Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Direct Mail Is Where It's At

The latest Fold Factory 60 second super cool fold of the week certainly demonstrates that your folds don't have to be fancy to be effective. Direct mail, when combined with the right message, the right audience and the right design.....can achieve some fantastic results. Add in some variable data for personalization, and those results can be over the top.




A few direct mail facts courtesy of PaperBecause.com (Domtar) and Down To Earth (International Paper) :


  • 75% of people have made a purchase as a result of direct mail
  • Those who received a printed catalog from a retailer were twice as likely to buy online as consumers who did not
  • 56% of people say they enjoy reading mail
  • Campaigns combining direct mail and Internet yield up to an additional 25% response rate
  • Nearly 80% of households either read or scan advertising mail sent to their household
And be sure to check out these awesome articles, courtesy of Deliver Magazine, which offer great tips for getting the most out of your direct mail campaign.



http://www.delivermagazine.com/2010/12/integrate-mail-with-other-media/

http://www.delivermagazine.com/2011/05/what%e2%80%99s-a-good-response-2/

We are always willing to help you select the perfect paper for your next direct mail piece. Contact your CMP sales rep or email terris@cmpaper.com.

We "heart" paper. And we believe in the power of print.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Augmented Reality: Keeping Print Relevant

“There exist limitless opportunities in every industry. Where there is an open mind, there will always be a frontier.”  --Charles F. Kettering, American engineer, inventor of the electric starter

I'm old.

So it goes without saying that I am a little slow to catch onto new things.

I thought I was keeping up with technology. In a short while I have attempted to learn social media, delved into understanding digital printing, embraced blogging, acknowledged that there are things like PURL's and Variable data, heck I finally just figured out QR codes.

And then comes.... augmented reality. Huh?

I'm fairly certain I do not fully understand this concept yet, but I did a little preliminary research and I have to say the application is ....cool beans. Check out this link that was most helpful to me in understanding the concept.

Why does it seem that my mind keeps getting blown away by the advancements becoming available to us in the not so distant future?

Don't say it, I know what you are thinking... because I'm old. But being old does not mean I can't have an open mind.

So, thank you Print Media Centr for opening my eyes to the latest and greatest new technology available for companies to incorporate into their printed materials to make them both relevant and current. And for use in other printed applications as well. Places like text books, t-shirts, movie posters, and oh my, the list might just be endless.

Please check out this post from Print Media Centr, which gives examples of  how augmented reality is currently being used in print campaigns. And be sure to follow along to the conclusion of the article Deb Corn references from the Marsid M & M Group Blog. They also share a ton of useful information and examples.

I'm not sure who said this first, but I personally love it: Print is not Dying, it’s Evolving!

Amen to that. ---Terri

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Everything Old Becomes New Again

Anyone else notice a resurgence of interest in the “hands on” crafty portion of the printing industry?

Processes like screen printing and letterpress seem to be making a comeback of sorts. I've noticed many mill one-of-a-kind printed samples featuring letterpress and even the latest Dodge Ram Truck commercial shown below likens the process of letterpress to achieving greatness. Wow!



I’m quite happy to see this attention given to a skill/craft once thought of as an endangered species. Unfortunately, it still is hard to find letterpress operations in our local area. But small, quirky screen printer shops are popping up around GR, so maybe letterpress is next. Crossing my fingers....

I faithfully read a futuristic series of books by J.D. Robb called the “In Death” series, and I am fascinated by her ideas of what the world might be like 20 years from now.

In these books the technology of the time refers to things like “links”, which are basically cell phones with the ability to “see” who you are talking to—think phone skyping—or that face to face thing the new Ipads have. Once upon a time that kind of ability may have seemed far off in the future, but the fact is, technology like that is currently upon us.

Makes me wonder, will there even still be printing 20 years from now?

I sure hope so.

While we need to embrace the new technology around us, we also need to look back and treasure some things from our recent past. In the book series I mentioned above, things like “real” coffee, or “real” meat hotdogs (not soy versions) are luxuries to be cherished, as are “real” printed hold-in-your-hands books, (not e-books). As we watch the technology change at alarming rate, and we begin to feel a bit like dinosaurs in our own industry, we need to remember that everything old becomes new again.

Its use may not be as widespread as it once was, but paper will remain. I am hearing encouraging stories of companies who a year or so ago completely embraced the electronic age and stopped printing their sales materials, only to find that their customers actually preferred something tangible, something printed. And those companies are now back to using paper and printing. Is it a trend? A sense of  false hope indicating our jobs will be safe in the future? Who knows?

Maybe paper won’t be back in the way we want it to be. But there are studies and support emerging that show how much more effective direct mail vs. email can be. And, how holding a catalog or a printed piece in your hands, makes the greater impression.

So remember to cherish and treasure the “old” crafty ways of our industry, and also to embrace the new ones. (Think digital printing, for example, and all its personalization opportunities.) Let’s all use the power of print, paper and craftsmanship to work together most effectively to send our message.

It is a comforting thought that there will be paper in my future, maybe not so much in thinking about the resurgence of leg warmers or perms, though.

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Something New To Swatch For...

...Notes from a "colorful" conversation with Ned Heidenreich of CTI paper.



I sat down with our CTI Rep a couple weeks ago, and got the lowdown on the new things they have going on. Because it seems that everyone has been asking for pearlescent or metallic options for their printing needs lately, I thought it might be helpful to share what I learned.

Inside the new Metallic & Translucent Papers swatchbook I discovered some interesting things! By the way, the new swatch is printed on Fireweed (pink), in case you think you may have an old one.

Did you know?
  • There are eight New Colors in Petallics. They are all available in 105# cover and 81# text.
  • All new colors are FSC certified, and they are transitioning the rest of the Petallics line to FSC also.
  • Petallics are dual platform: they work for traditional offset printing, and laser-toner applications (think personalization on preprinted shells).
Here are some other interesting tidbits that you may not be aware of...

All the colors listed as "new" in the Petallics line are ink jet compatible. For real. That is HUGE. And all are available in 8.5 x 11 cartons, too.

The ENTIRE line is suitable for color copy and high heat toner based printing - think Canon, Xerox, Biz Hub, Konica, Minolta etc.... and the results look spectacular!

An extensive array of matching envelopes are now available from CTI in the Petallics line. In smallish quantities, too! (250).

DIGITAL NEWS

There are now 5 colors of Petallics available for digital printing, which means, they are HP Indigo, Nexpress and IGen approved!

Sizes available for digital:

18 x 12/ 12 x 18
19 x 13/ 13 x 19

CTI will sell them in packages of 250 for the text and 125 or 150 for the cover. Check out the swatchbook for the specifics.

Side note: Ever wonder why sometimes the paper sizes are listed both ways like above? It's because the second dimension listed is the paper's grain direction.


In digital printing that can be important because Indigo presses require short grain for the cover and long grain for the text. Why? So the end printed result does not curl. A sheet with the grain running on the short dimension would be listed like this: 18 x 12. The grain would be running with the 12 inch dimension. A long grain sheet would be listed like 8.5 x 11, so the grain is running with the 11 inch dimension. Make sense?

Let's talk GLAMA now...

Regular glama is color copy compatible! (Be sure to test this first if you are thinking of using it for this application though--all copiers are different).

So not only is glama green, and a true natural product made of 100% cellulose fiber, which contains no petroleum additives and is bio-degradable, it is also the best selling translucent in the U.S.! Envelopes are available from CTI: in A-2, A-6, A-7, #10's, Mini-lopes & various square sizes. 

We've got the pink Metallic & Translucent swatchbooks in our sample department now. If you need a new one, contact your CMP rep or our sample department right away!