GAMA 30

GRAPHIC ADVISOR ISSUE THIRTY

Your logo here

Looking for unexpected ways to improve your business?

Leave it to us!

Print & Marketing Budgets are Rebounding Tap Into the Power of Color Creative Suite 5.5: What's in it for Print Designers?

MARKETING ADVISOR ISSUE THIRTY

Your logo here

Looking for unexpected ways to improve your business?

Leave it to us!

Print & Marketing Budgets are Rebounding Tap Into the Power of Color Creative Suite 5.5: What's in it for Print Designers?

Marketer's Budgets are Growing

may seem self-serving for us to say that

Not only has the tide in marketing budget

you should be spending more money on

declines been stemmed but, increasingly,

print, but this is the stark reality: if your

marketers’ budgets are growing. In fact, 28%

competition is becoming more visible, you

of respondents say they are expanding

need to keep pace.

their media budgets this year; only 16% report decreases. This is down from 29%

marketing channel your customers are

reporting decreases in 2010 and 35%

using. You don’t want to cover your email

reporting decreases in 2009. Things are

“bases” and leave your print channel

turning around.

unprotected; or cover your social media

In the 2011 survey, there is not a

I

This reality exists in each individual

single media category that shows more f you’re noticing that your

companies decreasing spend than

competitors seem to be producing

increasing. And while that may seem

more print and marketing materials

like a trivial detail, it's the first time

than they used to be, you’re probably

we've been able to say that since 2007—

right. According to Target Marketing's 2011

yet another sign of stability in direct

Annual Media Usage Forecast survey,

marketing media usage.

channel and leave your out-of-home channel vulnerable to the competition.

marketers’ budgets have stabilized and they are starting to spend again.

Spreading Dollars Around

That means they’re updating marketing

Not only are companies focusing more

collateral, adding QR codes to posters

on their outbound print and marketing,

and displays, printing more sell sheets,

but they are also spreading those dollars

and ramping up their volume of direct

around. Target Marketing found that

mail. How will you respond?

marketers are choosing “an eclectic mix

According to the survey, 50.1% of respondents expect their 2011 direct

appears to be marketing's “new normal.”

response media budgets to remain the

This means everything from banners to

same as 2010. Compare that to last year,

subway posters to catalogs, as well as

when 43.5% of respondents reported flat

social media and mobile.

budgets, and to 2009, when just 40% did.

Print & Marketing Budgets are Rebounding

What does all this mean for you? It

According to Target Marketing, this is the

means that it’s time to really think through

highest percent of flat budgets ever seen

your print and marketing budget and

in this survey.

how you are allocating your dollars. It

only 16%

of all respondents, photos ©dreamstime.com

of multichannel direct marketing” that

You should be doing a marketing and competitive assessment on a regular basis. You need to be sure that you’re keeping pace with — if not exceeding — what your competitors are doing.

Customer perception is fragile. Visibility is one area where you don’t want to be left behind. If you need some advice, talk to us. We can help.

are decreasing their budgets this year.

2

T

hinking through color issues and designing in great color schemes takes time; so how can you be sure that the additional investment is worth it? The answer is that, used correctly, color has a long track record of increasing the effectiveness of print.

For example, CCI COLOR (Color Communications, Inc.) has found that consumers make a subconscious judgment about people, their environment, or products within 90 seconds of initially viewing them and that between 62% and 90% of their decision-making is based on color alone.

In addition, a University of Loyola, Maryland study found that color increases brand recognition by up

Tap Into the Power of Color

to 80%.

How can color be so powerful?

According to the American Psychological Association, by hanging an extra "tag" of data on visual scenes, color helps

There are a few black-and-white aficionados out there, but most people agree that color creates a stronger impact, especially on marketing collateral and other pieces designed to encourage people to buy.

It’s why marketers fiercely protect their brand colors and the retail shelves look like kaleidoscopic explosions.

people to process and store images more efficiently than black-and-white. As a result, people tend to remember color

Skippy, Doritos, and Tide are throwing back to the 70’s, 60’s, and even the 40’s with styles and colors deeply familiar to consumers. By tapping into happy childhood memories, they are creating positive associations that help to sell products.

So, what can you do to tap into the power of color?

The power of color to influence purchases also can be seen in the recent

1 Make color a priority. Really put

addition of green ketchup to the Heinz

thought into the power and meaning of

brand. According to Junk Food News,

color. Make great choices in using color to

more than 10 million bottles of Heinz EZ

draw out the desired emotion from your

Squirt Blastin' Green ketchup were sold

target audience.

in the first seven months following its introduction last year. Heinz factories

2 Use great graphics. It’s worth

worked 24 hours a day, seven days a

spending a little extra money on artwork,

week to keep up with demand. The

photographs, and design to really make

result? $23 million in sales attributable

your color pop.

to the new green ketchup, which is the highest sales increase in the brand's

3 Manage your color carefully. Work

history. Now the company is working

with us to manage your color all the way

Color Taps into Emotions

on a new color, Funky Purple, to be

through the process. This starts with

As an example, consider the current

introduced this fall.

submitting images in the right color

scenes better.

trend toward “retro” packaging. Savvy

space (CMYK rather than RGB), using

consumer products manufacturers

established printing standards to set color

are using retro packaging to tap into

profiles, and working with us to optimize

consumers’

your color for our color proofing system.

emotions.

Major

These basic steps will go a long way

brands from

toward taking your color from ho, hum to

Cheerios to

Wow! Use color to maximize your brand

photos ©dreamstime.com

image and selling power.

4

W

henever a new revision of the Adobe Creative Suite comes out, the graphic design community understandably perks up its ears. Adobe has done a good job of adding many designers’ “wish list” items into InDesign and other CS applications, but some wishes remain unfulfilled. Does 5.5 address any of them?

But again, if your primary use of InDesign is strictly print-based, you will need to wait until CS 6 for any major changes.

New Pricing Model The new .5 upgrade of the Adobe

Creative Suite 5.5 also introduces a

Illustrator

Creative Suite suggests that it is a minor

Illustrator only gets a 5.1

new “subscription” pricing model.

bug-fix or feature-tweak update, but

upgrade as well, which

That is, you can “rent” the entire

the much-ballyhooed CS 5.5 does add

includes minor bug fixes and

suite or individual applications by

a substantial number of new features. If

other under-the-hood tweaks. If your

the month or by the year. The

you’re strictly a print designer, you likely

favorite app is Illustrator, you’ll need to

monthly fee for the Creative Suite

won’t find much here that’s compelling.

wait until CS 6 (according to Adobe, not

Design Premium, for example, is $139,

But if you’re doing more publishing across

due out until mid-2012 at the earliest) for

and the yearly fee is $1,140; while the

different media, like many designers today,

any substantial revision.

upgrade price for the Design Premium is $399. Does a subscription model make

CS 5.5 may make your life a lot easier.

InDesign

So, what has been upgraded, and what hasn’t?

Photoshop

Creative Suite 5.5:

photos ©dreamstime.com

What’s In It for Print Designers?

sense? Not if you use the Creative Suite What about InDesign? For print

on a daily basis, like most designers do.

designers, InDesign is where all

Where the subscription model works

the action is. But, unless you’re

is for companies or individuals whose

working on multiplatform (print, Web,

primary business is not graphic design

If you’re looking for major

mobile) documents, especially e-books,

work and only use these tools once every

changes to Photoshop,

there is not much new in InDesign CS 5.5

few months or less for specific projects,

you’ll have to wait. When

for you. However, if you are developing

like an annual catalog. Or for companies

you install CS 5.5, Photoshop appears in

multiplatform documents, the new

that only staff up with freelancers or

the Applications folder as Photoshop

InDesign will change your life. If you’ve

temporary employees every so often for a

5.1 (which, by the way, is a free minor

ever been tasked with converting printed

limited time. For the professional graphic

upgrade to 5.0). What’s new in 5.1, though,

book files to EPUB-formatted e-books,

designer, though, it’s not a pricing plan

is compatibility with Photoshop apps

you know how limited previous versions

that makes a lot of sense.

that run on mobile and tablet platforms,

of InDesign (including CS 5.0) have been.

such as the iPad, the RIM Playbook,

Now, InDesign CS 5.5 gives you far more

Suite 5.5 if you find yourself increasingly

and the Motorola Xoom. Adobe has

control over exporting page elements and

working on multiplatform documents

already released three tablet-compatible

getting them to render in e-book readers

and want to stay within the comfortable

apps—Color Lava, Eazel, and Nav—which

consistently and aesthetically. One of the

confines of the familiar Creative Suite. But,

integrate mobile platforms with the

big issues with print to e-book conversion

if you are still predominantly print-centric,

desktop version of Photoshop. These

is controlling the order of anchored objects

the good news is you can save a bit of

mobile-compatible features are available

which, in previous versions of InDesign,

cash on this upgrade.

in Photoshop CS 5.1, and are enabled using

was minimal. In 5.5, you have far greater

a new Remote Connections command

flexibility in specifying how objects

under the Edit menu.

are exported.

All in all, there is a lot to like in Creative

6

MARKETING ADVISOR

MAILING INFO HERE

Printer Name Phasellus porttitor elit In hac habitasse platea Donec tempor nonummy

code?

Need a QR : O P F E D s at O QR C munication m o C h c a e R Call Great 5 978-332-555

About Us

About This Issue

One or two small paragraphs about you

Programs used:

Computers used:

and your company. One or two small

InDesign CS Illustrator CS Photoshop CS

iMac

paragraphs about you and your company. One or two small paragraphs about

Paper used:

What kind of press did you use to print this issue?

What paper did you use to print this issue?

Bindery used:

Ink used:

What kind of bindery did you use to print this issue?

you and your company. One or two small paragraphs about you and your company. One or two small paragraphs about you and your company. One or two small paragraphs about you and your company. One or two small paragraphs about you and your company.

Press used:

What kind of ink did you use to print this issue?

Coating used:

What kind of coating did you use to print this issue?

GRAPHIC ADVISOR

MAILING INFO HERE

Printer Name Phasellus porttitor elit In hac habitasse platea Donec tempor nonummy

de? eed a QR co at N : O P F E D QR CO ications h Commun c a e R t a re Call G 5 978-332-555

About Us

About This Issue

One or two small paragraphs about you

Programs used:

Computers used:

and your company. One or two small

InDesign CS Illustrator CS Photoshop CS

iMac

paragraphs about you and your company. One or two small paragraphs about

Paper used:

What kind of press did you use to print this issue?

What paper did you use to print this issue?

Bindery used:

Ink used:

What kind of bindery did you use to print this issue?

you and your company. One or two small paragraphs about you and your company. One or two small paragraphs about you and your company. One or two small paragraphs about you and your company. One or two small paragraphs about you and your company.

Press used:

What kind of ink did you use to print this issue?

Coating used:

What kind of coating did you use to print this issue?

D

o you think of digital printing as an output technology or a marketing model? This is an important question, especially in today’s challenging business environment— because it’s both. If you don’t think of digital printing this way, maybe you need to rethink digital print.

Instead of printing 10,000 product

perspective, digital presses allow you to

capabilities of digital presses to help

brochures at the outset, you can print

avoid paying a price penalty per piece

them save money and “right size” their

2,500 brochures at a time. This will allow

for the lower volume. From a marketing

print volumes. Because the cost of digital

you to minimize your upfront investment

perspective, you can think about how

press output is not dependent upon the

and update products between shows. Plus,

you want to split this list. Do you want

length of run, marketers have gradually

you don’t need to figure out where to

to mail to the top 10%? Perhaps to your

become comfortable with ditching their

store the extra 7,500 brochures once the

highest volume customers? Your bottom

large inventories and printing on an

first trade show is over.

10%? Try to reactivate dormant customer

For years, marketers have used the

The Digital Printing “Double Feature”

relationships? By targeting the mailing by

as-needed basis. It’s helped keep a little cash in the pocket, while minimizing

2 Strategic marketing opportunities.

customer profile or demographic, you can

the waste associated with over-printing

The second approach looks at digital

maximize this 10% and perhaps even get

and having materials become obsolete

printing from a marketing perspective.

a better response than you would have

before they get used. This also has great

Not only can you break down the 10,000

from mailing to your entire list.

environmental benefits. “Right sizing”

run into more manageable chunks, but

means savings in paper, ink and energy, as

you can also customize each batch to the

they illustrate the difference between

well as fossil fuels used in transportation.

individual show. Each show might have a

thinking about digital printing as an output

Marketers who are thinking of digital

slightly different focus, drawing a slightly

technology and thinking about it as a

production only in terms of production

different demographic of attendee. The

marketing model.

are missing tremendous opportunities

selection of products, the marketing pitch

to use this technology from a strategic

and the presentation might be slightly

marketing perspective, as well.

different for each. By breaking down the

These are just two examples, but

How are you thinking about digital printing?

runs into four separate batches, you can

Say you attend four industry trade shows per year. You can look at digital print production two ways.

tweak the brochure for each show based on who its attendees are and what they are looking for.

photos ©dreamstime.com

As another example, let’s assume that

1 Production cost and logistics. The

you are running on a tight budget. You

first approach looks at digital printing

decide not to mail to your entire list, but

from its production and logistical benefits.

only a percentage of it. From a production

Marketers who are thinking of digital production only in terms of production are missing tremendous opportunities.

10