lookout for something she read about this new website for professionals called Link something.

Now that her Facebook friend request and my impossible reaction have hopefully been solidified, you are probably wondering as I did what catalyst caused Grandma to go social. The answer… “Well, that’s where all of you are.”

So, where is your audience?

In January I gave a presentation at the Paper Distribution Council’s Executive Meeting on “Marketing Paper in a Multi-Channel World” where I touched upon the importance of finding their social audience, communicating through the social platforms their audience was most likely using, and some tips on how to engage with them.  I hope you find some of this useful as you build your social audience – and just substitute “paper” for whatever products and services work for you. Despite the absence of my color commentary, I think you will get the picture just like Grandma did! But if you need any guidance, you know how and where to find me…

DC: Who is Mike Peluso and what does he do?

MP: I’m Mike Peluso, Vice President of Shawmut. As a third-generation Peluso to work at Shawmut, I play an integral role in the company’s sales and marketing departments. I feel blessed to work so closely with my uncle, brother and sister because I grew up understanding that family was the number one priority in life. Between my grandfather, Shawmut founder Ted Peluso, having 13 brothers and sisters and my mother having four sisters, our weekends growing up were always spent with family.

While today my siblings and I don’t have quite as large of a family (my immediate family includes my wife Michele and our children Justin and Isabella) spending quality family time outside of work is still our number one priority. To this day my father continues to instill this value and it is something I strive to teach my children as well. 

Together, my family all owns a house on Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire which we spend time at throughout the year. It’s a great getaway spot and I love going there to fly fish as well as boat with my children, nieces and nephews.

DC: You are the third generation of a family owned business. What is the history of your company and do any other family members still work with you?

MP: Since 1951, Shawmut has been a family-owned and operated company.  Shawmut founder Ted Peluso, my grandfather, started the company as a commercial printer and distributor of advertising specialties. Today, my uncle – Dom – is President of the company. In addition to myself and Dom, my brother and sister, Dan Peluso and Stacy Peluso-Slaney, hold executive positions within the company.

While Shawmut remains an expert in printing, today the company is a full-service cross-media solutions company that offers clients print, design, mailing and fulfillment services.

DC: How did your family come to the decision to expand your services into the Marketing Technology arena?

MP: Shawmut has been expanding our services for more than 10 years. We first started with on-line fulfillment and then added mailing services. Adding both of those services has proven very beneficial for our company and because of the success we’ve had it’s been easier for the entire executive team to embrace the idea of further expansion.

As we continue to grow and implement new marketing technology services, I find that it’s important to educate the entire executive team and get everyone on the same page. Once everyone understands how the technology works and how our clients will benefit from it, it’s easier to move forward. I know my uncle, Shawmut president Dom Peluso is proud of the accomplishments and forward progress we’ve made over the years. He’s worked at Shawmut for over 40 years so the changes with regard to technology are very forward-thinking. However, I think it’s in the Peluso blood to embrace change and expansion in general. My grandfather was actually always progressive and embraced new technology. If he were here today I’m sure he would have been the first one to say we should expand our services into the marketing technology arena.

DC: What challenges have you experienced in transitioning from a “Traditional” Printing company to a Marketing Technology Services Provider?

MP: While some suggest that print is a dead medium, we have learned the way to keep it alive and fresh is to incorporate technology.  We felt it was important to transition from a more “traditional” printing role to a full-service cross-media services provider in order to meet the demands of our clients.  At Shawmut we offer clients a wide-range of capabilities including variable data printing, Personalized URLs, QR Codes and a new cross-media tool the PrintPlus Brochure, which is a traditionally printed brochure that has an embedded USB in the printed piece. 

One challenge we’ve been faced with was trying to present these new, cross-media solutions to our clients who viewed us exclusively as a printer.  One way we’ve worked to combat this dilemma was by launching our subsidiary company u-connect.   u-connect was created to bridge the gap between strategy and services through the development of specific programs.  We offer clients different packages to implement lead generation, loyalty, giving and trade show marketing programs, as well as custom marketing programs.  The package offerings include everything from traditional print materials to full-scale online nurturing programs.

Another way to show clients and prospects our various technology-related capabilities is through our 2012 marketing campaign – The New Adventures of Captain Technology. You can read the first installment of our comic book campaign by clicking here.

DC: What is the benefit of the Marketing Technology services to your customers and do you have any data or case study examples to share.

MP: We are frequently approached by customers who need help with problem solving.  From increasing awareness of a product to launching new facilities, we believe being equipped with the knowledge to offer our customers cross-media services helps us solve any problem and many times exceeds their expectations.

Some examples of how beneficial our cross-media solutions have been include the following:

- A global medical technology company approached Shawmut to help launch a one-to-one campaign to target a specific group of potential customers that were opening new labs. Armed with this information Shawmut developed a “New Lab” program that included design, digital printing, PURLs and mailing. By strategically targeting this group of potential customers in a way that was interesting and engaging, the response rate increased by 30% . Today the company has implemented this one-to-one campaign into a monthly program.

- A nationally known insurance company hired Shawmut in search of a solution for developing an online program for their transportation division. In an effort to keep the company and brand cohesive, Shawmut implemented a seamless Web2Print Solution. This variable data solution kept the brand consistent, modernized the company’s ability to reach out to their consumers and reaffirmed Shawmut’s leadership as a diverse cross-media specialist.

DC: Including Social Media, how can people connect with and contact Shawmut Printing.

MP:  Our Website:  www.shawmutprinting.com
2012 Campaign:  www.shawmutsquad.com
Email: michaelp@shawmutprinting.com
Twitter: @uconnectShawmut
LinkedIn:  www.linkedin.com/company/shawmut-printing
YouTube:  www.youtube.com/user/shawmutprinting. 

DC: Lastly, if you were to give the commencement speech at your alma mater, the Rochester Institute of Technology, what would your message be regarding the role of Print in a multi-channel marketing campaign?

MP: It’s hard to believe, but when I sat where they are today iPads, Facebook and email did not even to exist.  (At least email was not part of the average college student’s world.)  The way we communicate today has drastically changed, and because of that the role of marketers and the development of marketing campaigns have had to adjust as well. 

In today’s technology-driven world, we are exposed to hundreds of marketing messages a day.  To break through the clutter and reach their customers, companies need to create well-rounded marketing campaigns that target prospects in a variety of ways.  I believe by targeting customers through various mediums – mediums that are of course appropriate and relevant depending on the service or product – there is a greater chance the intended message will be received.  As such, one of the key components of almost any multi-channel marketing campaign should be print.  Most of the messages we receive on a daily basis are communicated through email, social media and text messages.  However, by taking a more traditional tool, such as print, and combining it with today’s technology, companies can produce marketing materials that are applicable to the intended receiver and hopefully stand out in our world that is surrounded by devices and a lack of face-to-face communication.

As with any marketing tool, it’s important to implement the tool only if you believe it will add to the success of your campaign.  However, I firmly believe that even today we have yet to exhaust the many ways we can creatively utilize print. 

The news is in – the USPS has announced a summer postage incentive program:

via Postology Report – February 2012 – Postology Hot Topics: There Will Be a Postage Incentive Promotion This Summer.

It will probably start in July. There is the possibility of a June start, but that is not likely.

The promotion will run for 2 months or 3 months.

The focus is on the combined use of mail and mobile technology.

The USPS wants best practices employed and there will be more control required than that of the mobile-related promotion in 2011.

The USPS firmly believes there is a great connection between mail and mobile channels. What the USPS wants, however, is more focus on the use of the two in an integrated manner. There will be some specific rules for the program. Here it what the program most likely will require:

When a mobile barcode (quick response or QR Code) is employed, the target site must be mobile enhanced (no regular web sites this time).

More will be required of the mailpiece bearing the code.

The piece must help consumers (or business customers) make a transaction.

The target site must provide the ability to purchase (have a shopper’s cart, etc).

Mail owners will be required to register for this promotion by permit. Service providers will be allowed to register their customers.

The incentive, somewhere between 2% to 3%, will be for Standard Mail and possibly First-Class Mail. Periodicals are being considered.

There will be a postage and/or mail volume threshold to be met as well as an upper limit. It is the plan of the USPS that when the upper limit is reached the incentive is automatically turned off for that mail owner.

The USPS believes the mobile code must have relevance to the recipient and include personalization, such as a unique micro site or PURL [personalized URL] for the specific consumer. It is likely the USPS will require one or the other in a single promotion.

As more becomes known, we will keep you informed.

source: KPTV in Portland, Oregon

It appears there was a bit of a flower delivery glitch on Valentines Day yesterday, and unhappy customers have taken to social media in droves to publicly voice their anger, and they are NOT holding back…
The 1-800Flowers Twitter and Facebook Page are covered with nasty messages.

Now this is an extreme example, and no doubt that 1-800Flowers customer service is trying their best to remedy the situation and keep up with replies, but short of a PR intervention along the lines of BP and the oil spill in the gulf, it certainly can be assumed none of these people will be using this company again.

During a webinar I attended recently presented by Mari Smith (she is awesome and you should know who she is, especially if you have a Facebook Business page!), she stated the #1 reason companies don’t want to get involved with social media is the FEAR of public negative comments. While 1-800Flowers is currently experiencing a nightmare, we are all in the customer service business in some way or another and negative comments and problems to resolve are part of our lives.

I think you learn more about someone by the way they handle issues than you do if everything runs smoothly. In almost all of the recommendations or referrals I give for resources I mention something about how they resolve problems, rectify mistakes, and deal with upset clients – based on first hand knowledge since I am usually the customer in the scenario. However, I also have clients (either through freelance or ad agency) to answer to who are looking for me to resolve problems, rectify mistakes, and deal with them in an empathetic manner when they are freaking out.

The truth is that Valentines Day is a HUGE flower day. For the hundreds of negative comments 1-800Flowers is receiving via social media, thousands and thousands of others are quietly enjoying the scent of flora in their homes and offices. We can’t see all those tweets and posts about the lovely bouquet they received yesterday because they aren’t aggregated anywhere like the negative ones are.

So what is the moral of the story?

One bad day, or messed up project doesn’t tell the whole story of who a person or company is. Resolving it publicly can only HELP YOU, if of course you can turn the upside down … Don’t fear the negative comment. Open up your Facebook walls so everyone can post and really show people who you are when issues arise. Invite critique and ask how you can do a better job. Get testimonials from clients that had problems you fixed, and use them as references. Talking about your excellent customer service is one thing, showing it is another.

Contain Us Book  
Art Direction, Design, and Layout by Tom Bejgrowicz Man Alive Creative 
Article by JESSICA MULLEN

Achingly elegant design elevates metal musician Devin Townsend’s image to a much higher octave in this deceivingly quiet box set. Bejgrowicz visually distills Townsend’s work into a museum-quality presentation, helping us see the melody behind the noise.

From the get-go, I made it clear to the printers that I wanted their input. I’m not an expert in their craft, of course, and I was sure that they’d look at my initial plans and be able to tweak a few things in order to make the construct as good as it could be. This came in handy, for instance, with regards to the gatefold centerpiece, disc mounting sheets, and varnishes on the disc labels.

If only I had foreseen the issues that the blind debossing on the charcoal linen wrap would have created. Hands down, this was the single-most anxiety-inducing aspect of the project. In the beginning, this process was never in question and then at some point along the way, it became an issue for both the slipcase and book. On my end, continuity between papers and both the deboss’ effectiveness and depth were extremely important and the fact that the slipcase and book were being handled by two different companies only added to my worries. In the end, mostly everything worked out but my salt and pepper hair is a little saltier because of it.

Otherwise, with there being so many pieces to this puzzle and only myself to handle every aspect of the design, I relied heavily on my studio walls where I sketched out each of the individual items within the collection along with full details on those items. I honestly don’t know what I would have done without what could best be described as the “Great Wall of Devin” this past summer!

See more photos and the project credits here:  Contain Us Book – FPO: For Print Only.

Read this article on why location matters then check out our Documobi webinar replay and get the ball rolling before it passes you by!  You can still save $300 on your license with code PMC12… just click the banner to the right when you are ready to get in the game!

Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?

Location-based technology will redefine behavioral targeting, maybe sooner than you think by Tim Peterson

That future in which a bus-shelter ad equipped with geofencing technology scans your smartphone as you stroll by—inviting you to, say, a free latte or a cut-rate back rub—may not be so far off after all.

“2012 is going to be a huge year in terms of innovation—not just with respect to being able to leverage location to contextualize the types of advertising and offers that a consumer receives, but also then to turn the corner on that and turn it into actual commerce in the physical world,” said Walt Doyle, CEO of the location-based service Where. Last spring, eBay bought Where to facilitate its mobile transactions. It will figure heavily in the forthcoming mobile-commerce initiative of eBay’s electronic payment service PayPal, which has already been tested with Best Buy and Home Depot.

And geotargeting doesn’t stop with the widely cited example of a free cup of Starbucks. While often accused of not living up to its promise, we likely will see the day, and soon, when location-based technology redefines behavioral targeting as we know it, when a consumer packaged-goods company recognizes that a shopper is in the cereal aisle and sends a Wheaties coupon to her phone. What’s more, in the not-so-distant future, a marketer could use technology like that of Where to track a person’s daily routine so precisely that it knows when she’s on her way to the office, the gym or home for the evening.

continues at:  Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? | Adweek.

Hardware, Software, Mailing and Service Bureaus Assemble to Sponsor and Exhibit at Annual Event  

Tampa Bay, FL—February 14, 2012—Xplor International, the worldwide electronic document systems association, today announced that many of the industry’s giants will be exhibiting at Xplor’s annual 2012 Conference and Vendor Forum, March 27-29, 2012. Sponsors and exhibitors include those from the hardware, software, mailing and service bureaus. In addition to a sold-out Vendor Forum, Xplor’s annual event will feature over 70 educational classes and sessions covering the latest trends and best practices in customer communications.

Tweet this: Industry Giants Show Support for Xplor’s 2012 Conference and Vendor Forum: #CCM #xplor12: http://bit.ly/xoboQe

2012 sponsors and exhibitors include:

For electronic document professionals, the Xplor 2012 Conference and Vendor Forum is a must attend event and opportunity to attend educational sessions, expand their network and find solutions for transactional printing, TransPromo, multi-channel communications and customer communication management (CCM). With the 2012 theme of “Making it Relevant,” the event will once again bring together leading edge end users, analysts, industry and subject matter experts as well as vendors who will share information, best practices, trends and the latest in technology.

Xplor’s 2012 Conference and Vendor Forum takes place March 27-29 at the TradeWinds Island Grand Hotel and Conference Center, a 4-Star, 585 room resort destination in the Tampa Bay, Florida area. For more information visit www.xplor.org/Xplor2012/ or to register visit: http://tinyurl.com/844lau3. Questions should be directed to Register@xplor.org, +1-813-949-6170 or 1-800-ON-XPLOR between the hours of 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM (EST), Monday through Friday.

Though exhibits are now sold out, there are several onsite sponsorships available that provide sponsors exceptional brand name exposure to end users during the three day event.  Please contact Xplor’s Director of Sales, Deborah Green at 770-444-3845 or via email at deborahgreen1@earthlink.net.

About Xplor International

Xplor International is a worldwide, not-for-profit professional association that consists of thousands of users and suppliers of the products and services that create, modify and deliver customized information using a wide variety of document technologies. The association provides educational products and programs for its members and the industry at large through conferences, meetings and annual events. Xplor International has its worldwide headquarters in Lutz, Florida with affiliated offices around the world. Further information is available at www.xplor.org.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/XplorInternational

Twitter: @Xplor_Int http://twitter.com/Xplor_int 

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Media Contacts:

Mark Bonacorso
Media Ink.
520-825-0217
markb@mediaink.biz

Skip Henk
Xplor International
(813) 929-8104
skip@xplor.org