Two things I read last week hit me with a one-two punch: first I read about Warren Buffet’s investment in IBM, and then I read information from a Gartner report on leveraging customer loyalty.

The AP article on Buffet’s investment says: Warren Buffett said Monday that his company has spent $10.7 billion to buy more than 5 percent of IBM’s stock this year, a surprising move by the billionaire investor who has long shied away from investing in high technology companies.”

Why the change is a kicker!
“Buffett has long refused to invest in high-tech companies because he has said it’s too difficult to predict which technology businesses will prosper in the long run.
“But he said he recently realized his view of IBM was wrong based on what he read in the company’s annual reports and what he learned by talking to information-technology departments at Berkshire subsidiaries. He said he should have realized years sooner that hardware is no longer the heart of IBM’s business.
“”Now they’re very much a services company, and they’re very intertwined with their customers,” Buffett said. And he said IBM’s customers are reluctant to change once they start working with IBM.”

Now for the Gartner quote on loyalty and customer experience:
“”I don’t think it’s ever too late,” said Adam Sarner, principal research analyst with Stamford, Conn.-based Gartner Inc. “Long-term loyalty initiatives depend on building trust and affinity. The more relevant you are to the customer, the more likely they will be loyal to you.””

So what does this mean to us in the world of Print, or Print and Mail? What can we learn from these two seemingly unrelated pieces of information?

For some time now, everywhere we turn we see studies, reports, and market recommendations about how moving from a Print Service provider to a Marketing Services provider is the way to expand and grow our business. However, it is certainly a complex transition to make, and maybe even too costly. It is hard to figure out where to begin and even if to begin.

What I take away from the Gartner information is that for our industry, and for us as companies or individuals, to compete and succeed we must stay relevant to our customers. Communication channels and technology are changing fast, and some say Print, and Print and Mail are becoming irrelevant. We need to adopt a customer-centric view and prioritize discovering what our customers need, and change our organizations to meet those needs. We are experiencing changes, but so are our customers. There are new regulations and changing demographics impacting how our customers communicate to their customers. We cannot afford to take a product or technology only view, and ignore the changes impacting our customers. We must stay relevant to them.

My take away from the Buffet article relating to our business and our industry is that some very smart investors have stayed away from high tech companies because of the difficulty in picking a product or technology with long lasting impact. They are instead placing their bets on companies that are service providers because a good service provider becomes very involved with their customers and it becomes difficult for the customer to change. The technologies and the tools supporting our industry in producing communications have never been more widely varied and in flux. However, if we focus on the needs of the clients and their communication requirements with an outside-in view instead of inside-out, we, like the giant IBM, can change how we are perceived and increase our value, longevity, and profitability.

So in the end what does it mean? Listen carefully to the clients, learn and understand their needs and even what is driving those needs, and then no matter what you call it, offer service solutions that meet those needs.

Are you interested in learning how some printing companies have accomplished just this? Visit OceWow to watch best practice videos. Watch as we highlight what makes print operations like i3Logix, Yurchak Printing Inc., and Ideal Printers Inc. successful.

The Document Strategy Forum just celebrated its fourth birthday last week. This event is unique for its focus and its size. The focus on transactional documents brings together an audience with a common need: how to keep up with all the changes in regulation, technology, and customer demands surrounding transactional communication, which is at the center of every business’ interaction with its customers. The organizers stay tuned in to what is of interest to their audience, with an example being this year’s addition of both a track and an exhibit floor pavilion for SharePoint. The narrower scope and smaller venue, as compared to the mega-events such as Graph Expo or On Demand, leads to superior interaction opportunities for both attendees and the solution providers.

The focus and size in no way limit the value and learning opportunity provided. There are six tracks and over forty-five sessions dedicated to providing information and insight. The best part of the sessions provided is that they often lead to very interactive discussions amongst the speaker and the attendees, leading to a sharing of perspectives across different functions and industries. I attended a session on Managed Print Services where I was reminded that when speaking about anything with documents, it is a good idea to set the stage by explaining whether you are referring to internal business documents, business-to-business documents, or business-to-customer documents.

The opening keynote presentation by Forrester Research, “The State of the Document Processing Services Industry 2011”, provided great background and thought provoking information for the rest of the conference. The presentation states it is time to change our process approach. We think we’ve got it all under control and we do to a certain point, but firms still struggle to manage untamed business processes: customer onboarding, claims processing and invoicing process. “1998 – 2009 marks a lost decade consumed with packaged apps and leaving enterprises stuck in cement, unable to rapidly change, compete and innovate. 48% will invest in collaborative technology to improve app performance.

Another part of the Forrester presentation described Customer Communication categories and primary applications. They defined the categories as: structured, interactive and on-demand. Key industry concerns include: enterprises trying to get rid of a big headache – aging structured output systems, the ability to quickly comply with new regulations; rapid movement to on-demand and interactive transactions and archaic fulfillment process.

Another unique take away I got from this year’s event was to remember that when talking about “multi-channel”, (and who isn’t?), we need to not only think about the broad variety of output channels with print, email, web-hosted, social media, mobile, etc., but we also need to focus on the breadth of the input information channels from multiple administrative, transactional, marketing, and yes, even customer response sources. As a process-focused individual, this suddenly seemed obvious; you need to look at the inputs, tasks, and outputs in any process to be effective, I do not think I have experienced any other time which highlighted the input side.

I believe that the focus provides superior interaction and networking opportunities. The attendees are mostly high level individuals with 45% of them holding C-level or Director/Department Head Positions. 28% of the companies represented generate 3+ million outbound transactional documents per month (and 13% of those are generating 10+ million per month). I personally have met and established ongoing relationships with many key contacts through participating over the past four years.

This event may be one of the best kept secrets in the industry, and I am looking forward to what the show organizers will do to keep improving for their 5th anniversary event in 2012.

For more information on transactional document solutions, visit Océ Production Printing – Transactional Resources.

I came across this great article last week in the PINE newsletter written by Dr. Ronnie H. Davis, Vice President and Chief Economist. The article offers speculation on the future of print and print markets – something we all wish we could look into a crystal ball to see.

We tend to talk a lot about marketing service providers and how they are critical to the future of print. But this article presents an idea discussed less, especially on this blog. The article states that print logistics – things like packaging, labels, wrappers, and product user manuals – is the only industry segment not susceptible to competition from digital media. Though still a relatively smaller part of total industry sales, a series of graphs illustrates how print logistics sales have increased the most over the past 10 years and the number of print establishments who specialize in logistics has decreased the least when compared to other print segments.

Perhaps this is one untapped area of opportunity for the printing industry. Could your operation capture some of the print logistics market?

 Looking for other ideas to help grow your business? Check out the only business development program created by and created for digital printers.

The cross-media market is dynamic, growth-oriented, and a major contributor to the future of the printing industry. InfoTrends recently completed a study entitled The Evolution of the Cross-Media and Marketing Services Provider. This study surveyed more than 280 print service providers (PSPs) to understand the current state of cross-media and the evolution taking place in the graphic communications market. The first key message is that service providers as a community nderstand the critical importance of getting into cross-media services. Of the 285 total respondents, over 58% are currently offering some level of cross-media services.

The second key message is that companies taking a leadership posture in cross-media are growing revenue from both cross-media as well as expanding digital print. Respondents offering cross-media services indicated that offering cross-media marketing services increased their digital printing volume by an average of 13.7%.

Participating in the More Lucrative Cross-Media Revenue Stream
The marketing executive is the key decision-maker in cross-media services. These marketers are facing a number of challenges in the transition to cross-channel marketing, from strategy to design and deployment to tracking and measurement. The sheer scope of the cross-channel marketing model, and the new innovations that continue to appear, make it difficult for marketers to keep up.

Marketers are reaching out to their traditional print service provider and agency partners for assistance. To date, they are primarily doing this selectively for specific functions. No single partner fits the bill for a wide range of services.

During an October 2010 study entitled Capturing the Cross-Media Direct Marketing Opportunity, InfoTrends surveyed more than 500 marketers. These respondents reported working with a number of different external service providers to execute cross-media marketing campaigns. Almost 42% of respondents work directly with a commercial printer. Over a third of respondents reported working with an advertising agency, a direct mailer, or a graphic design firm. Since marketers work with commercial printers and agencies the most, it would make sense that these service providers are well-positioned to offer new cross-media services to their existing clientele.

The key question is this: what selection criteria are essential to the marketer? How does that service provider move to the top of the list so they can participate in the more lucrative marketing value chain and the incremental digital print revenue associated with cross-media services?

To read the rest of this article, visit www.OceWow.com and download the September NewsLetter.

I drove past my local post office yesterday morning, one that is not closing, as far as I know, and noticed a FedEx drop box about ten feet from the main entrance door. It was clearly on USPS property. Or rather, on my property, and your property. I never noticed it before, in the way that many things that are a little out of place are invisible until you need them, or your brain has a spare moment and recognizes them. So as I ran my errands, I arranged to pass a couple of other post offices and found the same thing –FedEx drop boxes lined up next to the Express Mail box and regular USPS mailboxes.

This reminded me of our collective reactions at shows like Graph Expo as the major equipment providers, many with competing hardware or software or services offerings, began to populate each other’s booths as part of “solutions”. Often we did not know whose booth we were in. At the time, this blew our minds.

Of course, there are collaborations – or contracts – between the USPS and the private package delivery carriers already in place. The USPS Global Express Guaranteed service is the USPS’s “fastest international shipping service with transportation and delivery by FedEx Express”. And UPS Returns Flexible Access uses the USPS Parcel Return Service combined with UPS’s own delivery network.

These collaborations appear to leverage the strengths of each organization. The USPS, however, with its monopoly, (or responsibility), for First Class Mail and Standard Class Mail, is left with the less profitable deliveries of the carriers’ packages in out-of-the-way locales. FedEx and UPS are clearly dependent on the USPS for final delivery and pickups of packages in remote areas that are, of course, routes covered by the USPS.

The USPS must continue to focus on performance improvement in its core areas of responsibility – First Class and Standard Mail, but it’s time for the USPS to start thinking about “solutions”, and “collaborations” in the true sense of those words, to help promote its own sustainability instead of mere survival through cost-cutting.

Looking for more information? Visit www.OceWow.com and sign up for the free monthly newsletters designed especially for Transactional and Direct Mail providers.

Recently, I had the chance to spend some time at the DMA 2011 conference in Boston. While I absolutely enjoyed my time at Graph Expo, I was excited to attend a show that primarily consisted of marketing agencies and in-house marketers. I was looking forward to seeing what topics were trending, what challenges were being hotly discussed, and what technologies and channels were being debated.

It’s certainly very important for all of us that are associated to the printing industry to understand what marketers are thinking and talking about. Thus, I’d like to share some of my observations from DMA 2011. I hope that you find them helpful!

1. Marketers are absolutely in need of integrated solutions:

One theme that seemed to exist in many of the conference sessions was the need to break down silos and to integrate marketing efforts. As more and more marketers move to reach their customers and prospects through multiple channels, many of them have fallen into the trouble of storing and managing multiple databases. Those databases might store conflicting or simply varying bits of information about their contacts. This harms a marketer’s need to try to communicate with their audience in real-time. It also prevents a marketer from truly delivering one-to-one and relevant messages.

Thus, service providers (especially those that are committed to offering marketing services through multiple channels as opposed to only print, mail, or fulfillment) have a tremendous opportunity to promote and offer solutions of that nature to their customers to help them solve those challenges.

2. The Primary Discussion was Digital — But Print Still Has a Place in the Marketing Mix!:

I won’t lie – many of the discussions at DMA 2011 centered around online marketing and other digital marketing initiatives. But there were still a number of great case studies shared that involved print and direct mail components. Some of the main reasons why I heard marketers share why they still chose print as a channel included:

• It is tangible.
• It can be personalized.
• It can create a deeper emotional impact.
• It can be a very effective way to drive people to online content.

3. When it comes to social networks, businesses have a lot to learn:

Judging by the attendance of various sessions, many companies are still striving to learn how to effectively use social networks in the B-to-B space. Here were a few of the tips that I heard that I’d like to share:

• Twitter’s search features can be one of the most powerful websites for companies to utilize. It enables us to really listen to what’s on the minds of customers and prospects.
• Facebook’s dominance in the social networking space is truly astounding — thus, we most likely all need to invest more resources there. They have 800 million users! Nearly half of them log in each day.  30 billion pieces of content are shared there each month! Those numbers clearly dwarf the activity that other social networks can share. With that much volume, it’s certain that some of the content being shared and discussed has to do with companies and products. In order to capitalize on the opportunities there, business of all shapes and sizes must be on Facebook too.
• People love video. It’s true. Video is being used more and more by marketing agencies and other companies to tell their stories. I truly think that many service providers can utilize video to do the same thing

4. Mobile and QR Codes Were Huge… and Growing:

There were a ton of QR Codes at the conference. They were on posters, signs, collateral, and clothes. While that is a good sign to me when it comes to printing, I also noticed that most of the QR Codes were not used 100% properly.

• Primarily, most of them seemed to point to non-mobile websites. I truly think that there is a tremendous opportunity for service providers to grow their business by doing more than just providing or printing the QR Code; but rather, to also offer the building and hosting of the mobile website or mobile landing page.

Hawaii Medical Service Association (HMSA), an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, is a reliable name in Hawaiian health care. Established in 1938, it is the largest and most experienced provider of health care coverage in the state. Over half of Hawaii’s population has chosen HMSA for their coverage.

HMSA’s mission is to provide quality, affordable health plans, employee benefit services, and work site wellness programs. HMSA also offers a variety of programs, services, and support to help improve the health and well-being of its members and community.

In the complex and dynamic world of health care, nothing is more important than high-quality, effective communications about subscriber benefits. Assumpta Rapoza, Director of Enterprise Risk Management for HMSA, clearly understands the importance of ensuring clear communications about benefits for subscribers. Rapoza stated, “Quality communications are essential for
customer satisfaction as well as the retention of a loyal customer base.”

Clear Messaging to Drive Loyalty
With health care on everyone’s agenda, HSMA wanted to effectively communicate the true value of the individual’s health insurance policy. The company decided to create an annual cost savings report that raised the subscriber’s awareness of the actual costs for medical procedures and
medications, the amount covered by HSMA, and the resulting financial benefit.

According to Rapoza, “If the subscriber went to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription, he or she typically didn’t know the actual costs and the HMSA benefit. We wanted an agile solution where we could customize communications based on the specific member profile. We were seeking tools that would enable us to create personalized messaging for each subscriber in the form of an annual summary report.”

Rapoza continued, “We needed to push out the messaging. We knew that we wanted to mail out customized statements. While electronic delivery is a more costefficient way to deliver information, we are cognizant that a high percentage of our membership still prefers paper.”

The Solution
HMSA leveraged Océ’s Technology & Software Support (TSS) Solution Development Manager and Systems Consultant resources, its existing investment in Océ digital print technology, upgrades to its Océ PRISMAproduction® workflow software, as well as the GMC PrintNet Variable Data Composition software to design a solution for its annual benefits summary statement. This combination enabled HMSA to design, compose, produce, present, manage, and automate printed documents with individualized targeted messaging that was HIPPAcompliant. The system design also needed to accommodate production in print and electronic formats, created by PrintNet. Rapoza noted, “The end-result was a customerfriendly communication that clearly articulated the value that HMSA was delivering to its membership.”

To read more articles like this, visit www.OceWow.com and download the September Newsletter.

I only ask because in today’s marketing strategy digital print is only one piece of the magic formula and it’s effectiveness is dependent upon many other factors. It really starts upstream with market research and understanding the audience in order to drive the desired results. Next we need to figure out how to connect the dots. For example, once we gather the data and creative pieces, how do we get them working for us?

We are often faced with the opportunity to show our clients how digital color can impact the mail campaign. For me, it’s never just about putting color on paper, it’s much more personal. Sure, we can convert projects from conventional printing to digital color by combining market cells and targeting smaller segments, which are often considered too expensive to run on their own, but there’s much more to it.

For example, it’s about working with our clients and helping them take a name and address file with a vehicle identification number, break the VIN down to isolate the year, make, model and color, and then use that information to pull in a picture of the vehicle owned by the mail recipient. The next step is to reengineer the package and allow that vehicle picture to show through the window of the outside envelope so the recipient has that immediate personal connection to the mail piece. It’s also about building a program with business rules and logic that requires minimal maintenance, yet having more flexibility than ever imagined. You end up incorporating new ways of thinking and the latest technology to create a personalized experience, meet quick turn times, minimize inventory control and enabling our clients to track their mail.

Sure, just adding color has proven to increase response rate, but when you plan and design variable color to be part of a solution it takes your mail campaign to a whole new level.

This post was provided by SourceLink. To learn more about strategic solutions and incorporating digital print services, please visit their website .

Established in 1982 as a typesetting firm, RT Associates, Inc. has evolved into a marketing logistics provider in step with the ever-changing marketing needs of its customers. With RT Associates, the entire campaign management process is handled under one roof. The firm helps clients execute all aspects of their marketing campaigns, whether they are print, web, or mobile. RT serves as a strategic partner to its customers, opening unique channels of communication and elevating messaging to a new level of impact. Consistent messaging across multiple channels increases the likelihood of a positive response. RT’s one-stop execution makes integrated marketing fast, easy, and effective.

RT was an early innovator with digital print. In 1995, RT Associates invested in its first Agfa Chromapress (serial number 13). While some early investors of digital color struggled with market development, RT Associates was profitable within 6 months of the installation. A year later, the company purchased a second unit.

Since then RT expanded its digital printing capabilities by moving to HP Indigo technology, and adding offset capabilities as well as some large format capabilities. Most recently, RT Associates invested in a Canon imagePRESS® series 7010. Bob Radzis, owner of RT Associates, explains, “We have a number of clients where we provide web-to-print services for their distribution networks. This means small order quantities over the web. The unique ‘saddle press’ inline booklet-making technology on the Canon imagePRESS 7010 series streamlines our operations.”

Differentiation Through an Integrated Campaign Approach
As an early adopter of digital print, RT Associates is also a market leader in cross-media services. Radzis attributes his company’s success to its Integrated Campaign Management service offering. He notes, “RT’s Integrated Campaign Approach (ICA) uses our tools, technologies, and experiences to help companies develop marketing campaigns that will perform at their best in all critical areas. While the market has heard about a number of B2C cross-media campaigns, the majority of our customers are B2B. Our ICA approach is focused on helping clients understand how to build and cultivate their B2B clientele.”

The ICA process starts with insightful customer analysis of data and enables the client to develop accurately targeted message strategies, choose the right channels of delivery, and implement successful trigger-based campaigns. The ResponseTrack online toolbox allows B2B marketers to collect valuable, real-time data about prospects to see who is responding and when.

Radzis states, “We quickly learned that in the B2B space, analyzing data to drive the initial campaign and then leveraging our findings to drive follow-on interactions is critical. We partner with a data analytics firm and bring that firm into the process. Data analytics has become a key differentiator for RT Associates. The objective is to help the B2B customer identify the most likely prospects, develop a cross-channel strategy, and ensure that they are being reached via their preferred channel of communication. The end result for our clients is more customers and enhanced loyalty among existing customers.”

Cross-Media Success
According to Radzis, “I believe that our key to success is directly linked to our data-driven focus. We have learned how to leverage the customer’s information, continuously optimize it, and provide iterative improvement. This is the deployment of a test-and-learn, test-and-learn, test-and-learn philosophy. Today’s companies are wallowing in data, but to be successful, service providers need to learn how to combine data with digital color technology to drive action.”

Looking for more ideas? Visit OceWowFactor to watch videos highlighting i3logix, Ideal Printers, Yurchak Printing, and more!

Note: This is Part 9 of a 9-Part series based on the book “Business Transformation: A New Path to Profit for the Printing Industry”

Since I first started writing the book Business Transformation: A New Path to Profit for the Printing Industry, things sure have changed a bit in the worlds of marketing, communications, and technology.

For one thing, social networks such as Google+ have come into play and quickly added tens of millions of users. Apps such as Instagram and Postagram have arisen and are given new life to photos taken with mobile phones and to postcards, accordingly. Also, we’ve seen a tremendous increase in the amount of people that are carrying around smartphones and tablets.

No matter what your role in business might be — as an owner, sales rep, marketer, IT personnel, consultant, etc. — shifts in communications and technology can be intimidating. But if you are in the printing or marketing industries, these shifts should also be seen as something else: as opportunities.

Service providers have opportunities to help businesses maximize their presence on new channels. Many companies today face the same challenges: how to get more people to their website; how to build up their following on social networks; how to measure what’s working. Service providers can help their clients to identify solutions to those problems. But along with simply providing the consulting services, many print, mail, and fulfillment service providers are in the position to do more than that! Many have the resources to actually build, manage, execute, and measure the marketing initiatives that their clients need. This may include print, email, landing pages, mobile, and more. Yes, many now have the opportunity to truly offer full marketing services.

But as the worlds of communications and technology continue to change, how can you keep up? Here are a few suggestions:

• Be a Practitioner: The easiest way to learn how a marketing channel or tool could help one of your clients is to use it yourself. The same applies to keeping an eye on new trends. If you are committed to doing whatever you can to promote your business, then you will take steps to devote time and energy to find out what’s next. The only way that we can keep up is to make it a priority. And when we have a stake in keeping up for ourselves, it will be a lot easier to do so.
• Invest in Technology:  As a printer, we may certainly become frustrated if a potential prospect turns down our solutions to go with an online-only solution (i.e. rather than print the book, they tell you that they’re simply going to offer a version for eReaders) . However, rather than simply become frustrated at those moments, we should find ways to put ourselves in their shoes.

One way to do that is to invest in the same technology that they may be using. If you don’t have a smartphone, you need one! If possible, acquire a tablet as well. Take the time to experience what it is like to browse, search, find, and consume information on those devices. For one, you may start to realize some of the benefits those devices provide. But it may also help you to identify possible solutions that you can offer to your clients the merge the online and offline worlds together! For example, perhaps you can encourage a client to use QR Codes to make their brochure interactive. By adding QR Codes, the client may be pleased that they get to incorporate their online content “into” their printed materials. Also, this may give you as the service provider the opportunity to demonstrate the effectiveness of the items that they do continue to print.

Of course, there are other ways that we can stay on top of emerging trends. We can subscribe to the right eNewsletters. We can join Groups in LinkedIn that have forward-thinkers. We can start following people and brands in the worlds of marketing and technology that are freely sharing information on social networks. And of course, we can attend offline events, conferences, and meetings that are covering topics that we want to learn more about.

No matter what our preferred method might be, the bottom line is that we will need to be committed to keeping up! Yes, some of these trends may fizzle out before they have the chance to mature. But if we are willing to invest the time to see how new technologies and trends can help our business, we will find ways to grow faster than some of our competitors.

Moving Forward

This is the final installment of my summary series regarding my book, Business Transformation: A New Path to Profit for the Printing Industry. I hope that you enjoyed it and found the information helpful!

If you have any questions or would like to learn more about the book, please visit http://NewPathToProfit.com.

NFC is the acronym for Near Field Communications. So what?

Put simply, near field communications (NFC) let devices (like cell phones) that are close to one another (like 4 inches apart) exchange information (like credit card numbers).

For those who find that too simple, here’s the real deal from Wikipedia: “Near field communication, or NFC, allows for simplified transactions, data exchange, and connections with a touch. Co-invented by NXP Semiconductors and Sony in 2002, NFC technology is being added to a growing number of mobile handsets to enable mobile payments, as well as many other applications.”

NFC also has potential applications for instant file exchange, electronic business cards, friend-to-friend connections, electronic money, and mobile gaming. In fact, The New York Times reported on August 13 that some states (California, Massachussets, Iowa, and District of Columbia) may be turning to online gambling to build revenues), so mobile gaming alone could drive NFC.

In January 2011, the tech blogs got all hot and sweaty about a rumor that the Apple iPad2 and iPhone5 would have NFC. By March, we knew that wasn’t going to happen, but when it does, some observes say it’s going to be huge. For example, MG Sigler at TechCrunch says, “If Apple can nail Near-Field Communication (NFC) and tie it directly into their already-established iTunes payment system, it could change everything. It could transform Apple from the biggest technology company in the world, to the biggest company in the world, period. By far.”

Also “coming soon,” Google Wallet (a mobile app that will “make your phone your wallet”), which, in partnership with Citibank, will let consumers “tap, pay, and save.”

In short [as they say]: What’s in your wallet?

 In February, the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council released results of a study that show today’s marketers struggling to innovate while keeping up with exploding technology.

Dubbed Unify to Multiply Marketing Ecosystem Effectiveness* [whew; that’s a mouthful] the report shows chief marketers scrambling to centralize data, while extracting meaningful knowledge from vast volumes of transactional, behavioral, and attitudinal information. The dance has marketers seeking out partnerships with IT experts and/or relying on third-party sources to supplement customer profiling.

All the while, product life cycles are shorter and more tenuous. Consumer audiences are increasingly connected, opinionated, and virally influential. Supply chains and customer markets are more complex and distributed globally. And demand side marketing and sell-through requirements are now more resource intensive and channel-driven, requiring greater integration and alignment with the field.

It’s tough out there.

According to the white paper report sponsored by Webtrends, marketing process improvement, efficiency, and yield are directly tied to more effective use of tools—better platforms, analytics, and intelligence that improves rich media content creation, relevancy, delivery, access, control, workflow, partner collaboration, market engagement and sales lead provisioning, as well as campaign measurement and tracking.

It’s relentless out there.

Despite these pressing requirements, most marketers are hamstrung with antiquated legacy systems, an inability to “talk tech” with IT groups, and lack of resources to implement marketing automation projects. In short, tools that improve the quality and outcome of marketing decisions, as well as the effectiveness and performance of marketing teams and partners, are hard to come by.

It’s lethal out there.

This is the bad news. The good news? Well, we’re still looking for that.

In the report, the CMO Council identifies the top 10 ways marketers can create “marketing ecosystem value.” This includes the need to:

• Break down functional silos
• Institutionalize the use of data analytics
• Provide market insights + intelligence on-demand
• Transfer best-practice knowledge worldwide
• Synchronize supply and demand side operations
• Add discipline and rigor to campaign design, development, testing and delivery
• Ensure brand consistency, compliance and digital asset control
• Power the pipeline across acquisition, cultivation, and closure cycles
• Maximize customer value – relationships, revenue, and rapport
• Institute closed-loop performance measurement systems

What we haven’t been offered are the “how-tos” for breaking down functional silos or any of the rest of it. I mean, haven’t we been talking about this for years? HELP!

Source: The 20-plus page strategic brief can be downloaded here.

p.s. Why did they have to give this study such a jargon-ridden title? Yikes!

For operations executives and marketers alike, the number one challenge in today’s market is reaching the customer. Customers are clearly in control of the media that they consume. Mobile devices, iPods, DVRs, and the Internet have changed marketing forever. Marketing executives of the future will need to leverage every customer touch point with a mix of interconnected channels. One thing is certain — the effective use of cross-media communications will bring better business results. Delivering multiple impressions and giving prospects a variety of ways to respond can have a dramatic impact.

Media Dynamics are Changing

Over the past several years, we have heard about the importance of transforming into a “marketing service provider” with a focus on one-to-one communications and variable data. Today’s media dynamics are changing. As we look to the future, there will be three critical components for success in the much larger cross-media opportunity:

• Data-driven personal messaging
• Delivering messages across all channels
• Campaigns that engage the end customer

We’ll take a look at the first component now…

Data-Driven Personal Messaging

Marketers continue to see the value in developing intimate and direct communication with consumers. Not so long ago, families gathered around the television set. Now, individuals surf the Web and watch videos on personal, handheld devices. Consumers have grown comfortable with — and have even come to expect — a one-on-one dialogue with marketers. Personalized marketing messages are essential to attracting customers’ attention and delivering communications that increase sales. Today’s consumers don’t have the time or the patience to deal with irrelevant information. Data-driven personalized messaging has never been more important.

Organizations that sell products or services (business-to-business or business-to-consumer) must gather and use information about their customers’ purchases, including how much they spend per sale and when or how often they buy. Knowledge about past behaviors is a valuable tool for predicting future purchases. In addition to guiding business decisions, this information is critical for creating personalized marketing messages that increase sales.

Marketers must work with customers to personalize offers based on past purchases and preferences. The marketing must follow the customer (not the other way around), and the offer must be truly customized to the recipient’s specific needs.

In late 2010, InfoTrends published an extensive survey entitled Capturing the Cross-Media Direct Marketing Opportunity. The marketing respondents that participated in this study reported that over 60% of their campaigns leveraged personalized (one-to-one) or segmented (one-to-few) marketing.

From the perspective of the print service provider, personalization is the future of marketing communications. Service providers must clearly understand how to work with clients on data-driven campaigns. The problem is that personalization is not enough to remain competitive in today’s complex cross-media world.

If you want to learn about the remaining two components, visit www.OceWow.com and download the June 2011 Newsletter. You’ll find even more interesting articles there!

Production Solutions in Vienna, VA, did something interesting. They took a current mail piece and calculated how much it would have cost to produce the same piece a decade ago (in 2001).

Guess what?

The cost to mail a test package today appears to have fallen 17% below the cost to mail the same package ten years ago. Why? Because savings inherent in data processing, personalization, and mailshop fees offset rising costs in every other area of operations.

Observations:

• Technology has saved us some dollars and definitely enabled more personal, targeted, effective marketing.

• In the days ahead, ratios will shift adversely if the cost of manufactured materials goes up (paper, ink, window patch material, labels).

• Rising postage costs would squeeze margins, possibly out of existence. What will mitigate that? Can technology improvements and controlled labor costs offset the trend? So far, no … but technology delivers exponential surprises every day, so let’s not give up.

• For now, the real budget killer appears to be energy, gasoline in particular. Business owners also must deal with the rising and fixed energy costs inherent in plant operations. Again, innovations in technology may help us deal with super-charged gasoline and electricity prices. On the other hand, water could prove to be a problem most haven’t thought about.

• And then there’s the cost of labor. As states across the country try to regulate and repress wages and benefits for millions of American workers, the cost (and availability) of labor becomes vastly uncertain. Enter the influence of trends in the world economy, import/export practices, and even climate change (think paper production, for example): more uncertainty.

Whether or not one or more of these particular expenses skyrockets or plummets depends on a range of macro influences. Unforeseen technology advances and innovations in the areas of manufacturing, printing, lettershop, and even marketing itself could make us all rich (well, okay.. prosperous). In 2001, none of us really understood how huge email marketing and online shopping would be ten years later. We didn’t even know about QR codes or smart phones back then. So what will the world look like in 2021?

Perplexing, yes? ….. Perhaps direct mail production and marketing operations would benefit from a “Crazy Day brainstorming session” to encourage employees to “imagine the future” … leading maybe to some long-range thinking and planning focused on staying nimble, quick, responsive, and open to the coming deluge of change. I’d love to hear from readers!

In the meantime, thanks to Production Solutions for its thought-provoking article.

In February Iwrote about my confusion on the re-branding of the On Demand Conference to Publishing Exchange.  I attended the On Demand Expo and the Publishing Exchange Conference and my confusion continued. Like the many other comments which have been written about the event,  over all I am concerned and was disappointed.  Some other comments regarding the event were:

 “I think the lack of turnout was because prospective attendees could not figure out who the target audience was for this content”- Chuck Gehman; “  

 “The challenge for On Demand is that it must keep the print providers (and vendors) and add the publishers and new media types” – Charles Corr.

On the one hand there were some excellent sessions. On the other hand – there were  just not enough of them.  The print industry and digital print experts continue to talk about reinventing and finding ways to improve print but, the whole first day of the conference was pretty much dedicated to Publishing which in my opinion itself was being redefined. 

As a consultant I find all of this very interesting, however as a former print operations executive I long for the old days when I could hear from customers and supplier resources about what they needed and how I could meet their needs.  I question whether those providing equipment or involved in the print industry will spend their discretionary funds for conferences and expositions in the future.  Many have already started offering their own events for their customers and prospective customers.

What drives the choice to attend?  

Personally the amount of content I have to choose from is very important.  This year Publishing Exchange had less than 40 conference sessions while the co-located AIIM Info 360 had over 100 and Xplor over 60 plus 2 facility visits. I want to have clearly defined tracks and a good selection of sessions in each. I want the information to be useful in the near term, if we don’t pay attention to the near term performance and profitability we will not survive to the future. 

With so manyevents both in the spring and in the fall my question to you is how you choose which ones to attend? What are the most important factors for you and your company?  

I have already stated my bias for content, but more importantly if I am paying to attend an independently produced event, I expect the content to be balanced and independent not slanted to the sponsors. If interested in a specific supplier you would be better off in seeking out a service or equipment suppliers free educational offerings.  Interestingly, many of the former sponsors of these shows are now producing their own events and bringing in top notch, independent speakers. They may in fact be more concerned about not appearing biased at their own events than at those they pay to sponsor.

I am less concerned about the location, however the cost of transportation, hotels and food is important as these easily add up to more than the conference cost itself.  Is having more detailed information of the presentations in advance important to you and what about full copies of all session presentations being available after the conference?  Do we find more narrowly focused offerings or broad sweeping events more valuable? The conference organizers are struggling to keep pace with changing dynamics of our industry and making their organizations successful at the same time.  Telling producers more about what is important to us before the events rather than offering a critique after might be helpful.  Having a venue to do this across multiple venues as well as the possibility of a show guide comparing all of the options for different events would seem very beneficial to all parties.

If we want better events to attend we need to speak up on what we want and make sure to give credit when someone gets it right.