CANVAS - AUGUST 2018 - THE SCIENCE OF STORY by Conduit, Inc.

Future Forward Anatomy of a Campaign Winning the Marathon

EMPOWERING MARKETING SERVICE PROVIDERS

AUGUST 2018

Concocting the recipe for good storytelling

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AUGUST 26 VOLUME 12 â&#x20AC;¢ ISSUE 4

CANVAS P1

Inside this issue

BOILERPLATE

34 24 30 38

ALSO INSIDE

THE ANATOMY OF A CAMPAIGN

CREATIVE CORNER

Magnificent Marketing’s Creative Director Emily Jones on why artists must be willing to adapt

Publisher’s Note

The New Normal

How (and why) print can work for your marketing plans

BEHIND THE CURTAIN

STAT PACK

Industry news & awards

MAKERS’ CORNER

olored paper: C Friend or foe?

WINNING THE MARATHON Your strategy for competing, winning and growing

CANVAS Buyer’s Guide

16 17

08 10 P2

Believe...

CANVAS AUGUST 2018

Now you see it

Q&A

CORNER OFFICE 10 ways to lift your leadership acumen

Onward and upward

One-on-one with Thayer Long, President, Association for Print Technologies

CHANGE MANAGEMENT

The Tao of Color

Inside this issue| Publisher’s Note

BOILERPLATE

CONTRIBUTORS Elizabeth McCormick, Keynote speaker, Author

The New Normal

he only constant anymore is change. I mean, 10 years ago the recession punched us all in the gut. It was a cold-hearted reminder of how things were changing and that the industrial mindset we relied on was dead and buried. We all looked at each other, commiserating about how we needed to accept change and grow with it. But many of us believed we’d find some sort of normalcy after a brief stint of discomfort. The reality is that change and discomfort are the new normal. Business is an endurance test. How we respond to the changing tides of technology, rejection and market downturns is a choice. Accepting responsibility for our choices and decisions about our thoughts, feelings and actions enables us to find own our path. The most successful businesspeople remain cool, concentrating on what they can control and the choices that lie ahead. Their ability to stay calm in the face of uncertainty reduces stress levels for everyone and opens doors to new possibilities. That old adage, “It is not what happens to us, but how we react,” may be more valid today than ever before. Stuff happens and leadership is needed to push through. In fact, the leaders who can replace frustration and anger with curiosity and creativity will reinvent their businesses in robust and sustainable ways. Navigating today’s business landscape requires optimism, creativity and adaptability. But mostly, it requires the mental discipline to keep learning and stay focused on our relationships with others. While having these mindsets may look easy in print, they are extremely difficult to integrate into our lives each and every day. Albert Einstein once said, “Adversity introduces a man to himself.” We have all seen pain and most often have grown from it. And while nobody wants to invite pain, we can continue to look at it as an ally. In fact, our ability to find the gain in the pain, and apply that gain going forward will be at the core of our future success. CANVAS has always been committed to helping you find the mindset to deal with change. In this issue, our cover story, “The Science of Story,” discusses why stories matter when selling and how they connect with people in a physical way. Experiencing a story alters our neurochemical processes, and stories are a powerful force in shaping human behavior. In many ways, having experiences and telling stories is part of the mindset needed to adapt.

Accepting responsibility for our choices and decisions about our thoughts, feelings and actions enables us to find our own path.

I hope you enjoy the issue. Here’s to a wonderful summer.

@pilotspeaker Justin Ahrens Founder & Principal Rule29 @justinahrens Linda Bishop, President, Thought Transformation @Linda_Bishop Chris Harrold, VP Creative Director, Mohawk Fine Papers @tweet_convert

Greg Chambers Founder Chambers Pivot Industries LLC @ChambersPivot

GET IN TOUCH WITH US @THECANVASMAG

2180 Satellite Blvd., Suite 400 Duluth, GA 30097 WWW.THECANVASMAG.COM

THE CANVAS TEAM MANAGING EDITOR michael j. pallerino ART DIRECTOR brent cashman SALES/MARKETING mark potter

EDITORIAL BOARD tom moe Daily Printing gina danner NextPage david bennett Bennett Graphics scott hudson Worth Higgins

Warmest regards,

PUBLISHED BY Mark Potter, Publisher @MarkRicePotter

CANVAS, Volume 12, Issue 4. copyright 2018 CANVAS, All rights reserved. CANVAS is published bi-monthly for $39.00 per year by Conduit, Inc., 2009 Machenzie Way, Suite 100, Cranberry Township, PA 16066 Periodicals postage pending at Duluth, GA and additional mailings offices. Periodical Publication 25493. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to CANVAS, 2009 Machenzie Way, Suite 100, Cranberry Township, PA 16066. Please note: The acceptance of advertising or products mentioned by contributing authors does not constitute endorsement by the publisher. Publisher cannot accept responsibility for the correctness of an opinion expressed by contributing authors. CANVAS magazine is dedicated to environmentally and socially responsible operations. We are proud to print this magazine on Opus® Dull Cover 80lb/216gsm and Opus Dull Text 80lb/118gsm, an industry-leading, environmentally responsible paper. Opus contains 10% post consumer waste and SFI and FSC chain of custody certification.

CANVAS AUGUST 2018

If they arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t biting...

CATCH THEM WITH CONTENT channeling content & connections | conduit-inc.com

STAT PACK

Survey shows who is—and isn’t—using quantitative analysis

Have customer data it trusts to be complete and accurate

Use customer data to activate marketing and sales initiatives at scale

CANVAS AUGUST 2018

To what degree does your company base its marketing decisions on quantitative information an analysis? Interesting question, right? According to "The B2B Data Activation Priority" research by Dun & Brandstreet and Forrest Research, 52 percent of B2B marketing decisions are made using data. The report was based on data from a survey of 500 professionals with responsibility for, or influence over, data strategy and/or management at B2B organizations with 500 or more employees. In addition, less than half say their organization is executing "very" or "extremely" well on gathering complete and accurate customer data, utilizing customer data to activate marketing and sales initiatives at scale, and sharing data insights across functions. Here's a look at how they are doing:

Have well integrated and understood data sources and insights

Leverage the same quality data consistently across activities and technologies

Convert data into insights to quickly act on customer’s immediate needs, interests and behaviors

Insights

BY THE

NUMBERS The percent of markets who say they are not fully realizing the revenue potential of customers. Interestingly, 10 percent of respondents weren’t even sure how to answer the question.

The percent of B2B marketers who say their insights and data are sufficient enough to drive effective personalization, compared with 61 percent of their B2C counterparts. In addition, 46 percent graded their personalization efforts a “C,” with only 6 percent giving themselves an “A.” (“2018 Trends in Personalization” by Evergage and Researchscape International)

The percent of CMOs who say they have a high level of confidence in their ability to measure the ROI of their media spend, regardless of type or the trade spend. In addition, 79 percent expect to increase their investment in marketing analytics and attribution over the next 12 months. (“Nielsen CMO Report 2018” by The Nielsen Company)

The percent of all purchases by consumers that are driven by conversation. Interestingly, almost half of those conversations take place on social media, with the slight majority taking place faceto-face. (“TotalSocial® Version 3.0” report by Engagement Labs and Northeastern University)

Numbers don’t lie Survey shows marketers stuck in rut of optimizing customer value

The mandate was clear—drive growth. Yet, despite the outcry, CMOs are still stuck in a decade-long rut that has yet to see them fully optimize the lifetime value of existing customers. In 2008, when asked if brands were fully realizing the revenue potential of customers, 76 percent said no. Ten years later, 77 percent answered the same, according to the "Gaining Traction with Every Digital Interaction" report by the CMO Council and Sendwithus. To make things more interesting, 10 percent weren't even sure how to answer. The inability to collaborate and align continues to be a roadblock to success. When asked to detail the state of collaboration across key stakeholders in customer experience, 29 percent revealed that collaboration comes in the form of meetings to align on strategies and timelines, while 26 percent say it's left to team leaders who collect input and feedback as needed.

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Perspective | Leadership | Insights

CORNER OFFICE

BY ELIZABETH MCCORMICK

10 ways to lift your leadership acumen

ood leaders are hard to find, and great leaders are even more elusive. As you push your company's mission forward, know that you have the ability to lift your leadership. To enhance your own abilities as a leader, begin with an intentional mindset of being open to new ways of thinking and interacting with your peers. Improving your capacity to lead is something that will take intentional effort. Your attention to detail in your efforts will result in enhanced loyalty, higher respect and an increased measure of success for you and your overall organization. To help lift your leadership acumen, here are 10 strategies you can employ:

No. 1: Listen to Your Team While it’s not necessary for leaders to know everything, you need to know what the individual skillsets are in each of your team members. It is also important to ask your team for input and listen to what they have to say. They will appreciate being included in any decision made—especially if it affects their workload, their department, their budget or the amount of time they have allocated. When your team feels valued, it helps improve their personal connection and overall commitment to the desired results. No. 2: Make Tough Decisions Your team may not like every decision you make, but don’t let that scare you into not making the right decisions, or worse, no decisions at all. For any decision you make, do your research and get their feedback. If you're able, explain your decisions diplomatically and address the concerns. No. 3: Delegate Some leaders diminish their potential because they think they have to do everything. Great leaders are great delegators. If you're not sure what to delegate, make a list of your specific tasks and duties. Label the ones you must do yourself. For the others, think of team members who have the skillsets to help. Give them the autonomy to succeed and the ability to ask questions if needed.

CANVAS AUGUST 2018

No. 4: Admit When You’re Wrong Everyone makes mistakes—leaders, too. When you make a mistake, be upfront with your team. Your honesty and vulnerability will help open a pathway to better trust and communication. When you show your willingness to trust them with your mistakes, they will feel more valued and work with you to help correct mistakes. To lead a team effectively, you must be a part of the team. No. 5: Show Appreciation When your team does good work, let them know. A handwritten thank you note. A gift card. Take time to recognize them publicly. Appreciation goes a long way. Create a culture of gratitude and your staff will reciprocate that appreciation through loyalty and a job well done. No. 6: Get Your Hands Dirty Successful leaders don’t ask team members to do anything they aren’t willing to do themselves. This doesn’t mean you’re doing the work for them, but at those critical moments, when help is

needed, your assistance can help motivate your team to reach or exceed the goals they've set. No. 7: Be a Mentor If you can help your team become more successful, everyone benefits. The more you invest into them, the more they'll give in return. Lead by example and others will follow. This creates a culture where current and upcoming leaders develop a mindset of helping others succeed. No. 8: Bond Through a Social Cause Start a social cause as a team-building activity and make sure you lead the way. To add even more lift to your leadership, adopt a charity to support within your local community and get away from the office where you can get to know your team members on a more personal level. No. 9: Let Your Team See You Learn Leaders are learners. Let your team see how you are willing to grow your leadership acumen. For example, start a book club focused on self-improvement and leadership books where you can discuss how these books impacted you. No. 10: Keep Your Meetings Short Everyone generally has a list of tasks and duties that take up their entire workday. While necessary, meetings can be seen as disruptive and non-productive, especially if nothing was essentially accomplished. Meetings should have a specific purpose and agenda that involves everyone in the room. The more you respect your team's time, the more they'll respect you as a leader.

Elizabeth McCormick is a keynote speaker specializing in leadership, sales and safety presentations. She was recently named No. 4 on the list of “Leadership Experts to Follow Online.” McCormick, a former U.S. Army Black Hawk pilot, is also author of “The P.I.L.O.T. Method; the 5 Elemental Truths to Leading Yourself in Life.”

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Perspective | Leadership | Insights

CORNER OFFICE

BY JUSTIN AHRENS

Believe... W

e all have times in our careers when we're driven by excitement and passion, and we all have times when work becomes a little more mundane. What is it that makes the difference? All of us can admit to feeling the ebb and flow of this spectrum. When we took those first steps out of our college campuses and into our first gigs, our new careers were (somewhat frightening) combinations of lack of experience and fearless desire to change the world. After a few years into it, maybe the world isn’t much better for all the experience we’ve put in. Or, maybe the day-in and day-out is getting under our skin a bit. Certain projects bring back the twinge of excitement we felt at first. Others may not. This is fine so long as they balance each other out. But if the “other” types of projects are winning the battle and leaving you feeling a little burnt out, I have a question for you. This question has helped me during these times: Do you believe in what you do? This isn’t the type of question you ask yourself when you have 30 seconds or so to think about it. It’s a gloves-off type of question between you and your heart. Between you and your younger/ college self who dreamed the dreams that resulted in where you are today. If you answered yes, take the time to list the reasons why. There’s something about recalling the positive things that can multiply the goodness. Write them down somewhere, or better yet, put them on a sticky note by your desk to remind you the next time a project comes along that might leave you otherwise wondering.

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Believing in what you do is your choice, and it starts with your perspective. It starts from the inside, remembering that you’re doing what you’re made to do.

Don’t you feel refreshed? If you answered no, list the reasons why not. What has happened since you first dreamed about this career that has derailed your trajectory a bit? Do they involve your current responsibilities? Your hours? Or is it your attitude? Are there ways to change these specific things? Consider why you went into this field in the first place. How can you make those dreams become a reality in your current job? Most of the time, it’s possible to work with your employees or employer to tweak your situation enough to make the difference. But there’s one more thing. It’s that word believe. When a person truly believes in something, he or she is so convinced of its truth or worth that it changes how he or she lives. Believing drives a person to bigger and better things. Believing is also a choice. Just because something is true doesn’t force a person to believe in it. Your work could be making a difference, or have the capability to, but if you don’t believe that, it will suck the excitement out of your day and the joy out of your work. Now granted, not every job is going to give you the ability to change the world. Actually, not many jobs do. But your work gives you the opportunity to make a difference in your own world, and in the lives of those in your community. Believing in what you do is your choice, and it starts with your perspective. It starts from the inside, remembering that you’re doing what you’re made to do. It isn’t measured by your output, but by the amount of heart you put into what you produce. So no matter if you work in-house, out of your own house or at huge firm—your opportunity is the same. And it starts with believing. So, do you believe in what you do?

Justin Ahrens is founder and principal of Rule29, an award winning suburban Chicago-based strategic creative firm. He is a frequent guest blogger, national speaker and author of “Life Kerning: Creative Ways to Fine Tune Your Perspective on Career and Life” (Wiley). Follow him and Rule29 on Twitter – @justinahrens and @rule29.

Perspective | Technology | Insights

CORNER OFFICE

Report shows what content captures a buyer’s attention

here's no way around it—today's buyers are busy. So, if you're going to reach them, you have one good shot—and that shot is good content. According to the RAIN Group's "Top Performance in Sales Prospecting" report, 80 percent of buyers say they prefer to be contacted by sellers via email. That means crafting a well-written, tailored email that quickly conveys your value. It also means having the right content. Here are the content influences that help connect sellers and buyers:

69 67 % 67 % 66 % 65 %

Primary research data relevant to their business

Descriptions of the provider’s capabilities

Content 100 percent customized to their specific situation

Insight on the use of products or services to solve business problems

Best practice methodology based on the provider’s area of expertise

CANVAS P11

BEHIND THE CURTAIN Around the industry Ripon Printers and Geiger recently signed a contract to extend their relationship for another five years. The agreement includes printing and distribution services for Geiger’s iconic Farmers’ Almanac, the annual North American periodical that has been in continuous publication since 1818. Ripon Printers and Geiger have a long-term association spanning 20 years. The new contract runs through 2022 and includes premedia services, offset printing, custom color inkjet imaging and order fulfillment.

fundamental knowledge of presets and settings optimal for digital and offset printing projects. The second course, “InDesign Data Merge for VDP,” uses two sample projects to teach learners how to properly prepare, sort, and export raw data using Microsoft Excel; merge and update data in InDesign; and export PDFs for digital printing. For more information, visit www.printing.org/ilearning or contact Joe Marin, VP of Education & Training at jmarin@printing.org.

Global software company Onyx Graphics Inc. (Salt Lake City) has been awarded another U.S. patent for color technology innovations in wide- and grand-format print software solutions. U.S patent 9,917,955 has been granted for spectral transmissive measurement of media, a new method of obtaining color information for printing on media resulting in improved color accuracy, especially for backlit display and textile printing applications. The patent is the product of Onyx Graphics’ own staff of color scientists including Dr. Max Derhak, Dr. Lin Luo (Eric), and William Chase.

The Specialty Graphic Imaging Association (SGIA) presented 24 member companies with its “2018 Sustainable Business Recognition Award.” Recipients demonstrated efforts in 2017 that improved employee safety and health, reduced environmental impact and increased business efficiency. The annual program encourages SGIA’s member companies to create and adopt sustainable business practices, while setting an example for others in their industries. The recipients included:

Printing Industries of America (PIA) has added two additional course options to its recently launched iLearning Center, which offer a variety of courses and premium certifications in print production, sales, marketing, customer service, and Lean manufacturing from a convenient online platform. The courses will sharpen prepress skills for Adobe InDesign and PDF creation. The courses, which take under two hours to complete, are in the offerings made available to PIA printer members as an included, free benefit. The first course, “Creating PDFs for Print Production,” focuses on PDF creation as the cornerstone of the prepress file workflow and bolsters

ADI Displays Albert Basse Associates Beacon Promotions Blue Ridge Graphics Boston Barricade Campeche Sportswear/FunTees DigitAllWorx Graphics Easiway Empire Screen Printing Global Products Hang-Ups Unlimited Image Options

Kernow Coatings Lawson Screen Miller Zell Modagrafics Modernistic Ritrama RRD Retail Solutions Sanca Stratojet USA Superior Essex Tausas Yunker Industries

Watch Read strong volunteer printer network and learn... Kodak’s helping to bring books to Best-selling author Seth Godin to keynote PRINT® 18

There's not much Seth Godin can't do. Th entrepreneur, best-selling author and speaker, and conduit of one of the world's most popular blogs, Godin is taking his talents to Chicago to keynote PRINT® 18 at McCormick Place. The show's Learning Experience will kick off on Sunday, September 30, with Godin’s keynote speech and book signing for his best-selling book, "What to Do When It’s Your Turn (and It’s Always Your Turn)." The acclaimed author has written 18 best-selling books, including "The Dip," "Linchpin," "Purple Cow" and "Tribes." Godin, who also founded two companies, Squidoo and Yoyodyne (acquired by Yahoo!), was one of just three professionals inducted into the Direct Marketing Hall of Fame. He also was inducted into the Marketing Hall of Fame. Scheduled for Sept. 30 – Oct. 2, 2018, PRINT® is the annual conference and exhibition event that hosts the largest gathering of printing services providers in North America, representing attendees from 86 countries.

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disadvantaged populations

Kodak is rallying support from printers in communities everywhere to help share the printed word in support of literacy. This year, Kodak is working with Room to Read, a global non-profit focused on literacy and girls’ education in low-income countries. Kodak will support the establishment of Room to Read’s Literacy Program at a primary school in Rajasthan, India. The program will help bring the community access to a safe and child-friendly learning environment, with books in the children’s local language, as well as teachers and librarians who are trained in the best practices of reading and writing instruction. To ensure the longevity and success of the program, Kodak and Room to Read will work closely to build strong community and government partnerships. To help drive the program, Kodak recently created a volunteer printer network, which will produce thousands of children’s books and school supplies to benefit some of the world’s most disadvantaged populations. It is using sustainable Kodak printing products, such as KODAK SONORA Process Free Plates. Room to Read follows the success of Kodak’s Print for Good initiative, which helped place more than 30,000 books and printed materials into the hands of thousands of children in communities throughout Europe, the United States, Latin America, Asia and the Middle East.

Industry news & more

Awards & Recognition Daniel Dejan, Print & Creative Manager at Sappi North America, was awarded PINE’s highest honor, the “Industry Influencer Award.” Sponsored by Heidelberg since 2003, the award honors the contributions of an individual whose vision and energy have impacted our industry in a profound and indelible way. The honor recognizes the entrepreneurial spirit and foresight to create new business models, develop market shifting technologies and improve our industry in a permanent and sustained manner. Idealliance and Printing Industries Alliance has named the “2018 Franklin Luminaire Awards” recipients, including Chris Harrold, VP, creative director, Mohawk Fine Papers; Dr. Samir Husni “Mr. Magazine,” director of the Magazine Innovation Center at the University of Mississippi, School of Journalism; Rebecca Pappas, VP, Production, Customer Service and Audience Development, BizBash Media; and John G. Sommers, Jr., President & CEO, Allied Printing Services. The awards recognize exceptional professionals for their positive contribution and service within the media and graphic communications industry. The Foil & Specialty Effects Association (FSEA) has named the honorees in its “25th Annual FSEA Gold Leaf Awards Competition,” which received nearly 300 entries from countries around the world, including the United States, Canada,

Mexico, Italy, Denmark and China. Gold, Silver and Bronze winners were honored in 38 categories. One of the major winners included J.S. McCarthy Co. Inc. (Augusta, Maine), which won a “2018 Best of Show” award for its 2018 “Fun & Games” calendar. In addition, two “Honorable Mention” certificates were awarded to Carlo Gasperini & C., for “Dream with Us,” a boxed, wire-bound brochure entered in the Best Use of Foil and Embossing – Corporate Brochure category; and Kurz, for its 2018 Kurz Calendar, which was submitted in the Best Use of Foil and Embossing – Calendar (Industry Supplier) category. To view all the winners, visit www.fsea.com. HP Indigo’s Shai Lior was named the winner of the prestigious “2018 Johann Gutenberg Prize” for his contribution to the invention and development of liquid electrophotography printing (LEP). An HP Fellow and HP Indigo’s head of Advanced Technologies, Lior was in the HP Indigo founding group, making a major contribution to the development of the LEP process over the past 40 years. A prolific inventor, he also authored more than 50 printing patents, and continues to develop and invent revolutionary printing technologies to produce the highest quality prints for commercial, labels and packaging, photo albums and other markets. Issued by the Society for Imaging Science and Technology, the “Gutenberg Award” has been given since 1987 for outstanding technical achievement in, or contribution to, printing technology.

Personnel Moves After more than 38 years working at Canon, Toyotsugu Kuwamura, Executive VP and GM of Canon U.S.A.’s Business Imaging Solutions Group (BISG) and Chairman and CEO of Canon Solutions America retired on July 1, 2018. Kuwamura joined Canon Inc. in 1980, holding a number of positions within the organization in Japan, Canada and the United States. During his time at Canon U.S.A. Inc., he was responsible for overseeing the Océ integration into Canon Solutions America in 2013 and most recently, advocating the “One Canon” approach to customers.

Shinichi Yoshida

Effective immediately, Shinichi Yoshida has been named his successor as Executive VP and GM, Business Imaging Solutions Group (BISG) and Vice Chairman, Canon Solutions America Inc. In addition, Joe Adachi will assume the role as Chairman and CEO, Canon Solutions America, Inc. Yoshida joined Canon Inc. in 1983, and has worked at Canon Europe, Canon Virginia, Canon U.S.A. and most recently as Executive Vice President/GM at Canon Canada.

His successor will be Nobuhiko Kitajima, who was named Executive VP/GM, Imaging Systems Group and Professional Printing Solutions Group, Canon Canada. Kitajima joined Canon Inc. in 1981 and has had various assignments at Canon Inc., Canon Europe and Canon U.S.A. throughout his career. Kitajima was promoted to VP and GM, Marketing, Business Imaging Solutions Group, Canon U.S.A. in July 2016. Ripon Printers has promoted former director of customer care, Julie Newhouse, to company president. Newhouse brings nearly

30-years experience in the graphic arts industry, including management roles in prepress, manufacturing, sales and customer support. Prior to joining Ripon in March 2016, she worked for Service Litho-Print Inc., Independent Printing Company and Western Publishing Company. Jason Kammes will assume the role of director of sales for the wide format inkjet line at FUJIFILM North America Corporation, Graphic Systems Division. The line includes the Inca Onset X Series, the OnsetM and the SpyderX. Kammes began his Fujifilm career in 2001, holding roles in product marketing, sales, service, national accounts and product development. Most recently, he was the director of corporate sales and managed national accounts. Eastman Kodak Company has named John O’Grady as president of the Print Systems Division. O’Grady, the former president of the Consumer and Film Division and former GM of World Wide Sales for Print Systems Division, replaces Brad Kruchten, who is retiring after 36 years with Kodak. The Print and Graphics Scholarship Foundation (PGSF) has elected several new members as well as re-elected existing members to a second three-year term. Nominees for new three-year terms are: Judy Durham, Association for Print Technologies; Roger Gimbel, Gimbel Companies; Todd Luman, Interprint; George Ryan, retired industry association executive; and Walter Vail, Vail Paper Management. Secondterm nominees include Ray Hartman, industry consultant; Laura Lawton, Lawton Printing; and Jules Van Sant, Pacific Printing Industries.

CANVAS P13

Makers’ Corner

Colored paper: Friend or foe?

s an unapologetic paper nerd, I'm a firm believer in the power of paper to elevate, transform and complete any print job. With that said, I have a confession to make: I’m kind of obsessed with colored paper these days. You see, I’ve been working on the launch of a new colored paper line we're introducing to the U.S. market this summer. It has 43 incredible colors, which begs the question: Does the world need 43 more colored papers? My answer: Why only 43? Why not 143?

If you've read any of my other CANVAS columns, you know that I'm bullish on the role of print today. But I’m also mindful of print’s ongoing fight for relevance. In this fight for relevance, I'm convinced that beautiful paper is the defining element that makes ordinary print extraordinary. That’s because materials are deft communicators, providing information our brains unconsciously translate into thoughts and emotions. In fact, it could be said that paper is the body language of printed communications; and colored paper takes that language to a whole new level of impact. Here, I’d like to challenge you to consider colored paper in a new light and how you can confidently recommend it to your clients. Ditch the default mode of always printing color on white paper and consider the emotional impact and inherent beauty of colored papers. Investing in something as simple as colored paper for a client project can take any project from really good to truly great.

By Chris Harrold VP, Business Development & Creative Director Mohawk Fine Papers

>> Visit Mohawk Connects.com

Why use colored paper? Consider the following 7 points: 1. Keep it Intense — Colored papers deliver intense, homogenous, solid color—with no white edges. It’s a small detail, but designers value someone who pays attention to details like this. 2. Keep it Simple — Simple, one color black offset or digital on colored paper can be as effective (or more effective!) as bold 4-color printing. And help keep a project on budget. 3. Mix it Up — Using more than one colored paper can help support a brand identity or amplify the design elements of a multi-piece campaign.

4. Get Crazy — Print color on color. If you don’t mind doing drawdowns to understand how inks behave on individual colored papers, this can create a super high impact effect, and make you the best friend of any designer who sees this kind of work. 5. Make it Shine — Print white or metallic ink. In today’s print economy this can be achieved with digital, offset, screen printing or embellishing techniques like foil stamping. And take it from me, white on a deep colored stock provides a lot of bang for your client’s buck.

6. Get Dimensional — Embellishing techniques like letterpress and engraving on colored papers create strong visual and tactile impact that eloquently state the case for the power of print. 7. Go Naked — No printing at all. Finishing techniques like die cutting, blind embossing and laser cutting on colored paper offer a level of sophistication without adding a single dot of ink to the paper.

Above all, make sure to encourage your clients to make their paper choice a part of the creative process. The impact of every printed piece relies heavily on the paper it is printed on; all the more when it comes to colored paper. Chosen thoughtfully, colored paper can take any project from good to great. It may be one of the easiest and most overlooked ways to bring visual impact and cohesion to a printing project. Just when you think there's no other way to engage your customers with something new, try introducing colored paper as an alternative. I have 43 colors I’m dying to show you. Use any or all of them to set yourself apart from the pack.

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43 Colors 2 Weights 1 Finish Stocked and ready to ship.

Say hello to Keaykolour, our newest line of colored papers. Using colored paper has never been so easy and fun. Simply choose from 43 fresh colors in text or cover weight, we will pack it and have it on your doorstep in just a few days. And with low minimums, Keaykolour is right for just about any kind of project.

mohawkconnects.com/ products/paper/keaykolour

CANVAS BUYER’S GUIDE

INKJET TECHNOLOGY

Onward and upward

Why Samba™ Printbar Systems and the PS4300 can take your business to the next level

Inside the Samba PS4300 • The Samba PS4300 can easily be integrated into an existing manufacturing process such as offset presses, flexo presses, mailing tables, and more! Here’s a look at what you get: • The complete system is available with 1, 2, 3 or 4 printbars for your specific application When Fujifilm presented the first live demonstrations of its Fujifilm Inkjet Technology at the InPrint Exhibition for Industrial Print Technology in November 2017 at the Munich Trade Fair Centre in Germany, the crowd took notice. During the presentations, FUJIFILM Dimatix’s Samba™ Industrial Inkjet Printbar System helped create the buzz that Fujifilm quickly was becoming the supplier of choice for inkjet innovators across the industry. Since the debut, Fujifilm has launched a new family of advanced inkjet imprinting systems called Samba Printbar Systems. Samba Printbar Systems are set to revolutionize the industry by bringing high resolution and speed capabilities to any print service provider looking to incorporate inkjet in their manufacturing process. Samba Printbar Systems are based on the Samba printhead technology paired with fitfor-purpose inks developed by Fujifilm. Recently, Fujifilm has launched the first product in the Samba Printbar System’s family, the Samba PS4300. The Samba PS4300 is a compact imprinting system offering a print width of 1.6 inches at 1,200 dpi with speeds up to 1,000 feet per minute. The complete system is available with up to four

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discrete printbars, depending on specific application. Each printbar can be easily integrated into a manufacturing line and controlled from a single controller. Printers can now bolster their business by easily adding an inline digital printing system for a wide range of personalized or data printing applications, including text, logos, QR and barcodes, and graphics. “The Samba PS4300 is a game changing, versatile imprinting device,” says Michael Barry, product marketing manager, FUJIFILM North America Corporation, Graphic Systems Division. “Most notably, the Samba Printbar Systems applies Fujifilm’s proven ultra-reliable drop-on-demand technology with a life expectancy of several years.” How can it help raise your print shop’s production to the next level? The Samba PS4300 can bring new, exciting variable capabilities to existing offset presses, flexo presses, mailing tables, and more, allowing printers to add more value to existing manufacturing processes. The Samba PS4300 is also great for uptime utilizing Fujifilm’s patented RediJet®ink recirculation system, ensuring printbars are instantly primed, resulting in faster time to print, minimal ink waste and improved reliability.

• Printbar contains a single 1,200 dpi resolution Samba Micro-ElectroMechanical (MEMs) printhead • A variety of Fujifilm Inkjet Imprinting Inks for various monochrome applications • Samba drop-on-demand inkjet printheads deposit billions of drops per second, each directed to a precise location, producing high-resolution single pass imprints at an incredible speed • Each Industrial Silicon MEMs constructed printhead within a printbar has 2,048 nozzles to deliver a native 1,200 dpi resolution with an ink drop size as small as 3 picoliters (pl) for outstanding fine graphics quality • The patented RediJet® ink recirculation system ensures printbars are instantly primed, resulting in faster time to print, minimal ink waste and improved reliability

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PRINTER SOFTWARE

Océ Touchstone dimensional printing software delivers simple solutions and workflow improvement

It wasn’t that long ago that creating dimensional prints was a labor intensive process involving scores of file manipulation and iterative testing. That’s before Canon U.S.A. Inc. got involved. Canon U.S.A. Inc.’s Océ Touchstone dimensional printing software is positioned for large format print solutions to streamline dimensional printing on the company’s industryleading Océ Arizona Series UV flatbed printers. The software is tailored to meet the needs of the designer who creates the files and the print provider that prints them. Utilizing the highly accurate ink drop placement and repetition provided by Océ Arizona UV curable flatbed printers, resourceful print providers have been able to print multiple layers of ink and produce dimensional effects ranging from common textures such as woodgrain to special effects such as varnish highlights, embossed type and logos or even braille. Through Canon-created Adobe® CC Photoshop® and Illustrator® extensions, graphic designers can build the dimensional effects quickly and easily,

preview and refine these effects on screen, and then export the file as a single PDF file that can be sent to an Océ Touchstone enabled print provider for final print production. To help streamline the process on the print production side, Canon worked closely with graphics RIP provider ONYX®, a Canon group company, to marry the patented Océ ALPS (Advanced Layer Printing System) technology with a special ONYX Thrive printer driver so that the RIP could now interpret the height map contained within the PDF, convert that data into separate print layers and send it to the Océ Arizona printer as a single batch file containing all the layers in the correct print sequence. This provides the print provider with a familiar print workflow where they can print the entire job essentially with one push of the print button. Carriage height adjustment is automated and the multiple layers can be left to print unattended, thus enabling print providers to make additional revenue after business hours.

The software is tailored to meet the needs of the designer who creates the files and the print provider that prints them.

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Q&A

One-on-one with

Thayer Long, President, Association for Print Technologies

Why collaboration will provide endless opportunities

All things must turn. It's a philosophy that Thayer Long takes to heart. As president of the Association for Print Technologies (APT), the association formerly known as NPES, Long continues to push the belief that change is good. In the spirit of creating a greater alignment among the commercial print industry and the imaging value chain, APT wants its members—and the industry at-large—to embrace the way forward. From adopting a more succinct worldview, to building a more sustainable workforce and inspiring the innovation of new technology, Long believes that all forces together must accept that the "next phase" must happen in order for all stakeholders to benefit. CANVAS sat down with Long to get his thoughts on where the industry stands and what to expect from PRINT® 18. Thayer Long

Give us a snapshot of today's commercial print industry.

Every executive in any industry has two main jobs: running the business as it exists today (profitably, of course), and making the necessary changes to ensure it survives and thrives in the future. Commercial printing industry executives are no different. They must make decisions on what verticals to enter (or exit), what technology they want to use for those applications and, most importantly, ensure they have the human skill sets to execute. By all accounts, the commercial printing industry is huge, significantly dwarfing most other print market segments. The growth trends are easy to spot. You can find them by opening up virtually any industry report. We’ve presented findings on the opportunities in wide-format, labels and package printing for years. Technology trends? Take your pick. There is technology out there for any application or end product. Frankly, I think the application is actually becoming increasingly technology agnostic. Workforce is a big issue, too. It seems to be the one that keeps industry executives up at night the most, and rightly so. Businesses can’t run themselves; people are every company’s most valued asset.

What type of opportunities are out there for both print (marketing) service providers and vendors?

What's driving the strategy here is that the world is faster and more complex. We must have a way to bring the printing industry value chain partners together to collaborate in an open-sourced environment. Collaboration provides endless opportunities. We believe a rising tide lifts all boats. I think the ultimate opportunity—as a collective—is to take charge of our message that print is a valuable tool in an omnichannel communications world. But we cannot do it on the

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Q&A backs of another tool’s shortcoming, i.e., digital fatigue. It means we have to innovate and increase the value of print. We see great examples of how print’s value is increasing because it’s being used thoughtfully to drive a company’s digital strategy. We are excited about what's going on in the finishing and specialty effects area. We're also excited about how print is relating to AR and VR technologies. There are many other great ways print is being used in packaging and being incorporated into the “user experience.” These are examples of how constant innovation and change are driving a more main stream approach.

Why is reinvention one of the most critical strategies a printer can act upon today?

Military planners are often accused of planning for the last war, not thinking about the next one. The same could be said for businesses. I have a whole host of quotes that I refer to often. My favorite, and one I think about every day, is by Andy Grove, who said, “Success breeds complacency, complacency breeds failure, only the paranoid survive.” I think we operate in a world where planning for yearover-year incremental change doesn’t put you on a path to success it once did. We lack the visibility of what lies ahead

vision about how to use the tools in a new and different way to increase the value of print.

Tell us why PRINT® 18 is a "must attend" event.

First, I like that you called it an event, because that’s what it is. We have made a conscious decision to move away from the typical tradeshow model and create an event built around a unique user experience. What’s the difference? The pipe and drape tradeshow model is struggling. It has exceeded its life’s expectancy. It’s nothing different than has been done for the past 50 years. Starting with PRINT® 17, we began building an event, where the community, and in our case, the largest community of print service providers, convenes to be inspired, and interact and immerse themselves in learning and networking about all things print. We also believe that commercial and in-plant printers, or those who categorize themselves as such, are a unique community unto themselves. They have business models that are different, and therefore, have certain needs to be met. In 2018, our attendees can look to be inspired by our list of excellent speakers from inside and outside of the industry. Keynote speaker Seth Godin will reflect on a century of marketing, industrialism and print, promising that every audience member will leave with actionable takeaways. We’re also introducing an immersive VR experience on the technology floor, as well as a new "Red Hot Technology Recognition Program" to showcase the newest products in print. We are prototyping a "Career Fair" to aid in connecting PSPs with talented workers interested in not just finding a job, but a career in print. We are hosting a “Brand Inspiration” day with our partners at the CMO Council, where the marketing and creative community can explore the applications and possibilities that print offers. But what's most relevant is that we as an “industry” have done a great job of identifying “what” verticals are growing, “what” technologies are available and “what” skill sets are required for tomorrow’s workforce. To date, we have not done a great job showing each other “how” to get these done and that’s where our focus is.

We live in a more complex world. Today’s jobs in the printing industry require a higher level of sophistication and collaboration between all value chain partners. to know what those changes need to be. So, when the need to change happens upon us, we see it being bolder and bigger. One way to avoid this is by creating a strategy, structure and culture where constant reimagination and reinvention occurs. Being nimble and versatile is critical and needs to be part of your DNA. We need to get out of our own echo chamber, explore the world and study the successful characteristics of companies in different industries that have undergone disruption.

What type of innovations are helping change the print landscape?

As much as I'd like to say technology, I think what will really drive the industry forward is the innovation in the businesses that deploy and use technology. Any mature industry hits a point where production efficiencies strike where commoditization occurs and companies race to the price bottom. At this point, change begins to swing back the other way. It has to. I think success in the printing industry is already cycling back to the application of innovation and craftsmanship. The comments you hear that printing is not just about ink on paper anymore, it’s ink on anything, ring true. But I believe ink on some type of paper-based product will still be the predominate form of printing for decades to come. The change in the industry will be the result of print service providers taking the tools of the craft and applying their own creativity and

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Tell us what gets you excited about APT?

I work with an incredible team who bring a very strong, fun ethic to their work. We work hard, but I think we genuinely like each other, too. We believe in doing things the right way, which is often the harder way for an industry we love. Our purpose to “align the printing industry value chain” is one that sometimes has people scratching their heads. That tells me we're onto something, that we have seized on an opportunity that many have seen as out of reach. We live in a more complex world. Today’s jobs in the printing industry require a higher level of sophistication and collaboration between all value chain partners (manufacturers, printers, creatives and brands). I think it will benefit us if we have a “big tent” approach to information sharing and problem solving. We all experience the same challenges. We are challenged by operating our business today, while simultaneously thinking about tomorrow. We believe our path to success is the same as the industry's: to think differently, get ourselves out of the echo chamber and obtain a broader worldview to better position ourselves for success.

Join Us at PRINT 18, Where Emerging Technology and Business Meet. PRINT is the one event that will help you enhance your knowledge, build your connections and Grow YOUR Business. • Over 50 engaging education sessions that take

you directly from the classroom to the hottest technologies live in action on the exhibit floor— from inkjet and digital printing to augmented and virtual reality to data management and IT systems.

• Learn from forward-thinking leaders inside

and outside the industry, including Keynote Seth Godin, best-selling author and former dot-com business executive.

• Connect with the most comprehensive

mix of experts to help you identify tangible opportunities to Grow YOUR Business.

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You Know the What. We’ll Show You the How.

CHANGE MANAGEMENT

The Tao of Color A leading creative thought leader discusses its importance in your branding efforts

nnovative thinkers. Master storytellers. Daring designers. Video mavens and tech sensations. If you took a running inventory of the creative minds behind the Square Root Creative group, these are the types of personalities you will find. Founded by 25-year industry vet Alysha Burch in 2002, the Manhattan-based advertising agency helps deliver effective messaging across all marketing mediums. Over the years, Burch has worked with a handful of leading advertising and marketing agencies, helping shape the vision for Fortune 500 brands like Nestle, Panasonic, Ricoh and Hasbro. Here, Burch discusses the importance of color for today’s brands.

What role does color play in a brand?

It has an essential role in a brand’s identity and the marketing of the products or services it sells. Color evokes emotion, which impacts how we perceive and identify with a brand’s personality and values. It also plays a huge role in how consumers visually recognize and connect with a brand. Think about two industries that impact your life: healthcare and finance. Now think about the brands you associate with those industries. I bet their brand identities in some way incorporate hues of blues and greens. This color palette associates with trust, strength, growth and vitality. Color can make or break a brand. It is a powerful language.

Why is achieving brand consistency through color important?

Your identity is your calling card. Everything you do, from print to digital, must convey the same look and feel. It must show a united front. Having consistent color throughout your marketing materials shows you care about a high-level of quality; you care about what you’re putting out in the market. Color consistency allows the brain to quickly spot your brand, whether on a shelf, in a print ad, on the web, or on commercial or store-front signage. With more consumers than ever shopping online, seeing the right hue brings an immediate sense of confidence.

How do you suggest leveraging color expertise to build trust with your clients?

This is a huge point of difference among print service providers. It speaks to the quality and level of service you provide. It also allows you to command premium pricing for your services. It shows your customers that you understand it and can achieve it. Provide articles that educate them on color. Create comparison examples. Put together a package that has a business card, direct mail, brochure and another element like an advertisement or signage. Make sure they demonstrate color consistency across the different substrates and formats. Then show them a package where the color is not consistent. This will speak volumes to your clients and immediately build trust with your services.

What advice can you offer regarding color quality and relationship building?

Use it as a point of difference. For digital printers that offer short-run, on-demand jobs with color consistency, regardless of media, format or print run, it can be a huge selling point. Use these capabilities to demonstrate how repeatable and predictable results will shorten turnaround times, lower costs and improve your customers’ perceived image.

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What does color discipline say about a print provider?

It says you care about quality, understand your craft, and that you make the investment to ensure your end product is always as pristine as it can be. It shows that you hold your business to the highest standard and invest in continual improvement.

Why is it important to invest in 5th color digital capabilities?

The ability to go beyond CMYK on a digital press truly opens the door to a whole new range of applications that are simply not possible to produce on a traditional 4-color system, most of which would be out of reach from a cost per piece perspective if produced on offset. For example, we have used white + CMYK on metallic media to achieve stunning effects that look like the piece was printed using metallic ink or colored foil. Invisible red has helped us sell more promotional programs to our clients because we can reduce their risk of fraudulent duplication on high-value items like gift certificates and coupons. Clear has become our go-to when we need to add a little more polish or create highend look that’s still within our client’s budget range.

How have you used white toner to keep your clients on-brand?

White can be used as a base layer to print images and logos on dark media and have them retain their original color integrity. This is an extremely sellable application for packaging, recruitment campaigns and high-end marketing materials. Think about corporate clients, sports teams and educational institutions, where retaining brand colors is a must. With white + CMYK you can meet that requirement and offer more media possibilities to give yourself a competitive edge. Alysha Burch

What has been the most surprising use of a 5th color?

Neon pink. At first it was a bit of a novelty, but it has become extremely valuable, especially as we’ve seen pink become a trending color for lots of brands. It’s perfect for designing materials with messages or offers that must stand out. Plus, it’s great for seasonal promotions and cause-related marketing materials that have short-run volumes and personalization. What’s really been surprising are the results we get from blending neon pink with CMYK. This creates an incredible array of vibrant oranges. You can capture a whole new set of clients. Look around and you’ll be amazed at how many brands use oranges and bright pinks in their identities. Neon pink also gives off a glow under UV lighting, a great effect to keep in mind when pitching in-store displays.

Achieve Graphic Greatness. Take a look at Ricoh’s line of innovative and affordable 5th Color Digital Cutsheet Presses. Set your business apart with oversized media capabilities, outstanding image quality, support for specialty stocks and substrates up to 360 gsm, plus a 5th color station for Clear, White, Neon Yellow, Neon Pink and Invisible Red* toner. Deliver an impressive range of high-end capabilities that traditional 4-color digital systems simply cannot match. Go beyond CMYK. Go beyond basic. Go big. Imagine the possibilities. Proactively offer new applications while building customer loyalty, expanding your base and increasing your bottom line at the same time.

Watch the video, see the samples and be inspired to take your business further. TakeaLookatRicoh.com/gamechanger

*Invisible Red toner available Spring 2018.

Ricoh USA, Inc., 70 Valley Stream Parkway, Malvern, PA 19355, 1-800-63-RICOH. ©2018 Ricoh USA, Inc. All rights reserved. Ricoh® and the Ricoh logo are registered trademarks of Ricoh Company, Ltd. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

CREATIVE CORNER

Magnificent Marketing ’s

Emily Jones

Creative Director Emily Jones on why artists must be willing to adapt It’s about the journey. That’s the mindset Emily Jones embraces when she sits down with every project she tackles. Each project is part of an artistic journey— one that helps you grow as an artist. When Jones reflects on the projects she’s created, she realizes that’s where the different elements of her style came from. Jones, who works with graphic design, animation and video, serves as the creative director for Magnificent Marketing, an Austin, Texas full-service marketing agency that helps its clients expand their visibility. So whether it’s a brand looking to recharge its identify or retool its messaging, Jones serves as a trusted resource in its journey. We sat down with her to get her thoughts on how the process works and the one thing every artist should have in their arsenal.

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Creative corner sponsored by:

Give us a snapshot of today’s graphic design market? What are you seeing out there?

We’re definitely seeing a lot of bold images lately. With so much content in the world, both physically and digitally, designers are having to make their compositions efficient. By using bright colors, strong fonts, repeating patterns and sharp imagery, the message of an image needs to be understood at the first glance.

What are your clients looking for today? Knowledge. It is so much fun when client’s react with, “Wow, how’d you do that?” Knowing about current trends and best practices in graphic design can help you exceed your clients expectations. For us, it has created an illusion that we are design magicians. And who doesn’t love magic?

What’s the one quality every art director must have today?

Being able to adapt. Things are always changing: people, design, tools, your team, your clients, program updates, all of it. I thinks it’s super important to be able to go with the flow when it comes to changes and not only create a successful outcome, but have fun learning things along the way.

What’s the best piece of advice you can offer today’s designers?

Something that I was told in school, and it keeps coming back around to be true, is that sometimes you just have to get up and leave the project. I sometimes get too zoomed into a project. I end up sitting there moving design elements pixel by pixel, or thinking about restarting entirely. That’s when it’s time to take a walk around the block. Clearing my head and stepping away from that highly detailed and critical mindset allows me to come back with a new set of eyes and that’s when everything falls into place.

What’s the biggest thing on your to-do list right now?

Find a creative/graphic design conference to attend. I always get so inspired being around other creatives and seeing what my fellow designers are making. I always look forward to seeing what’s up in the graphic design landscape.

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PERSPECTIVE

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Cover Story: By Jennifer Morrell

ands down, the best way to demonstrate an experience is with a well-told story. Sharing real, relatable stories will help you become a respected and trusted salesperson, marketer or influencer. Your wisdom can be invaluable in helping your clients, and your pathway there is to show you live and thrive in their world.

According to OneSpot.com, humans are wired to connect with compelling stories. The catch is that our brains process stories and content in different ways, and standing out can be a challenge. A recent OneSpot infographic shows that the average U.S. citizen consumes 100,500 words per day. But these consumers still crave your story. In addition, 92 percent want brands to create ads that feel like a story. That means your content should express a clear narrative. Certain elements are needed to tell a good story in a meaningful way. “In a word, emotion,” says Hank Ostholthoff, CEO of Mabbly and co-author of “The Science of Story: Brand Is a Reflection of Culture.” “Being a good storyteller is being about to speak to the limbic

details with emotion. Your brand can be considered a reflection of your culture, and people only buy brands that are a reflection of themselves. “At Mabbly, our website and Instagram are flooded with our people and their creative expression,” Ostholthoff says. “The majority of our leads and talent inquiries come from there.” As you present your idea or belief, assure your stories are crafted specifically for the effect you want to have on the listener. Be intentional about attaining the effect you need.

The substance of your story

Finding material for your brand is easy—just look to your clients. “Start with your client success stories,” says Henry Devries, CEO of Indie Books

Concocting the recipe for good storytelling

To create an impact, be honest and raw. The reality is that we tell stories every day that are the vehicles of soulful information. brain and deliver shots of oxytocin. It is a powerful hormone that acts as a neurotransmitter in the brain and gets us to connect.” Ostholthoff says the best way to do that is to relate by sharing our feelings and emotions around a relatable situation. Storytelling is just being able to connect on a human level. Hadiya Nuriddin believes that recognizing and shaping the core truth that your story conveys, so that others can learn from it, is essential. “Authenticity is necessary, or at least as close as you can get to it,” says Nuriddin, CEO of Focus Learning Solutions and author of the book “StoryTraining: Selecting and Shaping Stories That Connect.” “Keep the ability to confront the truth, and hold the belief that your story matters to you and will matter to others.” Ostholthoff says the framework for good storytelling is simple: Present an idea or belief, and examples, and share

International. “How did they go from mess to success with your help as the mentor? Frame the story with the three characters of hero, villain and mentor.” To create an impact, be honest and raw. The reality is that we tell stories every day that are the vehicles of soulful information. These stories emotionalize information and create a connection, showing commonalities, humanity and identity of shared beliefs. Devries believes humans want to hear eight different meta stories over and again. (A meta story is one story embedded within another, also described as a story about stories.) “There are eight basic story structures, based on the classic eight structures that almost all works of literature follow: a monster story, an underdog story, a comedy, a tragedy, a quest, an escape, a rebirth or a mystery.” The story doesn’t necessarily have to be exciting, per se, but important enough to you that you took the time

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The Science of Story to reflect and find meaning in it and can use that meaning to influence others. “A simple string of events can result in a multi-layered story that can be used in a variety of contexts,” Nuriddin says. “But you can’t rely on the story to do that work. You need to work the story.”

Why connections matter

People like to see reflections of themselves in the stories of others. When we recognize a part of ourselves in someone or believe we share an experience, we feel connected. “Sharing stories about what we’ve experienced and who we’ve become as a result of those experiences is one way we reveal who we are,” Nuriddin says. “If the listener, who is searching for the story’s relevance to their lives, believes that your experience—or how you view your experience—is similar to their perspective, they will feel connected.” Here’s why that matters. Stories can sell your brand on an emotional level.

“Facts and figures tell, but stories sell,” Devries says. Humans are hardwired for stories, since we began with oral traditions, and those are stories. And maybe those oral traditions stem from a natural desire to feel understood. Nuriddin says that if we share a background, experiences or point of view, we feel understood and recognized. “If customers believe that you ‘get them,’ they are more likely to trust you and believe you are creating experiences, products and services that will enhance their lives.” Experts say that 45 percent of our behavior is automatic. Habits build our invisible architecture, and stories trigger thought processes and emotions that help change our behaviors.

Getting it right

Outdoor apparel manufacturer Patagonia is an example of a brand that crafted an exceptional story about their products. “They communicate and stand for what they believe,” Ostholthoff says. “They live a cause and fulfill their brand promise with the actions of their people and the products they produce. A not-false story is better than an authentic brand, with a community of people who care and are connected by common beliefs.” The ingredients for telling the right story are simple. Know your intent—the impact you want the story to have. Be authentic, and remain relevant to the context and the listeners.

Techniques for Solid Storytelling Henry Devries, CEO of Indie Books International, offers the following methodologies for laying the foundation of a story that resonates with listeners. The strategy: Employ the same techniques as Hollywood, a $600 billion industry that is also known as “The Emotion Picture Capital of the World.”

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1. Start with a main character: This is your client. Make your main characters likable, so the listeners will root for them, describing their good qualities. 2. Have a nemesis character: Stories need conflict to be interesting. What person, institution, or condition stands in the character’s way? 3. Bring in a mentor character: A hero needs the help of a wise person. You can be the voice of wisdom and experience.

4. Know the story you are telling: Tell one of eight great meta stories: monster, underdog, comedy, tragedy, mystery, quest, rebirth or escape. 5. Always have the hero succeed: A tragic story is told as a cautionary tale, which is great for teaching lessons but not for attracting clients. 6. Give the listeners the moral of the story: Don’t count on the listeners to get the message. Your final job is to tell them what the story means.

BUSINESS

Cost

Channels P30 CANVAS AUGUST 2018

Return

Strategy

Feature Story: By Michael J. Pallerino

How (and why) print can work for your marketing plans

he edict was simple: increase sales. As Brett Farmiloe recalls, the instructions don’t get any simpler than that. Like most ecommerce

companies, conversion rate and cart aban-

donment are percentages that have some room for

Editor's Note: This is the second in a three-part series on how brands are using print as part of their overall marketing strategies. The first story— "Baiting the Hook — What Marketers Must Consider Before Launching a Campaign"— appeared in the April 2018 issue of CANVAS.

improvement. So, Farmiloe and his team at Markitors

sketched out a strategy to increase the company’s cart-

to-close rate. Inevitably, it landed on a strategy that combined email marketing with print and direct mail.

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The Anatomy of a Campaign To do this, the Markitors' team focused on customers who had abandoned their shopping cart. It set up automated email sequences that would trigger when customers left something in their cart. At the end of the sequence, if a customer still hadn't made a purchase, it sent out postcards. The integration of different mail methods—both direct and email—helped the client achieve its overall objective. The learning lesson? "Traditional and digital marketing can work together to achieve a marketing campaign objective," says Farmiloe, founder and CEO of the Scottsdale, Arizona-based digital marketing firm. It is the kind of challenge marketing firms like Markitors lives for. Marketing campaigns are about integration. That being said, Farmiloe says you must ask yourself, "How do all the components work together to accomplish the objective of the campaign?" If you want to stay on the simpleis-best approach to what constructs the perfect campaign strategy, build

“Understanding the strategy behind the entire project allows us to create pieces that tell a story and create a connection from piece to piece.” — Jeff Oehmen, Founder & Chief Creative Officer, Good Omen Creative

out and execution are your foundations. Every campaign needs a strategy designed to achieve an objective. Once the strategy is defined, a team must build out the necessary assets on the selected platforms. Next comes executing what's been laid out. "For us, we'll identify the objective of each channel," Farmiloe says. "If the method doesn't integrate with another channel to accomplish the campaign objective, it gets eliminated. If the method does integrate, we'll proceed." For each campaign, Markitors breaks down the considerations into five questions: What is the objective? What is the cost? What is the expected return? What are the channels? What's the strategy? "The objective, cost, return, channels and strategy encompass all the important considerations for a marketing campaign," Farmiloe says. "If you can define rough numbers and ideas

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in each of these areas, you've got the start of a marketing campaign." On the other side, it is imperative to look at the obstacles that could impact each campaign. Who is doing the execution? Do they have the skills and resources necessary to successfully execute? Truth be told, you have to measure your results, and traditional print has traditionally been tough to measure. "When print is involved, there needs to be key metrics to define success," Farmiloe says. "Great campaigns remove the major obstacles to give marketing professionals the leeway to execute a campaign as close to the strategy as possible." Print's entry into a campaign's strategy typically depends on the campaign. If print can be integrated with digital and supports the campaign objective, then Markitors will carve its place into the campaign. "Sometimes, print can assume the primary marketing method behind a campaign," Farmiloe says. "It all just depends on the campaign concept and objective."

In the case of the ecommerce company's campaign, postcards were a vital part of the strategy. In fact, the postcard approach is a favorite of the Markitors' team. Farmiloe believes that a lot more digital marketing firms will embrace the postcard strategy. "In the near future you'll see many of the popular email marketing platforms begin to offer postcard services to their customers," he says. "Why? Marketing today is data-driven. Postcards enable a marketer to take a traditional print method, leverage data, and go right to the customer with the highest likelihood to convert."

Why print can be a good omen

A few years ago, Good Omen Creative sat down with a commercial printing vendor to develop a new look for its tradeshow booth. The entire booth was printed using the company's printing resources. Pillows. Books. Two-sided glass for a table. They even printed a chair.

The environment, including the walls, were designed to look like a mid-century modern home. The booth ended up being used at Cannes for the advertising awards show. The job was one of the most memorable that Jeff Oehmen remembers involving print. "It really comes down to having a plan, a strategy and a team that all align with the goals of the project," says Oehmen, the founder and chief creative officer of Greenville, South Carolina-based creative firm. "Setting expectations with your team and client is a great place to start. Projects have a lot of moving parts, and if everyone isn’t on the same page, things can fall short." That’s why understanding the media and options are critical. Oehmen says you must do what’s possible, then

Every campaign needs a strategy designed to achieve an objective. Once the strategy is defined, a team must build out the necessary assets on the selected platforms. Next comes executing what’s been laid out.

try and push past that. Good Omen is a big fan of printed pieces, using brochures, collateral, business cards and direct mail to complement select campaigns. For one client, Parallel Financial, it even created a mini book. “It all has to make sense as a package,” Oehmen says. “All of the pieces we create need to tie together and make sense as a whole. Understanding the strategy behind the entire project allows us to create pieces that tell a story and create a connection from piece to piece. For print, what does the paper feel like? How well does it hold color? Will it help enhance the experience for the audience?” To get down to the details of what works and what doesn’t, the key is the questioning. The Good Omen team asks lots of questions. Who’s the

campaign for? What is the delivery method? “You have to understand the end goal,” Oehmen says. “When it’s print, you have look at photography, paper style, finishing pieces (etc.). We lean on our production staff and vendors to collaborate on the best solution for the idea and design.” You can also reach out to your local commercial printer and pick their brain for print ideas. They often are a wealth of knowledge, and have executed a variety of interesting and unique print campaigns. In the end, whatever pieces you put into play, the campaign must work. “Marketing is very much like rocket launches,” Farmiloe says. “The rocket either flies or it doesn’t. Marketing is the same way. A campaign launch either produces the desired results, or it doesn’t.”

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BRANDING

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Feature Story: By Greg Feature Chambers Story

Overcoming price objections before they overpower you If you’re selling toothpaste, you’ll find this less helpful than if you’re selling sales collateral document management systems. Before your next client discussion, keep these two ideas in mind to navigate pricing conversations and price objections. 1.

here in the decision process W is the discussion happening? Pricing comes up in two distinct places in a decision process: • When determining resources — ballparking. • And when it’s time to purchase — closing.

y work in business development includes a special by-product: pricing discussions. I like to provide ideas and language that my clients find helpful in working through price discussions with their clients. On the sales decision-making continuum from simple to complex, these ideas are most helpful for complex decision making.

It’s important to keep this in mind, because when you’re in the determining resources phase, you want to know if you and your client are in the same ballpark regarding value and ROI. The “price” during the resource stage is not meant to be accurate because you’re unlikely to close business in this phase. On the other hand, at closing, you and your client discuss pricing in very specific and accurate terms. The close is what comes to mind when most people hear “price objections,” so it helps to know that price is discussed in more than one place.

The close is what comes to mind when most people hear “price objections,” so it helps to know that price is discussed in more than one place.

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Future forward My point? Don’t think it’s a negotiation when price comes up in the early stages of a discussion. Instead, use good ballparking language which is general and covers all the relevant resources needed to build a solution, not just the money resource. For example: Prospect: “We want to deliver personalized content matching our buyer’s unique situation and stage in the buying cycle.” You: “Good. That’s exactly what we do. One thing we’ve learned in our work is that regardless of how attractive the outcome is, there are always resource limits. These include time, personnel and money. Before we get too deep into our solution, run through those resources with me.” • A sk about timeframes, pause for concerns and check that you’re in the same ballpark. • Ask about personnel requirements, pause for concerns and check that you’re in the same ballpark. • Then ask about budget, pause for concerns and check that you’re in the same ballpark.

Get challenges out on the table right away and be willing to walk away or reapproach the prospect another time.

When I say, “pause for concerns,” it’s the time to address client answers that suggest you may not be in the same ballpark. For example, when asking about timeframes and the prospect says, "We want to go live January 1" and you know it's unrealistic, pause and address it. It's not unusual for your prospect to need help learning what’s realistic, so help them by using language like, “Others like you, looking for similar results, have [used this timeframe/committed these personnel/allocated this budget]; does that sound right to you?” To keep the discussion moving, use ranges and estimates, keeping numbers within 50 percent of accurate at the most. If the suggested budget is $40,000$60,000 and the actual comes in anywhere from $30,000-$75,000, you’re in the ballpark. It sounds like, “Based on what you're describing, other businesses like yours, looking for similar outcomes, have invested between $40,000 and $60,000. Is this what you are expecting?” Ballparking works because it’s not a negotiation. You’re simply determining if the conversation should continue. Which brings up the question, when should you walk away? I suggest you verbally take your solution away if you’re not in the ballpark. If you know it will be a $200,000 investment and the client has $50,000 to get results, you’re too far apart. It’s better to know today than be disappointed tomorrow. Which brings me to the second idea. 2. D oes the budget match the desired outcome? In my experience, massive project ROI is unusual. Price tends to match outcomes. Big wins happen, but you can’t plan for them. If your buyer expects a $1MM return this year and they want to invest $50K to get it, I'm suggesting there is a mismatch. In the direct marketing business, we used to say, “invest $1000, expect $1000,” because ROI builds over time. I tell clients that it's reasonable to talk in terms of 10X returns over a three- to five-year horizon, just identify leading indicators showing you're on track. If you run into a mismatch between their budget and their

desired outcome, try this language: “I’m confused. We’ve been talking about a massive benefit to your company, but you’re only willing to invest a small amount to get there. What am I missing?” They can answer that question one of two ways. They can either describe why the outcome is critical to their business, or they can describe why their budget is fixed. I worked with a company that exhibited years of steady growth. Their goal was to triple their growth rate; however, they were unwilling to invest any more in the project than what current cash flows allowed. It was an obvious disconnect: They wanted a lottery ticket. I used the language above, and listened for what was more important, the triple growth, or the cash flow. It was cash flow, and once it was agreed on we focused on increasing their current growth rate. As with idea No. 1, I suggest you invest time at the front end of the discussion to determine if the conversation should continue. If the ROI sounds unrealistic, it’s best to know now so you can avoid painful delivery issues later. Your prospect will thank you, too. But what if they’re still not talking? There will be times, even when you’re armed with multiple ways to engage in pricing discussions prior to the proposal, that prospects will hold their cards close to the vest and not talk about the dollar resources required to get the outcomes they want. If you encounter this scenario, I tell clients that it may be in everyone's best interest to walk away. I know that's easy for me to say, and hard for you to do. But I've found that if the buyer doesn't feel comfortable talking in general terms about the resources required for a solution that is in their best interest, there is an underlying trust issue. If they don't trust you to act in their best interest, my guess is that you’ll never meet their expectations, and everyone walks away unhappy. Get challenges out on the table right away and be willing to walk away or re-approach the prospect another time. It will pay off over time in higher proposal to close rates, higher margins, and happier clients.

Greg Chambers, founder of Chambers Pivot Industries LLC, helps companies design sales and marketing strategies that are a perfect fit for their business. He is also author of “The Human Being’s Guide to Business Growth: A Simple Process for Unleashing the Power of Your People for Growth.” For more information, visit chamberspivot.com.

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Feature Story: ByFeature Linda Bishop Story

arcia knocked on Brian’s office door with a grin on her face. “I sold MegaCorp.” Marcia said. “They just gave me my first job.” “That’s great,” Brian said. He was the VP of sales at Big Print, and Marcia was one of nine sales representatives who reported to him. “I almost can’t believe it finally happened," Marcia said. "More than once, I was ready to give up. But every time I wanted to quit, you convinced me to keep going.” MegaCorp buys lots of printing and deeply cares about quality and service. "We should be a good fit for them,” Brian said, turning to his computer screen to do a quick search. "According to the CRM, you were assigned to MegaCorp in 2017. That was only last year.” “It feels longer, but chasing this account taught me one big lesson,” Marcia said. “What did you learn?” Brian asked. Marcia thought for a moment, and replied, “When sales cycles are longer, you need to be smarter about which leads to pursue because you’re going to have to invest to win.”

Imagine this. You have a prospect named Taylor. She prints with the competition, but isn’t thrilled by its quality or service. In fact, she spent her lunch hour complaining to her co-worker, Kate, about how difficult it was to produce her last brochure. Taylor isn’t happy, but she won’t take a meeting with you. Why? Because she is crazy-busy planning new collateral for a product launch to coincide for the biggest tradeshow of the year. Here's the truth about selling in 2018. In many instances, your biggest barrier to getting a meeting with a prospect isn’t his loyalty to existing suppliers. The brick wall you have to bust through is the prospect’s belief that he barely has time to manage his existing priorities. Buyer angst about lack of time isn’t changing anytime soon. To open a new account, you must be pleasantly persistent

Your strategy for competing, winning and growing

and put in the work it takes to win the buyer’s respect. You also need a plan so the buyer remembers you and understands enough about your company’s value to agree to a meeting when the timing is right. If you have to chase a lead for a year (or two), you must decide if the account is worth the investment. To do that, ask three questions: 1. How much time are you willing to put in on a monthly basis to nurture a lead? 2. What is the potential payoff for success? 3. What do you need to communicate in your messages so the lead finds value and is receptive to a meeting when the timing is right?

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Winning the marathon Investing time

At Thought Transformation, our best practice is to make a concentrated push to get a meeting over a set amount of time— either 90 or 120 days. During this time, we contact the lead anywhere between 12 to 20 times. If the lead doesn’t respond during the push period, we move them to a nurturing phase. During nurturing, we continue to keep in touch, but with a reduced level of contact. If the company doesn't have a formalized nurturing program set up, the simplest way to do this is using the Thought Transformation 3-in-30 Touch Cycle™. The 3-in-30 uses three types of touches: 1. Send a piece of mail—It can be as simple as a sample with a handwritten note 2. Email to follow up with information about the sample and a statement about a benefit 3. Call to see if the lead would like additional information

challenge. Assess the payoff to determine if the lead is worth the effort.

The value of a lead

Invest time in nurturing a lead if he meets these basic criteria. First, do you believe the lead is likely to buy what you sell, and buys enough volume to offer a payoff for time invested? To make a guestimate on potential spend, think about how the lead could use your services to accomplish his business goals. Does he sell directly to customers or through distributors? What type of materials could support the company’s sales efforts? Does he attend events, use direct mail or have retail outlets? If he appears to spend a substantial amount, is it reasonable to assume the prospect account will buy from a company like yours? For example, consider selling to American Express. Is your company big enough to compete? Do you have the right equipment base? Does your location offer any disadvantages? Even though American Express buys printing, only a few companies are big enough to sell and service them. When you're looking at investing time in nurturing activities, selecting accounts that fit your company will increase the odds of making a sale. Last, nurture accounts where you're dealing with non-responsiveness, not outright rejection. Let’s say you catch a lead on the phone. He listens to your pitch and says, “I am the buyer, but I’m not interested in changing. Please take me off your list.” At this fork in the road, you have a choice. You can listen, take the lead off your pursuit list, and replace him with a new and potentially more viable option. Or, you can continue to nurture the lead, spending time on an account that has communicated lack of interest in no uncertain terms. I vote for replacing the lead—at least for now.

Invest time in nurturing a lead if he meets these basic criteria. First, do you believe the lead is likely to buy what you sell, and buys enough volume to offer a payoff for time invested?

Messaging to win

Time these three touches out over the course of a month so the lead hears from you approximately every 10 days. Along with touching the leads in your nurture cycle on a regular basis, take a few minutes to stay on top of any news about your lead and his company. Check LinkedIn to determine if your lead was promoted, left the company or changed his job title. Is there anyone new at the account with a title that justifies an investigation? Skim news announcements about the account. Watch for trigger events like new product introductions. When there's a change within a company, it can act as the catalyst that causes your lead to decide today is the day to investigate new options. Nurturing a lead requires an investment of time. I recommend planning to spend 45 minutes to an hour for each lead in your nurturing program. You'll have enough time to execute the 3-in-30 Touch Cycle, plus time for research, too. For busy sales professionals who are already working multiple accounts, finding time for nurturing activities can be a

If a lead offers a substantial payoff and doesn’t reject your overtures outright, your nurturing strategy should combine quantity with quality. Using Thought Transformation’s 3-in30 Touch Cycle ensures you communicate frequently enough to build mindshare and allow the lead to develop a basic understanding of your company’s benefits. Quality is delivering a message that your lead regards as interesting and relevant. For more thoughts on messaging, check out my article, “How Your Message Can Make a Difference,” in the June 2018 issue of CANVAS. The story includes pointers on creating benefit-driven messages and gives you a framework for writing effective emails. As I said earlier, often your biggest competition is not the printer across town, but the buyer’s existing priorities. When your message aligns with the buyer’s priorities, your lead is more likely to act. Longer sales cycles are affecting every B2B company, not just printers. For sales professionals and sales leaders to win, the first step is accepting the new normal. The second step is to adjust your selling strategy. With patience, persistence and a plan, you can compete, win and grow. Good selling.

Linda Bishop, a longtime veteran of the commercial printing industry, is the founder of Thought Transformation Inc. (www.thoughttransformation.com), which trains and consults companies and sales professionals on how to sell more and reach their full potential. You can reach her at lindabishop@thoughttransformation.com.

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