Create! Spring 2006 - Issue 1

TUNERNATIONIn this Issue:Dodge Charger wins SEMA AwardFinding the Perfect ColourTime ManagementContest Winners

Spring 2006

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CONTENTSWelcome to our new CREATE! Magazine

Since 1990, Graphic Mart has been a premier reseller of Automotive Striping and Sign Products in

Canada. One of our goals has been to keep you informed on trends & changes within our industry. For that we have created our new trade publication “CREATE!”

I applaud you for taking the step of attending our “Training for Profi t” Seminar & Workshop series.Graphic Mart feels strongly in con-tinuing education in our industry. Change is happening around quicker than any of us could have possibly imagined. Just pick up a copy of your latest sign magazine and you will see dozens of ads for new printers and less cutters. That’s why it is so important for you to be in the 3% of the population that continues it’s edu-cation. We can never know enough about our industry or learn enough.

I hope you enjoy browsing through the pages of “CREATE!” and that you fi nd articles that will not only be of interest to you, but benefi cial to your business.

Spring is just around the corner and I hope that you have a very succesful few months. Till next time take care and we hope to hear from you soon!

Eldon BrackenPresident, Graphic Mart

TUNERNATION 7

6Time Management

10

4 What’s New - March Monthly Special AnnouncementsProduct Releases - MACtac / Oxygen Restyling Graphics / New Vinyl

5 Dodge Charger Wins SEMA Design AwardThis car just begs to be restyled!

6 Finding the Perfect ColourWe’ll show you how to take an image and fi nd out what colours complement it.

8 Tuner NationAre you overlooking a powerful part of your market segment? Check out the stats, you’ll be surprises how important it is

10 Time ManagementCan you squeeze more time out of 24 hours?

11 Monthly Contest WinnersLooking Back...

published by:Bracken Marketing Inc.350 Market DriveMilton, Ontario, CanadaL9T 5A4905-875-1592800-387-0232www.graphicmart.comfor inquiries, please [email protected]

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Product Releases - early springMACtac• Introduction of a High Performance CAS Vinyl with Revolutionary Adhesive Technology• Introduction of a High Performance IMAGin Solvent Ink Jet Series with Revolutionary Adhesive Technology

Oxygen Restyling Graphics• Look for 5 new designs to kickstart your restyling business

Convex Vinyl forATV / Motorcross / Snowmobiles• We’ve found it! A highly, conformable vinyl for use in the motorsports industry.• Variety of mil thickness for use on the Gerber Edge & InkJet printers• Matched component system that will withstand the worst of conditions• Stick great to low density plastics

4 Create! Spring 2006

• Posters with informative brochure

• Rear View mirror hang tag with fi lm care and warranty details

• Eye-Catching vehicle magnet for drawing attention to installed fi lm

•Comprehensive sales and training CD/DVD

• NASCAR licensed and Scotchgard co-branded apparel

Visit www.3m.com/PaintProtectionFilm for more information

3M and Scotchgard are trademarks of 3M. NASCAR is a registered trademark of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, Inc.

Dodge Charger Wins Vehicle Design AwardDodge Charger Wins Vehicle Design AwardSEMA’s Awards Program Spotlighting Accessory Friendly Vehicles Chooses the Dodge Charger in Best Car Category

The high-performance Dodge Charger was recognizedas the most accessory friendly car at the 2005 SEMA Show in Las Vegas, capturing one of three SEMA Vehicle Design Awards and joining a prestigious list of past winners.

“The return of the Charger brand is certain to spawn a new generation of aftermarket consumers reliving their childhood dreams through the modern version,” said Brad Grissom, vice president of Marketing and Product Development at Ingalls Engineering Co.Those included in the Vehicle Design Awards selection process were SEMA member companies who regularly participate in technology sharing programs; the Dodge Charger received more than 30 percent of the votes. “Our manufacturing members that participate in this program had early access to this vehicle and found the design and engineering lends itself to customer personalization,” said Carl Sheffer, Vice President of OEM Relations for SEMA. “Based on feedback from the OEMs, we are having a positive impact on the design and marketing of future vehicles.”transfer initiatives with SEMA members resulted in the aftermarket being in sync with the launch of Dodge’s modern iteration of the muscle car.

Create! Spring 2006 5

Every photo has a natural colour palette.When you zoom in on an image you’ll be amazed at how many colours you’ll see.

At normal viewing distance (left) we only see a few dozen colours: purple flowers, green stems, pink shirt, skin tones, but when we zoom in we see millions!

The first step is to reduce the co-lours to a manageable number, 16, 32 or 64 at the most.In Photoshop, duplicate the layer (so you maintain the original image), then select Filter>Pixelate>Mosaic (right).A large Cell Size gives you very few colours, if you need more re-duce the cell size

No single visual element has more effect on a viewer than colour.Colour gets attention, sets a mood, sends a message. But what colours are the right ones? The key is that colour is relational. Colours are always seen with other colours. Because of this you need to design a colour co-ordinated document based on colours from within the image that you are working with. By following the steps below, you will better understand how to make this work.

Step 1 Step 2

perfectFinding the

colour

Pick out the coloursExtract the colours with theeyedropper tool. Work from the mostdominate colours (the ones you see the most of) to the smallest.For contrast, pick up dark, medium and light pixels of each colour.

Step 3

Work first on the big colours. These are the ones you see at a glance; skin, hair, flowers, jeans. Then do the small colours; eyes, lips, highlights in hair & soft shadows.You can see a light & shadow side emerging as you work on an image. Finish each area before moving on. Sort your results by colour, then colour value (light to dark). If a colour looks close to another discard it.

Shadow sideHair

Flowers

JeansLight Side

Shirt

Skin

Flowers


With the use of a colour wheel we can determine matches for the colours that we have just selected. Pick any colour from the image and place it over the colour wheel. Follow the line directly across on the wheel and you’ll discover colours that go with your base colour. For instance the wheel shows that with our base blue, oranges work well.

Cool Colours - mainly blues, used primarily for business layouts

Warm Colours - pinks, salmons, sepias, browns, give a softer, warmer look

Adding more colours

Flower Shopspring sale

Links

Stock Art: www.istockphoto.com

Colour Wheel: www.color-wheel-pro.com

Pantone: www.pantone.com


Stand just about anywhere on this grassy fi eld in Markham, Ont. and it’s clear that this is not your average car show. At the annual Darknights Nationals exhibition, some vehicles have doors that scissor open and closed, others have fl ared fenders, oversize spoilers and iridescent underbody lighting that makes them look like hovering spacecraft. It’s more than a spectator sport for customized car fans who navigate the rows of vehicles- amid the fabrically challenged young models hired to pose and pout for anyone with a digital camera-and who discuss with proud car owners the gleaming knots of metal in their supercharged engines. The cars are revered like works of art at a gallery opening, except that the theme here is fi x it...even if it ain’t broke.

The Darknights show, one of just a few marquee events that attract tens of thousands of customized car fans each summer, is getting bigger every year. In 2005, more than 30,000 walked through the gates, compared to just 2,000 when the show launched seven years ago. Importfest, another annual show, expects at least 20,000 to form a queue for its October event in Toronto. And while car enthusiasts have been around since the Model T, the crowds attending these shows represent a nascent segment who are taking their enthusiasm-and dollars-to the red line and beyond.

Tuners, named for their practice of “tuning,” “tricking out” or modifying their cars with aftermarket add-ons and customized accessories, fi rst saw the mainstream clue into their hobby with Hollywood movies like 2001’s The Fast and the Furious. Today, people are buzzing about TV shows like MTV’s Pimp My Ride and Discovery Channel’s Monster Garage. The Speed Channel has its own reality version of a while-you-were-out car makeover called Tuner Transformation, a Brampton, Ont.-based production that draws viewers continent-wide.

Research from the U.S.-based Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA), which represents the automotive specialty and performance parts industry, shows worldwide sales now top US$9 billion at the manufacturer level, rivaling recreational sectors like athletic footwear, exercise equipment, boating and golf.

Homegrown retailers like Canadian Tire are devoting more space in their automotive departments for products the tuner wants, such as multimedia systems and custom wheel and tire packages. The retailer has also established the “Mean Machine Tour,” a travelling expo featuring two cars tuned exclusively with parts available at its stores.

The growing importance of the tuner niche is perhaps best refl ected in the fact that alongside the independent, single-product marketers who’ve had a presence at grassroots events like Darknights and Importfest since the scene was barely a scene, are multinationals staking their territory. Basit Mirza, president and CEO of Toronto’s ImportStyles Productions, the company behind Importfest, says many sponsors and exhibitors have only jumped on the trend in the past two or three years. “You wouldn’t see the Toyotas and the GMs,” he says. “Now we’re starting to see a lot of that.”

Last year, Honda Canada unveiled a Canadian-only model called the Civic Reverb, designed to give tuners a slight head start with bells and whistles right out of the box. Sandy Di Felice, Honda Canada’s assistant vice-president of corporate communications, declines to reveal how Reverb sales have gone so far, but says the company is pleased and intends to keep it in production. In the U.S., Toyota has made inroads with its popular Scion brand, an entry-level line that launched in 2003 and has sold more than 140,000 units to date (Toyota Canada is still mum on whether it will bring the cars north of the border).

In the tuner universe, Japanese automakers continue to dominate, but domestics are waking up to the purchasing power of the consumer segment. General Motors recently unveiled its tuner friendly Chevy Cobalt. “We’re basically pretty new at this,” concedes Bob Dosanjh, assistant manager for economy, small and sporty cars at Oshawa, Ont.-based GM Canada, on the subject of marketing to the tuner community.

TUNERNATION


GM, however, has done its homework. The company knows that tuners range in age from 18 to 35, with the majority being male, topping out at about $40,000 in annual income. “And about $39,000 of that salary is put right towards their vehicle. They live at home. Every single cent they get, they’re determined to making their cars better, stronger, faster,” Dosanjh says. While he may be exaggerating how much money goes into the individual cars (the average tuner may invest anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000 into each car), he is unequivocal about one statement: “Their car is their life.”

And, says Sherrie Armour, manager of customization development and marketing at Toronto-based Toyota Canada, they’re living by their own rules. “The tuner segment is mostly Generation Y,” she says. “They don’t want you to sell to them. They want to buy. It’s a different decision altogether.”

That switch in buyer-seller dynamics means a low-key marketing strategy for those trying to reach the segment. The traditional hard sell, according to Nissan Canada’s product planning manager, Charles Plewes, simply won’t work because tuners are extremely knowledgeable about product. “Just a broad TV campaign is probably not the best way to spend marketing dollars,” he says. Direct marketing is also a no-no for the same reason, he adds.

The carmakers have, so far, relied on less in-your-face tactics such as digital and event marketing. For example, tech-savvy tuners might log onto websites like CivicNation.ca for news about the popular model, or Toyota.ca to post pictures and profiles of their tricked-out rides.At Nissan.ca, Plewes says prospects can find out more about NISMO, the company’s special performance division that designs aftermarket parts for Nissan models.“Tuners are certainly willing to put a lot of money into the vehicles. We wanted to be part of that, and have items specifically designed for our vehicles.” Toyota has a similar offering for its lineup called TRD (Toyota Racing Development).

GM, with its Cobalt, has even gone so far as to secure product placement on Tuner Transformation. The August episode of the show centred on the guys in the garage customizing a Cobalt for hip-hop artist Jin The MC, demonstrating the car’s potential to the show’s tuner audience. Credibility rubs off on the car, says executive producer Jack MacDonnell, who adds the thinking on the part of an automaker is to develop brand loyalty today, and keep it for a tuner’s lifetime behind the wheel, whether it’s a two-door coupe or a seven-seat minivan. “When they get married, they’re going to buy a passenger car and they’re not going to jump ship,” he says.

Honda’s Di Felice agrees: “I think any manufacturer who says otherwise would probably be lying.”

But while a love of cars bonds the community, tuner culture isn’t strictly about wheels anymore. At shows, where staple events now include bikini contests, basketball tournaments and graffiti exhibitions, lifestyle marketers have jumped on board in an attempt to reach the 18 to 25 demographic. Companies like Xbox, which markets tuner-targeted video games, and confectionery giants like Wrigley, with its Juicy Fruit brand, are now standing shoulder to shoulder with the automakers. Technology marketers like Sony and Panasonic are there, as are retailers like Future Shop and fast-food chains like Ontario’s Pizza Pizza.

In October, Juicy Fruit plans to give away a customized Ford Mustang worth more than $85,000. Until then, the hot pink car is at the centre of a

street-level sampling program for the brand’s newest Pink gum flavour. MacDonnell’s Tuner Transformation also recently inked cross-promotional deals with EBay and video game maker Electronic Arts. “Everybody wants that brand loyalty from an early age,” he says. “EBay and EA are prime examples of that.”

Importfest’s Mirza says he realizes the thousands who attend his show are coveted for their disposable incomes. He’s no exception, either. “My Civic... I stopped counting how much I put into it after about $40,000 or $50,000,” says the 30-year-old. He needn’t worry. With numbers like that, you can bet someone’s keeping track.

Industry Quick Facts

1988 Total Sales$3.51 Billion

2004 Total Sales$10.94 Billion

Annual Sales Growth7% per year

‘04 Accessories Sales$6.28 Billion

Restyling Market$1.22 Billion

Compact Market$1.41

Most Popular On-lineCar Searches

#1 Honda Accord#2 Honda Civic

#3 Toyota Camry#4 Ford Mustang

#5 Nissan Maxima Create! Spring 2006 9

Do you hate the phrase “time management”? For many of us this is one of the biggest problems that we face as busy profession-als. We may start out our day by prioritizing our task and care-fully scheduling. But when we are already using all of our time efficiently and still don’t have enough of it, what can you do? Here are four strategies that you can try.

Make more time. The best and fastest way is to buy it. You might think that you don’t have enough money to hire someone else, but when we do that we forget about the value and worth of your time. Let’s say that your salary is the equivalent of $25 an hour, and you pay someone else $12 an hour to run errand for you, that’s a great bargain. What is the value of your time, how much would it be worth to you to spend extra time with your family?

You can buy time by paying for things like, having your house cleaned, your car taken for servic-ing or even having your laundry done for you. Why not pay a pro-fessional to have your taxes done, not only will this increase your time but it will also relive your year end stress in the business.

Double up on activities. Get a hands-free mike for your cell phone so you can return calls, place orders or discuss with your staff important issues.

If you have to travel by public transportation, why not review documents or e-mail. Or while waiting for things like a doctors appointment, balance your check-book or plan your day. Having something to do during these boring times will make your wait much more pleasant.

Make less time do. In a perfect work, we would do everything perfectly. Many of us try to at-tain a level of perfection in our jobs and that eats up enormous amounts of our time. A good example of this is in writing a business or personal letter. If it takes you two hours to writhe the ‘perfect’ letter, you’ve lost an hour that you could have used to write someone else. We need to set a time limit on routine tasks and stick to it. Embrace the fact that the letter is “good enough” instead of insisting on perfection.

Give some things away. Delegation, to many of you is the scariest word in language. Do you need to look after everything, or could someone else succeed in completing a task? If you have employees, take a hard look at what your hanging on to and let go. If we say someone doesn’t know how to do it, have you tak-en the time to train them? Others can do the job just as well as us, we just have to teach them.

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® 10 Create! Spring 2006

Monthly Contest WinnersHere they are! Our contest winners for the past few months.

Maytag Skybox Beverage VendorGEM Striping, Gary MacNamara, OntarioMonti Stripe RemoverATD of Nova Scotia, Charles Crandall, Nova ScotiaSirius Radio with 1 year membershipWrap It Up, Sean Jeffries, OntarioTim Horton’s Gift Pact Trim Line of Brant-Oxford, Blair Stadey, Ontario

Don’t see your name here? It could be! Just watch for our fl yer coming to you every month or ask our customer service representatives about our monthly specials and the grand prize. When you purchase one of the qualifying products you will be automatically entered into our drawing. It’s that simple!

LookingBack....Wow, “The Cartridge Age.”Actually, some of you reading this may not even no what a typewriter is, let alone a cartridge typewriter. For the rest of you, anybody remember this? Better yet can you fi gure out what year this was released?

I like the part where it talks about being able to change from fabric ribbon to carbon, just so it will look like professional printing. It’s hard to believe that this thing was hi-tech. I’m sure when our company was a small off-set printshop that we had fi ts when this came out. Just think, it was as good as printing.

What a change from then to today! It prob-ably cost the same as a computer does today. I don’t know if anyone remember the IBM Selectrics, they had interchaneable balls that had different fonts on them. Then they came out with one that you could store a page of text in memory. All for over $1500!

“Ok, enough of the history, what was the year?” It was 1974


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www.graphicmart.com 1-800-387-0232

Create! Spring 2006 - Issue 1

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