crunchmarketing

Printing Plant Consolidation

crunchmarketing — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 16:20:23 +0000

Quad/Graphics, post merger with World Color, announced that it will close a number of printing plants as part of its ongoing integration plans. The company expects operations to cease at the following plants by the end of 2010: Clarksville, Tenn.; Corinth, Miss.; Lebanon, Ohio; Reno, Nev.; and Dyersburg, Tenn.

As two of those plants are located in my home state of Tennessee, and I have personally printed at three of those plants, I can say that a lot of good folks will be losing their jobs, and I trust that the new Quad organization will try to relocate as many as possible.

USPS to File Rate Case Tuesday: Mail Groups Question Legality

crunchmarketing — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 13:23:17 +0000

According to an article in Direct, there may be trouble for the direct mail industry brewing at the USPS.

“Mailer groups expect the U.S. Postal Service to file a case for an exigent postal rate increase Tuesday. Under the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 (PAEA), the USPS is entitled to receive annual rate increases based on the rate of inflation. But this law also entitles USPS to file “exigent” rate cases under extraordinary circumstances and Postmaster General Jack Potter said last year the postal service might do so.”

This could translate into another increase of as much as 5%. Stay tuned for more developments.

Quad/Graphics and Worldcolor shareholders approved proposed acquisition by Quad/Graphics

crunchmarketing — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 13:22:48 +0000

The approval of Quad/Graphics shareholders was obtained on June 24, 2010. At the special meeting of Worldcolor shareholders held in Toronto, Ontario, approximately 91.78% of the votes cast were voted in favor of the special resolution authorizing the arrangement.

Is this going to stifle competition in the printing industry? We will just have to wait and see.

Still love those catalogs

crunchmarketing — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 13:03:09 +0000

I just received my new Rejuvenation catalog in the mail today, and it just makes me happy. As far as I’m concerned, Rejuvenation does everything right when it comes to their creative. The photography is stunning – big bleed photos of their product in colorful settings printed on thick, creamy paper. The product virtually leaps off the page and shows the customer that lighting can be the dramatic accent in any room. Would I get the same warm feeling if I was scrolling thru these pages online or on an I-Pad? I think not. I still love thumbing through catalogs printed on real paper.

Google follow-up

crunchmarketing — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 14:59:40 +0000

Here is an article from Danny Sullivan at Search Engine Land, explaining yesterday’s Google homepage:

Confused about why Google was showing a picture on its home page today. Apparently, plenty of people were, some to the point of being upset. In reaction, Google’s dropped the feature.

Marissa Mayer, Google’s vice president of search products and user experience, confirmed the change via an update to the official Google blog post that originally announced the new feature:

Last week, we launched the ability to set an image of users’ choosing as the background for the Google homepage. Today, we ran a special “doodle” that showcased this functionality by featuring a series of images as the background for our homepage. We had planned to run an explanation of the showcase alongside it—in the form of a link on our homepage. Due to a bug, the explanatory link did not appear for most users. As a result, many people thought we had permanently changed our homepage, so we decided to stop today’s series early. We appreciate your feedback and patience as we experiment and iterate.

That followed Mayer’s earlier confirmation via her Twitter account today, where she had said:

Actually as of now @Jon_E Google search background back to normal tomorrow, says @marissamayer.

Google did explain through the post that for today, it was showing a photo background on its normally clean, white home page. However relatively few Google users actually read its blog, so wouldn’t know what was going on.

In addition, many people appear not to have liked it, ironically turning to Google desperately seeking a way to turn it off. Google Trends, which shows popular queries, showed a spike for “remove google background” searches:

Google is “binged”?

crunchmarketing — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 13:01:59 +0000

I have been reading industry articles recently talking about the differences and similarities between Google and Bing. One of Bing’s signatures is that they have a new photo uploaded every day for their home page. It may be a calm landscape or a famous building, and coupled with their TV advertising, it gives you a sense that Bing wants to be different- “a decision engine, not just a search engine”. Kind of gives you a breath of freshness and relaxation every time you go there. Imagine my surprise when I went to Google this morning and saw this:One of the things I’ve always admired about the Google company and culture is that they break rules and make their own. Not sure I’m hip to this obvious pander to Bing.

Sappi Announces Another Price Increase

crunchmarketing — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 19:09:44 +0000

Due to high system wide operating costs, Sappi Fine Paper North America just announced a $1.00/cwt increase effective immediately on all new orders. This $1.00 increase is in addition to the price increase announced on May 5, 2010 and includes catalog favorites:

Somerset Web all finishes, 60# and up
Flo Web all finishes, 60# and up
Galerie Fine Web all finishes, 60.8# and up

Just in time for holiday. Make sure you review your paper usage with your broker and/or printer immediately to see if you can lower your basis weight or move to a paper that is within your existing budget.

Get started in social media

crunchmarketing — Sun, 23 May 2010 13:46:28 +0000

Social media sites are the fastest-growing category on the web, doubling in traffic over the last year. What does that mean to your company? Plenty. If you have been thinking about a social media strategy, but just don’t know where to start, then start slow. I recommend you set yourself up in LinkedIn.com – the number one social media site for business professionals. Think of it as a virtual rolodex (I am really showing my age) which is always up to date with your contacts’ latest info. It’s easy to set up a profile and then you can “connect” with other business associates and friends. Here is a link to our LinkedIn profiles, so you can get an idea of what your profile would look like:

Ann Delevante LinkedIn profile Laura Van Sickle LinkedIn profile

This site is a great entree into the world of social media, because it’s one that you can really use throughout your career. If you are not on Facebook yet, this site let’s you learn the basics of social media without asking your kids to explain it to you. Next up - Facebook and Twitter.

Proud of Nashville

crunchmarketing — Fri, 07 May 2010 20:07:51 +0000

As most of you know, Ann and I live in the great city of Nashville. We’ve had lots of concerned emails, phone calls, and facebook posts and want to let everyone know that we are doing just fine. Some water and minor damage in one of our basements, but feeling very very lucky as many folks are not nearly as fortunate. The most gratifying part is watching this city pull together – makes us proud to be a part of Nashville. Thanks to everyone for their prayers, and please continue to keep our great city in your thoughts.

Prospect or Die reports Jim Tierney in Multichannel Merchant

crunchmarketing — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 15:26:52 +0000

We just read a quick report from Jim Tierney at the National Catalog Forum held in Nashville Apr 16, 2010 that we felt was important to highlight to all catalog marketers. Here is his report:

A panel at the 2010 National Catalog Forum, presented here April 13-15 by the American Catalog Mailers Association, discussed why mailers were not prospecting. The main reason is the poor economy, but most catalogers are also dealing with fewer pages, fewer contacts, and changes in paper to keep costs down.

Still, bringing in new customers is critical to the health of a catalog business. “Through attrition, we could be left with nothing if we didn’t prospect,” said panelist Susan Isley, chief marketing officer for Stony Creek Brands, which includes the Cooking Enthusiast and Uno Alla Volta titles. Many catalogers indicated they start with a prospecting plan, but routinely have to make mid-season adjustments.

To minimize costs and to control the volatility of results, more catalogers are relying on co-op databases. (According to the MCM Outlook 2010 survey on Catalogs, 32.4% of respondents said they have relied more on co-ops during the past 12 months.)

What’s more, at certain times of the year, Isley said some of Stony Creek’s prospect mailings are 100% to co-op names because they can perform better than a traditional list mix of rentals and exchanges. A lot of other mailers use the same strategy.

For most catalogers, current buyers alone will not sustain their businesses. With average rebuy rates of 35%-40%, many catalogers would find themselves in the red without new buyer acquisitions.

Relying on existing customers could cause a “death spiral,” Isley said, if rebuy rates can’t be improved or enough new customers aren’t acquired.