Change is Good, Except...

Some might say that marketing is all about change. After all, as marketers and marketing operations professionals, we’re always faced with change. A new product to bring to market? That’s change. New target audience for that product? That’s change too. New messaging and channels to communicate with that audience? Yep, that’s also change. Change is so commonplace that it not only becomes part of our routine; it becomes something that we expect and welcome. Because without a steady flow of new products, targets and campaigns, there wouldn’t be a demand for what we do!

And speaking of doing what we do, when you boil it down, one of the primary goals of marketing is to effect change in the marketplace. We want to change the way our audience looks at its needs and wants. We want to change the way they think about that new product they’ve never seen before. We want to change their buying and consumption habits. We want them to change their minds and decide that what they already have isn’t enough so that they’ll keep buying more.

Change drives why we do what we do. Getting others to change is the goal of doing what we do. So why are we so reluctant to change the way we do what we do? Why is the thought of replacing the inefficient, ad-hoc drudgery that we’ve been forced to rely upon with new software so cringe-worthy? Why do we resist adapting to new things that make doing what we do faster, easier and even better that before?

Think about that and stay tuned…

Change is Good, Except...

Change is Good, Except...

Some might say that marketing is all about change. After all, as marketers and marketing operations professionals, we’re always faced with change. A new product to bring to market? That’s change. New target audience for that product? That’s change too. New messaging and channels to communicate with that audience? Yep, that’s also change. Change is so commonplace that it not only becomes part of our routine; it becomes something that we expect and welcome. Because without a steady flow of new products, targets and campaigns, there wouldn’t be a demand for what we do!

And speaking of doing what we do, when you boil it down, one of the primary goals of marketing is to effect change in the marketplace. We want to change the way our audience looks at its needs and wants. We want to change the way they think about that new product they’ve never seen before. We want to change their buying and consumption habits. We want them to change their minds and decide that what they already have isn’t enough so that they’ll keep buying more.

Change drives why we do what we do. Getting others to change is the goal of doing what we do. So why are we so reluctant to change the way we do what we do? Why is the thought of replacing the inefficient, ad-hoc drudgery that we’ve been forced to rely upon with new software so cringe-worthy? Why do we resist adapting to new things that make doing what we do faster, easier and even better that before?

Think about that and stay tuned…

Change is Good, Except...

eLynxx Solutions Recognized with Two SDCE Magazine Pros to Know Awards

eLynxx Solutions founder Bill Gindlesperger and CEO Mike Jackson have each been honored with Supply and Demand Chain Executive Magazine Pros to Know Awards for 2016. Individuals at eLynxx Solutions have been recognized numerous times since the inception of the award 16 years ago. 2016 marks the first time two eLynxx team members have received the Pros to Know Award that recognizes supply chain practitioners as well as providers of software, services, information and education that have made an impact within the supply chain community.

eLynxx is cloud software for sourcing and managing direct mail, marketing and print. As founder and chairman of eLynxx Solutions, Gindlesperger is also inventor of the exclusive patented method that empowers eLynxx users to save up to 40% on the print they buy while ensuring maximum quality and service. “It is an absolute honor to be recognized once again as a Pro to Know,” Gindlesperger said. “It is also an honor to know that others at eLynxx, who are continuing the dedication I’ve put forth in improving procurement efficiency and effectiveness while increasing savings, are also being recognized.”

A client centered CEO, Jackson helps organizations achieve better results in the planning, sourcing and managing of materials and services used in direct mail, point of purchase, and other printed marketing materials. Working personally with prospects and clients to understand their needs and provide solutions for the print and marketing supply chains. “What I see so often are cases where management and sourcing of print involves lots of people, a bunch of moving parts and tools that weren’t built specifically for the job,” Jackson said. “Knowing that I have helped an organization recognize the importance of managing a specialized marketing supply chain with the right tools, being able to give them those tools, and witnessing the better results they achieve is exciting in and of itself. Being recognized as a Pro to Know is very gratifying.”

Winners of the 16th Annual Pros to Know Awards have been announced at Supply & Demand Chain Executive magazine’s website. Full coverage of the awards will be published in the forthcoming March 2016 issue.

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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 Solutions Recognized with Two SDCE Magazine Pros to Know Awards

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

Einstein Didn"t Fail Math Either. Sorry.

Does everyone know Einstein’s definition of insanity?

It’s repeating the same misattributed quote over and over again as if Google doesn’t exist.

Page 474 of The Ultimate Quotable Einstein says the insanity quote originates on page 68 of Sudden Death a novel by Rita Mae Brown published in 1983. I checked. You can see it here. One of the characters in the book attributes the quote to a person named Jane Fulton.

But then, on Quora and Wikipedia, I see mention of how the quote may have originated with either Narcotics Anonymous or Alcoholics Anonymous.

Let’s just agree it was said by someone anonymous. But not Einstein.

Anonymous providers are fine when sourcing ornaments for insipid rhetoric, but when it comes to custom print, the buyers eLynxx works with want to know their vendors. Putting aside the overhead associated with buying print through brokers, our clients value direct relationships. Reliable printers, who know their buyer’s business, and keep them up-to-date on relevant technologies, know how mushy some print buyers can sound talking about them. It’s cute.

And because the eLynxx software allows print buyers to “trust but verify,” print buyers cultivate direct relationships while achieving the transparency, control, and superior business results to ward off the print management firms their bosses might meet on a golf course.

They might see us on the golf course too, but we’re #teamprintbuyer. You’re safe with us.

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“Trust but verify.” Who said that? T. Thomas Fortune? Fydor Dostoyevsky? Ada Lovelace?

To Google!

Einstein Didn"t Fail Math Either. Sorry.

Who is Going to Notice Inconsistencies in Your Branding?

The place eLynxx Solutions calls home, like many small cities, has been re-envisioned several times in its existence. Booming industry and the bustling downtown that supported it have given way to new things like technology, historical tourism and a renewed focus on local agriculture, craftsmanship and art. Today, besides being home to a wonderfully innovative software company, Chambersburg, Pennsylvania is also home to an award-winning microbrewery and a newly-opened artists’ collective. Hipsters have even been spotted downtown. I suppose that’s par for the course.

I’m pretty passionate about the place I live and work. So when new things like the artists’ collective open downtown I take notice. I’m also pretty passionate about branding and marketing communications. So when I see quality, consistency and continuity, as well as a lack thereof, I take notice.

Walking downtown from my house a few weekends ago I noticed the artists’ collective was taking up residence on a busy Main Street corner in what is possibly one of the most interesting Victorian-era storefronts in town. I stopped to look at the display windows which were still being setup. There were some truly nice creations, which isn’t surprising considering the talent around these parts. They also had very well-done posters that revealed something that is so often lacking in community-based efforts – branding – actual, honest-to-goodness branding.

These posters featured an attractive, modern logo along with clean photography and a sleek layout. They were very contemporary and high-end looking. The printing of the posters and the stock they were on looked to be of high quality making a nod to traditional methods and quality. They were carefully mounted on boards and placed on wooden easels conveying a sense of handmade craftsmanship. Overall, the posters in the display windows communicated a clear brand message: handmade art that is contemporary but of traditional quality. It seemed to fit well and appeared to be a sign of good things to come.

With the passing of a few weeks I found myself stopped at the traffic light where the collective sits and I noticed something different. The signs from the long-departed business that were on the building had been replaced with new ones for the collective. Unfortunately they just didn’t send me the same message as the window posters. Don’t get me wrong, they’re not horrible. They told me the name of the shop and what it does and they certainly caught my eye because I noticed them. But they did not convey that same sense of contemporary style and quality as the posters.

The intent of this story isn’t to put down a local group that’s no doubt going to do great things in our community. On the contrary, I’m very impressed with everything else I’ve seen and I am excited about it. Rather, the intent is to put into perspective an issue that eLynxx has helped organizations deal with for years. Consistency and quality in the presentation of a brand is crucial regardless of the medium or communication channel. When there’s a bit of a breakdown in consistency or quality between the rather well-done posters and the DIY sign of a local art gallery, a local marketing nerd like me may notice. When the breakdown happens with a major organization, the world notices.

Who is Going to Notice Inconsistencies in Your Branding?