Master Productions News & Announcements

XMPie's Creative Spin on Calendar Printing

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 14:43:18 -0400

XMPie, a premier print marketing software company wanted to send out a unique holiday greeting to existing prospects and customers to demonstrate the promotional cross media marketing capabilities of their program. The ability of the variable data software had to be experienced by printers, the leading target purchasers of XMPie’s technology, so that they could understand the full potential of the cross-media capabilities. Personalized URL’s, which are intimately related to the variable data printing, were designed within a campaign that highlighted interaction and one-to-one capacity.

Out of an international audience of 1,871 printers who received the direct mail holiday greeting, 31.6% participated in the cross-media campaign by visiting their PURL. The holiday greeting card took an interesting spin as a 12 month calendar, while the inserts were delivered to customers and prospects in an appealing case. Content directed the recipients to a PURL for information on how the variable data on the calendar printing was created and how they could use the variable data technology for their own marketing. A follow up email reminder was sent to the recipients who had not yet visited their personalized landing pages.

The copy of the calendar was translated into 6 different languages, while each month contained a theme focused on an XMPie value proposition, like creating new revenue streams and tracking media in real time. The targeted messages in the landing pages contained tailored copy for the prospect and for the existing customer. The calendar direct mail piece included colorful graphics and collage imagery that incorporated numerous variables, including the recipients first and last names, company names, street addresses, cities, states or country.

So, why was this campaign such a success? Never underestimate the power of creativity. The personalized imagery in the campaign was colorful and fun, while the marketing message showcased XMPie’s value propositions all year round.

Better Print Design: 10 Easy Tips

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 16:57:21 -0400

Bleeds are a safety zone
There will always be paper and design inconsistencies. When you leave room on your document for the printer to move around on, you put your designs in a safety zone. To be safe, ensure that colors and designs that touch the edges, leak out about 3 mm on through the sides.

Have a blast with overprint
Sometimes, your budget will limit you to the amount of colors you can use. If you are limited to only 2 PMS colors, experiment with overprint options to explore various depths inside a limited color pallet.

Don’t get stuck in the paper
Many times, you will feel limited to the sized panels of your print piece. If you want to make your print interactive without having to print extra components onto the printed piece, think outside the box. People’s minds will instantaneously fill in gaps to a bigger picture, so using the boarder of your paper can provide for you a unique and creative interaction.

Sizes like to play
Remember, big is great but it isn’t necessarily better. Small square booklets can be used to create interesting reading experiences and are much easier to carry around.

Images Versus Words War!
I will ignore the temptation to clarify the importance of keeping each separate and instead give you a tip for function. If you are working on textual content, there is a time when you can merge text and graphics. By using typography as an element of design, you can increase the concentration on the content and allow for clear readability.

Minimalism is ATTRACTIVE.
Visual noise is never appealing. The brain does not like to process too many things at one time. If your idea requires putting too much on a single page, don’t try and make it fit-come up with another idea. If you have a client asking you to include too much information, you need to have a consultation and explain the logic behind the placement of the graphic elements.

Proportion to avoid Distortion
Sticking to a grid is key in design work. Composition guidelines are a simple way to execute proportion and relationship. You don’t necessarily need to work with a 3-column set up, a 7 column set up can be playful, 2 column overlaps can be tried or a 3/3/1 set up with a sidebar can work well.

The Ruler of Your Design: Typography
Typographical set up cannot be mended with lines and other elements. Whatever font you use will set the stage for the feel of your message. You must consider what type of voice you want the print piece to have because it is what enables you to communicate your message effectively to your target audience. To be safe you can go with Helvetica, Swiss or Akzidenz Grotesk, but it takes a lot of trial and error to find a font that works for you. Play around with a bunch of them to feel out what works.

Strengthen
If you want a title, quote or logo to particularly stand out go ahead and invert it. White against a dark color will give the design and the typography much more strength and impact. If your type size is 8pt or lower, you may have an issue with containing the ink just after printing, but this is also dependant on stock, printing speed and other factors.

In the Haze
If you are not demanding high quality source photographic content, you can have one low resolution photo ruin your work. On the other hand, a great high resolution quality shot can really transform the impact of the whole design.

For any additional questions or design requests, contact Master Print’s creative graphic design services.

Print a Successful Catalog Today!

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 16:07:11 -0400

The catalog is a multi page presentation that offers plenty of room for images and copy. While catalogs are often used as product collateral, the booklet format is a familiar and flexible communications tool ideal for complimenting a direct marketing letter or using for annual reports. The style, design and photography of a catalog make it the perfect promotional mail in disguise. According to the PIA Digital Printing Council, just by having a superior quality front cover, revenue can increase by 30-40 percent. That said, let’s go ahead and look at the building blocks of successful catalog execution:

Beginning the Catalog

Every print project begins with an objective that will determine the look, the feel and presentation of your catalog. Once you have determined what you need to communicate, you can reach the right target groups with your product’s prices, style and fulfillment plan. You must also determine your budget. Being clear on your spending will help your designer choose the right papers, formats, printers and styles of your catalog. You can move forward by defining and organizing your products into groups for navigation and by designing the catalog format. The front cover is an important and forceful page, so do not clutter the cover with too many elements. Applicable elements that should be placed on the cover include the logo, tagline and volume. The cover should flow well with the inside front cover and internal pages. Your back cover is a space for the logo, return address, contact information, mailing panel or a feature product.

The Catalog Production Process

After you’ve planned the catalog layout and decided on the dimensions you must finalize your product data. At this point you are working on the master layout that has been sorted and categorized with images and copy. The master layout includes common page elements, grids, design themes and type specifications. Stick with product descriptive copy for consumer catalogs and if you are working on a business or technical catalog include any information corporate buyers may need to make informed purchase decisions. After you’ve completed and processed layout images, ensure that you have made a CMYK conversion.

Catalog Printing Suggestions

To save money and avoid printing delays there are a couple of catalog printing tips and suggestions you should make a note of. If you are pressed for time, consider adjusting to web press specifications. This will significantly speed up your printing. If your catalog meets a minimum quantity and page count, you can go ahead and work with this printing method. If you can organize your pages in increments of 32 for a catalog sized 8-3/8” x 10-7/8” or 64 for a 5-3/8” x 8-3/8” format, you will save considerable costs with the use of an 8 unit web press and less labor. You may also design a slightly smaller page width and save a considerable amount of money by reducing paper, freight and mailing costs. A standard catalog format is a 32 page 8-3/8” x 10-7/8”; the next cost effective format would be printed in 16 page increments on standard house paper.

To prevent direct mailing delays, submit your mailing list at least 7 days before the scheduled binding and addressing. You must also consider list cleansing and the calculation of estimated postage. When deciding on catalog specifications, you may be tempted to save money with a two color design. Research has shown that four color catalogs generate the best responses by grabbing more attention and generating more sales. If you have any additional questions pertaining to your catalog printing options, your printer will give you the necessary advice. Contact Master Print to get started on your catalog today!

Stay Tuned...

Wed, 21 Jul 2010 19:59:02 -0400

Write here...

How to Achieve the Digital Print Quality You’re Looking For

Wed, 21 Jul 2010 14:56:13 -0400

When designing print pieces for digital print production, one of the best practices to adapt is to proof consistently. Because digital proofs are printed on the actual production device to show an exact sample of the print piece, adjusting files, reviewing revised proofs and repeating the process for satisfaction ensures that each step of the process is monitored and optimal design capacity is reached.

Top of the line digital technology like the Xerox iGen4 pioneers color consistency, but optimizing larger areas of flat tints is still important. Digital color presses are excellent at reproducing color, but for larger areas the designer can choose lighter or darker percentages to ensure evenness. Imaging software like Adobe Photoshop can also assist with creating textures and patterns with mid tone tints or long blends to accommodate the larger areas.

With offset printing presses, black coverage over large areas is executed with rich blacks, which are created through a mixture in percentages of process colors. The Xerox iGen4 digital press utilizes an optimal formula that provides a 100 percent clean black, but other digital presses use process colors to improve solid black coverage. If your commercial printer is using a digital press like the Xerox iGen4, note that adding colors to a 100 percent black base will produce a colorful range of blacks that can be applied as a creative and not a necessary application.

While the use of image compression enables you to download files quickly and easily, it can cause the loss of valuable data and information which cannot be restored. Compressed files, like JPEGs must be opened with Adobe Photoshop and decompressed, or saved as TIFF or EPS files. Digital type reproduction is also much different from offset. It is possible that smaller typefaces will be more challenging on the digital press, but knockout types on black can work well. You must proofread the readability and effectiveness of your typefaces and ensure that the applicable changes are made.

In terms of resolution, if your print piece includes scans of text and line art you must produce a 600 to 1200 dpi. Continuous tone images will require a 300 dpi. If you are using variable data printing, increasing the resolution will have a minimal impact on continuous tone images and contain more data than is necessary. In terms of color and images, images with RGB will have a larger color gamut than CMYK. The programming of the digital press understands the optimal color translation to ensure color reproduction and flexibility.

Nonetheless, each print job will have specific requirements that must be met and the best way to ensure that your digital design meets your expectations is to seek advice from your printer on how to improve your proofs. Before you commit to any job with any printer, you should discuss your needs and feel out the experience and skill set of the printer.

Want to learn more about digital printing? Explore Master’s digital solutions here.

Create Buyer Personas by Defining Your Audience Part III

Thu, 15 Jul 2010 19:55:22 -0400

Time and time again, marketers fail to apply their generated campaign data to future marketing campaigns. While, this is certainly an impediment to target marketing, a bigger concern is, how do you get generate the necessary data in the first place? In part III of our Buyer Persona discussion we will delve into the world of cross media marketing and diagram not just how to finalize our lead batches, but also what to do with them.

Once you have conducted a thorough analysis of prospective companies and their key players, you begin to look at the various marketing mediums and technologies that can enable your campaign to generate strong data and high returns. Why is it that 76% of marketers claimed to have no way to determine their return on investment from their lead agencies? Moreover, the majority of data that marketers have on their prospects and leads is never applied. The way a sale happens reaches far beyond a typical direct mail postcard. The road to success starts with data. What data is necessary and what do you do with it? Well, you have two solutions to this: you can generate the necessary data with cross media marketing and then you can use that data in print marketing campaigns that feature variables. Sounds simple, right? Well, it is.

The buyer persona, or lead, is a unique individual who possesses complex aspects of thought and behavior. That said, it is imperative to make that shift from mainstream email and web marketing to more innovation and integration. The use of multiple touchpoints throughout a campaign will give you plenty of avenues for data generation. How? Well let’s look at cross media marketing.

Taking your standard list, a cross media marketing service provider will generate a postcard, or other direct mail piece, with a unique offer and a unique personalized URL. Given, that your offer is appealing and you have a prospect visiting their own unique site, show time begins!

Once a visitor is captured onto a landing page, he or she will be prompted to answer colorful and strategic questions which are designed and generated with your marketing and sales goals in mind. In the meantime, the backend or dashboard, which you have access to, measures and monitors the responses and tracks and analyzes recipient data. This could be anything from preferred contact method, address updates, favorite color or birth date. Here, you must be thinking two things: one, how do I use this data and two, why do I need it? Excellent questions!

The data which you are viewing filters out the prospects and the leads. Those who are participating actively in your campaign will be players in your game; I mean, campaign. The dashboard eliminates costly and ineffective marketing efforts and allows you to zero in on your best customer profile. With the use of a cross media marketing campaign, you have in your possession clear, analytical data on where your prospect is at, what they are looking for, how you can meet their needs and ultimately an estimation on the ROI. The responses to the survey questions on the other hand, give you data that translates into post card wording, images and offers. According to the CMO Council's "State of Marketing Report," 62% of respondents surveyed claim that they plan to focus on analyzing customer data to improve segmentation and targeting. Surely, this is because without it, response rates are sinking.

Now that you know who is visiting your landing pages, clicking your links and what they are interested in, you are ready to send a coherent marketing strategy into execution. By sending alerts through media like email, text messaging, direct sales calls and, ultimately, highly targeted print pieces you will not only be “striking while the iron is hot” you will also be meeting specific customer needs and demonstrating value that stretches far beyond products and services: personalization.

Are you ready to play the game? Stay tuned for an upcoming post on total brand experience and you’ll be first in line to roll the cross media dice!

2010 Inform & Discover Roundtable: July 20, 2010

Thu, 08 Jul 2010 12:49:19 -0400

WHAT: SDDMA 2010 Inform and Discover Roundtable

WHEN:
Date: July 20, 2010, please pre-register by Friday, July 16, 2010
Time: 7:30am Networking - Discussion begins at 8:00 and ends at 9:00

WHERE:

UCSD Extension, Sorrento Mesa Center
6925 Lusk Blvd., 1st Floor
San Diego, CA 92121

DETAILS:
Moderator: Mike Campbell, Vice President at Anderson Direct Marketing

Each participant is asked to INFORM the group of a recent learning, breakthrough or best practice that helped drive success for your marketing program. Then, each participant will have an opportunity to present their current marketing challenge to the Roundtable group for immediate feedback, ideas and solutions.

    * Bring your success stories and case studies to share with peers.
    * Present your current marketing challenge for instant how-to guidance.
    * Walk away with insight into dozens of ways to improve your marketing success.

Cost:

Members - NO CHARGE however, a $5 donation for breakfast is greatly appreciated.
Non-Members - $20.00

How To Setup and Design Business Cards in Adobe Illustrator

Thu, 08 Jul 2010 12:32:16 -0400

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Keywords: business card design, business card printing, printing, business cards, design business cards, business card, adobe illustrator tutorial, business card tutorial, business card inspiration

Create Buyer Personas by Defining Your Audience Part II

Tue, 06 Jul 2010 14:34:22 -0400

In our first discussion we focused on the purchase process to create a key profile of behavioral attributes that are crucial to sales success, called the buyer persona. We discussed the various components of the marketing efforts tied to finding the most valuable customers. The next step to our analysis uncovers who the target is and analyzes whether they will be effectively involved in the sales process.

After you have successfully identified a company profile that defines the attributes of a key client list and have conducted an analysis of the commonalities and differences among the segments, you should have a pretty good diagram of identifiers. Attributes you should have clearly illustrated include the company vertical, the size, the distribution, geography and any specific identifiers that are leading indicators of potential sales success. This exercise not only helps you to shift your focus to the key people you want to reach, but also provides a core framework in which economic, executive, technical and influencer buyers are defined. This is much easier to understand, when you break down the behavioral attributes behind decision making.

The individuals that make up your target prospects will operate within a defined behavioral framework: Pain Points, Attraction and Validation. No matter if you are working with a sales cycle or creating print content, the approach here is universal. With pain points, a prospect is looking to avoid any potential threats to their set of actions, so that they can eliminate potential negative outcomes. Your goal is to address all things that trouble the prospect and position yourself as a motivational force behind rational decision making. If we look at attraction, which should be your ultimate goal and the result of effective company profiling, we see that there are a set of prospects that expect positive outcomes and focus primarily on the benefits accessible within their decisions. Validation, our last behavioral attribute, is tied to the decision making process. Validators require a third party consultation. If they require insight from third party research or from industry experts, then it is up to the marketer to integrate that into the marketing message or marketing material.

These attributes are great indicators of what the buying zone looks like and how to position things like need and timing, and ultimately determine what the media consumption habits are. This is the space where a media vehicle is chosen. With a clear understanding of consumption habits a targeted, relevant and effective message must be customized. However, the specific environment of the prospect is crucial to determining the positioning of the message and understanding a cross-promotion landscape. Consider the component of time-shifted consumption. Prospects are consuming media in digital and online formats are experiencing multiple viewing channels. This could give your print postcards, newsletters and self mailers a great deal of leverage. When you effectively cross market your marketing material, you work with a positioning that is more conducive to the world of shifting media.

OK. Let’s get down to business. How do we establish a lead scoring framework? Well, a buyer persona-driven marketing program supports an operation where the entire focus is based on leads. Overall, the lead score is simply a match of particular attributes to a prospect. Who meets most of the buyer persona attributes? Without a valuable incentive and data program in place you will have a harder time gathering the information that you need from the prospect to place them in this lead scoring framework. How are you working with your data and what information are you gathering?

We have gone over the necessary understanding of the buyer persona to help you develop a program and strategy where a sale is inevitable. The environment, in which the sale is courted, is called cross media marketing. Our last piece, will present to you how exactly one can access, extract and market to the buyer persona using cross media marketing.

FESPA Video Highlights

Tue, 29 Jun 2010 13:12:41 -0400

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Keywords: FESPA, FESPA 2010, digital technology, wide-format printing, printing technology, print week