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Blow-In Some Creative Direct Mail Ideas: What Catches Your Eye?

blow-in and bind-in insert cards for direct mail

Blow-ins and Bind-ins: ever thought about why those insert cards in your direct mail work? If they didn’t, they would not be showered with so many. “Blow-in” cards (as bindery machines blow the inserts into the printed pieces during manufacture) are most famously successful for magazines and newspapers to advertise their subscription offers. Their size makes them perfect as business reply mail, coupons for in-store and online sales, or to call out special offer from within the larger print piece. “Bind-in” cards stay attached to the piece, usually with a perforation to allow removal.

Normally inserts prove bothersome by falling out inconveniently and making me stoop to pick them up, or as I browse the rest of the magazine or catalog I am trying to keep them from falling out again. Bind-in cards annoyingly cover up part of the page that I want to see. These “aggravations” are in fact part of the reason insert cards work for marketing – they force us to stop and potentially, in those extra precious seconds, notice the name or information on the card.

direct mail advertising insert cards

I recently received a catalog from Pier 1 imports, and while several blow-in cards came falling out, the one above caught my attention above the others – and prompted me to think about why. It is actually a bind-in card, but three things, in retrospect, stood out enough to make me stop and look at it, flip it over and see what it was about:

  • The design: specifically the colors. Like the type, they are loud but pleasing. The designer knew the visual had to stand out in front of a busy page full of advertised merchandise, and this design does.
  • The die cut: that icy pitcher of tart lemonade looks like it could almost be lifted off the page. Maybe I was thirsty at the time, but it made me take notice, and the outlined shape caught my eye over all the other rectangular inserts, which I totally ignored.
  • The anonymity: If the front of this card had the company logo emblazoned on it, I think my initial reaction would have been to assume I already knew what it was pushing and need not look any further. Because it looked more like a big flavorful offer for lemonade, I flipped it over and saw an offer for $50 off a purchase at Pier 1. Good marketing.

When you are planning your print marketing, take a few minutes to think about the ways direct mail or other advertising has influenced you, caught your eye, or directed your behavior. Pick up your stack of mail today and notice which piece attracts your notice the most – then try to state three reasons that particular item got your attention while others were bypassed. Learning to incorporate those sound and creative ideas into your own promotions can make your marketing dollars do a lot more work for you. Creativity will get you noticed.

 

 

Printers understand communication and design. Your printer should be able to provide you with the latest information, inspiration, technical advice, and innovative ideas for communicating your message through print, design and typography, signage, apparel, variable data printing and direct mail, integrated marketing and environmental responsible printing. They should also be able to work with you to solve any difficult prepress issues with your files. If they can’t, you have the wrong printer! The best advice, always, is to ASK YOUR PRINTER!

Call us at 828.684.4512. ImageSmith is a full-service print and marketing provider located in Arden, North Carolina. Contact us at ImageSmith for quotes on all your print and marketing projects, and more useful tips on how to create custom, effective, high impact marketing solutions.
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Share a Coke with Your Name on it: Getting Personal with VDP and Integrated Marketing

 

Update:

Personalized CokeAfter success in Australia, South Africa, the UK and dozens of other countries, Coke is finally releasing personalized Coke in the US this summer of 2014 – and it seems to be a social media hit (at least judging by my Facebook newsfeed.) 250 of the most popular names for millenials and teens will be found on 20 oz. bottles of Coke, Diet Coke and Zero. You can check online to see if your name will be on the bottles, and you can personalize virtual bottles to share via social media as well. But don’t get too creative – to avert potential viral disasters, the website will not generate any name not in their approved database! 😉
So why not get variable?

(The following article was first posted in 2013.)

Variable Data Packaging?
(Source link: www.marketingmagazine.co.uk)

Variable Data Printing is a proven catalyst in effective marketing – when properly executed, research indicates that response rates can be increased by as much as 30% with VDP. Now corporations are discovering creative new ways to combine personalized content with both online and print communications for a truly integrated marketing outreach. With the dominance of social media, consumers are beginning to expect (or in marketing-speak, “demand”) a personally targeted appeal from their advertisers. And who is more successful at branding and effective marketing than Coca-Cola?

But, VDP packaging? Well, in a way…. In Australia, and now the UK, Coke is putting out millions of bottles bearing, rather than their iconic logo, 150 names as a way to “personalize” their packaging. Coke enjoys such a universally established brand recognition that they can even remove their logo from their products and still count on consumer loyalty. The campaign is called “Share A Coke”, and as a truly integrated concept, it combines the product packaging with an online site where you can create a “virtual personalised Coke can” if you are unable to find the name you are looking for among the 150 choices. Outdoor ads, and social media also drive the campaign. The video below shares how Coke anticipated the buzz generation on Twitter to further build consumer interaction:

After a successful run in Australia, Coke is repeating the project in the UK. Now, a true VDP product packaging would require the Coke bottles to be printed with the customer’s name before rolling out of the vending machine – an expensive proposition – but the success of this semi-VDP approach highlights some important ideas:

  • the power of variable data personalization in affecting consumer choice,
  • an increasing consumer expectation that we can share a personal interaction with what was previously an unreachable corporate entity when it comes to our consumer purchasing power. The buzzword is “engagement,” and consumers are realizing their new role involves more than passive consumption, but can also include interaction and influence.
  • the value of finding ways to initiate the power and outreach of social media outlets like Twitter, Instagram and Facebook to your marketing advantage

 

Share a Coke campaign
Image Source: thisisnotadvertising.wordpress.com


 

Printers understand communication and design. Your printer should be able to provide you with the latest information, inspiration, technical advice, and innovative ideas for communicating your message through print, design and typography, signage, apparel, variable data printing and direct mail, integrated marketing and environmental responsible printing. If they can’t, you have the wrong printer! The best advice, always, is to ASK YOUR PRINTER!

Call us at 828.684.4512. ImageSmith is a full-service print and marketing provider located in Arden, North Carolina. Contact us at ImageSmith for quotes on all your print and marketing projects, and more useful tips on how to create custom, effective, high impact marketing solutions.
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Boston Magazine Cover Design: Moving Tribute, Powerful Print

 

Boston Magazine Cover

Boston Magazine: www.bostonmagazine.com, Cover image by Mitch Feinberg

 

Sometimes an image captures the heart and emotions of a nation. Even in a world of film, video, 3D imaging and iMax movie experiences, a single still frame frozen in time can speak in a unique, powerful way for people with a power that other media cannot duplicate. Boston Magazine has created such an image that is both a moving tribute to the tragic bombings in Boston and a telling demonstration of the enduring power of design and the printed image.

Boston Magazine produced a cover image in response to the Marathon bombings in that city which seems to be an overnight sensation, currently making the rounds on social media. The heart shaped design composed of shoes from actual Boston Marathon runners visually tells the story of hope and endurance behind the experience of the bombings. All the major networks have reported on the image and its creation as a top news story. The powerful design will be printed not only as a magazine cover, but also as a poster with proceeds going to The One Fund – Boston. If you are interested in obtaining a poster of your own and thereby contributing, Boston Magazine says, “Please send us an email at bmagdigital@gmail.com if you would like more information about the posters once they’re available.”

Yes, many of us will experience the image digitally as it permeates the culture through social media. But the printed magazine cover and the subsequent demand for a poster bring the image into the tactile world as a keepsake. Great design in a cover image can produce a print edition that becomes a lasting keepsake for many. Even in an increasingly digital world, print retains the power to influence and communicate in a unique way.

Below are a couple of other memborable cover images memorializing the events.

Time published a special “tablet-only” edition with the cover image below. You can download it here. (photo: Bill Hoenk)Tablet only verison of TIme Cover

 

The New Yorker’s “Shadow Over Boston” issue features the artwork of Eric Drooker: New Yorker cover for the boston bombings

 

Donate to The One Fund – Boston here to help those affected by the Boston bombings. The One Fund – Boston donation site

Printers understand communication and design. Your printer should be able to provide you with the latest information, inspiration, technical advice, and innovative ideas for communicating your message through print, design, signage, apparel and integrated marketing. If they can’t, you have the wrong printer! The best advice, always, is to ASK YOUR PRINTER!

Shop our full ImageSmith catalog online here. We can work with you to find the best option to suit your needs. Please note, prices in online catalog do not include decoration, but call us for a quote at 828.684.4512. ImageSmith is a full-service print and marketing provider located in Arden, North Carolina. Contact us at ImageSmith for quotes on all your marketing projects, and more useful tips on how to create custom, effective, high impact marketing solutions.
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Die cutting: Creative Finishing Ideas Add Power to Print

folded die cut self-mailer

Even a simple die cut can transform a bland self-mailer into a powerful marketing piece. Creative die cutting highlights the 3D nature of print – its tactile and functional nature. It also grabs attention and makes a marketing piece stand out from a stack of generic mail pieces.

The finished shape of a die cut print piece can serve an aesthetic purpose, such as making an image pop off the page or highlighting either text or a specific object. It can also provide functionality; for example, the slots in some folders which hold business cards or the curved and angled flaps on a folder which fit together as a means of closure for the piece. Another practical function for die cutting is a “pre-punched” card that is still affixed into the sheet of paper by a few, small uncut areas but can easily be popped out by the recipient to use the piece as a coupon, membership card, etc.

die cut rounded corner print pieces
Even the simplicity of a die cut rounded corner makes a print piece unique.

As a general rule, offset and digital printing (other than web-fed presses) is done on precut, rectangular pieces of paper. A special die cut press is used to trim or shape the pieces further. Think of this as similar to a cookie cutter. A die is made of metal and adjusted onto the die press at the right amount of pressure. Printed sheets are then fed into the machine and the die will both cut and/or score each sheet, leaving small attachment areas so that the finished pieces do not separate and fall down into the press. The unused portion is then scraped or weeded out and recycled, leaving the finished shaped piece.

die cut printed pieces

 

All “shaped” pieces of printed paper have been die cut by this or a similar method: envelopes with a curved flap, folders with slots for holding a buisness card or insert, and anything with rounded edges are all examples of die cut print pieces. You can creatively design your die cut to work in most any shape. Of course, the extra process adds cost to your print project, and a very complex die will cost more than one as simple as a rounded corner or curved shape.

One hint: paper manufacuturers often provide printers with sample books of their materials, showing off their products through creative, eye-catching print. These sample books and other marketing pieces often include examples of die cutting. Ask your printer to share some of these with you, or for samples of their own die cut projects. You can get a lot of inspiration from holding and inspecting the paper yourself, and perhaps it will get you excited about new options for your next print project.

Paper manufacture samples of die cutting

 

Rely on your printer for advice, inspiration and direction on your integrated marketing options. They should be able to answer all your questions – if they can’t, you have the wrong printer! The best advice, always, is to ASK YOUR PRINTER!

ImageSmith is a full-service print and marketing provider located in Arden, North Carolina. Contact us at ImageSmith for quotes on all your marketing projects, and more useful tips on how to create custom, effective, high impact marketing solutions.
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Your Integrated Marketing Plan Needs Direct Mail

Combining direct mail with digital communication for increased ROI

Over at PrintisBig.com, you will find some eye-opening statistics about the print industry, and specifically about the power of direct mail – yes, good old-fashined direct mail, even in a digital age. While I would attribute part of the continued effectiveness of direct mail campaigns for marketing to their integration with other online and offline marketing methods, it looks like the preference of consumers for the physical nature of printed matter still pays off in increased conversion rates and marketing ROI. Also, small companies and non-profits are reaping the benefits of VDP personalization in increasingly targeted campaigns that drive up response rates as their database management matures. A couple of the stats from PrintisBig:

  • Since 2004, direct mail marketing response rates are UP 14%, while email marketing response rates are DOWN 57%.

  • In 2010, US companies increased sales through direct marketing to the tune of $702 billion.

  • Advertisers in the US spend $167 per person on direct mail, earning $2,095 worth of goods sold. That’s a 1,300% return on investment.

  • Non-profits gain 78% of their donations from direct mail.

Source: PrintisBig.com

Rather than seeing an EITHER/OR situation between direct mail and new digital alternatives, embrace the opportunities of mobile marketing, qr codes, email, social media and website e-commerce as a whole new box of tools to get our your message and/or drive sales. To abandon print and it’s proven effectiveness in that transition will prove costly!
 
Rely on your printer for advice and direction with integrated marketing. They should be able to provide you with everything from encouragement along the way to complete design, layout, copywriting, production, multi-purposing, online implmentation and distribution of your marketing outreach. If they can’t, you have the wrong printer! The best advice, always, is to ASK YOUR PRINTER!

ImageSmith is a full-service print and marketing provider located in Arden, North Carolina. Contact us at ImageSmith for quotes on all your marketing projects, and more useful tips on how to create custom, effective, high impact marketing solutions.
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Myth Busting: Surprising Stats on Paper and the Environment

Busting Myths about Print and Paper

 
Paper is a sustainable, green, renewable resource – but the paper and printing industry still have to work hard to increase the realization of this in consumers’ minds. Somehow, a lingering, hazy misconception persists that “PRINT/PAPER BAD, DIGITAL GOOD” when it comes to the environment – simply not true. Perhaps a lot of this false information was perpetuated by the “help the environnment, don’t print out this email” tagline so many folks attach to their digital messages. (This myth is also debunked here.) Its is eye-opening to consider just a couple of facts about the environmental integrity of the print industry. Think about this:

The U.S. forest products industry plants more than 4 million trees… EVERY DAY!

Every day. That adds up to 1.5 billion a year. The result: the US has roughly the same number of forest acreage as we had 100 years ago, before industrialization began! Forest growth exceeds tree removal by 36% each year. (source)

Now on the other side of this equation lies the common misconception that desktop and mobile information consumption is greener than print – consider these startling facts:

A person who reads a printed newspaper daily for a year uses 20% less CO2 than one reading news online for 30 minutes each day. (source)

By 2020, data servers in the U.S. will be the single largest users of electricity. (source)

 

No one’s trying to tilt at windmills and say paper should always be used over digital communications. But it is very important to have an accurate understanding of the environmental impacts of our energy and information consumption habits throughout the communicaitons “mix.” Paper is biodegradable, sustainable and produced by an industry hard at work to maintain a healthy environment and the healthy forests that are essential to the industry’s survival.

Rely on your printer for advice and direction with your concerns about sustainability and you or your business’ commitment to being a good environmental steward. They should be able to offer you information and options for paper, ink and FSC certified products that will help you print and market in a sustainable manner. If they can’t, you have the wrong printer. The best advice, always, is to ASK YOUR PRINTER!

Call us at 828.684.4512. ImageSmith is a full-service print and marketing provider located in Arden, North Carolina. Contact us at ImageSmith for quotes on all your print and marketing projects, and more useful tips on how to create custom, effective, high impact marketing solutions.
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Easy Custom Graphic Displays in Pop-Up Banner Stands

Graphic Display Banners

These are an easy, lightweight, affordable marketing powerhouse for any small business. Beautiful custom-branded display graphics, mounted onto low-cost, easy to carry pop-up banner stands, provide a powerful visual impact. Display them in your lobby or work area to promote services or products, then carry them along to trade shows or events for professional, powerful graphic displays. You can also switch out new banners and use the stand pop-up stand as your promotions change over time.

Above are a sample of some local banner displays that are custom branded for a customer’s own look and message. The hardware is minimal, and the entire display collapses and retreats (think window blinds) into an easy to carry case for transport and protection. You might also consider a large variety of trade show booth displays, backlit signage and other inventive pop-up graphic ideas for your next marketing effort.

Banner stand hardware

Your printer can make all of this happen — it is an easy process for the busy small business owner when you have the right printer. They should be able to provide you with the latest information, inspiration, technical advice, and innovative ideas for print, signage, apparel and integrated marketing. If they can’t, you have the wrong printer! The best advice, always, is to ASK YOUR PRINTER!

 

Shop our full ImageSmith catalog online here. We can work with you to find the best option to suit your needs. Please note, prices in online catalog do not include decoration, but call us for a quote at 828.684.4512. ImageSmith is a full-service print and marketing provider located in Arden, North Carolina. Contact us at ImageSmith for quotes on all your marketing projects, and more useful tips on how to create custom, effective, high impact marketing solutions.
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New Global Forever Stamp from the USPS: Great Design, Great Idea

the new forever stamp for international mail

Now the convenience for a Forever Stamp, like the ones we all use for domestic first class letters, is available for international mail. For $1.10, you can send a one ounce letter to any country in the world (or a 2 ounce letter to Canada), and these stamps may be used in the future no matter how much postage prices change. They may be purchased individually or in a sheet of 20 for $22.00.

The beautiful stamp was designed by Greg Breeding, art direction by William J. Gicker, and the composite satellite image of the earth was created by Leonello Calvetti. The unusual round shape is eyecatching and unique, a suitable fit for a stamp that has a unique function and carries its message around the world.

The USPS, which receives no tax dollars for operational expenses and funds itself through the sale of its products and services, is actively branching out in social media and marketing to its customers, especially stamp-collectors. Check them out on Facebook or Twitter @USPSStamps. For philatelists, or stamp collectors, the USPS has a great site called Beyond the Perf, showcasing upcoming stamps, first-day-of-issue events and other stamp-related news.

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InDesign Quick Tip: Remove Unwanted or Unused Colors from the Swatches Palette

InDesign Swatches Palette

This is the first in a series of quick, explanatory posts about easy tricks in InDesign that could save time and the expense of prepress charges. First the tip… then some explanation if you want to read further.

To check for and remove unwanted color swatches in your file: click the upper right corner of the Swatches palette, and choose Select All Unused, then click the trash can to delete. If you have swatches left that you do not want in your file, some element within your document is using that color. Click on that swatch and try to delete it as well. If you have no embedded or linked files in your document that brought in that swatch, you will be prompted to change the color (which is being used somewhere in your document) to one of the remaining colors in your palette and problem solved! If the swatch is not able to be trashed, it has arrived in your palette from a “placed” item. You will have to go into that linked logo, artwork or photo in it’s native application to redefine the color to the one you need in your job. Once relinked, that swatch will be freed up to be deleted from your palette.

We see a lot of files with color conflicts come through the art department on their way from design to print. Many seemingly perfect files run into roadblocks at the prepress stage because of colorspace issues: unwanted spot colors, RGB to CMYK color shifts and so on. For the record, this is not a “beginner’s” stumbling block! The fact that files show up with serious color definition issues from seasoned and degreed designers as often as from busy small business owners just trying to save on desktop design expenses tells me that the color palette can be a tricky pitfall. But it need not be difficult if you know the final intent of your file and the color definitions that process will require. (If you are creating a file that will be repurposed for many uses, it is probably best to stay within the CMYK gamut with all elements of the file.)

The Swatches Palette Basics:

Swatches Palette in Adobe Creative Suite's InDesign

 

As a starting point, you will need a clear understanding of the RGB and CMYK color gamuts – if you need to, check out this link. Window–Color–Swatches will pull up your palette, and by default it is set to the CMYK gamut of colors. The first four in the list cannot be removed from the palette. They are:

  • None: a means of removing an assigned color from an object
  • Paper: a nonprinting preview of your page used to simulate the color of paper you will be printing on (usually set, by default, to white)
  • Black: pure 100% black with no other colors added (see other definitions and uses for black – there are many! – here)
  • Registration: defined as 100% cyan, 100%% magenta, 100% yellow and 100% black. It will show up on every separation when the file is output and is used to color necessary printing or guide marks such as crop marks, file information, registration bullets, etc..

Think of the other colors you see in this initial palette as a beginning sample of colors you can start playing with. They are all predefined as CMYK. Double-click any of them to tweak or completely redefine the color. You can define new colors by clicking the upper right corner of the palette and choosing from the drop down menu. From here, you can access the Pantone spot color libraries as well. Just remember, keep an eye on this palette as you work and maintain control over any colors that “show up” as you place linked objects into your document.

Spot Color vs. Process Color vs. RGB color

RGB, CMYK and spot Swatches in InDesign

The icons next to your colors will go a long way in visually helping to keep control of the colors defined in your final files. The column on the right shows whether the swatch is defined as CMYK , RGB or even LAB. The column to the left of this will present a circle if the color is a spot color. Will you be printing with spot color inks? Offset in 4-color process? Digitally? Being aware of this as you work and place photos, logos, or other graphic elements into your InDesign file will allow you to see if what you are creating will separate correctly, if needed, at the print stage. While you can define and control the colors of any objects or type created within InDesign, once you place elements created in other applications into your document – such as eps or ai files from Illustrator or jpg and tif files from PhotoShop (or even the dreaded gif files stolen from a website!) – they may bring in predefined colors with them that you cannot override from the InDesign color palette.

If your intent is digital or CMYK process printing, often your printer can redefine spot colors from your pdf at the prepress stage. However, you may be charged extra for this file manipulation. If your intent is a two-color or spot color printing job, then having elements defined as CMYK, RGB, or with extraneous spot colors will render your file unprintable as desired. “Separating” the digital file into the correct plates to carry the spot inks your job requires will produce multiple unneeded plates. While your printer MAY be able to redefine or correctly designate these colors at this stage, chances are they will be calling you to either request the original root files (including all the fonts, links, etc.) or asking you to correct the color conflicts and resubmit your job all over again.

 

Rely on your printer for advice and direction with any questions you have in designing your marketing materials. They should be able to provide you with the latest information, technical advice, and innovative ideas for print, signage, apparel and integrated marketing. If they can’t, you have the wrong printer! The best advice, always, is to ASK YOUR PRINTER!

Shop our full ImageSmith catalog online here. We can work with you to find the best option to suit your needs. Please note, prices in online catalog do not include decoration, but call us for a quote at 828.684.4512. ImageSmith is a full-service print and marketing provider located in Arden, North Carolina. Contact us at ImageSmith for quotes on all your marketing projects, and more useful tips on how to create custom, effective, high impact marketing solutions.
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Embroidery or Screen printing? Tips to Keep Your Brand in Style

Custom Apparel

Branded custom apparel and accessories are affordable, powerful marketing tools. What makes them unique in the world of marketing is their desirability…. embroidered or screen printed with your logo, tagline or mark, they are something you do not have to work to put into someone’s hand. Like all promotional products, custom branded items are useful and appreciated by your customers. What other type of advertising media could you seriously put a pricetag on and sell as merchandise?

3 Ways to Promote Your Brand with Custom Apparel

  • Reward staff for a job well done or customers for their loyalty. It will both express your gratitude and serve as a highly visible reminder of your quality and generosity.
  • Provide staff and employees with branded “uniforms” or work attire, regardless of the type of business. Screen printing and embroidery offer a stylish, crafted finish to almost any garment you could need. You recognize the UPS drivers immediately – do your customers recognize your employees? Even if you feel your business is not suitable for a uniformed workforce, an embroidered shirt in your brand’s color for employees who deal with the public is attractive.
  • Consider offering branded clothing and accessories in a sort of “gift shop” for the public as well. For instance, if you are in the restaurant or food business, why not offer customized aprons, chefs hats, oven mitts and kitchen towels for sale? When customers wear your brand or use these items in public, there is no better form of effective advertising… and best of all, that’s FREE brand exposure!

You’ll have no trouble finding a huge array of clothing and items to choose from when investing in custom apparel. All types of quality merchandise in current styles are available: t-shirts, polos, oxfords, fleece, sports gear, caps, scrubs, gloves, blankets, linens, tote bags, accessories and more. Use your imagination to decide what works best with your brand in terms of color, style and usage.

Once you choose the items you want to customize, put some thought into what will work best for both your budget and the look of the finished pieces. The type of item will usually determine whether screenprintng or embroidery should be used. Use the tips below to help you decide:

Screen printing

  • Best for T-shirts, shopping bags and other comodity items
  • Pricing is based on quantity, as well as number of colors and sides printed
  • Group multiple products into one order for quantity breaks. Best quantity breaks are at 25, 50, 75, and 100 pieces.

Embroidery

  • Best for higher-quality items like button-down shirts, polos, jackets and caps
  • Pricing is based on number of stitches and number of locations on item to be embroidered
  • Quantity price breaks are not as significant as with screen printing, but great for small orders. Can do as few as ONE!
  • One-time set up fee to digitize logo – can be used on multiple product

Rely on your printer for advice and direction in deciding between what options are out there for creative ideas that fit your marketing budget. They should be able to provide you with the latest information and innovative ideas in print, signage, apparel and integrated marketing. If they can’t, you have the wrong printer! The best advice, always, is to ASK YOUR PRINTER!

Shop our full ImageSmith catalog online here. We can work with you to find the best option to suit your needs. Please note, prices in online catalog do not include decoration, but call us for a quote at 828.684.4512. ImageSmith is a full-service print and marketing provider located in Arden, North Carolina. Contact us at ImageSmith for quotes on all your marketing projects, and more useful tips on how to create custom, effective, high impact marketing solutions.