The Millcraft Company and International Paper have put together a video on the value of paper-based marketing, and compares the environmental impact of printed vs. digital communications. They also have a companion website at doyouknowthefacts.com.

There are plenty of facts they didn’t include, but the underlying message is that print remains an effective and environmentally sustainable media. Printing is not dead.

Sophwell works with companies to create tangible products from creative ideas. Much of what we do is print related. I’ve been in printing for a few decades now, and I have overseen production of millions and millions of printed pieces.

I sometimes struggle with the idea that what I do is wasteful and that it contributes to the mountains of garbage Americans produce. I have long been concerned about the environment, illustrated by the newspaper clipping below from 1971 when I helped coordinate a school-wide Earth Day project (cue the snarky remarks about the hair).

I'm not new to this sustainability thing (from 1971)

I still am working to reduce waste. Tangible products are critical components of a marketing and communications strategy. I work with clients to minimize production of materials that are wasteful or ineffective. Here are a few of the common guidelines I recommend.

Know your audience
Your promotion is junk mail to people who aren’t interested. Somehow I got on the list for a medical supply company who’s catalog gets tossed into my recycling bin. I’m convinced that this wasteful practice is the reason direct marketers often get a 1-2% response rate.

Make sure you know your database before you send out that expensive catalog. Reach out first with a postcard or some other cross-media campaign that gets them to opt in to your marketing program. They’ll tell you what they want, and it will reduce waste.

I picked up this foam stress reliever from a printer's trade show booth. The picture does not relay the creepiness factor.

Don’t produce junk
Promotional products can be a highly effective component of marketing and incentive programs, but most people do it wrong. They are the equivalent of the lazy direct mailers, giving out 100 cheap pens at trade shows when only 1-2% of people are actually prospective customers. And trust me, that $.29 pen will dry up and get tossed (or worse, leak!) within the month. What does that say about your brand?

Identify your target prospect before the show. Offer a much nicer item, but only to people who give you permission to follow up later. They will keep a nicer product much longer (extending your campaign lifespan) while opting in to hearing your marketing message. Please, no more cheesy-shaped stress relievers.

Design efficiently
Printers buy paper in standardized sheet sizes that correspond to established press sizes. Understanding those sheet sizes allows graphic designers to lay out pages for ideal utilization.

For example, when a printed page has a bleed (where the image extends to the edge of the page), it typically requires an added 1/8″ of paper that needs to be trimmed and discarded. This sometimes means that the printer has to buy a larger sheet to fit your design. Talk to your print provider on how to design for more less waste. It will usually save money, too.

Don’t make the logo bigger
With promotional product or apparel giveaways, there’s a temptation to make the logo as large as possible. You’re paying to have your name there, right? Why not have it big enough for everyone to see.

Unless your brand is one that people closely identify with, your “Super-Size Me” plan probably won’t work. Oversized calendars end up rolled up in a closet instead of on a cubicle wall where real estate is sparse. The “XYZ COMPANY 2005 SUMMER OUTING” screen printed shirt only comes out when it’s time to mow the lawn. And by all means, do not put a date on a piece of clothing. (“I saw Jen wearing a 4-year-old T shirt. Eww.”)

Produce what you need
Does your business have stacks of printed materials from that giant press run three years ago that seemed to make sense since the unit cost was so much lower? Fine, except now you’re too embarrassed to hand one of these outdated, dusty and yellowed folders to a client. This common practice actually increased your unit cost for the pieces used when you factor in the worthless value of the ones in the recycling bin.

The high quality and efficiency of digital printing and smaller offset presses has negated the “more is cheaper” argument. Instead, print what you can use over the next 6 months. If you run out, print more (and fix the typo you missed last time). Consider setting up an on-demand program with your supplier that allows you to quickly reorder the latest materials through an online portal.

Use sustainable materials
A company that wanted to present themselves as environmentally friendly recently asked me to quote on producing packaging with film lamination. The problem is that film laminated paper can’t be recycled, and there’s only one brand that can even be composted.

Work with someone knowledgeable to advise you (or do the research yourself) on the source materials and recycleability of the products you select. Paper comes from a renewable resource, and paper fiber can be reused several times before degrading completely. Many fleece and microfiber apparel products come from recycled soda bottles. New plastics are being made from biodegradable corn starch. The products are out there, often at comparable prices to the less eco-friendly alternatives.

Work with someone you trust
Where do your products come from? Is that water bottle made with BPA, a plastic additive that mimics a female hormone in the body and is being investigated by the FDA? Are there toxic inks on that coffee mug from China that could get your company big fines in California under Proposition 65?

Make sure you express your environmental concerns to your supplier in a way they understand that it’s important to you. With so many Fortune 500 businesses now promoting sustainable practices, you don’t have to worry about coming off like a granola-eating tree-hugger (not that there’s anything wrong with that).

Many printers have gone through an extensive certification process with the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) or SFI (Strategic Forest Initiative) to help clients maintain sustainable practices. Large promotional product manufacturers like Bic are also implementing their own programs, even when some of them have not had the best records on this in the past.

It may seem daunting to add sustainable criteria to an already overburdened marketing manager’s tasks, but all it really takes is developing an understanding with your suppliers that sustainability matters to you. The good ones will be on your side. The bad ones, well, you know what to do with those.

What have you done to promote sustainability? I welcome your comments below.

Sewing designs into cloth using colored thread dates back over 2,500 years, and it is still popular today. Putting your logo on apparel is one of the best things you can do to promote your organization.

Using embroidered clothing for promotion is called physical advertising. Attractive designs on quality apparel promotes your brand wherever it gets worn, often for years into the future. This is true whether you are giving an item away as a promotion, providing team uniforms or reselling at retail.

Below are two videos showing a visual explanation of the process.

Embroidery involves high speed, computerized machines that sew your design. It is possible to use ten or more colors to create amazing effects. First, your logo is converted into  digitized format using special software that creates a path for each thread to follow. (Sorry about the voice-over on this video – but you get the idea.)

There is generally a one-time charge to digitize your logo, and it is always best to provide your logo in an eps format (created in illustrator or photoshop).  The cost is based on the number of stitches required (generally charged on a per-thousand stitch basis). This file can be used repeatedly on different items as long as the output size is within 10% (larger or smaller) of the original. Adding or changing copy requires a new file.

Every time the needle punches the cloth and then moves to the next position, it is called a “stitch.” A logo sewn above a shirt pocket or on the front of a hat might have nearly 3,000 stitches, while a large logo on the back of a team jacket may have 20,000 or more. It is generally advisable to ask for a sewn out version of your logo on fabric before proceeding with production to ensure that the thread colors and stitching design meet your approval. There is no practical way to “unembroider” any fabric – your only solution is to create a new design or patch big enough to hide the original embroidery by sewing on top of it.

Embroidery is appropriate for the following:

-  small production runs or personalization
-  using the identical logo on various items
-  multiple colors in the logo
-  higher quality perceived value desired
-  textured surfaces (i.e., fleece)

Production limitations of embroidery

-  small type (less than 14pt.) or fine line designs do not reproduce well
-  large designs with many thousands of stitches become costly
-  limitation of thread colors means not all Pantone® Matching System colors are available
-  some lightweight fabrics (i.e., nylon) bunch up and pucker when embroidered

If you are new to purchasing embroidered products, make sure you work with someone who has experience and understands not only the process, but is also willing to ask you about your expectations and will offer constructive input to assist you with products, placement and size. Call us with questions.

Helpful Resources

Downloads:

Convert Pantone colors to available thread colors

Estimate how many stitches are in your logo

In their continuing efforts to streamline automated mail processing, the Post Office is implementing new guidelines for addressing “Flat” mail. (See my last post, Postal regulation changes coming in May?)

Flat mail is anything larger than the post office “Letter” mail size (up to 6.125″ x 11.5″) up to a maximum of 12″ x 15″. These changes apply to items like catalogs, newsletter and magazines for both First Class and Standard Mail. They don’t apply to items like letters and postcards

I have posted pdf downloads of the new standards below. If you ignore these changes, you are likely to lose presort discounts and drive up the cost of your mailing.The changes aren’t that drastic, so take a few minutes to download these two pdf files and make sure you are in compliance when designing your next product for the mail. They go into effect March 29, 2009.

Click to download

Flats Fact Sheet for First Class Mail
Flats Fact Sheet for Standard Mail

What can you do for $.47?

Since I posted my last blog on catalog redesign, my colleague Christine Erna forwarded me information on proposed changes from the Post Office that could mean that Top It Off Accessories may need to update their format again to maintain the postage savings from their recent catalog update. If you are a graphic designer or marketer who creates materials for the mail, you should know about these new regulations, too.

Some of the changes to booklet and catalog (defined as pieces with multiple pages) requirements being discussed for possible implementation in May 2009 include:

• Maximum size: 6 inches high by 10-1/2 inches long by 0.25 inches thick (current size is 6.125 x 11.5 x 0.25)
• Cover stock: 40 pound minimum basis weight for some designs: 60- or 70-
  pound minimum for pieces longer than 9 inches. (They claim lighter paper is more
  easily damaged in processing, so they strongly recommend the use of  a minimum 70-
  pound paper as cover stock on mailpiece designs that approach maximum
  letter-size dimensions.)
• They are proposing the use of tabs (wafer seals) with no perforations. Unless your vendor uses paper tabs (that block out your cover design), that means recipients will be shredding the areas of the cover wherever non-tearable plastic tabs are placed.
• They want new tab sizes dictated by the design of the mailpiece. Booklets will now need three 1-1/2 inch tabs and folded self-mailers need two 1-inch tabs. For larger and heavier booklets, they want 2-inch paper tabs!
• In addition to changes to booklet size, they propose reducing self mailers to a maximum size of 6 x 10.5 x 0.25 (current size is 6.125 x 11.5 x 0.25)

36,000 pieces an hour makes a happy postal worker

The reason for these changes is to keep the automated mail processing machines humming. They will process (that is, feed, read, barcode and sort) 10 pieces of mail per second. That means if something jams the machine and it takes five minutes to fix, that’s 3,000 pieces that got stopped moving through the system, including that birthday card from my Aunt Millie with the $5.00 that I’ve been expecting. Now I think $.47 is a pretty cheap way to send that birthday card from Aunt Millie’s condo in Florida all the way to my house in a couple of days, and I hate to wait. But to the post office, those 3,000 jammed letters at $.47 each just cost them $1,410.00 in productivity.

So what do you do? Start thinking about updating the designs of your catalogs if you want to keep getting maximum discounts on postage. The money you save will offset the cost of the redesign. Hey, it may be time for a complete overhaul so that you can get some savings on the printing as well. Talk to someone who knows enough about printing to help you make effective changes BEFORE you start building your templates.

You can down load the full recommendations from the Post Office here:

New postal regulations (download pdf)

Jamie Bradley

BONUS SECTION: Test your knowledge of designing for the post office. Click on the picture of the postal worker. Look carefully to find the Neiman Marcus catalog. Answer this question and win a prize from Sophwell, to be mailed anywhere in the continental US or Canada. (Don’t look too hard, because the prize isn’t worth much.)

Why is the Neiman Marcus Catalog set aside from the rest of the of the mail?

Enter your answer(s) below in the Comments sections. The judges reserve the right to allot additional prizes for both accuracy and creativity.

In the current economic climate, companies are looking carefully at promotional spending. There’s a temptation to shave budgets by curtailing marketing. In the November issue of Entrepreneur Magazine, Robert Kiyosaki writes how that could be a big mistake for your business.

According to Kiyosaki, author of the RichDad book series, “Promotion is a six week cycle. That means if I promote today, business increases six weeks later.” If you are worried about business slowing in January and February, that means you need to be sending out promotions in December. It can be something as simple as a holiday card, or you can go high end with elaborate food baskets and gifts. Just make sure your clients are hearing from you.

Here’s a list of ideas to consider for your December promotions and gifts for clients that give back to your company all year long. (Full disclosure: these suggestions are all products available from Sophwell. Just click on the links for more information or call Jamie Bradley at 781-205-4205.)

CD holiday cards will be played year after year

Thank clients for their business

HOLIDAY CARDS
If you have a creative design team helping your business, a unique, custom designed and printed holiday card sets you apart from the crowd. If you prefer traditional cards, you can go online right now and order personalized holiday cards.

If you want something a little jazzier, consider an audio card that plays holiday music like these options from the Soundline catalog.

GIFT BASKETS

Mmmm. Cookies.

Supporting Strategies, a bookkeeping company located in Beverly, MA sends out baskets to each of their clients filled with home made cookies lovingly baked and packaged by their own staff (with recipe cards for each goodie). If your staff is not as ambitious, you can order ready-made gift baskets from the Maple Ridge Farms online catalog. Let us know what you’d like and we’ll drop ship them right to your clients.

PLANNERS AND CALENDARS

Clients will enjoy this leather weekly planner

The nice thing about giving planners and calendars is that your client gets a gift they will use all year, keeping your logo in front of them on a daily basis. For an executive gift, consider a nice, leather-bound planner like the one we recommend from Journalbooks, or something from the Daytimer series.

Daytimers are a high perceived value gift

If you are more interested in wall or desk blotter calendars, check out our Triumph Line from Norwood.

CUSTOM APPAREL

Put your logo on this fleece and your name goes everywhere

Clients and employees alike enjoy receiving good quality clothing like a nice fleece jacket from Columbia. Get them embroidered with your logo, and people will be showing off your company name everywhere they go.

CUSTOM BOOKS

Books make great gifts, and your logo can print on the cover

Books make a great gift for clients and employees at any time of the year, and now you can get ANY BOOK IN PRINT customized with your logo on the front and a custom message bound in as the first page in quantities as low as 50 books. The production on these can take a bit longer, so this might be a promotion you plan for early in the new year. Call us for details.

By creating your promotions now, you can help keep business rolling through the cold winter months.

Handle with care - blood bags ready to mail

UPDATE: This post was voted part of a “Best Answer” to a question posed on LinkedIn. (See it HERE)

Mark Gallagher and Laura Savard of Blackcoffee, a brand expression consultancy in Boston, asked Sophwell to help produce a promotion that would excite and arouse both clients and prospects. The color red and the sight of blood certainly offered that potential.

Their concept was a “blood bag” promotion to be mailed for Halloween, with a label mimicking the real thing, and the phrase “B Positive” to both tie in to the theme and offer an upbeat message in a slowing economy. They brought me in early in the design process to ensure that the mailer could be produced AND that the post office would mail it. I offered three recommendations:

1. Make the bags rigid enough to meet postal requirements.
2. Prominently label it as fake blood, or postal workers and recipients may call in the biohazard SWAT team.
3. Include a marketing offer to track response.

Early challenges they gave Sophwell were finding a clear bag material that would seal without puncturing in the mail, and finding a fake blood material that was affordable and realistic. For the marketing offer I recommended, Blackcoffee added, “To learn how to resuscitate your brand and receive a free copy of HERITAGE BRANDING, visit Blackcoffee.com.” They featured a download of this White Paper on their home page.

Once those hurdles were overcome, a sample of the finished piece went to a Mail Design Analyst at the Boston postal business office who gave it his blessing with minor modifications. Because the material was plastic (along with having liquid inside), it could NOT be machine mailed, and Blackcoffee paid a “Hand Cancel” surcharge on top of the first class mail postage.

The result? Within days of the mailing the phone started to ring. The first call was from an outraged postal worker complaining that a bag had opened up in one of their machines, and Blackcoffee would have to pay for repairs. When it was explained that the piece had been approved at the business office and a hand cancel surcharge had been paid, the worker said, “Oh,” and hung up. The next call was from a company saying their receptionist who sorted the mail was “deeply disturbed,” and asked to go home early.

The third call was from a past client responding, “We’ve been meaning to call you.” They gave Blackcoffee a project that paid far more than the cost of the mailing. Other clients and prospects called to say how much they loved the mailing, and within two weeks Blackcoffee had their hands full with new business proposals. Tracking the number of White Paper downloads from their website showed a better than 25% response rate, plus many more visitors to their website in the days after the mailing.

Got a creative idea? Let me help you translate it into reality.

Merriam Webster has recently added the word “mondegreen” to its pages with the definition “a word or phrase that results from a mishearing of something said or sung.” The word was coined by author Sylvia Wright in 1954 when she discovered that she had long misunderstood the lyrics to an old Scottish ballad, “They have slain the Earl Amurray, And Lady Mondegreen.” The true ending of the stanza is “And laid him on the green.”

There are other more contemporary examples such as Jimi Hendrix’ “’scuse me while I kiss this guy” (‘scuse me while I kiss the sky) or Macy Gray’s “I wore goggles when you are not here” (My world crumbles when you are not here). Columnist Jon Carroll of the San Francisco Chronicle has long catalogued more examples on his web site at the link listed below. One of my favorites is Elton John’s “Hold me closer, Tony Danza” (Hold me closer, tiny dancer).

I once received a letter from a mail house that was promoting its services that was clearly part of a mass mailing since it offered no specific information relative to my business. One can argue the merits of whether these types of mailings are effective at building awareness of your company, but the problem with this one was, although my name was on the outside of the envelope, the “personalized” area of the letter inside had the name, company and address of another person.

That was a classic marketing mondegreen. What the mail house said in their letter was that they were experts in all aspects of mailing and fulfillment. What I heard was that they have not mastered the basic skill of matching the name on the inside of the envelope to the one on the outside.

I’ve seen a lot of companies put out marketing materials that are frankly, just awful. When my colleagues and I were paid to print the stuff and not provide feedback, we came up with the acronym NAFT (No Accounting For Taste). My client would get back their piece of dreck and be overjoyed about how great it looked. I don’t know what their clients thought.

Even worse is when a company throws together a “direct marketing” piece that they spend serious money to design, print and mail, only to get little or no results. I am using quotes for “direct marketing” because by definition it should have included a specific, attractive offer and a call to action that coordinates with the company’s business goals. Often these mailings are simply a brochure that goes out in the mail.

Here’s another classic example of a company marketing message. “(Our) personnel have the experience, knowledge, and industry contacts needed to provide you with the best products and service available. Since our founding, our motto has been ‘Where integrity stands for quality, service, and value.’” You may tell that to your clients, but do they have any idea what you really mean? Worse than mishearing, the words really mean nothing so they get ignored.

Make sure what you are saying in your marketing words, images and implementation are clearly stated so there is no misinterpreting of the message. Make it consistent in everything you put out there.

Jamie Bradley
Idea Translator

More mondegreen examples from columnist Jon Carroll

(This article was originally posted July 2008 at my old blog at http://bemorecreative.ideatranslator.net.)