Save Money, Get Better Results

Refresh Your Brand and

Revitalize Your Business

Finish Your Projects with Flair!

REFRESHING IDEAS

GRAPHICADVISOR

ISSUE TWENTY NINE

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Don’t waste money, market smarter!When we think about “marketing smarter,” we often think about spending more money. But what if you could market smarter and save money at the same time? Especially when it comes to direct mail, there are many cost-saving measures that can save you money and boost your results, too.

Y ou may have heard that the mailing list

is 40% of a campaign’s success. That’s the

old adage, but it might actually be more.

One creative director tells us the story of a client

with more than one million inactive addresses in

its customer list. The agency determined that only

30,000 of these addresses were worth mailing. The

client mailed 300,000 instead. The results? The 30,000

returned a 1.5% response. The other 270,000 returned

a .001% response.

What an incredible waste! Can you imagine

printing 270,000 mailers destined straight for the

garbage? Mailing more doesn’t necessarily return you

better results!

This might sound like an outrageous tale, but it is

more common than you might think.

Another marketer—a Fortune 100 company—was told

that nearly 30% of its addresses would be undeliverable.

Did the company immediately strip its mailing list of

those useless addresses? Unbelievably, it did not! Even

though it could have taken the simple step of running

its list through the National Change of Address (NCOA)

and Change of Address (CASS) verifications, it didn’t

bother. It printed and mailed to everyone in its list.

More than 35% bounced, resulting in over $3,000 worth

of wasted postage.

The agency later found out

that this was standard operating

procedure for this company. Turns

out, it hadn’t cleaned its mailing

lists in five years.

On average, the United States Postal Service says that

30% of mailing addresses are out of date. NCOA and

CASS systems are designed to help with that.

• CASS (Change of Address Support System)

certification checks the addresses in your list

to ensure that they are valid addresses in the

USPS system.

• NCOA checks the addresses against a National

Change of Address list to ensure that your targets

are not living somewhere else, and if they are, the

address is corrected automatically.

These are simple steps that are inexpensive and take

relatively little extra time. Not only can they save you

big money on print and postage, but they can return

you better results because you start out with a current,

viable mailing list. This is a small investment that can

reap great returns!

When was the last time you cleaned up your mailing list?

Don't throw your money away. Mailing more doesn’t necessarily return you better results.

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One option is to completely

rebrand the company, but

this has a number of risks.

A dramatic rebrand could erase your

history in the mind of the consumer as

well as any positive brand equity built

up over the years. Plus, it could strain

your budget as you revise not only

your corporate stationery, but also your

storefront, vehicle graphics, signage,

marketing collateral, sales kits, website,

packaging, and other elements of your

public identity. For companies with

multiple locations and complex sales and

distribution channels, this imposes an

even greater barrier.

An alternative to a full brand redesign is

a brand refresh. With slight revisions to

your branding elements and positioning,

you can . . .

• Preserve your brand’s existing equity

• Infuse new energy into your offerings

• Ensure your company stands out in a dynamic marketplace

• Expand the company’s reach to new customers and create buzz among existing customers

• Reduce the sales cycle

• Phase in changes as your budget allows

Consider the major companies that have recently undertaken a brand refresh. Chiquita, Coca-Cola,

and Starbucks, for example, already had

very strong and recognizable logos that

resonated positively with their customers,

so why would they change? First, they

evaluated their visual identity and

messaging. Then they determined what

still had value and should be retained

and what should be refreshed to make

the brand representative of who they

are today and where they are going. The

companies maintained the integrity of

the existing logo, making modifications

that are definitely noticeable but not too

drastic. You might notice subtle changes

in the width of a font; the sizing, scaling

and placement of images; the shade of a

color; or the tagline.

So how do you know if it’s the right

time for your company to refresh?

If you’re anticipating a change in

management, introducing a new product

or service, celebrating a significant

business anniversary, or undergoing a

merger with another company, it makes

sense to consider a refresh. In the

absence of any major event, consider a

refresh every 3 to 5 years as part of your

strategic planning process. A brand refresh

should never be implemented simply

because you’re tired of the existing brand.

Refreshing a brand is a strategic business

decision with explicit business goals.

Ensuring that you are marketing your

brand effectively and credibly is critical

to both attracting and retaining a growing

base of satisfied customers. A brand

refresh will give your company that added

flash that enables you to more effectively

compete with other companies vying for

the same market space without alienating

or confusing your current customers.

Refresh Your Brand and Revitalize Your Business

Your company’s visual brand identity is a shorthand to who

you are and the promises you make

to your customers and stakeholders.

It’s a reflection of what your company

stands for and what sets you apart.

When your brand has been around for

a while, however, you may no longer

be getting the results you need. This

happens regardless of size or industry

and may be brought on by aggressive

competition, changes in the industry,

or the consumer’s perception that since

your brand looks dated your offerings

must be dated too.

Follow the lead of major companies. Maintain the integrity of your existing brand, making modifications that are noticeable but not too drastic.

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F or example, instead of tucking

product cards into a traditional

envelope, why not try a folded

die-cut self-mailer instead? In a plain

white envelope, your open house

invitation might easily be overlooked.

But send a die-cut mailer in the shape

of an automobile or piece of sporting

equipment and you are pretty much

guaranteed it will get opened. Or want to

make photos really pop? Try spot varnish

over the photos with a dull varnish

everywhere else. Suddenly, the photos

leap off the page!

Here are some great finishing techniques

that can really make a difference.

UV coating. A high-gloss, very

protective finish that creates a lot of

pop and durability.

Soft-touch aqueous coating. A fast-

drying, water-based coating that has

a soft, velvety feel that people notice

immediately. You’ll see them saying, “Oh,

wow!” and turning the piece over and

over because it’s so pleasant to the touch.

Use it to draw customers into a clothing

catalog, coffee table book, or children’s

book. Anything where physical touch

increases the appeal.

Spot coating. Coat or varnish only to

specific areas of the piece. You might

highlight the logo or add gloss to photos.

A new technique called strike-through

coating allows you to create the look

of spot coating with an inline process

without the expense of additional plates

and blankets.

Embossing. Embossing uses heat and

pressure to create a raised impression

on the paper. (Think “notarizing.”) People

tend to associate embossing with high-

value documents, so you might want to

use this technique to convey the idea

of quality and permanence. Emboss on

plain paper (blind embossing) or combine

it with ink, images, or foil for an extra-

special effect.

Foil stamping. The process of applying

decorative foil to the paper to create

brilliant metallic effects not possible

with ink. Foil stamping can be combined

with embossing to create a more striking

three-dimensional image. Try embossing

on book and report covers, branded

documents, even logos.

Die-cutting. Use die-cuts to create

unusual shapes, windows, and crazy fold-

outs. Instead of sending the same old,

same old mailer, create jagged edges,

peep doors, accordion-style pulls. Give

them something that really stands out.

Thermography. Produces an engraving-

like effect using powder and ink. The

powder is added to the ink printed on the

paper, then the printed piece is heated

and the powder/ink mixture dries to

form a raised effect. Use it on invitations,

business cards, and letterhead. Combine

it with a die-cut to invite people to an

open house or booth at your trade show.

Adding these little effects can make

your piece really stand out and be

remembered. They make recipients

say “Wow!” They make them want to

pick up the piece and interact with it. It

doesn’t cost that much more to have

an impact. Let us help you get creative!

Finish Your Projects with Flair!

Are you leaving opportunity on the table? There are many inexpensive finishing techniques that can set your projects apart. Use them to make people want to pick up the piece. Create a lasting brand image. Really make a powerful first impression.

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When you think about personalization, do you think about lower cost per lead, higher per order values and increased ROI?

You should. But you should also get excited about how 1:1 printing helps you go green.

Personalized booklets: Say you are a small college, printing

four-color catalogs to mail to prospective

students. Each catalog is 252 pages,

covering the full range of disciplines and

extra-curricular activities. Only 25% of

the material is relevant to the prospective

student, who never reads the other 75%.

Especially if your catalogs are coated, those

pages are destined for the landfill.

What happens when

you personalize these

catalogs instead?

Now, instead of

printing 252 pages,

you print 64 pages.

Not only does this increase the relevance—

and the effectiveness—of the booklets, but

you’ve just reduced your consumption of

paper, ink and chemicals by 75%.

Then there are the ripple effects. You have

eliminated the energy used to produce those

unread pages, the gas used to distribute

them and all of the other associated raw

materials, fossil fuels and associated energy costs along the way.

1:1 direct mail: In a static, untargeted

mail campaign, you might send out 15,000

postcards to a generic mail list. With 1:1

personalization, you are likely to select

only a percentage of that list. This might be

the top 10% of your customers, customers

who are most likely to purchase certain

products, or customers who, based on

defined triggers (such as an upcoming

expiration on an auto lease), are likely to be

in the market for a new purchase.

Now, instead of mailing 15,000 pieces, you

might mail only

1,500. Or you

might send only a

few hundred at

a time. Not only

are these offers

more targeted

and relevant, but

you’ve just reduced

your printing and mailing

volume by 90%—a huge slash in your

carbon footprint.

Database cleansing: Even if you

still choose to

mail to your

entire list, you

can experience

powerful

“green” benefits

by simply doing a basic consolidation

and cleanse on that list. You might have

many duplicates, misspelled names and

undeliverable addresses. One cataloger

recently slashed its print volumes by 50%

simply by cleaning up its list!

It pays to be green. Not only should you consider green alternatives simply because it’s the right thing to do, but also because it’s good business too. Consumers want to do business with companies that are good stewards of the environment.

So double marketing dip—personalize it!

1:1 printing is green? Absolutely. Here are three reasons why:1 Targeting means you send out fewer pieces of mail—saving trees, chemicals and fossil fuels.

2 A cleaner database means that your recipients deliver fewer pieces right to the trashcan.

3 Digital production has many green benefits, including no plates, no chemicals and no spray powders.

Sending irrelevant information makes unnecessary waste!

Let’s look at three examples of how 1:1 printing can transform the “greenness” of your campaign.