Print Blog: communicate, motivate, educate, enhance, celebrate, animate, and promote with print and promotional products

Customized desk pad calendars last much longer than branded pizza

The printing revolution went edible years ago; We're all familiar with how our local supermarket bakeries can reproduce photographs on thin layers of sugar paper for cake decoration.  But printing on pizza is a brand new phenomenon.

Who'd want a company logo slapped in the epicenter of their large extra-cheese, basil, tomato and garlic pie?  Well, the NBA is betting that team-branded pizzas will be in huge demand at their concession stands, with fans eagerly coughing up an extra five bucks for a souvenir that will be inside their small instestines within minutes.

You know what advertising medium works far better than gimmicky pizza branding -- and also lasts a lot longer?

Customized desk pad calendars -- especially when they are tailored to your customers' specific industry and contain relevant job-related dates they won't want to forget.

Desk pad calendars, given away free to your most valuable clients, never get outdated.  Well, they naturally do, at the end of the year (or 15 months, depending on what you choose). But when that last month is about to torn off, your customers hopefully will be expecting a replacement from you.

Featuring your logo and contact information, desk pad calendars allow you to be part of your next repeat customer's work environment 24/7. It's not annoying and aggressive advertising, like telemarketing. Desk pad calendars are patient: they say "Hey, I'm here whenever you need me."

Personally, I love to use a desk pad calendar. I'm a doodler and a scribbler and am always frantically searching for scrap paper to jot down a phone number.  And at the end of the month -- WALLA! -- clean slate.

Check out some of these desk pad calendar designs for ideas on how to silently put them to work for you.  There's no pressure to be sexy (these calendars by another printer are really over the top). You just need to come across as helpful.

And the best thing about desk pad calendars?  Unlike printed pizza, these calendars won't burn the roof of your mouth!  No calories, either.

Business cards: Powerful pocket sized branding

Among  the simplest, lowest cost,and most powerful brand promotion tools available is right in your hand: your business card.    Simple, inexpensive, easy to carry, and expected in any encounter,  the ubiquitous business card is your brand image in your pocket.  It's probably the most common form of brand advertising, and your most common marketing opportunity.   It's the staple in the stable of your business printing. 

 Business cards open doors.  They serve as tangible reminders of those you've met, and they generate future business.   Adding photos of your people to your company's business cards reinforces and cobrand your company's face with the human faces of your sales reps.    Photos transform  business cards from flat, two dimensional images into dynamic multimedia tools by tapping into the associated memories of your encounters with that person.   They reinforce your pride in your people, and show your people's passion, and how your people love their work. 

Print on demand has made full color business cards downright cheap.  They're so simple to order now too.   Companies can set up online business card programs where the cards can be ordered and proofed online in just a minute or two.  Once ordered, the cards are delivered in just a few days.  

                                   

Business cards must be at the heart of your marketing campaign and brand building.   There's no better tool to get your marketing moneys worth. 

Business cards are the face of your business, why not make it a human face by adding photos of your people on this powerful branding tool.   

Desk pad calendars to die for: A timely marketing strategy

When you've been in the promotional printing business, you think you've seen it all.

Apparently, we haven't.

At first glance, using fashion models in leather dresses and catsuits to sell one of life's most unglamorous products -- the coffin -- seems like an odd marketing approach.  But the Italian premium casket manufacturer, Cofani Funebri, has been promoting its product line with eye catching calendars since 2003.

Their slogan: "Death has never been so sexy."

These unusual fashion calendars are obviously meant for decorative purposes more than business planning.  But the world of novelty wall calendars is filled with marketing lessons for any industry.

The goal of any promotional calendar is to put your brand in front of your clients' eyeballs and keep it there ALL the time.  You want your brand to seamlessly become part of their office, a subconscious reminder of who to call when they need your product or service.

In order to do that, you obviously can't force product placement upon your customers!  They have to WANT to keep your calendar around. The good news is that this does not require you to hire any scantily clad models or ask your employees to squeeze into costumes they may feel uncomfortable with.  In all likelihood, you may not want to project that kind of image anyhow.

So, how do you make a promotional desk pad calendar as desirable as possible?

Take a look at a few examples of how various title insurance and real estate companies distribute engaging free desk pad calendars to their loyal customers and prospects. Whether it be the dates for courtroom filing deadlines, closing cost rates or important phone numbers, these calendars provide one-stop shopping for the target audience's informational needs.

A great desk pad calendaris inviting and roomy, with plenty of space for scrawling down appointments, phone numbers and even doodles.  For all the BlackBerries, iPads and PDAs out there, many people still prefer to have their "To Do" list spread out in front of them all the time. No battery issues.  And if you drop the calendar, it still works!

Right now is the ideal time to order customized desk pad calendars for the fall. Early order discounts are often available and the sooner you have the calendars in hand the sooner they can start promoting your brand .

Drop us a line to brainstorm how you can take full advantage of being in your client's workspace without being the least bit intrusive.  Of course, there's not room on most desks for two huge desk pad calendars, so make sure you're there first. 

Presentation Folders; Promote Your Brand Every chance you get

My son is twelve years old, we recently went on a sailing vacation, on the second day he asked "hey dad what's Lewmar, are they a company that makes a bunch of stuff for boats?" He'd never heard of Lewmar and unless you spend a lot of time around boats chances are you haven't either, now he knows the company and what they do because they engrave their name on all their products. this is one of the keys to creating a brand put your name where people will see it and remember it.

Presentation folders are an inexpensive and effective way to put your name where people will see it. These days every transaction includes lot's of documents, from instruction manuals, to spec sheets, contracts to legal documents, sales sheets to quotes and FAQ sheets, almost any kind of document you can think of. Use a presentation folder or document folder to package these documents, give them to customers and your brand continues to grow.

             

Retailers use this strategy all the time walk into any mall and look at the bags people are carrying around. Everyone of them is emblazoned with a retailers name and logo, ultimately the bag will end up in the trash at someone's home, but until it gets to it's final resting place  it does the job of promoting the brand by keeping the name where people will see it.

It's simple really keep your name, logo, brand in front of as many people as possible and keep it there as long as possible; it will be remembered and your name recognition and brand will grow. Whether it's a presentation folder, a document holder, a desk pad calendar, or a personalized usb drive, each time you put the brand where people will see it, the brand continues to grow. If you question whether this strategy works walk into a Starbucks and ask yourself why they bother to imprint their color logo on every napkin in the store.

Web To Print: A Case Study In Saving Money

A customer recently decided to utilize our Web To Print solution for their business cards. The original goal was to reduce the cost of the cards. they quickly realized a Web To Print solution could provide even more valuable savings by revolutionizing their entire ordering process.

                                 

Before Web To Print they had to create group orders of cards to get the lowest price, look at the steps they went through  just to order business cards.

Manager sends an email to all employees asking who needs business cards.

Manager follows up to make sure everyone responds.

Manager gathers all the responses and contacts the printer with a list of employees that need cards.

The printer spends the next week creating proofs of each card and sends the proofs back to the manager.

Manager emails the proofs to each employee asking them to approve the proof or make changes.

Manager follows up on all the proofs because many employees don't respond.

Manager collects changes on all cards that are not correct, sends the changes to the printer and the entire process is repeated.

Ordering business cards took 3-4 weeks and created irate employees. The process was not only inefficient, it drove the manager and the employees crazy.

The Web To Print solution changed the process to one that is complete in minutes.

Look at the process using Web To Print.

Employee logs in and either views their existing card or creates a new one. They make any needed changes and view an electronic proof within seconds, they submit the order and they're done.

Manager receives an email that an order is waiting for approval, the manager logs in, approves, changes, or deletes the order, once approved it goes right to production.

What used to take far too much time and too many resources is complete in minutes with Web To Print.

The customer saved close to 40% on the cost of the business cards, which for a company of 500 employees is significant, but the real value is the amount of time they saved, and the increased productivity they gained by changing the ordering process. In fact they are so happy with what Web To Print did for their business cards they are exploring ways to implement Web To Print for their document holders, presentation folders, overnight packages and envelopes. If they can get the same efficiencies as they did with their business cards, its like money in the bank.

Printing is the most gorgeous form of advertising

We freely admit we are biased.

If we were the judges in an Advertising Genre Beauty Pageant, it is safe to say we would vote for the print medium as the most beautiful form year after year.

To our knowledge, there is no such thing as an Advertising Genre Beauty Pageant. But ironically, we happened to recently stumble across all 53 Miss America contestants during a promotional fashion show a week before they competed for the crown.

The contestants were all seated for a traditional "meet-and-greet" with shoppers at a Las Vegas mall.  All of them had gorgeous promotional postcards to autograph.  But not all of their cards were designed to fully maximize the power of branding and to increase the chances of the beauty queens getting hired for future paid appearances.

Some of the postcards were simply one-sided photos with the contestant's name and home state.  Others, such as the Miss Missouri souvenir above, used the back of the card to trumpet the Miss Missouri scholarship organization, the printing sponsors, Tara Osseck's personal charity and phone number contacts for hiring her.

There is no greater way for Miss Missouri to promote her career and the national pageant than with a smile and bat of the eyelashes in person. However, her photo postcard -- this one printed on a thick quality collectible stock -- extends the value of her promotional appearance for weeks, perhaps even months.

A postcard like this one likely winds up on the kitchen refrigerator, greeting everyone that comes into the house. It continually reminds people about visiting her Website or how to contact Miss Missouri to appear at a promotional event.

In short, give people a reason to want to keep your postcard or color brochure (coupons do wonders when you don't have a celebrity autograph to create value) and they will. And you will be on the short-list of phone calls when they need your goods or services.

A fabulous way to beautify your real estate documents or legal paperwork is to dress them up in a snazzy, fashionable presentation folder or accordion folder. Instead of reaching for a drabby manila envelope, your clients will appreciate how neat and organized you've made a potential paperwork mess.

Our document folders might not be as sexy as the swimsuit or evening gown competition, but there is nothing more beautiful than someone staring at your company logo and later calling you or dropping you an email.

And just like the fashion show, our presentation folders come in a variety of dazzling styles and colors!

Marketing and branding the Boston Red Sox way

The Boston Globe just documented why the Boston Red Sox are not only talented on the field, but happen to be some of the savviest marketers in the sports and entertainment business.

If you happen to live in New England, you know that Red Sox tickets are nearly impossible to buy at face value. Unless you get lucky with occasional Website lotteries, you absolutely have to know somebody or know somebody who knows somebody to even have the opportunity to purchase overpriced box seats.

So if Fenway Park sells out every night, why are the Red Sox bothering to advertise at all -- let alone turn a mundane moving van into a marketing/branding billboard on wheels?

The reason is that you can't rest on your laurels. Every opportunity needs to be maximized as a marketing opportunity. The Red Sox, with scouts in Korea, Japan and throughout the Carribbean, are a global brand with a global fan base. Every motorist who lays eyes on that truck -- from Boston to Florida -- ia a potential customer of Sox hats, jerseys, sweatpants, etc.

The Red Sox, heavily pushing a sponsorship deal with Jet Blue, also went crazy with promotional giveaway items such as these foam sports fan #1 fingers:

 If you want to give away a fun souvenir at your marketing event, context is everything. At a sports event, foam fingers make all the sense in the world. People will naturally be drawn to them and won't need any prodding to use them and get your branding message out there. 

On the beach, opt for printing your logo and slogan on a personalized umbrella and watch the mobs scramble for shade under your marketing pitch. At a computer or biotech trade show, potential clients will gobble up promotional USB flash drives. 

At a seminar where participants are being bombarded with documents and paperwork, perhaps a branded presentation folder or accordion folder will make you somewhat of an organizational hero.

Remember to brand yourself the Red Sox way.  Even the most mundane events, such as a truck moving equipment from point A to point B, can present itself as a tremendous marketing opportunity!

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Photo credits: The Boston Globe's "Red Sox Truck Day" Slideshow

Printing Keeps Your Tweets Alive: Twitter Goes Retro

 

With the possible exception of Google relying on brochure printing to advertise Google Ads, you don't get more ironic than this...

Twitter addicts are now choosing to permanently immortalize their tweets in an old-fashioned coffee table book. The publisher, TweetBookz.com, will capture your last 200 Twitter messages in the $30 hardcover books -- melodramatically including one Tweet per page as if it were a haiku or poetry book.

Emails, texting and Twitter have pretty much collectively slaughtered the art of the handwritten note. Meanwhile, the media is going bonkers over the Amazon Kindle, the so-called electronic book.  Yet, people are seemingly yearning for the simplicity of a letter and the comfortable feel of a real book.

The TweetBookz make the Twitter feeds feel permanent because they are constantly visible, not shuffled away by the next infusion of Twittering babble.

The same principle applies to marketing and advertising your business. A snazzy, handsome printed brochure may sit on someone's desk for months, serving as a reminder to call you.

A branded desk pad calendar never stops subconsciously marketing 24/7/365. A branded presentation folder or document folder -- which serve a practical role of keeping your paperwork organized for the client -- will get stared at far longer than a Web site ad. 

And get stared at much much longer than a fleeting Tweet!

Brochure Printing Creates Sales For Google

It almost sounds like a joke:  Google is now advertising its advertising.

And here's the punchline... The company is using brochure printing and direct mail, the very advertising medium that the Internet was supposed to make obsolete.

Although there are seemingly countless millions of people wired on-line 24/7, the reality is that even most of them spend more breathing moments off-line than on. Their lives are NOT totally virtual. And that means they make trips to their mailbox and make eye contact with what's inside. 

In this printed tri fold brochure, Google is offering an incentive of $75-$100 in free advertising, depending on how early customers sign up. Putting a coupon on a brochure is a savvy move. Even if a prospective client is on the fence, giving them a concrete financial incentive sharply increases the likelihood that your brochure stays out of the trash.

This old-fashioned, color brochure contains Google website addresses to "click on," but of course none of them are hyperlinked. At least for now, technology doesn't exist to wirelessly transmit signals from a piece of paper. Yet, Google is tacitly acknowledging that brochure printing is still a major part of any serious marketing campaign.

Or as we put it in the first question on our home page, "CAN A PIECE OF PAPER CREATE MORE SALES FOR YOU?"

Absolutely. Brochure printing is effective marketing. Brochure printing is effective branding. Brochure printing is effective advertising, a bold call to action.

We certainly don't suggest abandoning the Internet as an advertising medium -- heck, we use it with fantastic results.  But go ahead and follow Google's lead. Embrace print, too!

Pocket Folders Don't Bite; Bugs Do

On Flickr, the popular photo-sharing Website, a Pittsburgh artist known as "Mleak" has done some remarkably innovative work with corporate logos. She's taken the unprecedented step of turning live insects into promotional merchandise!

Mleak calls her work "parasitic advertising," and her intention is to release these branded insects back into the wild -- presumably to influence humans and other insects.

Astoundingly, the paint jobs are real and not some Photoshop trick. Here's the artist revealing her secret:

"Depending on the insect, I put it in the fridge for 5-15 minutes. They're cold-blooded, so that slows them down, though it only gives me a minute or two to work before they start reviving, so I usually have to put them in a few different times before I'm done."

Appropriately, the above work is called the "VW Beetle."

Obviously, Mleak does not make her promotional insects to advertise Fortune 500 companies. We're speculating that she's making some kind of artistic statement about the pervasiveness of corporations in our everyday lives. We also wonder if PETA or any other animal rights group has confronted her about her hobby.

Nonetheless, while parasitic advertising is cool and unusual, it's not an effective way for a company to promote their brand.

Can you imagine the response of customers who are approached with logo-decorated insects?  Depending on the breed, we think their first instinct would be to pull out the can of bug spray.

Ideally, when you invest the money to put your logo in front of as many eyeballs as possible, you'll be better off if the medium is practical -- an everyday item people naturally use.

A pocket folder is a perfect vehicle for packaging corporate information, it's designed to your specifications, it presents the message you want to present, and it provides a professional, organized package for your collateral material.

Pocket folders are an effective way to present your message to a captive audience.  They're perfect for mortgages, refinancing and other real estate/legal paperwork!

Wonder if Mleak's painting skills will eventually progress to the point where she can put your company logo on a mosquito?

In that light, here's one thing we promise you. Our pocket folders will never ever bite!