Ask the Expert

Small changes reap big rewards!

Jan McGregor, Office Manager at Allcontrols Ltd, shares hints and tips that you may want to adopt for your workplace around office supplies and recycling.

Office Supplies – think again

• It’s always good to shop around and compare the competition. We often do it in our personal lives such as home, car, personal insurance so why not with our office suppliers. Finding a new, more ethical and environmentally friendly office equipment supplier via a quick

Google search can reap great rewards. • The cost of recycled/recyclable supplies may be higher but take this as an opportunity rather than a problem.

Evaluate what supplies your workforce actually need versus what is currently being used and that could really balance the stationery budget. • Just making small, simple changes can make a big difference, especially for our planet. For example, swapping Bics for refillable fountain pens, or pens for unpainted pencils which are far more environmental.

Team Members – send a clear message

• Create a set of values and state everyone in your company must follow it. Make this available to everyone on the staff intranet or staff briefings. • Challenge any behaviour that goes against the recycling ethos of your business. For example, speak up if you witness someone putting rubbish in the wrong bin or suggest people proofread documents on their computers rather than printing them out. • If your organisational departments love to pitch against each other, then why not start incentivising great working practices. Set targets for each department and disseminate the results. Not to name and shame, but to encourage everyone coming on board. If the highest achievers are applauded with a reward like a free lunch voucher or going home early one day, that will surely encourage a collaborative approach. • Appoint departmental recycling champions throughout the business.

These members of the team will be on hand to answer recycling related questions and encourage best practice.

Whose responsibility is it?

• The UK government says that every

business has a responsibility to prevent, reuse, recycle or recover waste - in that order! To make this possible, both the corporation and the individuals within it need to take ownership of recycling in their workplace. • Encourage team members to view the office as an extension of their own homes in terms of their attitudes and behaviour. This spreads a global mentality towards recycling and reducing waste. • Most of us have children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews. If the recycling efforts within the office begin to feel like hard work, then try to focus on doing the right thing now to ensure a better future for them.

Five questions to ask yourself as an office manager when thinking about what stationery your office needs:

• Do I really need it? • Is there something else which can do the job just as well that we already have here? • Is what I’m purchasing recyclable or, does it have a good carbon footprint e.g. has it been made from recyclables? • Can what I am looking to replace be repaired instead? • What is going to happen to it when it doesn’t work anymore? If you would like to hear more of my thoughts on being more environmentally aware, visit my LinkedIn page, or to understand more about Allcontrols click www.allcontrols.co.uk

Future of Print Marketing

Bill Marshall, owner of Printmarshall Creative design and print based in Peterborough, explains the importance of print for the future of marketing and how it is a sustainable option for businesses.

Why is print still important?

Print always has been and will continue to be an important part of any marketing communications plan and we would suggest that any business that neglects print completely, does so at great risk to their engagement and sales levels. As printers, we may be considered biased but our thoughts are supported by significant research and just some of the supporting statistics include the following from the BPIF (British Printing Industries Federation) • Campaigns including print are 67% more effective at delivering new customers than those without • 21% of all addressed mail and door drop items go on to create a commercial action. • Newspaper ads are viewed 2.5 times longer than the average digital ad. Alongside these statistics, print has been proven to increase trust and loyalty with reported figures being as high as 60 per cent of consumers that they trust print more than other advertising channels. As well as printed material being retained for longer, it also significantly aids recall compared to digital alternatives. Whether you’re producing training material or educational content, we would highly recommend the production of print versions. With the younger generation becoming more aware of the health issues relating to screen time, we’re anticipating that print demand will continue to grow over the next 10 years, with key messaging being reinforced digitally. We’re huge believers in print, not only because it’s our business but because it works in terms of driving trust and loyalty and connecting businesses globally. Our industry is committed to doing the right thing to preserve our planet and our contribution to the UK economy is invaluable.

Is print sustainable?

59 per cent of Europeans believe that our forests are shrinking and this couldn’t be further from the truth. European Forests have actually been growing by over 1,500 football pitches every day and these forests supply over 90 per cent of the wood used by the European paper industry. As an industry we’re committed to a move towards carbon neutrality and at Printmarshall we ensure that all of our paper is FSC accredited. FSC is the Forest Stewardship Council. They’re a notfor-profit organisation that’s dedicated to the promotion of responsible forest management worldwide. In addition to this, we’re committed to reducing our impact right here in the UK so we’ve signed up to the Carbon Capture scheme. Managed by The Woodland Trust and the Woodland Carbon Scheme, it’s a method of mitigating CO2 emissions from paper purchases by planting native woodland.

How can I give my printed material more impact?

People naturally judge a business based on the quality of their print material and as an example, cheap quality, poorly designed business cards can give the worst first impression. These are just some of the ways that we’d recommend for elevating your material to the next level: • Ensure that you use good quality, high resolution images either produced by a professional photographer or sourced from a professional stock library • We would always recommend using professional copywriters to ensure that you get your message across clearly and consistently • Good quality graphic design is a given to ensure that your printed material is

impactful and professionally presented, whilst representing your brand in a consistent way that’s reflective of your company values and unique selling points • You could also embellish your print with special finishes including laminates, foiling, and UV varnish • To create additional stand-out you could die-cut your print material which involves cutting it into a unique shape.

Are promotional gifts worth the money?

The answer to this is most definitely yes. Promotional merchandise genuinely does deliver results and research carried out by the British Promotional Merchandise Association proves it. • 96% of recipients said that promotional merchandise increases brand awareness • 55% of respondents are more favourable to a brand after receiving a promotional gift • 83% of people who receive promotional merchandise can remember the brand advertised for an average of 12 months • 79% said they were likely to do business with the company in the future. We always send out promotional material and we can definitely say that it’s contributed to the growth of our business. From calendars that are in full view for a year, through to notepads, coasters, and of course our famous Toblerones.