Print Buying Direct

Eight Easy Ways to Improve Digital Print Sales to Creative and Design Agencies – 11th February 2009

Print Services Providers (Printers) Can Help Design Agencies Improve Business Results for their Clients with Fast-Growing Digital Colour Printing.

The greatest opportunity for printers to grow print volume today is with digital colour printing and a new study finds that creative agencies play a critical role in that growth.

Looking specifically at digital printing. Over the next five years, digital printing is projected to grow 11 percent annually, while the U.S. printing industry as a whole will grow by only 1.5 percent, according to market research from CAP Ventures. The firm further projects that the total revenue generated worldwide with digital colour printers and presses producing 41 pages per minute or more will grow by 26 percent annually.

Creative advertising and design agencies will specify many of these jobs. A recent survey of 250 agencies by the Printing Industry Center at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) found that 83 percent were involved in media buying decisions, accounting for an average purchase of $1.5 million annually and a median of $400,000. And 89 percent say they play either the primary role or a collaborative role with the client in campaign development and direction. According to Victor Basile, senior vice president/director of Print Graphic Services, Publicis N.Y., and chair, Print Management Committee, American Association of Advertising Agencies (4As), Agencies today seek to offer integrated services that tap into all the resources in their network at speeds that weren’t possible a few years ago. Digital printing provides the fast turnarounds that keep pace with these programs. The quality is really good, and it can only get better. If you’re not looking at digital printing today, you should be. Digital colour printing’s economical short runs and personalization capabilities can also improve the targeting, response rates and overall effectiveness of such integrated communications programs. Print services providers who can support these programs and help agencies use new media to better track with their clients’ goals will have an advantage in landing agency business.

Following are eight tips for print providers seeking to sell digital colour printing to creative design professionals.

1. Target agencies with business-to-business clients.
Agencies that support businesses communicating to consumers generally focus on building brand awareness through mass media, such as television and radio. In contrast, business-to-business (B-to-B) agencies tend to have more limited budgets and narrower targets that they reach through trade magazines, direct mail (leaflets, flyers, postcards) and sales collateral (brochures). Digital-colour printing delivers the highly targeted, cost-effective print that makes these programs thrive. One additional point: B-to-B firms tend to have smaller marketing departments than business-to-consumer (BtoC) outfits, so they rely more on the agency for everything from marketing strategy to media and print services provider selection.

2. At the agency, target the production manager.
According to the RIT survey, the production manager is the most common agency contact to the print community. In numerous agencies, the production manager also plays a role in educating the creative department on new technology options (for example variable data printing), making that person both a sales target and a marketing partner, who can help the print provider sell its services to the agency’s creatives.

3. Demonstrate the image quality.
Designers are unforgiving judges of image quality, yet many may be working with dated references for toner-based print, which has only recently become an effective substitute for offset in most applications (even Annual Reports, Parish Plans and Brochures). Bring designers up to date and set correct expectations with a sample book that shows offset and digital prints of the same text and image files. Consider enabling designers to submit test files via the Web to receive a free digital print sample of their design.

4. More advanced technical infrastructure supports stronger partnerships.
Supporting a sophisticated integrated marketing campaign typically requires a set of advanced capabilities that can include variable information colour printing, Web systems programming and design, telemarketing, fulfillment and other services. Some print providers develop these capabilities, others partner for some or all. Most count digital colour printing among their base core competencies, and most find that broader infrastructure support strengthens partnerships with agencies.

5. Demonstrate effective return on marketing investment.
For the best results, print providers should link their service offerings to the agency’s media selection criteria: reaching target markets, cost and budget considerations, and marketing strategy implementation. In other words, print providers need to demonstrate that digital color is the most cost effective alternative for successfully reaching target markets. The pitch is most effective when backed by examples showing a significant return on the marketing investment.

6. Quality and dependability are more critical than price.
That’s right: price is not the agency’s key factor in print vendor selection. The RIT survey found that pressure on the agency to meet deadlines and deliver quality led respondents to select dependability as the top factor in selecting print services providers. Quality was second, followed by turnaround time and ease of doing business. Price ranked fifth.

7. Help creatives design for digital.
Print service providers can help creative designers improve their printed work by providing guidebooks and seminars on designing for digital. Many print providers and industry associations publish materials and can provide assistance to help in this effort. In addition, color variable information printing introduces new design challenges, such as accounting for all the possible image and text variations in a piece. That requires close collaboration with variable information programmers, relationships that print providers would do well to foster.

8. Measure the results.
Print services providers should ensure that a measurement system is in place for programs they run, and the best measurements use ‘boardroom terminology.’ For example, one creative group in the study was able to show that every dollar spent on marketing communications in one campaign resulted in $6,000 in revenue. Such measurements increase the likelihood that the agency and its clients will buy into future programs, and they are useful as a sales tool for prospects and for fine-tuning programs to optimize results. The RIT study found that a change in sales was the most frequent measurement (29 percent), followed by the number of sales leads (24 percent), the response rate for a direct mail piece (ie postcard or leaflet) (23 percent) and return on investment (six percent).

Most measurement programs were conducted by clients (37 percent), though client-agency partnerships were nearly as frequent (34 percent) and agencies sometimes took on the task alone (22 percent).

Help Lead the Transformation
More than ever before, marketing executives are looking for more efficient ways to communicate and share business information. Many are finding these efficiencies in integrated communications that mix old and new media to deliver improved business results. Digital printing technology plays a critical role in this more efficient media mix, while also offering printers their best opportunity for revenue and business growth. Print services providers who help lead this transformation by building strategic partnerships with creative agencies around integrated communications opportunities will be well positioned to capture this growth.

For more information please see our websites

The Printing House

Print Buying Direct (Print Buying Direct is a brand of The Printing House Ltd, Crewe, Cheshire, UK)

When designing for Variable data printing we use our uDirect XMPie Software. Please read on for details of what it does and how to design for it. For more information see our Variable data printing webpage.

BENEFITS OF USING VARIABLE INFORMATION APPLICATIONS

The output file is created such that static elements should get ripped only once and reused as needed. Both static and variable images, graphics and text can be printed on the same page. In many cases, large elements such as images, are not embedded in the output fi le, similar to an OPI workflow (referred to APR
by Creo). This allows the output file to be much smaller. It is commonly used for producing postcards, leaflets, brochures, annual reports, parish plans, town plans and business cards.

DESIGNING DOCUMENTS WITH VARIABLE INFORMATION

Unlike designing documents for offset presses, careful consideration must be given to the placement of static versus variable information. Graphic artists should have a good understanding of database and printing technology. They must also understand the capabilities of the software and hardware they are
using in order to successfully design a variable document.

LAYOUT AND DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS

• Avoid using Quark frames on elements that contain variable information.
• When designing VI documents, keep in mind that trapping text at the RIP may not be applied to variable elements.
• When using variable imposition, ensure that all document pages are the same size and orientation.
• Printing documents containing simplex and duplex pages within the same document may not be supported. If documents must be printed with simplex and duplex pages within the same document, insert blank pages in the original layout and duplex the entire document.
• Whenever possible, embed all fonts or else the font must have the exact match at the RIP. However, OpenType fonts are cross-platform compatible.
• Type 1 fonts may have problems with kerning (may not be able to supply the kerning file).
• Some VI applications that create VIPP will take PDF resources and convert them to EPS but the result can be unpredictable.

IMAGE QUALITY CONSIDERATIONS

• For the best performance, ensure that all images are set at 300 dpi. Using a different resolution may slow down the RIP or reduce image quality.
• Ensure that all images are at their final resolution, size and orientation.
• All variable elements for a specifi c area should be cropped to the same size. Rotating, scaling and clipping images during the RIP will slow down performance and could cause improper placement or scaling.
• Do not save TIFF images with LZW compression.

VARIABLE FORMATS

• Some VI languages may not comprehend layering.
• If the VI authoring tool allows, position variable elements above static objects (bring to the front).
• When using APR with variable images, ensure that the names of the variable images conform to the same naming restrictions associated with APR and static images.

Information provided courtesy of The Printing House Ltd incorporating Print Buying Direct.

Have you been disappointed by the finished result of printing you’ve ordered in the past? The brochure cover isn’t quite as stiff as you thought it was going to be. That pamphlet won’t push through doors very easily because it’s too thin. Or you thought your postcards should be thicker.

Well, here at The Printing House (Print Buying Direct) we’re aware that paper thickness can be confusing and specifying the correct grade for your job is not always easy. So we’ve taken the guesswork out of the process with some helpful hints. The thickness of paper and board is measured in grams or GSM and generally the smaller the number followed by GSM denotes thin paper and the higher the number followed by GSM denotes thicker paper, commonly referred to as board.

• 80gsm/90gsm/100gsm – the usual thickness of copier paper.
• 100gsm/120gsm – the usual thickness for Stationery Paper (Letterheads, Compliment Slips), although always check the technical specifications on your laser or inkjet printer to see if those weights will actually run through without miss feeding. Ask us for samples if you need them.
• 130gsm/150gsm/170gsm – popular thickness for Leaflets, Pamphlets, Flyers or the text pages for Brochures, Annual Reports, Parish Plans, Prospectus etc.
• 200gsm – usually classed at the midway point where paper becomes board. Usually a little on the thin size for Brochure Covers but ideal for Posters or a slightly more substantial Flyer or Leaflet.
• 250gsm/300gsm/350gsm – popular thickness for Brochure Covers and Presentation Folders, Wallet Folders or ring binder Tabbed Dividers (don’t forget we offer loop stitching for brochures that need to be inserted into ring binders)

If you need any advice either email info@printbuyingdirect.co.uk or call 0870 950 8444 and talk to one of our print professionals who will advise you on the best thickness of material to give you the result you won’t be disappointed with. If you are based in the Crewe, Nantwich, or Cheshire area, you could even pop in, we are always proud to show customers how we produce print & design.

Village Appraisals, Parish & Town plans are in place to create a manual for the survival of Rural Communities. They are becoming more important and increasingly relevant. They can help to bridge local skills gaps, plan affordable housing, invigorate local transport and provide training opportunities.

As a local government organisation the hard work of co-ordinating and writing these plans would fall to you. However, once all your hard work is done the design, print and production or your Plan can make all the difference to conveying your plan in brochure form to local people.

At The Printing House & Print Buying Direct we have experience of producing Plans to whatever specification you need. Small or long print runs are available, very importantly we are used to working within fixed budgets, so there will be no budget overruns. If you need assistance with your plan then just talk to Pete, Paul or Graeme on 0870 950 8444 for more information.