Are You Ready to Play With Paper?

Just in case you haven't heard....it's time for our annual Play With Paper Event.  

Paper is inspiring, energizing, stimulating, entertaining, motivating, useful and just plain FUN. Hope you can join us on Wednesday, December 7 to come and PLAY. French Paper will be providing us with some fabulous paper to play with. You can get creative making wrapping paper, notecards, gift tags or journals!

Email terris@cmpaper to reserve your spot.

I Saw The Future Of Technology...And Paper Is Still In It

After attending the AMA of West Michigan meeting yesterday, where Dr. William Ward, Professor of Social Media at Syracuse University, spoke about "harnessing digital and social media to become a learning organization", I am surprisingly optimistic about the future of paper.

Why, you might ask? Because as I sat and watched the Ted video below, called Sixth Sense Technology, I was amazed to find that no matter how weirdly futuristic life may get, paper is still in the picture. Some of the things shown in this video are way beyond my comprehension, admittedly I often have trouble with my smart phone, but what I do see, is that paper still has a place in the world.

A big place. Check it out.



And this all just makes me happy.

Paper is timeless.

The Art Of Cutting Paper

Check out this incredible Ted video from artist Béatrice Coron who's creations are made totally from cut paper. She started her works of art from paper because in her words: "Paper is cheap, light and you can use it in a lot of different ways."

With an exacto and a roll of paper, she creates intricate worlds, cities and countries, heavens and hells. Striding onstage in a glorious cape cut from Tyvek, she describes her creative process and the way her stories develop from snips and slices.

Talk about having a vision with just a blank sheet of paper. Hers is an interesting concept, instead of adding her vision to the paper with ink, marker or pencil, she removes what isn't part of the story by cutting it away. Truly visionary.

Paper is..........Inspiring.

It Only Makes Sense

You don't have to convince us that direct mail works. There are plenty of numbers out their to prove direct mail marketing's effectiveness, especially when tailoring your message to the right audience.

Most of us are getting less mail in our mailboxes, so not only do those messages that are relevant get noticed, they also get read. Add in some sensory marketing to your piece; a little scent here, a little taste strip there, some moving images or a little noise, and you've got yourself a stand out!

Check out the excerpt below from the USPS' Deliver Magazine about last spring's Scented Campaign from TruGreen. Can you smell the fresh cut grass?

Sensory Mail Grabs Hold of the Target

October 10, 2011
by Lekan Oguntoyinbo

An Appeal to the Senses

Spring came early this year in many of the nation’s colder regions, courtesy of lawn care giant TruGreen. In February, oversized postcards with a picture of a lush lawn in the foreground and a family in the background began showing up in mailboxes of 1 million prospective customers of the lawn care company. “Say hello to Spring,” the card read in big white letters.

On the lower left side of the postcard an invitation beckoned: For the smell of a healthy spring lawn, peel here.

The scent of fresh-cut grass filled the nostrils of potential customers who accepted the invitation.

The scented postcard, a key component of TruGreen’s integrated marketing campaign this year, is the Memphis-based company’s first foray into sensory marketing.

“As a company we wanted to change the conversation from killing weeds to lawn enjoyment,” says Amy Simpson, director of brand communications for TruGreen.

While it’s too early to release any definitive data on this new campaign, the evidence so far suggests the use of the scented postcards was well received, says Simpson: “We have anecdotal comments from customers. They say it evoked an emotional appeal, and they liked the smell. It made them want to be outside.”

Read the full article with more examples of other effective sensory marketing campaigns here.

Familiar Faces, New Places

We have some people on the move...and thought it was about time we shared the good news!

Danielle Parker, Outside Sales

Danielle Parker, formerly of our sample and inside sales departments, is now hitting the streets to help spread the word about CMP and the products we carry. In this age of  "non traditional customers" owning and operating digital printing equipment, and having a need for paper, there is no shortage of places for her to visit. We certainly will miss her knowledge and smiling face in the sample department, but are happy more of you will have the opportunity to interact with her. Good luck, Danielle.

Steve Blackport: Inside Sales & Sample Department

And stepping over part time into Danielle's shoes, from his inside sales position, is Steve Blackport. He will "hold down the fort" for Rachel on the days she is not in the office, and when time allows, will work with her to keep things moving. Steve's always been a handy guy, but we are putting him to the test as he learns to make dummies, envelopes, pocket folders and whatever else is needed. You may notice from the picture above, that he always comes prepared!

Looking ahead, and to keep things a bit more consistent, we have added a samples@cmpaper.com email address which will be checked by whomever is manning the sample department. Please switch over to using the new email address. Responses will come from Sample Dept at CMP and the person handling your request will add their name at the bottom, in case you need to reach someone via the phone.

We are lucky to be a small company with a huge pool of talent to draw from. We'd like to think that makes using CMP for all your paper needs a win/win situation for everyone.

Way to keep it fresh by mixing things up CMP.

Choose Print.Org /A Win Win For All

Some CMP folks are in Chicago at GraphExpo this week. Besides having a little fun, they are gathering lots of new information about paper and printing. They ran across Choose Print, an organization working diligently to get the word out about the value and power of print.

Their mission statement reads: The Choose Print campaign provides research-based facts and tools needed to get more print into clients’ marketing mixes – and improve the bottom line in the process.

Check them out on Facebook and on follow them on Twitter at @ChoosePrint!

Here is one of their videos:

The Only Thing Missing Was The Paparazzi/ My Trip With Brian French

It's okay to be a little envious of me.

I recently made calls with Brian French in beautiful Traverse City.

Not only did I get to walk around downtown T.C., but I was with Brian French.

He's famous. People ask for his autograph. They really do. (They did the day I was with him).

For those of you not aware of who he is, Brian is 6th generation French. Son of Jerry, Grandson of Ed, of the French Paper Company fame.

Who doesn't love French Paper? Especially around here. After all they are located in Niles, Michigan. That makes them family owned, "local", Michigan based, and American made.

I experienced the "Brian phenomenon" with my own eyes.

Everyone wants to see him. It just so happens he is the fresh face of a 140 year old super cool company. An instant "in" around these parts. Funny thing is, he's just a regular guy. Brian's been known to answer the phone at French Paper Company when the receptionist is busy, he periodically has to clean out the basement at the mill, and when traveling for work he even sleeps on the floor at a friend's cottage to save money on hotel fees.

Told you he was just a regular guy.

Adding to his coolness factor, is the fact that he brought along French Swag on our trip, including the new French envelope promotion.

Have you seen it yet?

The New French Paper Envelope Promotion.

Although the info is not yet on their website:

French is now stocking  9 x 12 catalog

 envelopes in 8 different colors!

Yiiiiiiiiiiippppppppppppeeeeeeeeeeee. Bring on the color choices, no more white only.

The 9 x 12's come in Kraft Speckletone and 7 PopTone colors, including (Berrylicious, Black Licorice, Gumdrop Green, Hot Fudge, Orange Fizz, Razzleberry, Sour Apple).

And, it gets even better!

They are also stocking 6 x 6 Square envelopes in all colors of Construction, Poptone and Speckletone.

Yes, you heard me right.

You can get envelopes in super small quantities off the French website or, in boxes of 500 (for the catalogs) and 250 (for the squares) from CMP. Keep in mind they are not on our warehouse floor so there may be a  1-2 day wait for them.

Since I hadn't quite grasped another little tidbit, until my trip wth Brian, I thought I'd pass it along in case you missed it, too.

French stocks 4-Bars (aka A-1's) /3.62 x 5.12 in all colors. That is the smallest size envelope mailable without extra postage required, and it fits quite nicely into an A-6 as a reply card.

Ask for your French Envelope Promo today! Because French is not able to sample their envelopes, it gives you a great working tool with examples of the real thing.

FUN FACT:  Brian calls legendary designer Charles Spencer Anderson, Uncle Chuck.

P.S. If I would have been on my game, I'd have taken a picture of him myself.