MARKETING ADVISOR
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Don’t Miss the Boat
ISSUE TWENTY TWO
Ask yourself if you have... Created sales literature that sells? Thought about print’s role in the digital revolution? Discovered the elegant font that came with your computer?
> Print is “real.” Paper and ink are reassuring, especially in difficult economic times. It says your company is credible and trustworthy. You are planning to be around for the long-term and you cared enough about your message to spend time and money putting it in writing.
> Print is durable. It simply stays around longer. Your desk might be cluttered, but you can still dig out a printed piece, use it for comparisons and share it with others. Print collateral maintains a physical connection with your customers even after they’ve powered down their computers.
> Print is focused. Prospects can read your information when and where they choose…and without temptation to click on the next flashy message that pops up.
Sales literature stands in for you when you’re
carry your brand identity and reputation to the marketplace
not around, carrying your brand identity and
about who you are, what you are
reputation to the marketplace. Eye-catching
offering, what is in it for the reader
design grabs attention, but a provocative headline
and what action the reader should take.
and compelling text convinces the reader to
It’s tempting to overload your documents
consider what you have to say. It’s a personal
with every capability and feature you have
interaction as the prospect holds, feels, and re-reads
to offer and to address every question
your message. If you cut corners on printing or
before the reader asks, but this approach
circulate out-of-date information, your prospects
will overwhelm and disengage someone
might subconsciously conclude that you produce
who is just learning about you. As you
cheap, outdated products too.
move through the sales process you can
Tie each printed piece to a goal in your strategic
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introduce more complex printed collateral
marketing plan. Is the objective to drive new sales,
for your sophisticated, high-probability
cross-sell to existing customers or communicate better
clients, including specifications,
with your stakeholders? The appropriate format will
statistics and comparative
naturally follow—a postcard, a circular, a product
performance data. At this
data sheet, a package insert, a newsletter. The layout
stage, the content should
must work not only aesthetically, but also from the
be intriguing enough and
perspective of creating a positive perception that is
the call to action should
consistent with your company’s image. Combinations
be persuasive enough to
of different elements—paper types, colors,
inspire the reader to initiate
repetition—can produce powerful subliminal effects
a purchase.
so it is important that you work with a professional
It’s not surprising that print has held its place as the leading communications medium for centuries. Here are just a few reasons why.
Communicate at lightning speed
Successful print marketing
designer. Another consideration is portability. An
campaigns begin with a plan, a budget
oversized piece might gain attention, but what will
and an understanding that sales collateral isn’t
make someone pick up your piece and take it with
going to close the sale by itself. What it will do is
them and then pass it along to others?
provide outstanding sales support, reinforcing your message and staying behind to inform and persuade your prospect.
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Print’s Role in the Digital Revolution
Readers want to touch your message thanks to a new generatio n of papers, inks and varnis hes.
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Technology is cool. It opens up a whole new world of marketing opportunities—email blasts, pURLs, PDA pushdowns, RSS feeds, tweets. But what happens to your message when the BlackBerry battery is drained, or your format isn’t compatible with your prospect’s device?
hat makes electronic media
so captivating is that it presents a realtime marketing environment. Print adds a dimension to this experience that is warm, inviting and readers can’t ignore because
drive targeted prospects to a personalized
they are literally holding your message in
Web site, after which they receive a follow-
their hands. No need to boot up or power
up “thank you” card with a special offer.
down. Overlooking the role of print can
By combining print and digital, you produce
prove fatal to a marketing campaign.
an educational, engaging experience that
If your objective is to inform, teach,
speaks more directly and pertinently to your
persuade or entertain, print marketing is
target audience.
a must.
Readers are liter holding your m ally e their ha ssage in nds.
Print remains relevant in the integrated
rmat A touchable fo rance provides reassu te media y -b d n -a it b t a th can't match.
photos ©iStockphoto.com
technology, commit the time to educate
marketing communications mix for
yourself about advances in the printing
many reasons. Despite the ubiquity of
industry. You can create dazzling special
the Internet, many people just don’t go
effects that make readers want to touch
online. Certain demographics simply
and feel your message thanks to a new
prefer print collateral over digital options.
generation of papers, inks, varnishes and
Consumers use a variety of sources to
coatings. It’s a tangible dimension that
gather information about a product or
electronic media can’t impart. And throw
service, but research shows that they seek
away what you think you know about
print when it’s time to buy. Having words
direct mail. The new direct mail uses
and images in a touchable format provides
technology to deliver customized messages
reassurance that bit-and-byte media can’t
that can link to a corresponding Web
match. Web technologies provide quick
component. It’s all much less complicated
answers, but the responses are often
and less costly than you might think.
contradictory. Print shows that you found
Print adds dimension.
Just as you keep up with the latest
Companies that utilize the full spectrum
your message to be important enough to
of marketing channels realize exponential
commit it to paper and you stand behind
increases in brand identity, prospects,
what you’re saying. If you’ve abandoned
sales and ROI, but this requires an
print in favor of e-media, you’re missing
upfront investment in sound strategic
out on big sales numbers.
planning. You might replace one static
Digital marketing techniques work best
message with many targeted variations
when you introduce them in coordination
delivered through multiple channels, all
with print. You could post a banner ad
of which have to be consistent. Those
and hope those who find it among the
who successfully bridge the digital and
100 million other Web sites click through
print marketing environments deliver a
to yours. But think how much more
result that is greater than the sum of the
powerful it would be to use direct mail to
individual marketing elements.
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�alligraphy, defined as “the art of
David Siegel, a recent Stanford graduate,
kallos—“beauty”—and graphein—“to
who had an interest in creating a typeface
write”), is nearly as old as writing itself,
based on Zapf’s own calligraphy. So
but it was only after the advent of printing
Zapf and Siegel—using sketches of
that elaborate script lettering, distinct from
alphabets Zapf had made in 1944—began
everyday handwriting, began to appear.
developing the software to create such
The word calligraphy itself didn’t enter the
a typeface. Alas, before they had made
English language until 1613. But while
much progress, Siegel’s girlfriend left him,
calligraphy was revered as an art, in general
leaving him listless and despondent, and
use, it began to decline as writing became
he quit the project.
increasingly mechanical and typewritten.
�n the late 19th century, calligraphy
courage to present it to Linotype, who
against the mechanization of writing.
were enthusiastic, and helped Zapf
English author and artist William Morris
complete it. The result was four alphabets
was one of the chief influences on the
complemented by various ornaments,
renewed interest in calligraphy, and soon
flourishes and dingbats. Linotype released
he had legions of followers, such as
Zapfino in 1998.
in OS X to showcase the Mac’s advanced
calligraphy—who examined the structure
typographic capabilities. The Apple version
and beauty of letters—became designers
of Zapfino comprises 1,400 individual
of typefaces, revolutionizing type design,
glyphs, and features larger letters than the
which had until then been predominantly
commercial Linotype version. Zapfino has
the purview of engineers and technicians.
continued to evolve, with new versions—
�ne of these calligraphic artists and
If you’re like most professional graphic designers, you’re hesitant to use any font (or, more correctly, typeface) that comes preinstalled on
� hether it’s the OS X version or
any of Linotype’s packages (http://www.
Optima. Zapf was a typographic pioneer
linotype.com/1175/zapfino-family.html),
and an early proponent of computerized
Zapfino is an elegant script—and creative
typography. He had been interested in
experimentation can add a touch of class
a calligraphic typeface since the 1940s,
to any design project.
swashes. But with digital typography, it might be possible.
all, it has been literally decades in the making.
years since.
famous typefaces, such as Palatino and
delicate reproduction of fine strokes and
elegant calligraphic font, there’s one that’s worth a second look. After
such as Zapfino Extra—appearing in the
1918). Zapf designed some of the most
but hot-metal type was ill suited to the
your computer. However, if you use Mac OS X and are looking for an
� pple includes a version of Zapfino
and Frederic Goudy. These students of
type designers was Hermann Zapf (b.
Courtesy of Digital Technology
�he calligraphy project thus
languished until Zapf mustered up the
saw a revival, primarily as a reaction
Stanley Morison, William Addison Dwiggins
An Elegan t Script Fon t
�n the early 1980s, Zapf worked with
beautiful handwriting” (from the Greek
Open up your glyphs palette to find unique characters like these in Zapfino.
� s always, be sure to supply exact
copies of the fonts you use—whether it’s Zapfino or any other font—to us. Subtle differences can reflow text and cause
photos ©iStockphoto.com
layout errors. Consult with us if you have any questions about font usage.
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How could you use such information to tweak your message?
............................ Want Better Results?
If you sell insurance, for example, the natural inclination might be to assume older adults are more
Try psychographics
concerned about their ability to pay for medical care or maintain financial security when, in fact, you might have better success by focusing on giving them the financial flexibility to travel or
According to the research, older adults are less likely to report concerns about such things as age-related medical and financial challenges as younger adults.
re-engineer careers later in life. If you are a financial planning
W
e can illustrate the power of psychographics by using data reported in a recent article
from Media Post. The report describes key differences in life attitudes between younger and older generations.
Want better results from your direct mail campaigns? Try adding psychographics.
According to the research, older adults are less likely to report concerns about such things as age-related medical and financial challenges as younger adults. At the same time, older adults report experiencing fewer
What are psychographics? Just as
of the benefits of aging that younger adults
demographics describe what your
expect to enjoy some day, such as spending
customers look like (age, gender,
more time with family or having more leisure time. They also tend to be positive
ethnicity, income), psychographics
about their lives, with the plurality (45%)
describe how your customers think and
believing that life has turned out “better
behave. This gives you another way
than expected.”
to segment or personalize your direct mail to make it more relevant.
firm, you might target younger adults with the message “plan for the future,” while targeting older adults (especially those in higher income brackets) with the message, “you’ve done a great job planning your life so far, let us help you continue to make great decisions!” Of course, there will be variation within every demographic group, and there are nearly infinite attitudes, preferences and behaviors from which you can choose. How do you know which psychographic characteristics to use? This is where testing comes in. Break your lists into multiple segments, or use control groups to test one message against the other. Test multiple
Psychographics are a powerful
messages to emphasize different
way to add another layer of
psychographic characteristics. See which
relevance to any demographic
aspects are the most likely to gain the
or other targeting you might
biggest response from your list, in your
already be doing. Top this off
marketplace, with your product. Test
with name or other person-
and refine your results over time.
alization, and you will speak even more powerfully—and effectively—to each person in your database.
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Media Post Research Brief, “Generation Gap in Expectations and Morality,” July 8, 2009.
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