Shandys, Selfies & A Mustache: Traveler Beer Does Integrated Marketing Right!

What is more fun than a stick-on mustache?!

…well, taking a selfie with your mustache to share with the world AND enjoying a new European twist on delicious beer at the same time. That combo has helped prove Traveler Beer Company a pro at integrated marketing. Combining a great product and marketing design with social media buzz is one step. But in Traveler’s current campaign, the vital link between the products and the online excitement is good, old-fashioned print and promotional products! It is exciting to see these traditional marketing tools put to their best use in combination with the latest in digital communications.

Traveler is “introducing” to the American market the European tradition of “shandys” – quality craft brews combined with carbonated citrus or fruit flavors. The four Traveler flavors use lemon and lime (“Curious Traveler“), grapefruit (“Illusive Traveler“), strawberry (“Time Traveler“), and pumpkin (“Jack-O Traveler“). With such a unique product, Traveler is wisely shaping their marketing around the adventure of a new experience. By using a turn-of-the-LAST-century flavor to the graphics, they are reinforcing the idea that these flavors have been around a long while in Europe and proven a favorite. With the current public preference for all things hipster, the classic Victorian handlebar mustache works as the perfect representative of the product, and the perfect way to involve consumers in becoming a part of the marketing itself.

Traveler’s mission was to involve the public through social media – Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, primarily. To achieve that, they created a great variety of bar swag and promotional products to put the Traveler brand into consumer’s hands. Online, and in retail outlets, bars and restaurants, you can find branded t-shirts, backpacks, glassware, bar taps, and on and on. The key to actually involving folks in the marketing game is a set of stick-on mustaches attached to printed cards. The card for each style mustache directs the user to stick on the mustache, take a photo, and post it online with the hashtag #TRVLR. The result has been that elusive social media buzz and virality that makes a marketing campaign successful.

The payoff for the consumer? Primarily, the fun of seeing their mustachioed selfies online! The Traveler website has a page called TRVLR GLRY with Mustache and Traveler of the Week photos, and shots from parties and events hosted around the Traveler products. Search for the hashtag #TRVLR on Twitter or Instagram to see all the folks joining in the fun.

The greatest part of this type of marketing? It can be done on a large scale like Traveler has shown us, or on a small scale for a local business with a lot less money and time to invest. Print and promotional products can be designed to encourage the recipient to actually market for the brand – post a photo, wear the logo, visit a webpage, or share the experience on social media of using the product. The reward for doing that can be a coupon or discount, a contest prize, or it can just be the kick of seeing one’s very own selfie on a website. When done right, adding the social media component to a standard print marketing campaign only amplifies the impact of the original idea but with very little, if any, added investment. For the consumer, it enhances your brand image and their enjoyment.

Strive to buy your print locally! A community printer will understand communication and design, with a special emphasis on your local market. They 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 environmentally 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.

August 21, 2014

Why Great Customer Service Is a Powerful Small Business Marketing Tool

With the power of the Internet and the multitude of review sites, it’s difficult to avoid honest opinions about your company. Those reviews, both positive and negative, are just a Google search away, and whether the complaint or review is valid or not, people may still take it as gospel.

According to Fonolo, 68 percent of businesses plan to increase the amount of money they invest in customer management because the customer experience is so important. Additionally, positive feedback can be very useful for marketing purposes, especially when customers share how their issues were resolved efficiently.

Companies can use that testimonial information to develop customer service strategies, and show their customers that they’re appreciated. This in turn creates new and repeat business. Here are some ways to turn customer referrals and testimonials into increased business:

Take Care of Your Customers

The best type of marketing is word-of-mouth by your customers. The best way to create a positive buzz about your company is to provide great customer service. People will remember how you solved their problems and helped them find whatever they needed. Not only will they return to your company but they also will tell their friends about their positive experience. This is the easiest way to market your company because you let your customers do the work for you.

Reflect Your Caring for Customers

Taking care of customers is a vital marketing issue, perhaps even more so than buying billboards or advertising. When customers feel cared for, many are quick to share that experience, reflecting the hard work of your company. Every customer is a gatekeeper to evangelize your brand. Showing your appreciation and generosity for loyal customers builds solid support for your business.

Marketing customer service requires long-term vision “to move the needle on customer service operations, in order to keep customers satisfied and loyal to your brand,” states Kate Leggett in an article on Forrester.

Loyal customers deserve your attention. Those who receive a top-to-bottom customer support experience could become repeat buyers. Your company can go above and beyond the typical customer service requirements by showing appreciation to loyal customers. When you reach out and thank them, it comes across as a genuine attempt to make them feel special. One way to do this is to send something like a gift basket and a hand-written thank you note. You can brand any number of useful and desirable products with your logo and colors to use as giveaways – the promotional products field has items at all price levels ready to be imprinted, engraved, embroidered or branded with your company logo and message. Also, print wear is a great idea – loyal customers will be happy to receive and wear a quality clothing item screen printed or embroidered with the attractive logo of a company they appreciate.

Locate Testimonials

If your company pops up in Internet searches next to negative terms, then that gives people an early reason to look elsewhere for comparable products or merchandise. But, if your business connects to positive search results, it gives people a reason to trust you.

With customer review sites such as Yelp and Trip Advisor, people can see what others said about you, and, luckily, you can use positive reviews to your advantage. Figure out who your most sustained, loyal customers are, and ask them to honestly share their experience in a video testimonial for your company’s website. Wistia offers advise and tips for creating video testimonials for your business such as being prepared but not scripted. If you don’t like videos, then you also can ask repeat customers to go onto Yelp, Angie’s List or other review sites to honestly talk about their experiences.

In your advertising, emphasize the real-world experience of your most honest customers, and more people will get a sense of what you’re all about.

Strive to buy your print locally! A community printer will understand communication and design, with a special emphasis on your local market. They 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 environmentally 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.

August 12, 2014

3 Ideas to Promote Your Small Business Online

A small business does not need a large corporate budget to carve out a niche online. A study conducted by advertising research firm Communicus found that 60 percent of those multi-million dollar Super Bowl ads do not make potential customers any more likely to buy the corresponding product or service. Researchers asked 1,000 consumers about their buying intentions before and after the 2012 and 2013 big games, and most were unmoved by the big-ticket ads they saw.

There are very inexpensive ways to promote your small business online—even free approaches that are very effective. Here are three methods to consider.

Sell T-Shirts & Other Custom Branded Merchandise

Jason Sadler had a wild idea of approaching companies and offering to wear T-shirts bearing their slogans, logos, and phone number for a nominal fee. Six years later, iwearyourshirt.com earns him $500,000 per year with no signs of slowing down, according to Business Insider. Advertising executives are willing to pay a guy to wear shirts because they know it works.

There are plenty of options for small business owners to purchase T-shirts in bulk and sell them via their website or even give them away when customers spend a certain amount. A 15-20 percent markup on the price you paid to have them made will earn you some revenue, but it’s the free advertising that you’re after. But don’t limit your thoughts just to clothing. You can put your logo and brand on virtually anything! It’s great marketing and even a profit center.

While you can use a free logo design platform online to keep overhead low on the entire project, consult your local printer on options for a brand refresh – or, if it’s time, a complete logo and brand makeover. Make sure your logo is consistent across all your social media channels.

Start a Blog

The saying goes “content is king” for marketing, and that is especially the case for small companies building a customer base. Companies that blog had 55 percent more website visitors, 97 percent more inbound links, and 434 percent more indexed pages, according to an informal 2009 study of Hubspot customers.

The key to blogging, however, is to produce compelling content that will drive people to your website who were not necessarily looking for your product. A hair restoration doctor, for instance, could produce content about celebrity men and women in the news who have had procedures done to enhance their locks. A health food firm could write about all the bad things associated with genetically-modified foods. Consider hiring a freelance writer with a proven track record of producing content that is subsequently shared on social media. There are more than 150 million blogs on the web, so the only thing that will make yours stand out is good content. Hiring a professional writer may be money well spent.

Facebook Paid Ads

You already have a Facebook business page, so why not give their promoted post feature a try. The idea is that Facebook will put your posts in the timelines of people who are most likely to read, like, and share it. The best part of Facebook advertising is that you can test it out with a small initial budget. If it’s working for you, increase your budget and put posts in front of more Facebook users.

There are mixed opinions about Facebook promoted ads. A small case study by eConsultancy found that the traffic to promoted posts was definitely higher, but there was no way of telling whether it was because it was paid for or if the traffic was organic. Others believe that the affordability makes it a no-brainer option for low-budget firms.

Technology of the 21st century has made promoting a small business simple for anyone. Now it’s just a matter of finding the right combination of channels to reach your fiscal goals.

Strive to buy your print locally! A community printer will understand communication and design, with a special emphasis on your local market. They 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 environmentally 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.

April 21, 2014

Multichannel Marketing Powers Print and Digital Success

In a time of increasingly digital interaction, never underestimate the value of good, old fashioned tangible, physical marketing: print, direct mail, promotional products, signage, embroidery/screenprinting. Perhaps because of the hype and excitement over the digital revolution in progress around us daily, we jump to a conclusion that print or more traditional communications are no longer effective. That is a marketing mistake.

Multichannel and/or cross channel marketing is truly a no-brainer. Why not utilize multiple channels in various strategies to reap the most benefits from your marketing budget? Along with your website, mobile apps and social media, configure a direct mail campaign and promotional product giveaway to drive home your message. Join virtual with the actual. Digital and Tangible.

Pig promotional product and direct mail campaign — In sponsoring a local River Race event, Carolina Mountains Credit Union branded their promotional product mascot and utilized a matching direct mail postcard to support their online marketing efforts.

Here are a few convincing facts on integrated marketing:

45% of consumers over the age of 65 have no internet access in their homes. If seniors are in your target market, you must look beyond online contact.
92% of millennials say direct mail – not email or online marketing – has the most influence when making store choices
the physicality of print, signage or promotional items impacts consumers in a way digital communication cannot replicate.
the response rate of direct mail is 10–30x that of email.
promotional products are often perceived as gifts, which they are, and tend to be held onto longer. The more useful or unique, the more they are valued and continue to represent your brand. Also as the world becomes more digital, the more a physical promotion stands out from the crowd.

ImageSmith is proud to be a printer in an exciting era of digital communication. 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.

April 11, 2014

A Self-Marketing Guide for Freelancers

Establishing a successful career as a freelancer in the graphic design and marketing fields can be both incredibly rewarding and challenging. But as in any industry where contractors are plentiful, it can be difficult to separate yourself from the masses and identify how exactly you fit into the market. Fortunately, in the era of social media, self-promotion and marketing are much easier than you may think. In an effort to help all struggling, up and coming freelancers here are some self-marketing tips and strategies:

Identify Your Niche

According to It’s My Business, there are currently 10.3 million independent contractors working in the U.S. Whether you’re a writer, graphic designer, or consultant, the most important component to finding success as a freelancer is identifying your niche. In what areas do you excel? What are your weaknesses? What are you passionate about, and what are you most interested in working on? It’s critical to know the answers to such questions before you begin your freelance journey.

Create Your Own Brand

Once you’ve determined what types of services you want to offer, you can begin to shape your own brand and image. Don’t hesitate to share your expertise and enthusiasm on blogs, question boards, and other forums. Establish your name within the industry and prompt users to explore your name and website further. Consider creating a unique email extension with your own name and design a logo you can use when sending around work samples. One of your greatest resources: your local printer who wants to establish an ongoing relationship with you as you grow your business and reputation in the community. You will find no richer resource for technical, creative and promotional information.

Build A Professional Portfolio

Creating a unique and user-friendly way to display and showcase your work allows you to show potential employers just how talented you are. Though you should always be prepared to provide both digital and hard copies, building an online portfolio is crucial. You can collect your work via a blog or website, or create a digital reel of your work to present. Keep it simple without being too generic — allow your personality to shine through.

Digital Payments

Now that you’ve got a grasp on the basics, it’s time to discuss some logistics. As a freelancer, it can often be tedious and difficult to send and track invoices. Digitize your payment process by implementing mobile processing resources. This not only saves you time and frustration, but it is also incredibly easy to use for both yourself and clients. Track payments and manage accounts wirelessly all at the tip of your finger.

Utilize All Social Media Outlets

Take advantage of free social media platforms by posting links to or photos of your most recent accomplishments. Solicit your services and provide contact information for your users while maintaining a professional, eye-catching page. Consider creating social pages explicitly for professional use, and keep your personal accounts private.

Take On Pro Bono Work

Though you may not be jumping at the thought of taking on free work, such opportunities can often lead to paid gigs and/or referrals. This is also a great way to gain experience or dabble in an industry you’re not usually comfortable with. Furthermore, this give you the chance to network with potential clients for future projects – and while you gain useful experiences you also help others.

Small business entrepreneurs and talented freelancers are at the heart of Asheville and western North Carolina’s exciting economic growth – and we are committed to helping meet your marketing needs. ImageSmith is proud to be a printer in such an exciting era of digital communication. 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. Ask Imagesmith!

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.

January 8, 2014

9 on Design: Websites and Blogs to Inspire You

So many rich, inspirational, informative websites and blogs are now online that help keep us here at ImageSmith up to date. We have many favorites, and want to share a few in this post with the hope you find and bookmark a new resource to fire up your imagination. They are a true mixture, but one common denominator is they always help to provide inspiration and insight for design and marketing ideas.

In no certain order:

inkondapaper.com

“All things PRINT all the time.” Now with that tagline, you know we love this site. The proud creation of Chicago-based Brian Szubinski and Jason Shudy, inkondapaper is full of the latest news on print, design, direct mail, technology and more. A great resource for anyone working in or relying on the creativity and innovation of the print world.

mediabistro.com

With their tagline “the pulse of media”, media bistro is an expansive site hosting many different blogs all serving as an international resource for media professionals. Keep up with news from a variety of fields you may not have time to otherwise be an expert on such as 3D printing, mobile apps, job searches, public relations, advertising, semantic web and broadcast news.

Studiodaas Magazine or www.dnjg.be

Based in Rotterdam, this site with the cute green housefly logo is rich with stories, links, downloads and information about “design, web design, typography, web development, graphic design, photography and more…” Browse around and discover great links to tutorials on innovative typography, print projects, free font downloads. The site is well curated and geared for the progressive designer.

flavorwire.com

Live from New York, Flavorwire is a slick, up-to-the-minute website that features original reporting and critique on global cultural news. Their Twitter profile says that includes: “art, books, music, and pop culture the world over. Highbrow, lowbrow, and everything in between.” Click over on the right to the Design section for great news and inspiration about the field of graphic design.

rebento.com.pt

The blog of graphic designer Visco Duque from Lisbon, Portugal – Rebento never fails to feature innovative, fresh, cutting edge designs, photography and illustrations that are an inspiration. It feels like a world market of design, a great place to browse.

Inspirationhut.com

Modern magazine redesigns, world’s biggest sand artwork, engraved typography, paintings for the blind…. just a sample of the wonderful mixture of current articles on Inspirationhut. This online art and design “magazine” focuses on talent and inspiration, and also offers frequent font, psd, texture and other downloads that designers love to find.

youthedesigner.com

A “graphic design lifestyle blog,” youthedesigner’s focus is the design professional – so expect to find practical inspirational spotlights and interviews, news on competitions, workshops, and technology as well as freebies, contests, print templates, info graphics, and the like.

trüfblog.com

The blog of Trüf creative, an award winning design firm in Santa Monica, CA – “A Creative Studio Obsessed with Designing Better Brands.” Great sense of style and color, this blog always inspires and informs.

messynessychic.com

“Blogging on the offbeat, the unique and the chic” – articles here on fashion, culture and inspiration feel like a great find in neat corner shop. Another great place to browse.

ImageSmith is proud to be a printer in an exciting era of digital communication. 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.

December 30, 2013

ImageBlog’s 2013 Print and Design Year in Review

End of the year reflection time – which means of course a Top 10 list, right? Imageblog is our online newstand of conjecture, knowledge, experience and opinion about the world of print, design, marketing, technology and sustainability. Looking back at 2013, it was a year of growth. We were excited to feature our first guest blog authors, and hope to bring you more of that in the future. Below are articles we featured in 2013 that covered events unique to this year – changes, updates, memorials, anniversaries, and historic firsts. This list hopefully highlights some of the unique events of the past year:

USPS Issues First-Ever Global Forever Stamp
Just like the popular domestic first class mail Forever stamps, the USPS began offering a Forever stamp for international mail in February of 2013. For $1.10, you can send a one ounce letter anywhere in the world. The great circular design of the stamp is eye-catching and popular with philatelists.
Boston Magazine Cover Highlights the Power of Print with a Moving Tribute
After the tragic terrorist bombing at the Boston Marathon in April, many newsstand covers featured stunning and moving photography and design memorializing that day. One we liked the best for its design, color and ability to capture the personal side of such an event without capitalizing on any tragic images, was Boston Magazine’s image of the shoes of actual Boston marathon runners forming a heart. Even better, proceeds from the sale of an accompanying poster go to benefit the One Fund–Boston, which has raised millions to help those affected by the attack.
“Pencil to Pixel” Exhibit a Great Success
British firm Monotype’s “Pencil to Pixel” exhibit in New York provided a museum setting exhibition for typography lovers in May of 2013, following an initial run in London in 2012. The rich show highlighted the craftsmanship and design behind well-known typefaces of the past and present.
Coke Gets Personal with VDP and Integrated Marketing
Variable Data Printing (VDP) and Integrated Marketing techniques continued this year to bolster the power and profitability of print advertising in an increasingly digital age. Coke experimented with personalized bottles in some foreign markets, as consumers begin to notice and expect individualized content in all forms of marketing.
TCM in the Spotlight with Awesome Graphic Design
ImageBlog took a look at the great graphic design work produced over at Turner Classic Movies on their website, on air productions, print materials and marketing collateral. Nothing’s more inspiring than great design and TCM and the charles s. anderson design co. are doing a world class job.
20 Years On: Newsweek Prophetic 1993 Vision of the Future
A 1993 cover story from Newsweek offered a surprisingly accurate look ahead to today, contemplating the coming “interactivity” in the world of marketing and the resulting ethical dilemmas that might arise. An interesting read, but perhaps the most interesting part is that Newsweek did not foresee their own 2013 about face: first halting print production in favor of an online-only version at the end of 2012, then reversing course and planning a return to weekly print in 2014.
1931 Frankenstein Poster Sets World Record
The only confirmed known insert poster of the 1931 Universal movie “Frankenstein” sold for over $262,000 dollars – over 5 times the estimated amount. Print is valuable!
New Help for an Old Question: What is that Font?
As just one example of the innovative ways technology is providing great solutions, we highlighted three online sites that help solve a problem designers and prepress departments have always struggled with – identifying a mystery font! Sooner or later, you’ll have the same problem and here are some great online resources.
The World’s Most Expensive Printed Book is Sold
The Bay Psalm Book now holds two world records: it is the first book printed in British North America and now the most expensive as well, having sold at auction for over $14 million! You can peruse the book yourself with the digital copy that is now available online for free, courtesy of the Old South Church in Boston.
Cyber Monday: an Ongoing Evolution
The busiest online shopping day of the year, Cyber Monday continues to evolve as technology and social media change. Small players are now part of the game and the line between brick & mortar stores and their online enterprises gets blurrier. This day is a phenomenon that surely represents trends that will continue to define the changes in print and marketing in the year ahead.

Here’s hoping you will find some interesting topics in our list, or some useful information about print, design and marketing for the year ahead. Thank you for stopping by!

Rely on your printer for advice and direction with all your marketing needs. 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 marketing projects, and more useful tips on how to create custom, effective, high impact marketing solutions.

December 10, 2013

5 Innovative Tech Tools for Small Business Owners

The advancement in digital communication technology tools has made it easier for companies to reach their target audiences and beyond, with small businesses and startups gaining the ability to impact the public at a minimal cost. While you may have a team of tech gurus, or may be one yourself, you’re still likely to be overwhelmed by the range of available technologies to help grow your business. From apps for your smart device to safe virtual file exchanging services, there are numerous tech tools designed for the small business owner on a tight budget. Here are five essential tech tools that every company like yours can benefit from.

Appy Pie

Mobile applications are a dominant force within every industry, leading many tech-savvy business owners to believe that signing on to the mobile app phenomenon is a must. Imploring the assistance of a mobile application may be unnecessary for the advancement of your company. And before you hire developers, or you attempt this endeavor yourself, don’t invest in an expensive mobile app before you investigate more affordable options. Appy Pie is a mobile app maker that allows individuals without much technical expertise to create custom apps for their businesses. It also provides small businesses with a test run before they spend money on a full mobile application. Ranging from $12 to $40 in price, this cloud-based service enables you to do everything from viewing your app stats through Google Analytics to helping you design and publish custom apps that your customers can download on iTunes and Google Play.

Crushpath

Promote your business with this app that enables you to construct a simple, one-page website detailing information about your business then sharing it with potential customers and clients through email or on social media. For less than $10 a month, users can create custom-made pitches based on their desired outcome, whether it be promoting a specific product/service or reaching out to a certain segment of your customer base. Crushpath sites are also viewable by anyone who searches for your company online, which helps you generate and keep track of leads even when you’re not actively promoting your business.

ShareFile

With customized business solutions for professionals in over 30 different industries, ShareFile offers companies solutions for transferring and sharing files safely and securely in a custom-branded, password-protected space. Send large files via email, arrange secure file transfers, and coordinate a collaborative arena for project-related files by using tools like the Virtual Data Room. ShareFile’s best attribute is that it can be used on smartphones and tablets on Apple iOS, Android, BlackBerry, and Windows mobile applications. What’s more, ShareFile users can download and use these mobile apps for free.

Slide.ly

Maximize your social media presence with an app that will grab the public’s attention visually. With Slide.ly you can create unique slideshows and share them on popular social media sites. Simply choose your photos from your Facebook, Instagram, Flickr, or Google Images account, pick some theme music, add special effects, and then share your slideshow on your company’s social media pages. Slide.ly is a free and easy way to promote products and services and engage with customers and clients.

TinderBox

Create, manage, and track everything from sales documents to your company’s marketing strategy with this web-based proposal writing program. TinderBox helps keep your employees on the same page and provides you with the ability to streamline contracts, proposals, and other significant company documents in order to ensure that you’re sending a uniform message to clients and customers. You’ll be able to write, make edits, organize, approve, and disseminate your documents no matter where you are.

Author bio: Greg Richards is a tech blogger who writes posts on the latest news and reviews products in the industry.

ImageSmith is proud to be a printer in an exciting era of digital communication. 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.

July 19, 2013February 15, 2023

Newsweek’s Prophetic 1993 Vision of the Future

We came across this magazine recently in our shop. Twenty years ago, the May 31, 1993 edition of Newsweek featured a cover story that envisioned what the future might hold once information began to race along a looming “superhighway.” While this fast approaching digital revolution was undeniable, the details of how it would change everyday life for all of us were largely unclear. Change on that scale is both exciting and intimidating, as we all have learned over the past two decades. With speculation rampant, Newsweek journalists Bill Powell, Anne Underwood, Seema Nayyar, Charles Fleming, Barbara Kantrowitz and Joshua Coooper Ramo envisioned a surprisingly accurate overview of how technology was preparing to change our lives.

Arguably the most impressive techonological accomplishment during my early childhood was the NASA moon landing. I remember being aware in 1969 that my grandmother, who lived with us and was born in the 1890s, had been my age at a time when even flight seemed a ridiculous concept. Now she was sitting beside me watching a man step out onto the moon’s surface. That fast pace of change in one lifetime has of course continuted to accelerate. The world of 1993, only twenty years ago, stood on the cusp of the digital revolution, although the term “internet” was still largely unknown. 27% of American households had a home computer, but many admitted to using it less than 5 hours a week! Fiber-optic cable was far from universal, movies were rented at brick-and-mortar stores to be viewed on VCRs. The CD ROM was an amazing new invention that could store video, music or text on one disk but needed a specialized player to be accessed.

In their focus on the potential of what was about to happen, Newsweek chose the concept of “interactivity.” The future would allow consumers to be participants in their consumption of entertainment and services, no longer just a “couch-potato” who passively viewed and absorbed information. The missing pieces in 1993 for this sea change were the expansion of fiber optic cable networks to connect us, and huge investments in infrastructure, technology and content that the major players in the cable, communications and entertainment sectors were deploying. Looking ahead from this landscape in 1993 with amazing prescience, Newsweek envisioned:

Video phones with clear pictures (and lens covers to ensure privacy)
“New age goggles” and virtual reality that a “mighty computer” would be able to deliver
Lightweight, compact laptop computers. “Work will never be more than a keystroke away.”
HDTV with a sharper than ever screen picture
Software to be used for education.
“Viewer-directed” movies and video games where the user can choose alternate endings or direct the entire action.
On-demand movies and channel selections. (In 1993, only one network in California offered “interactive TV programming” where you bought a device for $199, then paid $15 to interact with game shows or predict sporting events.)
An early concept of “icons” on a computer screen that search the “superhighway of information” for news uniquely tailored to a person’s interests…. and then connect to other people with those same interests – social media in it’s infancy!

A central concept our 1993 world had trouble envisioning was through what devices in our households would we be accessing this interactivity, and who would be paying to do so. Would it be through our TVs, phones or personal computers? If these “smart boxes” as Newsweek calls them, grow too complicated, would people want to deal with them after a long day’s work? How much would we be willing to pay to access banking, entertainment, or investment information?

This article also accurately foresaw the dilemnas and coming ethical conflicts our new interactivity would generate:

Al Gore was advocating for a “scheme to build a nationwide fiber-optic network,” and is quoted as saying this “data superhighway” will be the ” ‘most important marketplace of the 21st century.’ ” – He got that right.
“It’s quite possible that some entrepreneur in a garage is coming up with a really new idea that will forever alter the best-laid plans.” – A premonition of Zuckerberg and Facebook, perhaps?
“Who will protect the privacy of consumers whose shopping, viewing and recreational habits are all fed into one cable-phone company data bank?” – an early understanding of the complexity of privacy issues that abound today.
“The government could electronically spy on individuals; bosses could track employees.” – Edward Snowden was about 9 years old when this was written.
Of the major players in the industry in 1993 – U S West, Time Warner, AT&T, TCI, Microsoft, Intel, General Instrument, Sega, MCA – Newsweek realized these would “live or die based on the decisions they make in the next decade…. Not everyone is going to make it. Those that do could change everything.”

With all they got right, what is the most surprising thing Newsweek missed in their look ahead? That their magazine itself would, in twenty years time, cease print production at the end of 2012, becoming an online-only digital publication.

Related BLOGPOST: 15 Years of Rapid Change for the World of Print

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.

May 14, 2013

Share a Coke with Your Name on it: Getting Personal with VDP and Integrated Marketing

Update:

After 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)

V ariable 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.