Vision Graphics Inc. Engaging Marketing Minds
TM
Vol. 4, Issue 5, September/October 2014
TUNIN G IN How chan to crea nel yo INS u t i r v find ity, The I D E intim acy and courag Les of p s o ns i d e rint e n ra conv fy The dica auto case f entio l inn mat or m ova n ion tion arke tin g
Vision Graphics|Eagle:xm’s New Komori High-Efficiency 8-Color Press With UV Curing Technology
transcendS the standard perception that all printing companies produce the same end result.
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Transcending Perceptions
publisher ’s letter
I
t may be time to step away from your computer and consider the idea that there’s nothing like a traditional, face-to-face discussion. And while these kinds of interactions are in short supply in our highly electronic world, they’re more valuable than ever. The perception we get from spending time with other people is not something that can be conveyed through a computer screen, and those who add face-to-face discussions to their marketing mix will always have a competitive advantage. Everything seems so scripted these days. Google provides answers in a moment’s notice, while YouTube, Facebook and Twitter keep us entranced. In turn, everything can be so distant that we long for the days when brands connected with us on a more personal level. Ironically, when we connect on a personal level, something magical happens. We begin to find our own voices and receive valuable feedback through the understanding of other viewpoints.
Transcending perceptions has a different meaning these days. It’s about having a conversation, spending time with others and looking people in the eyes. Most important, it means engaging people on a more intimate level and going beyond their perception of your brand. Whatever the scenario, going back to old school basics is more than being hip. It’s about reclaiming some of the values we may have lost in the digital world. It’s about rediscovering what we think or feel. In other words, the digital world can seem pretty antiseptic; especially when it feels like it dictates our every move. Being human means we must realize a better version of ourselves. This is at the core of what great marketers understand. Marketing is about having a relationship with a community. And in the old school book, relationships take time, care and a great amount of empathy. That kind of closeness cannot be replicated digitally. We still need to have conversations that make us think and share opinions that come from our hearts, rather than Google. Marketing minds get this idea, and the best of the best are connecting through the creation of relevant content and empathy. In other words, they are tuned in. So how did Vision/Eagle tune in and engage our market? We started by having old school conversations with our clients. We valued their input and really listened to their challenges (how to get to market quicker without losing design freedom, hyper-precise imaging and high-gloss UV color output). We adjusted our strategies and invested in new technology, the Komori Lithrone H-UV press that not only met their unique marketing communication challenges head on – but also transcended their perceptions – that not all printing companies produce the same end-results. Our cover story, “Tuning In” addresses the idea of finding our own voice and engaging markets at an old school level. The story drives home the fact that we, as marketers, are responsible for finding the voice of our brands, while simultaneously engaging our markets on the most intimate level – transcending perceptions. In addition, our second feature, “The Intimacy of Print,” reminds us that, while print may seem old school, it remains a wonderful way to connect. Enjoy the issue and feel free to go old school. Warmest regards,
Mark Steputis Publisher
CONTENTS 03 Publisher’s Letter Transcending Perceptions
04 The Inbox
06 Tuning in How to channel your creativity, find courage and defy convention
10 The intimacy of print Something old, something new
14 Trending with... Serial entrepreneur Jill Salzman
15 All print, all the time Reports shows medium still strong form of content access
Publisher
Mark Steputis mark.steputis@visiongraphics-inc.com
Managing Editor
Michele McCreath michele.mccreath@visiongraphics-inc.com
Art Direction
Brent Cashman Connect is published bimonthly copyright 2014. All rights reserved For more information contact Michele McCreath at michele.mccreath@visiongraphics-inc.com Vision Graphics Inc. – connect • September/October 2014
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The
Inbox
The case for marketing automation
A
ccording to research by RazorSocial, 25 percent of the companies that have adopted marketing automation solutions reported a boost in revenue between 30 percent and 49 percent. The numbers reveal that more than 10 percent saw a 50 percent to 74 percent increase, and almost 20 percent experienced greater than a 75 percent increase in revenue. The key: Don’t skimp on investing in implementation. Without a plan or target dates to achieve each stage, the implementation process will drag on, costing you valuable time and money, the research shows.
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September/October 2014 • connect – Vision Graphics Inc.
New day dawning Marketers moving away from traditional tactics, survey shows It was bound to happen. According to a report by Regalix, marketers are steadily moving away from many traditional search tactics and are becoming increasingly content focused. The “2014 State of Search Marketing Report” shows that 73 percent of marketers now are creating content as a part of their organic search marketing efforts, surpassing the number who engage in practices traditionally held to be the core of SEO. Here are some of the most common tactics deployed by today’s marketers as part of organic SEO landing pages search marketing:
75% 73%
Content creation
69%
Meta tags
65%
Blogs
g ringin to b e t of timt we need es o l a spend market, bu launch giv l l ’ e W ct to act that a rt and no u d o r p r the f head sta itors o f n pla nth pet o m m o x i c nto us a s While our e to get i ng v i . more up, we ha eady mov lr catch ndset of a g. i lly in radica e h the m he next th t n il, o ages t o s Reta tive advant t n o x i n o eti of D comp CMO
54% Social media integration 52%
Link building
The Dream Café:
Lessons in the Art of Radical Innovation By Duncan Bruce & Geoff Crook
The percent of companies that respond to customer complaints via social media within one hour, according to research by social media analytics and management firm Sprinklr. The research also shows that 21 percent never respond to negative comments at all, resulting in 26 percent getting tarnished reputations, 15 percent losing customers and 11 percent losing revenue.
new ker, ife of y Boo – Gar ned shelf l shorte
I
n a new landscape filled with innovators and disruptors, successful brands (and those wanting to reach that status) are the ones that deliberately defy logic. If you are looking to travel down that path, this book is for you. The Dream Café offers an introduction to the lessons brand owners can learn from emulating the way artists think and work. Utilizing a dip-in/dip-out approach in the form of “A to Z,” The Dream Café argues that the kind of radical and edgy art that has historically served to provoke, challenge and disrupt the status quo evolved from illogical and irreverent ways of thinking and doing. Authors Duncan Bruce and Geoff Crook argue that your business must emulate the Avant-Garde in order to survive and prosper. Readers are shown how to put Dream Café thinking into place and increase creativity and innovation in their work and around their brands. The Dream Café is a book that can take you and your brand where it wants – and needs – to go. Vision Graphics Inc. – connect • September/October 2014
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TUNIN G IN How find to cha cour nne By M age l you icha el J r cre and . Pa llerin defy ativ o conv ity, enti on
V
enture Management Consultants doesn’t have a sales force. Never has. When John Murphy started the executive management and training firm in 1988, the former Notre Dame quarterback envisioned a company that could not “ Always remember only inspire and lead change, but also deliver that you are customer value in a absolutely that was better, unique. Just like way faster, easier and at a everyone else.” lower cost than any of – Margaret Mead his competitors.
The lack of a sales force was an interesting concept for a new company. Murphy’s game plan was to create a business model that would provide the kind of customer service that would prompt his customers to promote his company through referrals and word of mouth. Murphy called it “leading from the inside, out.” If his customers started feeling like he was looking out for their best interests, and not just his own, together they could build a healthy and prosperous relationship that bred other relationships.
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Tuning in It was a strategy that defied the way “ There is an most companies build and grow a business. But Murphy says that’s why the strategy adherence to worked. With an innate ability to tune in to what his company offered and the audivalues and morals ence it was targeting, Murphy could do nothing but succeed. that can protect Today, Venture directs what Murphy calls “conscious” business you from danger, improvement. His client roster includes companies such as GE, but to overly focus Hilton, Chase, BMW, Target, on past successes Toyota, the U.S. Navy and the CIA, to name a few. Venture can distract you from partners with its clients and uses best practices to imthe future challenges prove their customer service and financial performance. and cliffs from which “Trust is the bedrock to any healthy relationyou could quickly fall.” ship,” says Murphy, – Mark Faust, Principal, Echelon Management
Venture’s founder and CEO. “We build trust by making commitments, keeping our word and consistently walking our talk. When
we build trust, we build credibility, an essential component in customer service, innovation, leadership and teamwork. Without credibility, we have no influence. People don’t take us seriously. Customers doubt us. The best way to get customers to promote us is to give them good reason to.” Ask any successful entrepreneur, and he will tell you that true success comes from finding the confidence to compete in any environment, the creativity to find your own voice, and the courage to defy convention against all odds. Success, truth be told, is about conquering fear. “The most important secret to overcoming fear is to recognize first that it is an illusion of the mind; it is self-generated,” Murphy says. “What scares one person does not necessarily scare another.” As an award-winning author, speaker and international business consultant, Murphy is all about jumping into the face of fear and screaming “boo.” “We create fear by doubting ourselves and assuming the worst. It is also important to recognize that fear is not in the present, but always a projection of the mind into the future. The same is true for anxiety and stress. We feel afraid when we create a picture in the mind’s eye of something painful, risky or emotionally disturbing in the future. This projection, surrounded by assumption, drives us to feel anxious and afraid. We could just as easily project a positive assumption into the future and see the world in a different way. Having faith and seeing a positive outcome in advance is critical to living life with confidence, poise and grace.”
Standing in the pocket Ever seen the movie “Jerry Maguire?” How about “Any Given Sunday” or “For the Love of the Game?” Perhaps you were a fan of HBO’s “Arli$$.” On each of these projects, David Meltzer served as a creative and technical consultant, helping to provide guidance on how professional sports agents walk and talk. His work was part of his time at Leigh Steinberg Sports & Entertainment, where, along with Steinberg and former NFL quarterback Warren Moon, he negotiated more than $2 billion in sports and entertainment contracts. Today, Meltzer is CEO of the Warren Moon-led enterprise, Sports 1 Marketing, a job that requires he operate across all levels of the sports and entertainment business. The fast changing and everdemanding environment requires
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the kind of quick thinking and moxie to which fear actually can be an ally, if you use the emotion correctly. “Self-confidence is really the key to everything,” Meltzer says. “Fear breeds caution, and caution should be a good thing. It engenders assessment and planning – two key elements to success.” So, rather than let your fear constrict you, Meltzer believes you should use it to facilitate success. “Fear emanates from our ego, which is edging goodness out of our lives. It separates us from a strong connection to goodness. It’s that strong connection to goodness that provides us with clarity, balance and focus. It gives us the confidence to attract everything to us and allows us to take action on what needs to be done.” Finding the courage to succeed is the key to success across all fronts, making the “thatwhich-does-not-kill-us-only-makes-us-stronger” mentality as prevalent today as it ever was. “If we allow it to, failure educates us,” Meltzer says. “We learn from our mistakes. The key is to recognize and accept that failure is a part of life. It is part of our journey. Unless we are failing, we are not trying. It is staying aware that we are living within the learning zone. It’s where we need to make mistakes. And then it’s what we do with those mistakes that is essential.” Mark Faust believes you can face – and conquer – fear by getting out in front of it. He says many of us are cable of predicting the great majority of the likely outcomes in any “scary” situation. “It’s about thinking four or more steps ahead,” says Faust, a growth advisor, turn-around facilitator and principal with Echelon Management. “We only fear one or two of the outcomes, but the key is to think out excellent responses to these most likely and/or most concerning outcomes. By the time we’ve prepared our minds for the top 80 percent of outcomes, we will move forward with greater alacrity and better handle any of the impending outcomes.” Since Echelon Management’s inception in 1990, Faust has conducted hundreds of sessions for clients from companies such as Apple, IBM, Monsanto, John Deere, P&G and Bayer, among others. In all of his dealings, Faust remains true to the belief that you must recognize the part of your past that includes your failures. If you don’t, you are not only likely to react slower to making corrections, but also apt to repeating them. “There is a compelling magnetic vision that can draw you in and accelerate you toward
“If we allow it to, failure educates us. We learn from our mistakes. The key is to recognize and accept that failure is a part of life. It is part of our journey.” – David Meltzer, CEO, Sports 1 Marketing
accomplishment (if you let it),” Faust says. “Most important, it can accelerate innovation, which in turn allows you to leap-frog your competition. If you are unwilling to move the portraits of the founders around, you’ll be so stuck in repeating their steps that you’ll be passed by on the road like a four-cylinder engine being one-upped by eight-cylinder turbos. There is an adherence to values and morals that can protect you from danger, but to overly focus on past successes can distract you from the future challenges and cliffs from which you could quickly fall.” Vision Graphics Inc. – connect • September/October 2014
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of
w e n g n i h t e m o s , d l o g n i h t e m o S Bryan By Lorrie
ocial media has transformed birthdays into big deals. It’s not unusual for friends and family you actually haven’t spoken with in years to join the birthday frenzy, posting wishes, songs and photos on your Facebook or Instagram pages. But most people still find birthday cards that arrive in the mail far more engaging than a hasty social media message or e-card. In fact, despite all of the recent changes in the way we communicate, most of life’s more cherished messages are conveyed in print, and perhaps tucked away to be held and admired over and over again.
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The intimacy of print
While print is in a rapid state of evolution, it remains an essential part of most integrated marketing plans. The key to successful print inclusion in marketing plans today is creativity.” – Crystal McKinsey, Founder & CEO, McKinsey Development
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Wedding invitations are no exception. Despite the popularity of Evite and other online invitation sites, when it comes to the big day, nothing says “big” like a beautifully engraved invitation. Casual weddings and wedding websites are on the rise, but formal wedding invitations – with their cottons, foils and multiple envelopes – are more popular than ever. The much-loved wedding website “The Knot” reports that the average cost for wedding invitations in 2013 was $450. Prices range from about $2 each for digitally printed invitations available through online websites, to $10 or more for beautifully engraved invitations from a storied stationery retailer like Crane & Co. Why does this pricey tradition persist? “When the recipient holds it, he or she can feel the richness of the paper and the detail that went into the printing,” says Katie
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Lacey, president of Crane Stationery. “We live in an instantaneous, electronic age, and so knowing someone took the time to put a personalized piece of paper in the mail leaves a lasting impression no email or text message can compete with.” The fact remains that, while digital messages often are fast and fleeting, print done right lingers to engage again and again. Marketing experts say the key to using print effectively is to use it creatively. “While print is in a rapid state of evolution, it remains an essential part of most integrated marketing plans,” says Crystal McKinsey, founder and CEO of the integrated marketing communications firm McKinsey Development. “You can touch it, feel it, distribute it and share it in a way that is more tangible than digital outreach. The key to successful print inclusion in marketing plans today is
We live in an instantaneous, electronic age, and so knowing someone took the time to put a personalized piece of paper in the mail leaves a lasting impression no email or text message can compete with.” – Katie Lacey, President, Crane Stationery
creativity. Print pieces that are unique, interesting and on brand with the rest of your integrated plan are more likely to gain response. Instead of sending out a direct mail piece with push messaging, consider mailing an invitation to visit a personalized URL that hosts content enticing enough to inspire the next user action, for example.” Understanding your objective and your message and taking the appropriate marketing approaches are key. “Our main goal is not to sell more presentation folders,” says Vladimir Gendelman, founder and CEO of Company Folders, an online presentation folder boutique that has thrived since inception more than a decade ago. “Our goal is to educate our customers and help them effectively meet their marketing objectives. Print offers engagement opportunities that other marketing tools cannot.”
Gendelman says that all messages feel the same when you touch them on your iPad screen. Print has the capability of engaging on another level through touch. “You can effectively use print to convey your style and distinguish your brand through the sense of touch by varying elements of the paper and the ink. Holding something in your hand is an experience that cannot be replicated digitally. Many of the high-quality folders we make are repurposed or held on to, keeping the message alive on a subconscious level.” Business-to-business marketers are finding that good, old-fashioned “snail” mail is becoming one of the most effective ways to get their printed message in front of the right people. Studies indicate that, while the average businessperson receives in excess of 100 emails a day, he receives a personal mail piece once every seven weeks. This underutilized medium can serve as an invaluable way to garner the attention of prospective clients. And advances in print technology offer new ways to get your message across. “Print today is more versatile than ever,” McKinsey says. “In fact, with the advent of 3D printing technology, a brand can print on almost anything. Print pieces can also be more personalized than ever before. Variable data printing, for example, allows a marketer to customize and personalize brand messaging by criteria ranging from industry to gender, brand purchase history, and more.” QR codes continue to be an effective bridge from print to digital marketing, and many people are using QR codes as part of an integrated messaging campaign – even brides. A classic
engraved wedding invitation (a mingling of gold and copper inks on pearl white, 100 percent cotton paper) that displays a QR code (that links to a website with gift registries, videos of the bride and groom, and directions to the wedding venue) is the perfect melding of something old and something new. Crane & Co., which has been evolving and thriving for more than two centuries, prides itself on impeccable hand craftsmanship and celebrating the tradition of classic correspondence. They are one of the first major invitation retailers to offer wedding invitations with QR codes that link to a wedding website. Says Lacy, “I think the most successful communicators find a way to combine the two, whether it is by including a letterpress printed QR code on an invitation or an engraved Twitter handle on a business card.”
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Q&A:
Interview with Jill Salzman
Trending with ... Serial entrepreneur Jill Salzman
J
ill Salzman knows a good opportunity when she sees one. The acclaimed serial entrepreneur is on her third entrepreneurial venture, The Founding Moms. As one of the first and only kidfriendly collective of monthly meet-ups for mom entrepreneurs, it provides an opportunity to exchange ideas, connect and learn from one another. The highly sought-after speaker has been featured in national media outlets such as CNN’s Headline News, People Magazine, The Chicago Tribune, WGN TV and the widely popular podcast, “Breaking Down Your Business,” among others. In addition, Salzman recently was named one of the “Top 50 Women to Watch in Tech” and “Top 100 Champion Small Business Influencers.” Here, she explains why entrepreneurism still matters and what it means to you.
Why is the art of entrepreneurism alive and well today? If I’d known it was an art form, I’d have started my days as an entrepreneur a whole lot sooner. It’s alive and well, thanks to creative minds supporting said arts. The internet has done a tremendous amount for entrepreneurship. It has provided a place for folks who could not otherwise launch a business to start one. It has created a central place for creative folks to connect with one another and get more creative. It has permitted folks to find outlets that educate them on how to further their own thing – whether it be an article, a podcast, a website or an active social community. Opportunity is everywhere now, and as a serial entrepreneur, I love that it seems to be growing at a more rapid pace than ever before.
Define the toughest lesson(s) you learned during all your business ventures. The toughest lessons have been the long-tail lessons. It never works out that I learn the tough stuff because of one mishap or event that occurred. It’s always making the mistake 457 times and getting that slow “waaaaait a second” realization that washes over you. Major challenges like the fact that I spent years charging less than I was worth. Or undervaluing processes to make my business flow more smoothly. Or overlooking serious obstacles because optimism is more fun. I’m sure there are more tough lessons in store, but they’re always slow to realize, and then hit me over the head like a ton of bricks. That’s half the fun of entrepreneurship, right?
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What’s the lesson every business owner can learn from The Founding Moms? There is value in meeting face to face. So much value, in fact, that it cannot be explained in an article – you’d have to join The Founding Moms to understand completely. They say that 90 percent of interaction is nonverbal. So whatever you’re hoping to get out of connections, contacts, a network, colleagues, sponsors, customers or clients, you can get much more effectively from making a face rather than using a phone, Skype, Google Hangout or other ways of communicating. Meeting up is the way to do better business.
Opportunity is everywhere now, and as a serial entrepreneur, I love that it seems to be growing at a more rapid pace than ever before.
September/October 2014 • connect – Vision Graphics Inc.
How important is it to have a work/life balance? There’s no such thing. And if you could even possibly balance work and life out, I’m not sure you’d be having any fun. Trying to get to this mythical place of balance is like trying to find the unicorn. It’s a huge headache, accomplishes little, and just adds more stress by constantly trying to figure it out. It’s not important to me – some days I focus more on work, some days more on life, and often, the two overlap. But I love that people still pretend it exists.
Before You
All print, all the time
Go
Report shows medium still strong form of content access
W
hile U.S. publishers may debate the future of print, they seem to agree on the importance it still plays in accessing content. According to the "Cxense Publishing Profitability Survey," 37 percent of U.S. magazine and newspaper publishing executives believe print will continue to be the primary way readers access their content. Here are what they deem the most important forms of content access:
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Vision Graphics, Inc. 5105 E. 41st Ave. Denver, CO 80216
Not just a thought leader but a great place to work WE ARE HIRING TALENTED PEOPLE!
Vision Graphics/Eagle:xm is a thriving marketing communications solutions provider. As one of Colorado’s 250 fastest growing privately owned companies and one of the top 400 largest printers in America, we help business use technology to create innovative and impactful connections across print and digital channels. Vision Graphics/Eagle:xm is looking for talented people to join our company. If you are interested in increasing your sales and working with Fortune 500 companies, contact us at
employment@visiongraphics-inc.com. DENVER 5105 East 41st Avenue Denver, Colorado 80216 www.eaglexm.com
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