The Direct Marketing Voice » On-demand printing

Tag Archives: On-demand printing

What’s the Difference: Digital Printing vs. Offset Printing

Posté par Cynthia Fedor le October 10, 2011 – 3:45 pm

dans Marketing Technologies, Production & Printing

What is on–demand, digital printing? Defined, it’s a printing technology that allows for digital files to be quickly and economically printed in short run quantities (short run is considered about 5,000 prints or less). However, what on–demand, digital printing actually is and what it can do for a business is much greater than its definition.

On–demand, digital printing is a powerful accumulation of technologies that will change the way you communicate with your audience.

Before I get into describing all the benefits of using on–demand, digital print technology, I think it would be helpful for you to understand the traditional commercial printing process. In contrast to it, you’ll be able to appreciate the significant advantages of on–demand, digital printing.

The most common technique used for high–volume commercial printing today is color offset printing. It’s a method that prints layers of four, and sometimes six, different colors of semi–transparent ink on top of one another in order to reproduce the original image.

The Color Offset Printing Process

The process starts with having the original artwork, image and text, separated into red, green and blue components. Each of those color separations are then inverted and negatives are produced. Think of it like a roll of film from your camera. When it’s developed, the images on the negative are represented in colors opposite to the actual, true–life color values. In color offset printing, the opposite to red, green and blue is cyan, magenta, and yellow, respectively—the three main pigments used in printing to reproduce color images. In addition, a black separation is made to help “fill in” shadows and improve contrast of the image.

Next, each color separation, or layer, is represented on a plate or screen. Ink will be rolled onto each of those four screens. Then, the screens will be aligned and, one at a time, each screen will be pressed against paper to transfer the ink and reproduce the original image.

As you can see, preparing and printing the artwork using a color offset process is arduous and time consuming. There is little room for missteps or errors. Flexibility to allow slight adjustments in marketing message is just about non–existent. Read More »

QuantumDigital Helps Santa Deliver Christmas Wishes to Children in Need

Posté par Cynthia Fedor le December 9, 2009 – 5:18 pm

dans Leadership & Innovation

It feels so good to help those in need all year round, and we do so by participating with Mobile Loaves & Fishes and Angel Tree Prison Fellowship among others. But I’ll admit it feels exceptionally good to bring a smile to a child’s face during the holiday season. I can just imagine the look of utter joy and amazement on an adorable kiddo’s face when he or she discovers that a special present has been waiting just for them.

ChristmasGifts

This year, QuantumDigital–an online service provider for targeted direct mail, on-demand printing and eMarketing–contributed to Salvation Army’s Angel Giving Tree by sponsoring the holiday wishes of 30 children. Requests from children were divided up amongst many of our QuantumDigital team members who purchased items such as clothing, soccer balls, riding toys and dolls.

Thousands of little angels could still use your support and care. It’s not too late to help. Go to http://angel.jcpenney.com/ and purchase a gift for an angel by December 9 or a JC Penny gift card by December 14, 2009.

Thank you to all the QuantumDigital team associates that donated time and resources in order to put a smile on a child’s face this year. Here’s what a couple of our participants had to say about this great program:

Why did you decide to participate in the Angel Giving Tree program?

I feel so very blessed to have all the things I have that I just wanted to give to someone who might not otherwise have anything to open for Christmas. I can’t bear the thought of a little one not having warm clothes to wear or toys to play with. I also like to set the example for my own daughter, so that she understands the meaning of giving. – Deborah L.

Because I feel really fortunate to have a decent job during these hard times and I wanted to try and make a difference for a few children whose parents may not be as fortunate. – Robert “Dude” S.

How does it make you feel?

It makes me happy to know that now three children will have new clothes to wear and learning toys to help them develop. I also feel good about being able to help another parent. – Deborah L.

If makes me feel good to know that a few children will have a little Merrier Christmas this year thanks to the generocity of our department. – Robert “Dude” S.

What do you hope for the recipients of your donation?

I hope they have a wonderful Christmas and that they can just enjoy being kids. I also hope this gives a sense of relieve and excitement to the parents who won’t have to worry about how they are going to provide for their children. – Deborah L.

I hope that the recipients of our donation will like the gifts, but I also hope that its helps boost their spirits to know that they live in a community where people care about each other. – Robert “Dude” S.

Thanks again. Happy holidays!

IBM’s First Impression

Posté par Luis Paez le November 25, 2009 – 11:00 am

dans Production & Printing

I recently went to a tradeshow where the expo hall was filled with interesting vendors introducing new products and services. The marketing materials often attract your eye… but it was interesting to see who “skimped” on their marketing and branding. I took a photo of the materials from the trade show below, try to pick out which flyer/handout most jumps out at you (click for larger image):

Flyers collected at Trade show

To me, the one on the most right pops out because of the vibrant use of color and interesting subjects (3 superhero kids). Second in line is the one on the most left, because I am really into modern art and the postmodern graphic design illustration from the AT&T flyer definitely grabs my attention.

Notably, the least attention-grabbing is IBM’s flyer, which could have been created by a product manager intent on dissemminating the most information possible about their services, instead of a thoughtful marketer. Why did they think that a black and white flyer printed on copier paper with 1 stock photo inserted would impress anyone? Just look around – every other vendor uses at least color, if not double sided printing.

IBM's Flyer

I realize that IBM’s in a new world since they sold off their laptop division to Lenovo, but to continue to win business against their rivals they need to re-introduce their brand with a compelling “first impression”. Using black and white one sided marketing flyers just isn’t going to help you do that.

Driving Online Conversations

Posté par Eric Cosway le August 26, 2009 – 2:43 pm

dans Integrated Marketing

Eric Cosway talks about various techniques in using personalized direct mail to drive customers to a company’s online presence, including Facebook and Twitter, to engage them in an ongoing dialogue and track the results.

The Direct Marketing Voice Links 6-15-2009

Posté par admin le June 15, 2009 – 8:45 am

dans News & Trends

Self-Defense Tips for Your Budget

via www.delivermagazine.com Don’t look now, but budget cutters are greedily eyeing your department. And, in lean times, there is nothing quite like a marketing budget to set off their inner Pavlovian bell.
Good luck reasoning with them. You can try explaining that marketing creates sales, and that cutting back in a slow economy is like reducing insulin when a patient’s diabetes worsens. It’s a fair analogy but, in a recession, an analogy is no match for a red pen.

Increase Mail Efficiency with Web-to-Print

via www.delivermagazine.com When Jessica Paindiris became marketing director for industry-leading Massey Knakal Realty Services, she found herself taking on a customer communications problem that wasn’t just strategic — but frustratingly systemic, too. “We had more than 75 brokers among three offices in the New York City metro area, each using three or more vendors for direct mail printing and distribution, all doing their own thing. Nothing was consistent,” says Paindiris, who joined New York’s top building sales firm two years ago.