Posté par Eric Welch le February 10, 2009 – 3:36 pm
Everyone knows that everything’s bigger in Texas. Then there’s big oil, big hair, Big Country and Big Ben. But just because these things are bigger doesn’t automatically mean they’re better. Case in point: oversized postcards. Will Payovich, director of creative services, Euro RSCG Chicago wrote an excellent post about Comcast’s 6″x11″ postcards (at QuantumDigital, we call them “panoramic” postcards):
The cards, at their best, can deliver maximum impact for minimum dollars. Don’t let high concept and high design get in the way of a big, timely, and competitive offer complemented by an even bigger call to action. The latest carpet-bombing from Comcast, however, wanders from the proven formula.
It would be one thing if the postcards were well executed—each design element carefully sized and positioned to complement the “widescreen” aspect ratio of the medium (proper use of white space… think billboard advertising, like the once-hilarious-but-now-passé Chick-fil-A cows; you know, the ones whut can’t speel gud)—but, sadly the Comcast postcard falls short in that area:
Unfortunately, one side of the postcard is littered with small, random stock images of people watching TV. While blurry cooking shows (so much for HD) and gigantic kittens seem to be captivating entertainment for some customers, another Comcast couple is content to sit and watch nothing at all. A rhyming headline and some weak, convoluted copy try to make sense of all the imagery.
If you’re inclined to try out the panoramic postcard format for your next mailing, we can get you set up right away. But remember this: once you grab people’s attention, you’d better have something relevant, timely and compelling to say and/or show. And finally, for pixel’s sake, always use high-resolution images!
(I’m back on ROCKSTAR Juiced today. It’s just so darn tasty!)
Posté par Eric Welch le February 3, 2009 – 2:11 pm
When I was young (and my heart was an open book…), I had not one, but two favorite colors; orange and green. As the years passed, I publicly switched my allegiance to blue—dumping orange completely, but always maintaining a secret fondness for green. Sometimes I’ll go for a nice teal as a compromise. Anyway, it got me wondering about how all those green initiatives are faring in the current economic climate. And more to the point, as marketers what should we be doing to lessen our environmental impact while preserving our financial sustainability? Hilary Bromberg, Strategic Director at egg, a brand communications agency located in Seattle, had this to say in her article “Ten Steps to Sustainable Marketing in an Uncertain Economy“:
People who have incorporated sustainability into their identities feel great about touting products in this space – it’s still so difficult to find great “responsible” products and services out there that conscious consumers tend to do a lot of talking within their networks about what they’ve found. And a great find reflects well on a person’s sensibilities and, crucially, their values – unlike purchases in the vast unsustainable space, which merely identify a person as a consumer. So master the digital space – start Twittering, develop a Facebook fan base, keep a transparent two-way conversation going with your core consumers (and cultivate evangelists whenever possible)…
Do yourself a great big favor and read her entire article. I’ll wait… hum da dee doo dum… All done? Good. While you’re at it, check out “Tools for designing green print” by Gail Nickel-Kailing, Managing Director of Business Strategies, Etc. Of course, my personal idea of going green has less to do with print and more to do with domes. Stick-frame homes are sooo last millennia.
Posté par Eric Welch le January 27, 2009 – 1:21 pm
Once upon a time, I worked at a small collectibles company; that is to say, the company was both small in size and made small collectibles. However, there was one aspect of that business which was quite large—inventory. Not only was their warehouse chock full of unsold product, there were dozens of pallets with hundreds of boxes, stacked 10 or 15 high in some cases, filled with outdated catalogs, flyers and inserts. The owners, having invested so much money in this collateral, were loath to give it up even though it was eating up a significant amount of warehouse space (did I mention it was a climate-controlled space? Gotta keep all that useless paper from rotting!). It made a lasting impression on me as to the sheer waste and futility of it all.
Fast-forward to today. In his post titled “Is Inventory Still Evil?“, Paul Barsch comments:
…every B-school graduate knows companies should balance enough inventory to meet customer needs while accommodating shifting preferences.
Admittedly, he’s talking about product inventory as opposed to print collateral. But the principles are the same: balance and flexibility. In the offset print world, that’s a very tricky prospect indeed. However, the digital print world offers the kind of balance and flexibility that would have reduced the amount of excess print collateral at that small collectibles company to, at most, a single box! And if they had underestimated the amount of flyers they needed for a given month, they could have ordered up another batch and had it delivered to their door the next day! Then, they could have converted the reclaimed warehouse space into a sweet employee lounge with a nice, big 108″ LCD HDTV or two, a well-stocked library of Blu-ray movies, a Wii, a PS3, an Xbox 360 and a… but I digress.
Guess I’ll just have to be satisfied with the hyper-spastic rush supplied by this 6-hour Jolt Endurance Shot. Hmm… I’d better drink a second one just to make sure. Caffeine, take me away!
Posté par Eric Welch le January 20, 2009 – 1:59 pm
As I write this post, I can barely see the screen in front of me. My eyes are watery, my nose is runny and it feels like there’s about 2 lbs of cotton stuffed inside my head. It’s all thanks to a lovely green tree called the Mountain Cedar. Yes, I’m one of the millions of people who suffer from “cedar fever” and it’s affecting my ablitiy to florm cognihrnt throug… thougha… ah… AH-CHOOO! Sorry. So, while I space out on Benadryl-D*, please enjoy this excerpt from a blog post titled “Managing ROI On A Shrinking Budget” by Erick Mott of Lyris, Inc.:
If you’re optimizing online marketing, you are likely using key tools at your disposal. For example, you’re supporting SEO with Google ads and supporting Google ads with blogs, and supporting blogs with third-party distribution of white papers. When budgets are tight, it’s even more important to understand how well each tool is pulling its weight, prove the results and reallocate resources with accuracy and on short notice.
Mr. Mott goes on to say that an “integrated online marketing approach and platform” is key to understanding exactly how your marketing campaigns are performing, allowing you to quickly identify problem areas and correct them so you can avoid wasting time and money on strategies that don’t work. Whereas Lyris offers a very good online solution, QuantumDigital adds direct mail and on-demand printing to the mix, giving you a truly comprehensive, integrated campaign management suite.
Well, I’d like to write more, but I’m stratign to hvae anthoer agllery aht… ahtta… AH-CHOOO!
*To combat the drowsiness from the Benadryl, I’m washing it down with some good ol’ fashioned Red Bull. They should cancel each other out… right?
Posté par Eric Welch le January 13, 2009 – 2:01 pm
Inevitability. It’s a sensation that’s become all too familiar, especially in times like these. It’s inevitable that things are going to get worse before they get better, whether you’re talking about the current economic crisis, an impending hurricane or tooth decay. But sometimes things don’t get better and that’s when you’re forced to adopt, adapt, improve or otherwise transform into something more suited to a particular application or to better serve a specific need. Take direct mail for example. In her blog post “More US Postal Service News“, Suzanne Obermire had this to say regarding the general decline in postal mail volume (for a more detailed write-up on this, see Cynthia Fedor’s post Direct Mail is Far From Dead):
I do believe that direct mail will remain a viable channel for some marketers. However, I think that the trend of cutting mail volume is here to stay. Gone are the days of super-duper high volume direct mail, blanketing anyone who seems close to the target audience. DM will be used judiciously and only where it makes sense.
Let’s think about that for a moment and put it in terms of military strategy. In The Art of War, Sun Tzu counsels:
Water shapes its course according to the nature of the ground over which it flows; the soldier works out his victory in relation to the foe whom he is facing.
Therefore, just as water retains no constant shape, so in warfare there are no constant conditions.
And just like water, so are the economic conditions, mercurial interests and spending patterns of our target audience. As conditions change, we must vary our approach accordingly in a sensible manner. That is why targeted demographics, variable data printing and digital print-on-demand services aren’t just part of the future of direct mail, they ARE the future. And, unlike dinosaurs, we have the intelligence and technological sophistication to adapt quickly and avoid extinction. All it takes is the wisdom to know when and how to change. If you need a little help with that, we’ve got several wise guys here at QuantumDigital who would love to hear from you!
