August 2017

New Technology For Designers And Marketers

By Ken DunnBlog, Consumer Experience

Rumors about the new iPhone are all over the Internet. Some say there’s a new physical design that will include curved glass, inductive charging, and there may even be a change in the iPhone’s biometric recognition sensor.

Google has been testing self-driving cars. In just seven months, from October 2016 to May of 2017, their fleet of self-driven cars logged over three million miles.

And then there’s Elon Musk who wants to relieve freeway congestion by building 30 layers of tunnels beneath the 105 freeway in Los Angeles. He’s already started digging in the SpaceX parking lot in Hawthorne, California.

Embracing New Technology and New Opportunities

In the past couple of years, there have been a number of new technologies that have helped designers and marketers reach and engage current and prospective clients. These may not be as flashy as the new technology offered from Apple, Google and Elon Musk, but we’ve incorporated these new technologies into the products and services we offer. Our latest addition will provide numerous opportunities and advantages to our design and marketing clients.

The New Komori GL640 H-UV Printing Press

Westamerica Communications has just installed a new Komori GL640 H-UV printing press. There are a number of benefits that designers and marketers will appreciate about our new press. These include:

• Shorter Total Turnaround Time

• Improved print quality of traditional substrates

• Ability to print on unusual substrates

• Eco-friendly

One of the first advantages clients will realize with the new Komori press is the ability to get jobs finished quicker. There are a couple of reasons for the decreased turn around time. One is obvious. The speed of the press is amazing. Its maximum printing speed is 16,500 sheets per hour.

The second reason for the quick turn around time has to do with the ultra-violet (UV) lights used with the UV inks and curing system. Turnaround time is dramatically shorter than with conventional printing because an inline process cures printed items instantly. As soon as one side of the sheet is printed we can immediately flip the stock over and run the back side without having to wait for the ink to dry. And, once the substrate is printed, it can be delivered to the finishing department for trimming, folding, die cutting, or whatever finishing operations need to be completed.

Improved print quality of traditional substrates

The second improvement that designers and marketers will like is the improved print quality with traditional substrates. Let’s say you want to print a job on uncoated stock. Up until now, your biggest problem was, what we in the industry call, dot gain.

Uncoated paper is porous which means that solvent based inks soak into the paper. The dot of ink that is printed on an uncoated sheet will be absorbed into the paper thus the dot of ink will expand creating a muddy look to the text and images.

With the H-UV inks and curing system on the Komori, the dot of ink is cured so quickly that the inks don’t soak into the paper but instead set on top of the sheet thus creating an image with more contrast, brighter colors, and a bigger color gamut.

And, when printing with coated stock, there are additional benefits to the new Komori press. When printing coated stock traditional press operators use anti-set-off spray powder to make an air gap between printed sheets of paper. This powder keeps the ink on the front of one sheet from transferring to the back of the next sheet.

With the Komori H-UV system the inks dry (cure) immediately, thus there is a reduction of paper spoilage and without the need for anti-set-off spray powder, the surface of printed items is smooth to the touch.

And wait until you see the high gloss finish on coated stock. It’s so beautiful there’s no need to use varnish.

Ability to print on unusual substrates

Have you ever wanted to impress your clients by using non-traditional substrates? Well, now you can. Imagine printing on plastics, wood veneer, or cardboard. The truth is, if we can run it through the press we can print on it.

The Eco-friendly features of our new press

The new press has environmental advantages over both conventional printing presses and other UV presses. First, conventional presses that use solvent based or soy-based inks emit volatile organic compounds (VOC).

According to an article in Printing Impressions magazine, “Since UV inks cure instantly when exposed to UV light, drying time is eliminated and no solvents are released or absorbed into the substrate, as is common with conventional inks. The UV process releases no VOCs making it much safer for operators and the environment.”

There are additional advantages to the Komori over other UV presses. The H-UV lamp head is an ozone free lamp that operates with higher efficiency and less heat. The amount of CO2 emissions from the Komori is one-fourth that of conventional UV curing systems.

And we’re talking about a big difference in power consumption. Without getting too deep into the specifications of the press, the power consumption of a conventional UV press versus the Komori H-UV system is reduced by 66%. This all leads to a smaller environmental footprint.

The news of a new Komori GL640 H-UV printing press installation at Westamerica Communications in Lake Forest, California may not make headlines like Elon Musk digging a hole in Hawthorne, California, but it’s a big move for us and our clients who will soon see the opportunities that are available from embracing this new technology.

August 10, 2017

Discover how to leave a “deeper footprint” in the brain of your clients

By Ken DunnBlog

I recently ran into an old business acquaintance at a social event. We shook hands and talked about old times. When we finished our conversation, I handed him my business card. In return, he offered his card, but before he handed it to me, he took out a pen, crossed out his old email address and wrote in a new one.

This may not seem like a big deal to you. People change their emails. People even change business addresses and phone numbers. What struck me most about this exchange was the fact that this guy is a printer. This is what he does for a living! How can a printer not have an updated business card?

I guess it’s like the story of the cobbler’s children who have no shoes.

The more I thought about it the more I realized that this happens to many people when it comes to marketing their business.

Different types of marketing collateral

There are many types of promotional collateral used by businesses worldwide. They include business cards, letterhead, brochures, flyers, sell sheets, catalogs, booklets, point-of-purchase displays and more. All of these print materials are used to support a company’s advertising message. It’s how they communicate important information about their company’s products and services. But when was the last time their marketing collateral was updated?

Updating marketing materials

You may be asking yourself, “When should I update my marketing collateral?” Well, if you answer, “yes” to any of the following questions, it’s time to refresh your marketing materials:

Have you expanded capabilities?
Have you had any changes in the look and feel of your brand?
Have you recently won any awards or have new accomplishments that should be featured?
Do your competitor’s materials look better than yours?
Have you had any changes to your company that should be communicated to prospects and clients?

Remember, your brochures and other print collateral convey important information about your company’s products and services.

Does your marketing collateral design contain images of products that are three or four years old? What conclusions will your current and prospective clients reach if they see dated material in your promotional products? This can make your company look old and out of date.

Refresh marketing materials using the latest technology

Advances in neuroscience marketing and growth in print technology have opened up some creative ways to update your marketing materials. Research from branding agency Millward Brown suggests that print materials are not just easy to understand they’re also more memorable than digital marketing materials. Check out the video below to learn what Millward Brown and the UK’s Royal Mail discovered about physical and digital marketing pieces.

According to the research, physical media leaves a “deeper footprint” in the brain. Printed materials generate more activity within the area of the brain associated with the integration of visual and spatial information, which suggests that physical material is more “real” to the brain. The research also suggests that the physical presentation may be generating more emotionally vivid memories.

“Print advertising can maximize sensory appeal.” – Roger Dooley

Roger Dooley, author of Brainfluence: 100 Ways to Persuade and Convince Consumers with Neuromarketing, says, “Science clearly shows paper can be more impactful and memorable than digital.” Dooley also believes that “Print offers the ability to deliver rich, vivid images along with tactile stimuli.”

Maximize sensory appeal

Imagine refreshing your print collateral with a dimensional piece containing a unique texturethat goes beyond the weight of the paper. Create a piece where the consumer can touch and feel the feathers on an image of a bird or the lines in an image of a circuit board, or the rough, bumpy feel of a waffle cone.

And, if you want to generate more emotionally vivid memories use the new channels that digital print has opened up for marketers. You now have the ability to add variable text and images that result in personalized direct mail and print collateral. Digital print allows marketers to create several short run point-of-purchase displays that can focus on specific markets. And digital print can now produce all these products using gold ink.

Digital metallic gold offers customers a cost-effective gold metallic solution, especially for lower quantities. Now marketers can use gold more often, or use it in places that might never have been considered.

And, when discussing neuroscience marketing and how physical material is more “real” to the brain, imagine printing on substrates that have a texture like plastics, wood veneer, or cardboard. With Westamerica’s new Komori printing press, if we can run it through the press we can print on it.

So, don’t be “that guy” with the outdated business cards and marketing materials. Remember, your brochures and other print collateral communicate important information about your company’s products and services. When refreshing your marketing materials take advantage of the innovations in printing techniques to connect with your clients on a more memorable level and leave a “deeper footprint” in the brain of your clients.

August 10, 2017

Saving Marketing Dollars and Losing Sales

By Ken DunnBlog

Since the great recession hit, it seems that marketing budgets have been in the sights of cost cutters throughout most companies. Immediately following the recession, we saw budgets decrease by 50% or more.

Now that the budgets are moving back up, our lessons from the penny-pinching days of the recession stick with us. That isn’t a bad thing, but I believe it can cloud our thinking.

Reducing marketing costs is not the same as increasing sales

There are methods of reducing marketing cost, but that shouldn’t be Marketing’s primary goal. Marketing is the fuel that drives all the machinery in the business. Pull out the marketing efforts (I like to think of Marketing as an umbrella that includes sales, marcom and media) and your organization will stall.

Management has to set the tone. If a marketing department is receiving more kudos for cost reductions than business growth, client growth, retention or revenues then we’ll see a misplaced focus.

Progressive companies see marketing as an investment.

How reducing marketing expenses cost you more than you save

I recently came across two examples of marketing programs that were operating well, but the client wanted to make changes purely for cost savings purposes.

Example 1 – Reducing frequency of contact

Our client has been sending out quarterly offers to consumers with pre-approved letterchecks. These letterchecks can be immediately deposited and charged to their current credit account. They are great for paying off higher rate bills.

In 2015, we sent out 53,000 letterchecks (approx. 13,000 per quarter) during the year. Each letter featured three checks. The client realized a 5.5% response rate for a total of $7.5 million in redemptions for the year-long campaign.

In 2016, we increased the count of checks to six per letter but we decreased the number of mailings to only 2X per year, sending out a total of 27,000 letters (13,500 each mailing). The client received a higher response rate of 7.7%. However, their total redemptions only amounted to $5.0 million. Why? The response rate increased because we had more checks in each mailing…a more effective package. But, total redemptions went down because we had only mailed to them twice during the year, instead of on a quarterly basis.

Yes, we saved money. But would you rather have a 5.5% response on 53,000 pieces for $7.5 million or 7.7% on 27,000 for $5million?

Example 2 – Changing the media mix

This client has been working with us for an ongoing consumer lending initiative. For three years we have been sending out pre-approved loan offers via direct mail to about 35,000 recipients. Historically the response rates on these letters have hovered around 2% and total loan production would average about $12 – $15million each quarter.

Last year we began adding emails to the marketing mix so that recipients would receive a letter and then a follow-up email as a reminder.

With the combination of both media response rates got even better.

Since we all know that email is much less expensive than direct mail, it wasn’t long before the suggestion came to see if we can execute the campaign using less direct mail as a way to reduce costs. On the next campaign, we split the list and sent half the list as “email only” and the balance the normal way.

The customer’s feedback said it all, “Shoot, I just compared the current campaign to the last four and the number of accepted loans is only half of the previous offers. I think we need to go back to the letter. We didn’t save enough money to offset the reduction in the number of loans.” There are definite advantages of direct mail pre-approved loan offers.

Lessons Learned

We can never save our way to increased sales and profits. However, being smart with your marketing budget means taking a few risks and trying different approaches. If you are going to adjust your mix, make sure you are tracking and evaluating results to make sure you receive the results you really want and can adjust where necessary.

In both cases our clients have re-evaluated their initial decisions. However, in many situations there is no analysis and the results of these type of decisions is never fully understood.

We can never save our way to increased sales and profits. Your minor cost reductions are not worth the risk of decreasing major sales.

August 10, 2017