Cup-a-Joe

Last week Google was attempting to purchase Groupon for about $5-6 Billion (Groupon since then has decided to stay independent).  Groupon is a company that is only two years old and carving out new ways to offer local advertising and promotion services. The purchase price for this fledgling company was a number that FAR exceeds the annual profits for the entire printing industry.  Although one has to question whether this could be a good use of funds for Google, or that Andrew Mason, Groupon’s founder, was a fool for not taking the money, we can not ignore the fact that there are new players in the world which was historically dominated by print producers.  read more »

For the past decade, we have heard from the manufacturers of variable print equipment about the power of 1:1 marketing.  Yet, it’s been a very slow struggle to get there.  Initially it was technology.  Remember the first variable print engines? RIP processing speeds?  The cost?  The quality (lack thereof)?  Those are no longer issues.  Yet, the needle is still moving slowly. 

A recent study by the Annenberg School for Communication, UC Berkeley School of Law, and the Annenberg Public Policy Center shines an interesting light on how consumers react when they realize how data is gathered.  Check out this interesting summary on Print In The Mix.  The issue of 1:1 marketing is a lot more complex than what one is led to believe.

The folks at CEO Forum provided an interesting link this morning – no, it’s not an April Fool’s Joke.  Seton Hill University, a small Catholic Liberal Arts university in Pennsylvania, will provide 2010 incoming Freshman with MacBook laptop and an iPad.  Why?  Let me quote from their website, Twenty-first century students live in a world of technology and collaboration where learning happens 24 hours a day and is supported by professors, friends, professional experts, and fellow learners in the classroom, on the web, and around the world.

The Griffin Technology Advantage, Seton Hill’s commitment to provide students with the best in technology and collaborative learning tools, ensures that Seton Hill students will be uniquely suited to whatever careers they choose – even those that have not yet been created.I think this is very representative of the changes which are rapidly affecting print and visual communications.  What are you doing to become more knowledgeable about the tools which will continue to impact the way we communicate — today and in the future?

I recently sat in on a webinar produced by Mike Messemer with XMPie.  The gist of the presentation dealt with the complexity of variable data projects and that many sales reps (and their companies) are poorly prepared to deal with them.  He stressed the need for good planning and the need to communicate effectively with the client regarding expected results from these types of projects.  Boy, did he hit the nail on the head. read more »

I read an interesting “tidbit” from Dick Gorelick the other day.  Although many find Dick’s critical cynicism bothersome, I find it refreshing.  He challenges the status quo and that’s a good thing.  His comments were based on research by Princeton Survey Research Associates International which found that when individuals were informed about the methods used to gather data in order to personalize advertising (tracking of activities on websites, history of behavior on websites previously visited, offline shopping behavior, and history), as many as 86% of respondents said they do not want that advertising.  Almost 70% support a law that would allow consumers to access all the data known about them due to Internet tracking, and 92% favor a law requiring websites and marketers to delete all stored information about a consumer upon request.  Gorlick’s question was “what does this portend for the model of 1:1 marketing and the future of the print/marketing provider utilizing digital technology?”

I think this is a valid discussion – many will not want to hear it because we are creating an entire industry (or reforming it) based on the ability to customize the message.  From the marketer’s perspective, it’s equivalent to the Holy Grail.  To the individual who does not like direct marketing in his mail box; does not like phone calls from phone solicitors; and dislikes spam (doesn’t that sound like most of us?), he or she will have a very strong message which can be sent to legislators regarding privacy.

This topic should be very important to firms who are beginning to embrace the Marketing Services Provider (MSP) model.  As these firms travel down the path of dealing with “soft” issues like marketing and buyer perceptions rather than “hard” issues like dots and paper, life becomes much more complex.  We’re no longer in Kansas, Toto.

In a recent article to his clients, marketing consultant Dick Gorelick noted how it is difficult to ascertain what is truly happening to the industry.  He showed that certain parts of the newspaper industry (metro areas) are suffering while others (suburban newspapers) are doing very well.  He contrasted the reduced circulations of “Businessweek,” “Fortune,” and the bankruptcy of “Reader’s Digest” with the growth of the “Food Network” magazine from 300,000 to over 1 million in one year.  read more »

I was recently reading an article in “Business Week” by Rob Hof about Google’s newest tool and was pleasantly surprised to read these words by Hof, “Print has its advantages. In addition to its portability, a magazine or newspaper is easy to flip through to find what you’re looking for, or run across articles or ads you didn’t know you’d want to read.” 

This issue of readability is one of the big advantages that print has over electronic media.  BUT, Google is presently attacking this with the subject of his article, their Fast Flip tool.  

If one is to find ways to defeat the Barbarians (or at least slow them down), one has to realize that today’s technocrats (Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, Adobe) are constantly finding ways to make visual communications easier AND more like print!  Thus, it becomes more important than ever to look at print’s strengths and continue to explore ways to have our clients understand these strengths and how they can parlay them to help their business.  Sticking our head in the sand and hoping the Barbarians will go away is not the answer.  Of course, a long-term answer is to find ways to assimilate the Barbarians and make them part of our solution.

Malcolm Gladwell’s text, which I read several years ago, observed that “tipping points occur when the momentum for change becomes unstoppable.”  I wonder if our industry is reaching that point regarding digital print technologies.

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