Positive 2009 notes for a negative environment

Starting the new year on a positive note, it would be well to reflect on a recent New York Times take on the graphic arts industry, which closed with this thought: “[T]he magazine industry, the printing industry, the advertising industry and the newly emerging digital information industry are not going to go away. All four will survive, get stronger and be better at what they do. Your job is to stay calm, stick around and be there as they do”.

And while browsing the eclectic pages of that venerable publication, another positive note to provide heart for 2009 and beyond referred to the world of books on the theme of “Publishing without perishing”, which should give the thoughtful among us heart.

“Go back to an old-fashioned idea: that a book, printed in ink on durable paper, acid-free for longevity, is a thing of beauty. Make it as well as you can. People want to cherish it.”

PODI posits your need for a solid ROI

In today’s tough economy the marketing projects that are still getting funded are the ones with a solid ROI. Your challenge is to quantify the bottom-line benefits you will be providing to your customer and land the sale.

That’s the message coming out of the burgeoning PODI portfolio of services masterminded in Australia by GASAA apparatchik, Garry Knespal. The way ahead is via Caslon’s Value Calculators that address key digital applications including Lead Generation, Direct Order, Event Marketing and Collateral Management.

“The calculators help you present realistic financial benefits and reveal the true potential of your proposed solution, making it easier for the client to buy” is the promise. To hear more, contact GASAA.

Sample examples

It may all sound terribly elementary, eliciting from the average printer a yawning response that this is something learned with one’s mother’s milk.

Boston print buyer guru, Margie Dana, makes the perfectly valid observation that if you’re going to have any hope of yanking prospects away from their regular suppliers, you have to show them: 1) that you have something special (and different) to offer; 2) that you produce the types of materials they need and that can help grow their business; and 3) that you do so masterfully.

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