Best Quality, Price and Service - Get All Three: Built for the Job

Unfortunately, none of what is required for an organization to manage pre- and post-pricing details and break the Iron Triangle is handled by the methods and tools commonly used in procurement. They simply are not built for managing and sourcing custom print projects.

That is why eLynxx exists…to do what common procurement solutions can’t.

Only eLynxx cloud software, powered by the multi-patented eLynxx sourcing method, is purpose-built for sourcing and managing direct mail, marketing materials and all things print. No other solution empowers organizations to go beyond the price acquisition and bid-and-buy sourcing needed for off-the-shelf items to properly manage all of the pre- and post-pricing details custom print projects require. It is only with this level of functionality that creation of an environment friendly to contribution pricing and breaking the Iron Triangle become easy.

eLynxx relieves the burdens of vendor management and eliminates the fear, uncertainty and doubt that come with building a vendor pool that truly meets your needs. Your print vendors are invited to participate and are informed they are always free to bid as they wish based on production capacity. They are asked to submit information and samples used to objectively assign product categories and quality levels in the software. This information, from vendors you know and trust, serves as a baseline enabling easy, worry-free evaluation and inclusion of resources as needed.

Templates and a familiar, guided process enable the establishment of objective, consistent and highly detailed specifications that are as easy to create and manage as completing an online form. These precision specifications set the parameters for determining which vendors are capable of producing the job. That is where the real eLynxx magic begins.

The eLynxx sourcing method automatically matches specification criteria with vendor attributes to select vendors to be solicited for the project. With all vendors on equal ground, the quality side of the Iron Triangle is removed. The selected vendors are then automatically sent identical solicitations with complete and detailed information. A reply with a price means that the vendor can meet delivery criteria, removing the service side of the Iron Triangle. With quality and timeliness out of the equation, price remains the final determinant. Choosing the lowest price breaks the Iron Triangle with nothing more than eLynxx software and the people, processes and vendors you already have in place.

eLynxx provides communication that brings everyone involved in the project, from creative through delivery and invoicing, including vendors and outside partners, together. Assignment, direction and tracking of approvals, both before and after the buy, are automated. Tasks, production milestones, assets, file distribution and change orders are all easily managed and tracked through automated workflow assistance. Robust reporting capabilities allow for retrieval and analysis of virtually any detail of any project managed with eLynxx software.

Users of eLynxx regularly achieve per-unit cost reductions of up to 40 percent, and often more, that offset subscription costs. Add in the 50 percent average increase in efficiency enjoyed by clients and it is clear that eLynxx is the smart choice for managing and sourcing your print projects.

There is a lot more to tell you about eLynxx but instead of rambling on and on, We’d rather get to know about you, your organization and your goals and show you exactly how you can benefit from eLynxx. Give us a call, send us an email or fill out the form here, we can’t wait to meet you!

Best Quality, Price and Service - Get All Three: Built for the Job

No Matter How You Slice It…

As a advertising and marcom geek of great magnitude I take an active interest in what others are doing. I yell at commercials like some people yell at sports. I read ads like I’m proofing them and I don’t just look at the direct mail I get; I study and analyze it. I recently received a promo for a credit card. Inside the envelope I saw this:

What initially drew my attention was, of course, the creativity and uniqueness of it. It’s different. It looked like a slice of bread among all of the other usual contents of a credit card pitch. I’m sure that was the intent and it worked! Realizing that this thing must have had one hell of a detailed set of specs was, however, what kept my attention.

This is a complex little piece. Since I am only a recipient of it and have no connection to its creation or production, I can only speculate that it was well specified. Given its inclusion in a prospecting mailing for a credit card, it was certainly distributed in healthy quantities. However, there is a reference date on the flipside of it, so has a use-by date of sorts and probably was not printed by the trainload for use over the course of a decade. A full-color job, printed on both sides on a hefty cover stock with a very smooth matte finish, it’s quality is more than respectable. None of these characteristics are particularly uncommon. But, without the right planning and specifications, quality, price and ultimately impact, could have suffered.

Knowing the nature of this piece’s use, I can’t imagine that ‘pricey’ was a characteristic its producers were seeking. With that being said, uniqueness was obviously being sought. Incidentally, uniqueness, especially in terms of shape, is what could have driven the cost of this piece through the roof!

Not too long ago, die-cutting with custom-fabricated dies,would have been the only means for attaining this unique shape and it would not have been cheap. Today there are alternatives to die-cutting that have the potential to be far more economical. Unless this piece was reverse engineered to utilize a bread-shaped die that was already existing, it’s specs would have needed to be detailed and clear as to both the shape and the process used to achieve it.

No matter how you slice it specifications are the heart and soul of successful marketing material production. It goes without saying that you need killer creative. And, of course, you want the finished product to look as awesome in real life as it did in the creative meetings. Kickass specs, however, ensure that your killer creative becomes awesome output without blowing the budget.

People who realize that specifications play a direct role they play in successfully connecting the message with the audience realize that precision specs, and the ability to create them with without worry or hassle, are truly, to borrow a phrase, the greatest things since sliced bread!

No Matter How You Slice It…

eLynxx Software Selected by Green Dot Corporation for Management of Print and Direct Mail

eLynxx cloud software has been selected by Green Dot Corporation (NYSE: GDOT) for executing print and direct mail projects. A pro-consumer financial technology innovator, Green Dot is the inventor and largest provider of prepaid debit cards and cash reload processing services in the United States. Following what it calls a branchless bank model of distribution for its products, direct mail is a vital link between Green Dot and its millions of customers. eLynxx is the only cloud software purpose-built for managing direct mail, marketing and print. With eLynxx, Green Dot will be able to strengthen its direct mail and custom print procurement process while working with vendors they know and trust. eLynxx clients in the same business sector as Green Dot achieved an average per-unit cost savings of over 30 percent in 2015. In addition to hard-dollar savings, these users also enjoy increases in efficiency of up to 53 percent.

As a customer-focused financial organization; integrity, accountability and trust are important to Green Dot. As a publicly-held corporation, bottom line performance and ROI are critical. Because eLynxx provides the right tools for maximizing quality and service while assuring the best possible prices from the vendors they already trust, Green Dot found the software to be a natural fit.

“In the past we managed and sourced printed collateral and direct mail with everything from email and phone calls to enterprise resource planning and procurement systems” said Scott Bass, Director of Supply Chain at Green Dot. “It always turned out to be a labor-intensive situation where timeliness, cost and accountability became headaches,” Bass added. “Not only will eLynxx provide us with the opportunity to achieve a greater return on our marketing investment with the quality, timing and accuracy we require; the software will also allow us to retain in-house control and accountability over our programs,” Bass continued. “We’re excited to put our trust and confidence in eLynxx Solutions.”

eLynxx Solutions’ history of success includes more than 3.2 million print and direct mail projects valued at over $9 billion. This success is driven by placing the needs and goals of its clients at the forefront. “We are committed to building software that helps organizations achieve better results from the management and sourcing of their direct mail and custom print projects,” said Nathan Rotz, COO at eLynxx Solutions. “We are proud that Green Dot has chosen and entrusted eLynxx to help them maximize their investment in critical marketing communications.”

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eLynxx Solutions has been providing innovative products and services for helping organizations manage projects and connect with vendors of custom-produced graphic communication, direct mail, marketing materials, publications, labeling, packaging and all things print since 1975. Born, raised and still located in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania along the east coast’s graphic communications corridor connecting Washington, DC, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and New York City, today’s eLynxx Solutions is a leading innovator and provider of project management software for the marketing supply chain. As a software boutique, eLynxx Solutions tailors its cloud software to fit the needs and requirements of its customers, providing the functionality of custom software with the economy of out-of-the-box solutions. eLynxx print procurement software empowers an organization’s people to work with their own vendors and strengthen their own processes to achieve better results. For more information regarding eLynxx software, please visit eLynxx.com.

eLynxx Software Selected by Green Dot Corporation for Management of Print and Direct Mail

Direct Mail Marketers Get Gifts from USPS

The United States Postal Service just experienced what it projected as its busiest day of 2015. Of course in the weeks leading up to Christmas, the post office is on the minds of many as they await the delivery of gifts purchased online and from catalogs. This year, in addition to an ever-growing quantity of mail-order purchases, the USPS is also delivering some interesting gifts to direct mail marketers.

Although it is only available as a pilot in certain New York City ZIP Codes, the USPS has rolled out what it is calling the Informed Delivery app. App users will be able to see images of their mail each day before it arrives in their mailboxes. For now, the app uses the basic black-and-white photos the USPS captures of the front of every letter it handles.

However, according to a recent article in Direct Marketing News, services could be expanded. One of the possibilities mentioned is a value-added service where direct mail marketers can have links placed in the photos of their mail that the recipient can click. In the near term, the article cites the ability for recipients to see the mail that is intended to reach them before someone else in the household disregards it as unimportant. During an earlier, smaller test of the service, response rates to direct mail were said to be nearly twelve times higher among app users compared to non-users.

On broader scale, the USPS has also planned promotions for direct mail marketers in the coming calendar year. Building upon the promotions it offered in 2015, the 2016 plan includes incentives for the use of advanced printing technologies as well as crossovers between print and digital.

In the Tactile, Sensory and Interactive Mailpiece Engagement promotion, the USPS will offer a postage discount for registered marketers employing innovative use of advanced printing techniques. Techniques including specialty inks, sensory elements, textured papers, folds, die cuts and other elements can be interacted with and manipulated by the recipient.

As part of the Emerging and Advanced Technology/Video in Print promotion, mailers incorporating Near Field Communication (NFC), Augmented Reality (AR), or integrated video in their mailpiece can earn an upfront postage discount of 2%. In addition, mailers will be able to receive the same discount for A-B testing of response rates between versions with and without the advanced technologies.

Aside from a nice discount, what does this mean for organizations that rely on direct mail for marketing communication? For one it provides a strong sense of encouragement for marketers, designers and print buyers to think outside of the box. Additionally, it further proves that print is not only adaptable to today’s digital society, but that it actually helps drive it. As the demands and expectations placed on printed marketing communications become more complex, so do the specifications, schedules, files and production needs that bring them to fruition. Managing all of this is no simple task. It requires the flexibility, power and know-how that only specialty training and purpose-built tools can provide. It’s another page in a long history of print leading the way in graphic communication innovation and one that those of us dedicated to it are excited to turn.

Direct Mail Marketers Get Gifts from USPS

How to Increase Marketing Coverage With the Same or Less Marketing Spend

It’s hard to imagine anyone who would not want to increase marketing coverage. Today, with tightening budgets, it’s even harder to imagine anyone who would not want to increase marketing coverage with the same or less marketing spend. The key is not found in the latest trends in creative, online marketing or social media. It is found in something most people don’t often think about – marketing procurement.

An optimal marketing program requires online marketing, social media, phone solicitation, radio, cable, publication and tertiary advertising, along with all of the other communication techniques which bombard our senses. It also requires the sourcing and managing of direct mail, marketing materials, publications, in-store signage, point of purchase, displays, campaigns, labels and advanced packaging – all of which we shall call “print”.

Print presents a perfect opportunity to increase marketing coverage with the same or less marketing spend. And, it does not require cutting back on anything or sacrificing quality and service. It simply involves paying more attention, making a few adjustments and taking better control of how your organization procures its marketing print.

Believe it or not, you can increase marketing coverage with the same or less marketing spend in eight easy steps.

1. Eliminate Obstacles Between You and Your Vendors

If you are outsourcing any of the management or execution of your print marketing projects to a middleman like a business process outsourcer, you are placing an obstacle in your path. Eliminate the obstacle, and deal directly with the vendors providing the print you procure. This way you eliminate the third party cost, improve coordination between you and your vendors, eliminate mis-communication, speed-up the process and get the exact quality and service you require. Every obstacle you eliminate between you and your vendors equates to savings in cost, increases in efficiency and better results.

2. Be Specific

The procurement of print is no place for being vague or unprepared. You must be very clear and detailed about what you want. Specifications must be precise. Roles and responsibilities must be clearly defined. Quality expectations, project milestones and delivery schedules must be established and followed. When changes need to happen midstream in a project, which they will, all of the details must be in order, approved and documented to keep everything on-time, on-spec and on-budget.

3. Communicate, Communicate, Communicate

While it may not be readily apparent, there are many individuals who play a role in your organization’s print marketing projects. Often these roles span multiple departments. Bring agencies, freelancers and your vendor’s people into the mix and things begin to get very complicated. Consistent, clear communication between all of these people is crucial. Without it, steps get missed, approvals don’t happen promptly, information gets lost, time is wasted, deadlines pass, costs go up and chaos reigns.

4. Understand There is a Difference Between an Estimate and Final Pricing

A print marketing estimate is not a quote. It is a “rough” or “ballpark” budget price based on still fluid specs to give an idea of cost. Because of all of the variables, vendors can not provide a competitive price until all of the detailed specs, schedules, requirements and dependencies are provided. Thus, a budget price accepted as the final price for a project yields higher than necessary costs, as the difference between a budget price and a competitive price can be shocking. Planning can be achieved when estimates are made on what is known at the time. Cost savings can be achieved when the final competitive price is made on detailed and complete specs and requirements.

5. Insist on Transparency and Full Reporting

There are many details, dependencies and moving parts in a print marketing project. Without full visibility and instant reporting, small issues become big problems, minor changes become expensive change orders, a missed approval becomes days of expensive reruns, and on and on and on. In any print marketing project there are more than a thousand places where something can go wrong. Multiply that by numerous print marketing projects, each with dependent parts, and the possibility of tragedy is exponential. It is imperative to establish and monitor tasks, approvals, schedules, production milestones as well as real-time progress and access reporting to gain process control. Only then can efficiency improve, potential problems be minimized and print marketing costs reduced.

6. Minimize Expensive Change Orders

There are times when you have to make changes to your print marketing project. To minimize expensive change orders it is a good practice to engineer clear specs with everyone involved on the same page, so to speak. Transparency, based on each individual’s needs, requirements, rights and roles, further eliminates potential problems that add to the final price of a project. Make no mistake, when a print vendor does not charge for making changes, or for your errors, that vendor has the cost of potential changes already in the price – if for no other reason than to protect itself.

7. Stop Using Spreadsheets, eMail, ERP and General Procurement Systems to Manage Print Marketing Projects

Using utility software that is already in your office is a fast way to print buying frustration. In fact many organizations already supplement utility software the only way they can – with spreadsheets, email, phone calls and time-consuming meetings. Enterprise resource planning (ERP) and general procurement systems are not built to handle the requirements of custom-made print marketing projects. Turning to spreadsheets, emails, phone calls and long meetings results in a quagmire of files, busywork and post-it notes. At best, this leads to headaches and muddling through projects, while at worst, to confusion, missed deadlines, sacrificed quality, low efficiency, higher costs and possibly failed projects.

8. Use the Right Software Tools

Direct mail, marketing materials, publications, in-store signage, point of purchase, displays, campaigns, labels and advanced packaging – print – operates in a very unique environment with highly specialized processes and requirements. Software tools can be very helpful in managing and executing print. The trick is to use the right tools. Ask yourself if the software you are going to use helps you accomplish all of the steps above. Remember the most powerful software tools help foster an environment of fair competition among vendors, support compliance with diversity and environmental initiatives and ensure that quality and service are not sacrificed all while achieving lower costs.

By following these eight steps you will be able to increase your marketing reach for the same or less marketing spend, allowing you to redirect your budget into more market coverage, other initiatives or in whatever direction best meets your goals.

How to Increase Marketing Coverage With the Same or Less Marketing Spend

How to Increase Marketing Coverage Without Spending More

It’s hard to imagine finding any marketer who would deny wanting to be able to increase coverage of their target market. Given today’s environment of ever-tightening budgets and a growing number of channels, it’s also hard to imagine finding any marketer who wouldn’t love being able to do it without spending more. The key to increasing market coverage isn’t found in the latest trends in creative, online marketing or social media. It’s found in something most people don’t often think about – marketing procurement.

Any marketing that requires custom goods or services such as direct mail, printed materials, point of sale, signage, displays, packaging, publications and more presents a perfect opportunity to increase coverage or reach without spending more. And, it doesn’t require cutting back on anything or sacrificing quality and service. It simply involves paying more attention, making a few adjustments and taking better control of how your organization procures the goods and services it uses for marketing. Believe it or not, it can be accomplished in three steps.

Step 1: Eliminate Obstacles Between You and Your Vendors

If you are outsourcing any of the management or execution of your marketing material projects to a middleman like a business process outsourcer you are placing an obstacle in your path. Eliminate the obstacle and deal direct with the vendors providing the marketing goods and services you procure. Every extra step you eliminate from the path between you and your vendors will equate to savings in cost, increases in efficiency and better results.

Step 2: Be Specific

The procurement of goods and services your organization relies on for marketing is no place for being vague or unprepared. You must be very clear and detailed about what you want. Specifications must be precise. Roles and responsibilities must be clearly defined. Quality expectations, project milestones and delivery schedules must be established and followed. When changes need to happen midstream in a project, which they will, all of the details must be in order, approved and documented to keep everything on-time, on-spec and on-budget.

Step 3: Use the Right Software Tools

Custom printing, which plays a role in most of the goods marketers procure, operates in a very unique environment with highly specialized processes and requirements. While it might be tempting to try to procure it using enterprise resource planning or general procurement tools, they simply are not built to handle the details and requirements of the strictly custom nature marketing goods and services. That often leaves organizations turning to spreadsheets, emails, phone calls, meetings that result in a quagmire of files, notes and paperwork. At the best this leads to muddling through projects with frustration and headaches. At the worst it leads to confusion, missed deadlines, sacrificed quality, low efficiency, higher costs and possibly failed projects.

Software tools are helpful in properly managing and executing the custom printing you use for marketing. The trick is finding and using the right tools for the job. Before you begin using any software tools for marketing procurement, ask yourself the following questions. Does it automate communication between everyone who plays a role in the project – both internal and external? Does it enable transparency into all aspects of marketing procurement? Does it facilitate establishment and monitoring of project milestones with instant reporting? Does it support compliance with diversity and environmental initiatives? Does it foster an environment of fair competition among your trusted vendors? Does it ensure that quality and service will not be sacrificed for price, while assuring the best possible price? Unless the answer to all of these questions is yes, it is not a powerful enough tool built for marketing procurement’s unique requirements.

Following these three steps you will be able to increase your marketing reach for the same amount, or even less, by simply reassigning the money you would normally spend on outside services, middlemen and inefficiencies to actual marketing projects. You can keep doing it the same old way as before and settle for less. Or you can make a few adjustments, take better control and settle for more. Here at eLynxx Solutions we know which option we’d pick.

How to Increase Marketing Coverage Without Spending More

eLynxx Solutions Named to Supply and Demand Chain Executive’s 100 Great Supply Chain Projects List for 2015

eLynxx Solutions has been named to the 2015 SDCE 100, Supply and Demand Chain Executive’s annual listing of top supply chain solution and service provider projects. eLynxx Solutions was recognized for its on-going relationship with a leading manufacturer of alternative decking products, producing gains in ROI, efficiency and savings in the client’s marketing supply chain.

eLynxx Solutions, provider of cloud software for end-to-end management and sourcing of direct mail, marketing materials, publications and all things print has once again been named to the SDCE 100. Recognized throughout the supply chain management community, the SDCE 100 is Supply and Demand Chain Executive magazine’s annual listing of 100 great supply chain projects. The SDCE 100 is comprised of supply chain solution and service providers focused on helping their customers and clients achieve supply chain excellence.

Criteria for nomination and award to the 2015 SDCE 100 included the production of measurable gains in ROI through cost-cutting and increased efficiency in any category in the end-to-end supply chain. eLynxx Solutions was recognized for its on-going partnership with a leading manufacturer of alternative decking products providing the software, methods, guidance and support for streamlining the end-to-end planning, sourcing and production management of a specialized, international marketing supply chain. To date, the client has realized average per-unit cost savings in excess of 24% and an ROI of 300%.

“When eLynxx Solutions began its relationship with this client in 2009 their primary goal was to expand competition and diversity among suppliers of sales and marketing communication materials” states Mike Jackson, CEO of eLynxx Solutions. “Through rigorous objective qualification of vendors based on the client’s needs and standards, their vendor pool was increased from 21 to 48, meeting their initial goal” Jackson added. In addition, improvement of specification development, management and control, coupled with the eLynxx sourcing method and purpose-built cloud software allowed the client to automate the vendor selection, award, production management and better track each project from start to finish.

“By connecting all of their people, processes and vendors, eLynxx Solutions helped the client achieve better results without the need to either outsource operations or increase headcount,” Jackson said. “Speed to market of key promotional and sales communications across several channels and countries was improved while quality and consistency across a variety of projects was assured.” Additionally, the client also gained unprecedented accountability and transparency in their marketing supply chain thanks to the robust data capture and reporting features of eLynxx cloud software.

Submissions to the SDCE 100 were evaluated by the magazine’s editorial staff, weighted on: ambitiousness and scope of the project (30%); creative application of technologies, solutions or services used (20%); extent of business results and impact (40%), and clarity of submission (10%).

More information regarding the SDCE 100 may be found in the current issue of Supply and Demand Chain Executive magazine or on the web at SDCExec.com.

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eLynxx Solutions Named to Supply and Demand Chain Executive’s 100 Great Supply Chain Projects List for 2015

Print More Efficient Than TV? One Study Says So!

When I began my career in marketing communications, back in the mid-1990s, television was the Holy Grail of marketing channels. A decade and a half or so later, when I was managing communications at what was then a prominent online printer, nothing much had changed. Our ultimate goal was to have an ad air during the Super Bowl. That never happened.

In all honesty, maybe because of the industries in which I have worked , I’ve never been too enamored with big time TV. If you’re a major brand, with billions of dollars to put toward marketing, television campaigns might make sense; the audience is there, it’s targetable and with that kind of budget you can afford it. But, even if you have the budget to support TV, is it as efficient in building brand awareness as other channels like print media and mobile? A 2014 study say no.

With the intent of discovering the impact of mobile marketing as a channel in an overall campaign, the Mobile Marketing Association conducted the Smart Mobile Cross Marketing Effectiveness Study (SMoX). In one case study, SMoX looked at a 2013 AT&T campaign for Moto X smartphones. National television, print media, online desktop and mobile channels were used. Of course TV had the largest share, 93%, of the budget. Online desktop had the next largest share, a whopping 5%, leaving print media and mobile each with a mere 1% of the budget. The 18-year-old demographic was the target for this campaign conducted over a six-week period.

The study looked at the efficiency of each channel used in the campaign as a factor of individuals reached per dollar spent. The results are rather surprising. Consuming the overwhelming majority of the budget, national TV reached the most people. In terms of efficiency, however, it reached 1.5 people per dollar spent, edging out online desktop by a half a person per dollar. Mobile doubled TV’s efficiency at 3 people reached per dollar spent. Print media, however, showed the most efficiency at 6 people reached per dollar spent.

The study goes on to suggest, based on efficiency and other factors related to the campaign, an optimum mix of spending across the four channels. With a reduction from 93% to 72%, TV takes a hit but still gobbles up most of the budget because of its cost. Out of the rest of the channels, mobile, naturally, tops the list at a suggested increase to 16%. Print media, however, comes in

second with a suggested increase to 8% and online desktop remains constant at 5%. Long story short, the message here is that for a big brand that can afford national television, the next two most efficient communication channels are mobile and print media.

While print in this circumstance is referring to paid advertising space in printed magazines, the fact that it was the most efficient of all channels with an 18-year-old audience is significant. This audience is native to all things digital. This audience is thought to shun anything that’s not on a screen and preferably a screen that can be put in a pocket. But this study indicates otherwise. It indicates that physical, printed graphic communication has not only not lost its power, but its power is enough for it to be suggested as an excellent companion to the channel of preference among this demographic.

Although direct mail, direct marketing and other forms of physically printed communication were not in the scope of this study there are relationships and similarities that can be drawn between the them and magazine advertising. If old fashioned print mass media can efficiently reach 18-year-old smartphone buyers as part of an integrated campaign, well-targeted direct marketing with a great design can too, as long as the production quality, timing and price are optimized. If you are relying on paid channels like online, mobile and certainly TV, optimization is an area of obvious concern. But are you optimizing your printed marketing communications? Are you getting the best combination of quality, service and price with no compromises? You could be, you should be and eLynxx software can help you do it with the people, processes and vendors you already have in place.

Print More Efficient Than TV? One Study Says So!

eLynxx Solutions CEO Mike Jackson Featured in Xplor International Interview

Xplor International, a not-for-profit association focused on technology for, and production of, high volume printing for consumer communications, featured an interview with eLynxx Solutions own Mike Jackson in the most recent issue of their E-Document News. In the interview Jackson discusses workflow technology, the impact of the cloud and software as a service, compliance, efficiency and options for custom tailored software.

Read the interview: http://goo.gl/u4X6H2

Visit Xplor International: http://xplor.org

eLynxx Solutions CEO Mike Jackson Featured in Xplor International Interview

The Catalog Comeback

As a kid, back in the 1970s and early 1980s, I would spend almost as many lazy hours engrossed in catalogs – the Christmas toy and wish books especially – as comic books and Mad Magazine. I can even trace my interest in graphic design and marketing communication to a time when I would combine my affinity for catalogs, comic book fantasy and satire to create parody catalogs with ridiculous themes like discount gadgets for aspiring superheroes and evil underworld masterminds. Although I never achieved my goal of hijacking the grade school mimeograph machine to actually produce my early work; my career eventually led to a critical role in the catalogs of a major giftware and collectables wholesaler. To this day, I still enjoy picking up and flipping through a catalog. That’s why I’m excited to see that they seem to be making a comeback of sorts.

According to The Wall Street Journal and the Direct Marketing Association, the peak of catalog distribution didn’t actually occur until 2007 when retailers mailed 19.6 billion in the U.S. By the time 2007 had rolled around, Sears, the granddaddy of all catalog retailers, was long out of the large-scale catalog scene. Other retailers had obviously picked up the slack and then some. Unfortunately, the years following 2007 showed a constant, and often steep, trend of decline. In the very midst of that slump, J.C. Penney, the last remaining big gun of the catalog world, had phased out their so-called Big Book and all of their specialty catalogs.Finally, in 2013 catalog distribution was up, for the first time in six years, to 11.9 billion. Far shy of the 2007 peak but up nonetheless.

Earlier this year Penney’s made several big announcements. One, of course, was that they were planning to close underperforming stores. Another was that they were bringing back the catalog. The two announcements were an interesting juxtaposition since the start of many of the company’s financial woes coincided with the time it decided to dump the printed catalog and make mail order a strictly online operation. Far from the thousand page, soup-to-nuts behemoth of old, the company’s first catalog in five years was to be mailed in March. In the month since it was supposed to be distributed, I have not seen a new J.C. Penney catalog in the wild, although I understand that it was planned to be 120 pages focused on home goods. More akin to their old specialty catalogs than their Big Book.

Penney’s, it seems, is on-board with the realization of many other retailers; printed direct mail catalogs are effective in leading lifestyle-driven consumers to make in-store and online purchases. The key is to also realize that catalog marketing is highly adaptable and, given today’s design, printing and mailing technology, even nimble. When it comes to presenting a massive amount of products and related information as a point of reference, as was the main role of the huge old full-line print catalogs, the web is a worthy successor. In instances where many variations or options exist for products, the web can even be superior. However, when it comes to appealing to the senses, presenting shoppers with ideas, forming opinions and helping them make a buying decision on an emotional level, print can’t be beat.

There is nothing like moving through the thick, glossy full-color pages of a targeted, specialty catalog and turning to a beauty, or hero, page to see the products staged in a way that makes the reader want to replicate that scene in their own life. They see what could be the answer to their needs or desires, they get to understand about each of the products and they may even gain some insight from a designer or an expert in an article, separate from the product detail copy, that relates to the scene that has been set. With a quick look around to superimpose the beauty shot over their own surroundings, the reader is off to the website, catalog and credit card in hand, typing item numbers and filling a cart. In this way, print catalogs are not simply listings of what a retailer has for sale, they are a connection to the audience’s lifestyle.

Sure, you can put beauty shots and inspirational copy on a website. But the audience has to know it is there. Yes, you can let them know the website is there through email, but email is easy to ignore. You can have a web catalog site highly optimized for search, but the audience still has to be searching for what the site is selling to find it. When a person pulls a catalog out of the mailbox and they hold it in their hands, they have connected with it that’s harder to ignore.

In addition, marketers have much more control over graphic communication in print than they have online. No one knows the size, quality or settings of every screen in a given audience. Responsive web design can account for many of the challenges with screen size, but nothing can prevent low-quality hardware or out-of-whack settings from destroying the impact of otherwise stunning photography and design. If you are in full control of correctly managing your specifications, color standards, proofing and production, you can ensure that what the audience sees is what you want it to see in print.

Today’s printed catalogs may not look anything like the ones that inspired me as a kid. They are, however, still doing what those old catalogs were designed to do – sell to contemporary audiences – and do it well. For that reason I still find inspiration, and sense of satisfaction, when I pick up a printed catalog. Let’s keep ‘em coming!

The Catalog Comeback

Five Reasons Why Printed Marketing Materials are Still Important

Despite the fact that we seem to live so much of our lives online, we are still physical beings living in a physical world. Regardless of how attached are to social media we still crave physical communication. For that reason alone, printed marketing materials are still important in today’s digitally saturated environment. Let’s take a look at some of the many reasons that even the simplest of printed marketing communications like direct mail are highly effective in an organization’s outreach strategy.

Exposure

Printed marketing communications offer a great magnitude of exposure and create lasting impact. Their physical form has staying power that allows the audience to interact with them anytime. A publication or even a brochure left on a table has reach well beyond the individual to whom it was sent. This kind of pass-along can be very effective as it occurs in a natural and casual manner driven by genuine interest on the part of the individual.

Targeting

Because of its maturity as a strategy and the vast amount of data that is collected on people and organizations in their physical environments, printed marketing communications can be directed to highly targeted audiences. Variable printing, personalization and mail automation technologies enable even massive direct mail campaigns to be customized and targeted with pinpoint accuracy. This allows outreach and engagement with an audience at a highly effective, personal level without the often creepy feeling that highly personal social media outreach can have.

Branding

Printed marketing communications strengthen a brand by bringing a unified image used across other channels into direct physical contact with the audience. Because print is physical and able to be placed into the hands of prospects and customers it allows for outside of the box creativity such as the inclusion of samples and even multimedia. Printed marketing communication’s physical nature lend it a premium characteristic that can be used to convey quality and luxury. This physical nature can be used to appeal to the senses, like touch, smell, and with some creativity, taste that can not be accessed via other channels. For brands that exist strictly online, print is the perfect way to gain local presence without the need for brick and mortar facilities.

Measurability

Everyone knows that, thanks to tracking codes, online marketing communication is easy to measure. Print communication is the granddaddy of measurability. Coupons, redemption vouchers and other forms of tracking have proven the effectiveness of printed marketing for generations. Tracking and measurability of print campaigns can be done with automated technology or it can be as simple and low-tech as counting coupons or the number of enquiries made.The effectiveness of a print marketing campaign can be easily measured using simple techniques.

Flexibility

The best thing about print marketing is that it can easily be used in a combination with online tools. Not only is it perfect for reaching audiences not engaged with social media, it can be used to connect the physical and online worlds. Scanning technologies and augmented reality make a direct connection between print and digital. Even simple codes can be used to drive customers and prospects to a website. Print can actually be one of the most effective ways to convert offline customers to online and drive repeat or increased online engagement. Believe it or not, printed marketing communication is used frequently and very effectively by online giants like Google, eBay and Amazon.

While advances in media and marketing technology get all of the glory, classic approaches like print are still going strong. It gives access to audience segments, creates impact and builds awareness that will bring new life into any marketing strategy.

Five Reasons Why Printed Marketing Materials are Still Important

Healthcare Insurance Sector Averages Savings of Over 32% in the Past Two Quarters Using eLynxx Software

eLynxx Solutions, provider of software for sourcing and managing print has released data showing marketing and communication material savings of over 32% among its clients in the healthcare insurance sector over the past two quarters. This savings continues a trend for this sector.

Staying connected with both customers and service providers is critical to organizations in the healthcare insurance sector. Because of the highly regulated, personal and official nature of information in the healthcare insurance space, print remains a primary channel of communication. At the same time, especially in such a dynamic and competitive industry, there is always pressure to control cost and achieve better results that often leads to decisions that impact critical operations and materials. For 40 years, companies have turned to eLynxx Solutions to maximize efficiency, reduce costs and achieve better results from their marketing and communication materials.

“Healthcare insurance companies rely heavily on printed communication such as direct mail,” said Mike Jackson, chief executive officer of eLynxx Solutions. “These communications are often quite complex, involving not only personalization but requiring a high measure of security because of sensitive personally identifiable information. Such needs can add substantially to the cost of a campaign. Reducing the per-unit cost of printed communication materials and increasing the efficiency with which they are managed makes a positive impact on a healthcare insurer’s bottom line.” That is why leaders in the healthcare insurance sector turn to eLynxx Solutions. Purpose-built for the sourcing and management of direct mail, marketing and print communication materials, eLynxx software provides the highest possible level of efficiency and coordination. Combined with an exclusive patented sourcing method, eLynxx users from across all business sectors regularly achieve per-unit cost savings of up to 40% on all kinds of custom printed materials while increasing efficiency by an average of 53%.

“eLynxx Solutions is pleased to have been able to save its healthcare insurance clients an average of 32.15% in the past two quarters. This level of savings continues a trend of eLynxx Solutions clients in this sector achieving average annual savings of over 31%.” Jackson noted. Naturally, the efficiency and savings achieved through eLynxx is not limited to those in the healthcare insurance industry.

eLynxx Solutions helps organizations in the education, financial, manufacturing, heavy equipment, building products, technology, non-profit association and shipping and logistics sectors as well. eLynxx Solutions takes an approach of helping organizations extend their capabilities to get better results from a traditionally hard-to-control area of operational spending. With other approaches there is always some level of sacrifice. With the eLynxx approach organizations achieve the best possible price, quality and service on custom-printed materials while retaining control through their own people, processes and vendors.

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eLynxx Solutions has been providing innovative products and services for helping organizations manage projects and connect with vendors of custom-produced graphic communication, direct mail, marketing materials, publications, labeling, packaging and all things print since 1975. Born, raised and still located in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania along the east coast’s graphic communications corridor connecting Washington, DC, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and New York City, today’s eLynxx Solutions is a leading innovator and provider of cloud software for the marketing supply chain. As a software boutique, eLynxx Solutions tailors its cloud software to fit the needs and requirements of its customers, providing the functionality of custom software with the economy of out-of-the-box solutions. eLynxx print procurement software empowers an organization’s people to work with their own vendors and strengthen their own processes to achieve better results. For more information regarding eLynxx software, please visit eLynxx.com.

Healthcare Insurance Sector Averages Savings of Over 32% in the Past Two Quarters Using eLynxx Software

Not-for-Profit and Association Sector Saved over 25% in 2014 with eLynxx

eLynxx Solutions, a leading provider of software for the marketing supply chain has released data showing marketing material savings of over 25% among its clients in the not-for-profit and association sector during 2014. This savings continues a multi-year savings trend for this sector.

Increasing efficiency and reducing costs is a key factor in the way organizations in many sectors, including not-for-profits and associations, do business today. Faced with a highly competitive marketplace, the use of custom-printed marketing communication materials has become crucial to the fundraising, membership and special initiative efforts of not-for-profit organizations and associations. Organizations must sometimes make decisions that impact critical operations and materials. For nearly 40 years, companies have turned to eLynxx Solutions to maximize efficiency, reduce costs and achieve better results from their marketing and communication materials.

“Printed communication materials are critical to this sector,” said Mike Jackson, chief executive officer of eLynxx Solutions. “Not-for-profits and associations rely on these materials to attract new members, communicate with existing members, raise non-dues revenue and promote events. Cutting per-unit cost of the printing used in not-for-profit outreach campaigns means a greater return on marketing investment. However, there is generally no room for sacrifice in quality or timeliness.” That is exactly why leaders in the association and not-for-profit sector turn to eLynxx Solutions. Purpose-built for the sourcing and management of direct mail, marketing and print communication materials, eLynxx provides the highest possible level of efficiency and coordination. Combined with an exclusive patented sourcing method, eLynxx users across all business sectors regularly achieve per-unit cost savings of up to 40% on all kinds of custom printed materials while increasing efficiency by an average of 53%.

“Considering the scope of many of the outreach campaigns in this sector, any amount of savings makes a positive impact. eLynxx Solutions is pleased to have been able to save its not-for-profit and association clients an average of 25.54% in 2014. This level of savings continues a multi-year trend of eLynxx Solutions clients in this sector achieving average annual savings of over 23%. Naturally, the efficiency and savings achieved through eLynxx is not limited to associations and not-for-profits.

eLynxx Solutions helps organizations in the education, financial, manufacturing, heavy equipment, building products, shipping and logistics and technology sectors as well. eLynxx Solutions takes an approach of helping organizations extend their capabilities to get better results from a traditionally hard-to-control area of operational spending. With other approaches there is always some level of sacrifice. With the eLynxx approach organizations achieve the best possible price, quality and service on custom-printed materials while retaining control through their own people, processes and vendors.

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eLynxx Solutions has been providing innovative products and services for helping organizations manage projects and connect with vendors of custom-produced graphic communication, direct mail, marketing materials, publications, labeling, packaging and all things print since 1975. Born, raised and still located in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania along the east coast’s graphic communications corridor connecting Washington, DC, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and New York City, today’s eLynxx Solutions is a leading innovator and provider of cloud software for the marketing supply chain. As a software boutique, eLynxx Solutions tailors its cloud software to fit the needs and requirements of its customers, providing the functionality of custom software with the economy of out-of-the-box solutions. eLynxx print procurement software empowers an organization’s people to work with their own vendors and strengthen their own processes to achieve better results. For more information regarding eLynxx software, please visit eLynxx.com.

Not-for-Profit and Association Sector Saved over 25% in 2014 with eLynxx

eLynxx Solutions Goes Back to School with Hometown Neighbor Wilson College

As the summer winds down and the 2014-2015 academic year begins, eLynxx Solutions will be among the masses heading off to college, but there won’t be any classes to attend or dorms to move into. In fact there won’t even be much of a trip to make. That’s because eLynxx Solutions is pleased to announce that it has been selected to provide marketing supply chain software for Wilson College in its hometown of Chambersburg, PA.

Founded in 1869 as a liberal arts college, Wilson College welcomes undergraduate and graduate degree-seeking students from around the globe to south central Pennsylvania. Wilson—with a long and storied past—is now excited about a bright and promising future. Having recently implemented a wide-ranging plan for improved enrollment, the College is adding academic programs and improving facilities. Coeducational expansion across all programs has widened Wilson’s horizons. Of course along with those widened horizons come additional responsibilities in marketing and communications. Wilson has also increased its marketing and communications program to meet the challenges of covering an ever-increasing number of communication channels while maintaining the budget discipline many marketers face. Wilson College also has some challenges that are unique to its situation.

Although technology has opened new avenues for marketing, printed communications still play a major role in higher education. Wilson College is no different in that respect. What is different at Wilson, however, is that the college has only recently centralized marketing operations and is in the process of rolling out a newly defined brand identity and rebuilding its print program to meet the needs of a greatly expanded prospective student audience. That translates to a lot of new design work to create new materials. It also means increased pressure on the people, processes and vendors that make up an institution’s marketing supply chain to produce quality results within budget. That’s where eLynxx Solutions comes into the picture.

“Wilson is growing and moving through change, and the marketing and communications department plays a central role in reaching our audiences. We’ve put a comprehensive marketing program in place that is very bottom line oriented—cost and results,” said Brian Speer, Vice President of Marketing and Communications at Wilson College. “Given our new position and expanded market, we have a lot of work in front of us. eLynxx allows us to enhance our capabilities, expand our print marketplace, ensure product quality, meet tight deadlines and extend our budget as far as possible. With the work eLynxx has done with other educational institutions in helping to improve results, they were a good fit for Wilson.” Because eLynxx is cloud software, there are no additional requirements placed on the college’s IT infrastructure. After the eLynxx Solutions team gathered the required information, Wilson College was up, running and ready to take advantage of increased efficiency and savings.

“We are extremely proud that Wilson College has selected eLynxx to provide its marketing supply chain software,” said Mike Jackson, Chief Executive Officer at eLynxx Solutions. “eLynxx has been helping higher education institutions achieve the best possible price, quality and service on printed marketing and communications materials for years. Being able to do the same with Wilson College, an institution with which we share so many ties in the community, is especially rewarding.”

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eLynxx Solutions has been providing innovative products and services for helping organizations manage projects and connect with vendors of custom-produced graphic communication, direct mail, marketing materials, publications, labeling, packaging and all things print since 1975. Born, raised and still located in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania along the east coast’s graphic communications corridor connecting Washington, DC, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and New York City, today’s eLynxx Solutions is a leading innovator and provider of project management software for the marketing supply chain. As a software boutique, eLynxx Solutions tailors its cloud software and services to fit the needs and requirements of its customers, providing the functionality of custom software with the economy of out-of-the-box solutions. eLynxx project management software empowers an organization’s people to work with their own vendors and strengthen their own processes to achieve better results. For more information regarding eLynxx Solutions, please visit http://elynxx.com.

eLynxx Solutions Goes Back to School with Hometown Neighbor Wilson College

The Magic of Print - IKEA Gets It - and Makes Us Laugh Too!

Common Sense – In Furniture and Marketing

Leave it up to a company that has successfully made knock-down furniture, hex key wrenches and one-word names packed with Nordic accent marks stylish to not only get what makes printed communication important, but to make it sexy and desirable too. Taking a jab at the hype surrounding the upcoming fall releases of new products from the high-tech world, Swedish furniture purveyor IKEA has decided to call attention to all of the positive and user-friendly aspects of its printed catalog.

Experience the Power of…a Catalog!

IKEA’s launch video for the latest edition of its catalog has already been hailed for parodying the style of tech giants like Apple. Its dry humor presenting a traditional printed piece using terminology common to technology has made it a viral smash. But it also strikes a chord for marketers who know that printed communication is still a vital part of their promotional mix. While it may be funny to see a catalog being described as if it were an iPad; it brings awareness to the fact everything that digital media has to live up to was, and still is, based in good old-fashioned print. IKEA definitely gets it – print and digital communication can not only live side by side, they can drive one another as well. Check out the video below.

The Magic of Print - IKEA Gets It - and Makes Us Laugh Too!

Is Your Marketing Supply Chain "Prepped" - Three Questions to Ask

The concept of preparedness is a hot topic but it’s nothing new. Anyone who was ever in scouting or the military is familiar with the practice of being prepared. It’s simply more in the public eye today. Between public service campaigns urging every household to have a basic survival kit ready for common emergencies and documentaries on “extreme preppers” outfitted to survive and thrive in the face of just about anything man or nature can conjure up, being prepared has become part of mainstream culture. Being prepared is a great idea. Whether you choose to have a box with some basics to make it through a bad storm or a bunker to survive doomsday is up to you; but logic and history tells us that you go wrong with being prepared. However, when most of us think about being prepared, we think in terms of home and family not business.

True, many organizations have a general crisis plan for when they are directly impacted by the unforeseen. Disaster preparedness and recovery plans are also common to most IT operations. But what happens when the unforeseen strikes others you depend upon and the situation is beyond the scope of internal plans? What happens when the printer who is producing materials for a critical product launch campaign is impacted by a hurricane, tornado, wildfire or earthquake? The idea here is not to wish for such a tragedy; but rather to point out that even your marketing supply chain is vulnerable to the effects of disaster at many levels. Something as simple as a major power outage in the vicinity of one of your vendors has the potential to impact your marketing operations. In many parts of the United States, the late summer is prime time for nature-related emergencies; which leads to the question of whether your marketing supply chain has been prepped for disaster? Here are three questions to consider:

Is your vendor pool deep, and well-qualified, enough that you have multiple options available?

If you rely on a very small pool of vendors you are putting your marketing initiatives at risk. If one of these vendors becomes unavailable, even temporarily, your projects may take a hit that can be hard to recover from. Solid vendor qualification is equally as important. Even if you have a fair number of vendors who can pick up the slack from an out-of-commission competitor; if they are not clearly and objectively qualified as equals you could end up with less than acceptable results. A well-prepared marketing supply chain has vendor redundancy not only in numbers, but in capability and capacity as well.

Do you have easy access to all of your project assets and specifications?

In order to be able to work around unforeseen circumstances in your marketing supply chain you need to be agile. In the midst of a situation where a vendor is unable to operate in their normal capacity, you need to be able to take all assets, files, details and specifications for a project and shift them to another vendor. Any time spent searching for assets, recompiling information and getting it out to substitute vendors is time wasted. A robust project and workflow management regimen with provisions for management of project assets, tracking of all actions and the ability to directly connect with your vendor pool is a key element of having a well-prepared marketing supply chain.

Do you know where your projects are in the production cycle?

Suppose that a direct mail project is being printed and assembled by one vendor who will send it to another vendor for processing and mailing. An unforeseen circumstance has taken the print vendor temporarily off-line sometime after you sent the project to them. If you don’t know where your project is in its production cycle, you don’t know if it has been impacted. If you knew where it was, you would know whether it needed to be routed to another printer, or if the printer finished their part before they were impacted and it’s already at the mail house. If you don’t know, you’ll need to spend precious time finding out. Having a solid grasp of where your marketing materials are in their production cycle is another key part of a well-prepared marketing supply chain.

Like being prepared for the unforeseen in any other portion of life, ensuring that your marketing supply chain is prepared for circumstances beyond your control certainly isn’t limited to three areas. However by asking yourself the three questions above and thinking about your answers you are off to a good start that is likely to lead to more considerations. Can you think of any others? If you do, be sure to share them with us!

Is Your Marketing Supply Chain "Prepped" - Three Questions to Ask

The Marketing Supply Chain Field Guide: Conclusion

If the concept of a supply chain dedicated to the production of marketing materials never crossed your mind before you began following along, don’t worry, you’re not alone. That is exactly why we began The Marketing Supply Chain Field Guide. Now, after twelve installments, it’s time to put the wraps on our exploration of one of the most complex, yet underappreciated, areas of marketing operations.

Will you be able to walk away knowing everything there is to know about the marketing supply chain? Probably not. And, in all honesty, that was never the goal of this series. The goal was to give you the insight to be able to identify the existance, and components, of your organization’s own marketing supply chain. Hopefully you are now able to do just that.

Knowing that the marketing supply chain is made of familiar elements whose connections may not always be clear; you now also know that coordination, acquisition, production and analysis are four areas commonly encompassed by the concept. Because every marketing supply chain is as unique as the the organzation it serves, you know that flexibility is a must for successful and strong project and digital asset management.

All of the critical roles – from marketing to finance, procurement and even legal – required to bring your organization’s marketing materials from concept to reality should now be easier to identify. Identification the graphic communication materials your organization relies upon, from the common marketing and sales items to packaging, displays and large-format visuals, should also be easier. All of the vendors who are crucial to the production, implementation and success of these materials – even those you may not have thought about before – should be easier to identify as well.

Armed with your newfound knowledge, identifying all of the elements of your organization’s own marketing supply chain should be fairly simple. Unfortunately, once you have it all mapped out, you will likely discover that coordinating, connecting and managing all of the elements, resources and people within it to be a challenge. This is not uncommon. So now you know what the marketing supply chain is and have identified yours, the next step is to manage it and the projects that flow through it.

While many orgaizations have tried either broad-scope ERP, procurement and other entreprise management software; others have looked toward outsourcing or building thier own solutions using complex systems of spreadsheets, email, and files. Each of these methods, while partially successful in some instances, tend to come up short because they don’t take the individuality, complexity and custom-specified nature of a given organization’s marketing supply into consideration. Organizations that have turned to a project management solution that is not only purpose-built for the marketing supply chain, but also tailored precisely to the organization’s people, processes and vendors, have found much greater success.

As this concludes The Marketing Supply Chain Field Guide series, it certainly does not conclude the information we have to share here on the eLynxx Blog! Be sure to check back frequenly as well as connect with us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ and Twitter for continued insight into the marketing supply chain, marketing materials and marketing operations in general.

The Marketing Supply Chain Field Guide: Conclusion

The Marketing Supply Chain Field Guide: Part 12 - Vendors in the Chain-Continued

In last week’s installment of The Marketing Supply Chain Field Guide, we began exploring the variety of vendors we rely on to produce and assist in the execution of the projects in our marketing supply chains with a look at some of the types of printer and other primary producers you may encounter. Today we are looking at the some of the often forgotten, yet equally important, supporting vendors common to the marketing supply chain.

Once the Ink’s Dry on the Paper

It’s no secret that most full-service commercial and even specialty printers have the capabilities to do a good bit of post-production or finishing work. This often includes services related to putting the finishing touches on marketing materials. Die cutting, scoring, folding, basic bindery and some packaging and assembly are common services to find. The larger the printer, the more apt they are to have a broader offering of these services. Meanwhile, more specialized printers will tend to have more unique or complex post-production services aligned with their specialty. For example, a point of purchase specialist will likely have more complex cutting and forming capabilities to facilitate manufacture of corrugated displays.

It’s also no secret, however, that many printers do not offer post-production or finishing services. Instead, these primary producers will subcontract or refer to specialists, shipping the printed but unfinished marketing materials to them for completion. Although it involves additional vendors and more complexity, knowing the additional services that are available to you, and the vendors that can provide them, opens a world of new opportunity and creativity. Two different high-quality printers with different specialties can produce the elements of a sales kit and another specialist can assemble the kits. Common post-production specialties include the ones listed above as well as kitting, assembly, packing and converting. Finding such specialists is not always easy, but consultation with experts in marketing supply chain sourcing and production is a good place to start. And don’t forget that these additional vendors are all part of the work that needs to be tracked and kept on specification, time and budget.

Time to Get the Word Out

Even the most gorgeous, well-produced marketing materials won’t do much good sitting in boxes on pallets collecting dust. They need to get out to the public and carry the message your team so masterfully created! Of course the method for distribution is going to depend upon the type or marketing material in question. Shipping, logistics and distribution of marketing materials is another complex and unique step in the marketing supply chain. Whether it’s getting your materials from the final production vendor to you, from one of your facilities to another, or from you to the final audience; there are a plethora of potential – and uniquely non-marketing vendors to be considered.

Motor freight lines, currier services, railroads, air freight services, maritime shipping lines, and warehousing and logistics companies are not commonly thought of as being in the marketing business. But when they are involved in getting your marketing materials from point A to point B, they are part of your marketing supply chain. Not all vendors involved in distribution of marketing materials are so far removed from marketing functions. Mail houses, letter shops and others involved in preparation, processing and execution of direct mail campaigns are also important vendors to consider when specifying, planning, sourcing and managing marketing projects. One missed move related to distribution can keep your marketing materials driving your message to your audience.

Data Makes the World Go ‘Round

While you’ll certainly find some people in marketing who don’t care for dealing with data, it’s doubtful you’ll find many who say data isn’t important. Indeed data is so important to marketing that a whole industry exists to collect process and provide data-based information to marketers. The vendors of data services often play a crucial role in an organization’s marketing supply chains. This is especially true in direct mail and other highly targeted areas of marketing communications. The list being used for a campaign is as important as the direct mail piece itself. When data service providers are part of a marketing project that is being managed, it is absolutely imperative that these vendors are considered part of the marketing supply chain and managed accordingly.

Anyone reading this article will be able to think of other areas or individual examples of vendors in the marketing supply chain. That’s wonderful. That’s exactly what The Marketing Supply Chain Field Guide is all about – recognizing, thinking about and identifying the myriad of people, processes and vendors you rely on to deliver marketing material results. That being said, this article wraps up our look at vendors in the marketing supply chain. Join us net week when we look back over these twelve installments and draw to conclusion The Marketing Supply Chain Field Guide.

The Marketing Supply Chain Field Guide: Part 12 - Vendors in the Chain-Continued

The Marketing Supply Chain Field Guide: Part 11 - Vendors in the Chain

Over the course of the past two installments, we have identified the various marketing, communication, direct mail, packaging and display material categories that organizations may manage and source through their marketing supply chains. While we can easily say that some form of printing is a critical element in the production of each marketing material category; we can’t simply lump all printing together. Just as there are a variety of marketing material categories, there are a variety of vendors – print and otherwise – with distinct capabilities on whom we rely on to produce and assist in the execution of the projects in our marketing supply chains. Today we will explore some of those primary producers.

When You Think “Printer” You Think About These Guys

Commercial printers are your good old all-purpose printers. Or are they? Variety, demand, expectations and ever-changing processes and technologies mean that specialization is becoming the norm. Sure, there are commercial printers who can and will print anything and everything they can squeeze out of their equipment and resources. There are also many commercial printers that despite technically having the capability to produce on a broader scope choose to specialize.

A vendor may do a fine job of producing a certain material for a good price because it fits their specialty. But given a material they are capable of printing, but that is outside of their area of specialization, quality and price may not be up to par. This is just one of the reasons why knowing the true, objective capabilities, capacities and levels of quality of all of your vendors is crucial to an efficient and effective marketing supply chain.

Consider the Whole Package

Aside from simple boxes, bags and other containers and labels of stock sizes and shapes that are custom printed; the production of most packaging is very specialized. Effective packaging in today’s marketplace often pushes the limits of production methods and materials. Substrates run the gamut from paper and card stocks to corrugated materials, metals, plastics, glass, wood and other organic materials. Every form of printing from digital and offset to silk screening, embossing, stamping, painting and even non-ink methods are used. Die cutting, folding, converting and other forms of physical manipulation are common and multi-part packages made of dissimilar materials are as ubiquitous today as a simple box was in the past.

Packaging is an attractive and lucrative market for printers as well as processors of plastics, metals, glass and other materials. It’s not uncommon to find printers who are able to print on surfaces they never would have considered in the past. It’s also not uncommon to find producers and suppliers of cans, bottles, jars, plastics and other packaging materials with in-house printing capabilities. Regardless of whether the packaging vendor is a printer or otherwise, packaging is the face of the product, and knowing that the vendor’s capability, capacity and quality are a precision match to project specs is of the utmost importance.

Creating Something with P.O.P.

If marketing materials were a family, point of purchase, or POP, displays and packaging would be first cousins. In fact much of the same that was already said for packaging above can be said for displays, signage and other materials intended to attract attention where a product is being sold. POP materials can essentially anything from uniquely-printed and constructed boxes, to permanent or semi-permanent merchandising fixtures, electronic displays, simple printed signs, banners, shelf-talkers and the like or anything in between. That means vendors of point of purchase materials can range from printers, to box and packaging specialists, to fabricators, cabinet makers and more. Elaborate POP displays may even require working with several vendors such as a commercial printer, a fabricator and a sign manufacturer.

Seeing the Big Picture

With the advent and subsequent growth of digital design and printing, one specialty area of the graphic communications industry that has grown by leaps and bounds is large or wide format printing. The capabilities of printers who specialize in the large and wide format area open a whole new world that goes beyond billboards and signage. This specialty is one that makes covering vehicles, walls, floors and other large objects with beautiful, detailed graphic images easier and more cost-effective than ever. Large and wide format printing is, however, definitely a specialty and something where capability and quality should be well-vetted. It is also an area of production where close, consistent communication and mutual attention to detail in project specifications is a must.

Join us next week when we wrap up our exploration of vendors you may encounter in the marketing supply chain with a look at some of the important yet often overlooked supporting vendors and partners.

The Marketing Supply Chain Field Guide: Part 11 - Vendors in the Chain

The Marketing Supply Chain Field Guide: Part 9 – Materials in the Chain

Over the past eight installments of our Marketing Supply Chain Field Guide we’ve discussed mechanics, functional areas and roles. Now it’s time to open a new chapter and take a look at the goods the marketing supply chain delivers – marketing materials.

Admittedly, a deep-dive into marketing materials may not sound like edge-of-your-seat kind of stuff, but that is exactly the point. It’s so easy to lump so many forms and mediums of communication that are so crucial to your marketing efforts together under such a simple – and frankly – bland term. But when you stop to think about the breadth and depth of everything that could be considered marketing materials those notions go right out the window. Marketing materials are anything but simple. Their variety and complexity is the antithesis of bland.

The oversimplification of such a complex operational category is likely one of the key factors in the marketing supply chain goes unrecognized. It’s also an important reason to consider purpose-built tools for managing projects within the marketing supply chain. Let’s take a look at some of the more traditional or common marketing materials that may be flowing through yours.

In the Universe of Marketing Materials – Here’s the Black Hole

It’s known by about as many names as there are varieties of it. Collateral, pamphlets, documents, handouts, fliers, folders, booklets, rack cards, one-sheeters, sales kits, brochures…you get the point. What we’re talking about here is one of the foundations of marketing and promotional communication and something that’s still effective even in the digital age; good old printed, branded and distributed information. Marketing collateral (let’s call it that for now) is pretty much the catch-all classification in the marcom world. Here’s the catch about this catch-all though; while it’s so familiar and seemingly basic, it’s really anything but. Everything about it is variable. Size, format, content, purpose, complexity (or simplicity), design, method of distribution – you name it – all varies from item to item. What doesn’t tend to vary is the need for consistent branding across all variants and the fact that collateral changes frequently to stay up-to-date.

Some organizations rely on hundreds, if not thousands, of forms of marketing collateral. Sometimes collateral is produced by multiple teams from different locations where each may be responsible for its own sourcing. Keeping information, branding and targeting current in the face of such an environment can be tricky at best. The simple act of having reprinting last year’s brochures suddenly isn’t so simple. In a well-managed marketing supply chain, marketing collateral can be a model for efficiency instead of a black hole where “everything else” ends up.

Snow, Rain, Heat and Gloom of Night Are One Thing – Project Complexities Are Another

Even today, direct mail is still considered one of the most effective ways to reach a client and customer bases. The ability to put a highly targeted piece of communication right in the hands of its intended audience is powerful. And say what you will about the state of the post office, it still does a remarkably reliable job of getting the message where it needs to go. Even though neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night, as the old saying goes, are supposed to hinder the delivery of your next direct mail campaign; its own complexities could hinder its production. The term direct mail, like marketing materials, is another convenient phrase that oversimplifies a not-so-simple concept. Direct mail campaigns run the gamut in terms of design, format, content, purpose and complexity. About the only thing that remains constant across direct mail campaigns is the fact that they rely upon the post office for distribution. Even that is a point of complication.

Take for example a postcard campaign. It’s a single piece that’s self contained. No envelope is needed; postage indicia, and even addresses, can be printed directly on it. But like any marketing material there’s always a catch. There are stipulations on everything from physical size to stock thickness, finish and even layout and content. Significant attention must be paid to providing the appropriate space, on a printable and clearly visible surface, for bar codes to be applied for proper routing. Copy that is too close to the designated address area could cause machines to misread the address. Even when designs account for all postal regulations, simple production errors or variances, that are negligible in other instances, could render a postcard campaign undeliverable or much more costly to mail. Precision specifications and strict adherence to them in production are absolutely crucial to direct mail even in its most simple form.

In more complicated forms of direct mail, not only do size, thickness and weight come into play, but often multiple pieces as well. In some of the most effective and powerful direct mail campaigns there may be many creative assets with production spread across different vendors. Traditional (think ink on paper) and non-traditional (think plastic cards or product samples) media are frequently combined. Personalization is often involved in more than just the address. Mix in kitting, list and mailing services and direct mail project management might be as complex as it gets. In an organized marketing supply chain these complexities can be harnessed and the full power of direct mail channeled when you use tools that were built for the job.

Keeping the Publication Gears Turning

The fact that some catalogs, newsletters and other marketing and public relations publications are going strong while others have given up paper for pixels clearly illustrates that people take one of two sides on them. Those who continue physical publication of catalogs and outreach obviously see value and power in them with their specific audiences. The ongoing impact of printed publications seems to remain very strong where specialties, special interests and niches are concerned. Such audiences tend to be more deeply connected and involved and hard-copy publications speak well to that involvement.

Anyone who is involved in projects involving publications of any kind is sure to tell you that while techniques and strategies may be similar, each and every publication is unique. Because of the number of moving parts within them, there is a lot of opportunity for things to go awry in the creation, production and distribution of a publication. Nothing is inconsequential managing a publication project. Even a simple approval getting held up in the works could bring a publication that is critical to an organization’s marketing communications goals to a grinding halt. Big money could be lost and that deeply involved and connected audience could be left hanging. It is hard to squeeze something as individual as a publication into a one-size-fits-all approach. It’s near impossible to manage a publication project without the ability to adapt your tools to the specific resources, needs and purposes of your publication.

Join us next week when we continue to break down the many different kinds of marketing material projects the marketing supply chain is responsible for creating, producing and distributing.

The Marketing Supply Chain Field Guide: Part 9 – Materials in the Chain