Ideas to Help You Thrive
As in years past, the December issue of IPG is chock full of useful, thought-provoking articles penned by industry experts. These stories will offer in-plants valuable ideas and advice to guide them through difficult times. Here's a sampling of what you'll find:
Greg Cholmondeley: I’ve heard numerous in-plant managers explain that, while they can handle personalized printing, their clients haven’t asked for much of it. While I have no doubt that this is true, forward-thinking commercial print and marketing services providers aren’t waiting for the work to come in; they’re educating their clients and selling the vision needed to drive these clients to utilize personalized campaigns and to create the jobs.
Jo Lloyd: Research what your customers actually need from you—both now, and in the future. Talk to them and find out: What do they like about your service—and where do you fall short? Where are their needs going to be based in the future? Will the printed word remain important to them, or are they looking at new and different ways to get their key messages across? Don’t bury your head in the sand when it comes to new technology; if they are looking at going digital with any communications, help them get there. Better to be involved than not. Embrace new ideas.
Wes Friesen: Linking the resources you need to specific corporate goals and initiatives will help build a compelling business case for authorizing funds. For example, many organizations have some form of customer focus or engagement initiative. I have recently justified new equipment and enhanced software in part so that our company can provide more personalized and relevant communication with our customers.
Ray Chambers: Unfortunately, most of the academic research does not support the effectiveness of outsourcing as a management cure all. The “studies” that point to significant savings from outsourcing print are done by print vendors or by trade associations with an agenda. Vendor claims to be able to reduce printing expense by closing the in-plant and buying all printing are questionable at best, but no one checks them. In short, outsourcing research fails to ask the right questions.
Forrest Leighton: In-plants need to become integrated into the marketing department by managing not only print projects, but also by managing other aspects of marketing campaigns. For example, the print facility could implement and measure the effectiveness of print collateral through the use of personal URLs and by monitoring click-through percentages or response rates on variable data mailings. They can also become subject matter experts who consult on the use of PURLs, QR codes, variable data campaigns, social media tactics and U.S. postal regulations.
Lisa Cross: If in-plants continue to lag behind print service providers in adoption of cross-media marketing services, they will likely lose print work to outside firms that do offer such services. Furthermore, more corporations might be prompted to outsource their printing and close their in-plants. Getting into the cross-media game can enable in-plants to increase their strategic relevance and elevate their value within their parent organizations.
John Sarantakos: I love change, but mass production will remain a viable method of manufacturing for a long time. Companies have too much invested in big iron to just dump it. Printing presses are built to last, pretty much forever. Like most things, once it is paid for it becomes pretty cheap to operate. And if they are cheap to operate, then prices can be reduced. If you bought a new press within the last 10 years, you probably plan to keep it going for quite some time.
All this and much more is waiting for you in the December issue of IPG—an issue you won't want to miss.