Author Archives: Heidi Tolliver-Walker

I’m a Gorilla Glue girl. For all my household and furniture restoration projects, I’ve always used it. But this time, I wanted to glue metal to wood. Was it really the best — still — after all these years? I started turning over super glue packaging to see if I could find. What I found was a QR Code, so I scanned it.

I was taken to a mobile video. The very first image I saw, before even loading the video, was a picture of a man holding a blue bowling ball up in the air by an orange piece of rubber tubing. Best intro to a video ever, and there was no way I wasn’t going to watch it.

The video was short, but perfect for the intended use. A simple 30-second demonstration of the capabilities of the glue, both its strength and its weather-resistance. It wasn’t fancy. A guy standing behind a table, giving a demostration, in front of a decent video camera and good lighting, and it worked.

The data on mobile video shows its astronomical growth and power as a selling and conversion tool. The reasons are simple. It’s entertaining, but video also allows people to absorb a lot of information in a short period of time. There is a reason people say “a picture is worth a thousand words.” If a picture is worth a thousand words, then video is worth ten thousand words.

Here are some stats on the power of video from HubSpot:

• Video in an email increases click-through rate from 200%-300%.
• Video on a landing page can increase conversion rates by 80%.
• After watching a video, consumers are 64% more like to purchase a product online.
• 50% of executives look for more product information after seeing a product/service in a video.
• 65% of executives visit the marketer’s website and 39% call a vendor after viewing a video.

Although these stats relate to online video, it applies to video on packaging, too.  If your customers are going to add QR Codes to packaging, this is a great model to follow.

I read a blog post the other day that made me feel really old.  It was from an MSP seeking to educate its customers and prospects about . . . offset.

As a former editor-in-chief of Printing News “back in the day” (the early 1990s), this was kind of shocking to the senses.

The first issue of Printing News I produced had a cover shot of two Indigo presses being hoisted to an upper story of a building in Manhattan. (This was back when the reliability of these presses was such that you had to buy them in pairs in case one of them went down.)

Since then, we covered the improvement in reliability. (Great news! You can buy digital presses one at a time now!) We covered the quality. (Dang! Customers can still tell the difference even without a loupe!) We covered the production cost — $.25 per printed sheet would surely never let these presses go mainstream, would it? We covered the resistance of designers to the process despite its benefits. (Personalized print? What’s that?)

There was tons of data to be had. Percent of designers who had used digital printing. Percent of printers offering digital printing. Percent of printers doing personalization beyond name and address. Any data point was headline news.  What percentage of the offset market digital printing would ultimately cannibalize was a perennial question that nobody got tired of asking.

I wrote a lot of articles about how to educate your customers the ins and outs of digital production. Why the higher cost was justified with better ROI. When and where the difference in quality from offset mattered and when it didn’t. Where designers had to be careful (vignettes, dark solid colors) or things would get messy. Everyone needed lots and lots of education.

To read a blog post written from the perspective that digital, not offset, is now the default printing process and that customers needed to learn more about offset was like watching the last episode of a long-running series.  The mystery is solved. Now that we know the answer, we almost forget the original question.

For some people, that “old” feeling was the first time a child asked what a vinyl record was. For me, it was this blog post. I guess I’ve been around for longer than I thought.

Time to teach the new dogs old tricks.

This week, I came across two innovative examples of interactive technologies used in print. Both were in magazines, but the concept can certainly be applied to high-value print products like annual reports, promotional kits, and catalogs, too.

The first example comes from “Allure” magazine, which worked with its creative partner, BlueSoHo, Quad/Graphics’ integrated marketing agency, to incorporate augmented reality (AR) throughout. The experiences can only be unlocked using the Allure Unbound AR app, which enables magazine readers to go to a behind-the scenes view of a fashion show, snap selfies with supermodel Gigi, and shop + share the looks featured in the magazine.

This was more than just an AR implementation. It was a mobile app implementation. By creating an app, this captures the audience, enables the publication to track behavior, and ultimately create a deeper reader engagement than would be possible simply with a non-branded AR app.

Great news for marketers, who benefit tremendously from the capabilities of mobile apps, is that consumers love them, too. According to Nielsen, mobile apps now account for 89% of mobile media time. Garnter now forecasts that, by the end of 2017, market demand for mobile app development services will grow at least 5x faster than internal IT organizations’ capacity to deliver them.

The other example is a video screen embedded into the front cover of a special edition “Empire” magazine. The cover of the special edition, printed in only 5,000 copies, uses headlines, “Wanted” poster images, and throwback fonts to create the feel of a 1920s newspaper, all promoting elements of the new movie “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.” In the center of the cover is an embedded video screen that, when the button is pressed, plays a full-length trailer of the movie. The magazine also includes a port that enables the view to recharge the screen so it can be viewed again and again.

While these examples are great fun, they aren’t unique. (For example, Chevy recently embedded video screens in its print ads in Esquire and Popular Mechanics.) That’s where the best news lies — interactive print is going mainstream, and these are just some of the more recent examples.

Now that’s something to be thankful for!

Happy Thanksgiving to the wonderful Digital Nirvana community.

Last week, I posted the first half of a checklist of things that, based on their experiences, print shops have noted to watch for when evaluating contracts for a new digital press. This is not to suggest that these “hidden” issues are rampant among digital press vendors. Only that they can pop up here and there. This list comes from the personal experiences of these printers, some of whom are outside the United States. This list was taken from an online discussion group, and this week, I’ll post the rest of the list. As last time, names have been removed from the quotes to protect the writer’s privacy.

6. FTR cost.

“If you own your machine and want to sell it [at some point], you have to find a buyer within your service area; otherwise there will be a hefty FTR cost.”

7. Service contacts and actual service standards.

“Digital presses can have all the bells and whistles, but if you do not get the service that these machines need, they become irrelevant. Investigate the service standards in your area.”

8. Contract rollovers.

Watch to see whether your contract rolls overs before the end of your lease or service contract.

“Some vendors will lock you into a full year of additional costs if you haven’t [contacted them in writing]. If you decide to go to another supplier, you may be hit with one year of costs. Always put [your termination of contract in writing] at least 90 days before the contract actually ends.’’

One printer noted that, in his area, some vendors write into their contracts that they reserve the right to charge up to 40% of their expected service income if the printer decides to seek an alternative supplier before the end of the service contract.

“If your current provider is presenting you with such a clause, ask for it to be removed, unless you are happy to pay charges for service you didn’t have, on volumes you didn’t produce to a supplier you are trying to leave.”

These are the experiences of these printers, and their experience may not be yours. Nor do these experiences reflect the contracts of every vendor.

What do you think? Do you have any words of wisdom to add?

Looking to invest in a new digital press? Wondering what to watch out for when evaluating the contracts of potential vendors? Here is a checklist from printers who have made this investment based on their personal experiences. This is not to suggest that these “hidden” issues are rampant among digital press vendors. Only that they can pop up here and there.

These comments were taken from an online discussion group. To protect the members’ privacy, their names have been removed from the quotes.

1. Color clicks vs. full-color clicks.

Some devices are capable of “clicking” the meter for every printed, which can make your full-color costs higher than expected.

“If this is part of an MPS contract where you are given an inclusive volume of prints, then your excess costs will be enormous as the items you thought to be one click will actually be four. Always ensure that your service or MPS contract states the color charges as full-color only.”

2. Terms like “duty cycle” and “rated volume.”

These often mean that the press is intended to run for the rated period of time.

“Penalties . . .  often lie on the other side of violating such terms.”

3. Inclusive volumes that are A4 only.

“Some current service contracts show a “minimum bill” that includes a number of full-color images. I have seen several cases where the customer believes that the inclusive volume is A3/SRA3 only to be invoiced for the additional cost because it was actually accounting for A4 prints. Always ensure in writing that your service provider states whether inclusive volumes are A4 or A3/SRA3.”

4. Annual increases in click cost.

“Having run a digital press for many years, they never really spell out or explain how they increase your click cost each year along with the Fiery RIP cost. Over a five-year period, this can virtually double your cost per print.”

Another member noted, however, that he has not seen increases in click costs for his machines unless they were getting near end of life. In fact, he has actually seen some reductions based on increases in volumes and advances in technology.

5. Volume plans that don’t match your actual volumes.

“These can be [a waste of money] also, because if you don’t hit the agreed upon volume, you get nothing credited back but have paid for it upfront.

Check out my post next week for the rest of the list.