Walter Hern began his career in advertising design and layout. After a year, Walter went into production and performed typesetting, darkroom, process camera and paste-up. Several years later, he moved into production management and print buying. He has been buying print for over 25 years including experience in advertising publications, agency production, retail advertising and sales promotion, and corporate marketing communications. (Walter also spent about 4 years selling prepress and some print.)

Unless you have lived under a rock, you know what Visa does. In terms of what Walter does, they produce a large volume of marketing communications and promotional items that encourage the use of Visa as the preferred method of payment. The products are targeted to Member banks that issue cards, banks that handle merchant accounts, point of sale materials for merchants and cardholders. Visa produces every kind of product imaginable from the simplest single color post card to the most complex marketing kits that may contain up to fifty plus printed components, CD-ROM's, diskettes and samples.





Walter, what area do you specialize in?

The bulk of my experience is in high volume heatset web offset and rotogravure printing and also buying large volumes of paper direct from the mills. In my present position, I deal with both web and sheetfed offset, some flexo, silkscreen, and about anything else on any substrate imaginable.

What trends or changes do you see for Visa over the next few years?

The direction is evolving from a print and distribute strategy to a distribute and print strategy . Direct mail is used and is targeted directly to the individual. These types of programs are designed to solicit the recipient to apply for a Visa card , to encourage a recipient who has received a card to activate it by using it, to encourage current cardholders to use their Visa card whenever possible and to encourage loyalty to the Visa brand by offering rewards programs.

The objective is to continue to promote the Visa brand, one of the top brands in the world, and to get the message to all corners of the world that Visa is the best way to pay and to be paid.

So has volume decreased?

Although the volume of ink on paper that Visa USA produces has been decreasing about 15% a year for the last two years, the total print dollar volume is well into the seven figures. For the 4th Quarter promotion, Visa received orders for and printed about 90 million statement inserts. That is quite typical. Some marcom jobs require only a small volume - 500 to 1,000 units - and others run into the tens of millions.

You mentioned distribute and print, are you using more print-on-demand features like variable data printing?

Visa has used variable area printing for at least five years and has produced process color point of sale materials that meet the needs of the merchant and region as well. One job several years ago was digitally printed in full color and included five each of 1200 different versions.

Who produces most of your work?

Although all projects originate in-house, Visa uses a select group of outside marketing and promotion agencies to develop and produce these materials. Marketing Project Managers are the liaison between the internal client and the outside agency producing the project. The role of the Project Manager is to manage the internal client and the agency and make certain the marketing objective of the project is achieved and is on time and on budget.

How does Visa track all this activity?

One investment that was made several years ago is an internal cost management system. All jobs are entered into this system which interacts with the Visa accounting system. Manages use the system to pull financial reports on jobs, vendors and purchases.

Another ongoing investment is the development and creation of an extranet for the Member banks (Visa is owned by about 14,000 domestic banks). This is designed to be the primary means of communicating to the banks to inform them of new products, services and promotions developed by Visa. The system is designed to allow a user to customize it to meet his/her specific needs and then receive communications targeted directly to the user. Users may also order Visa marketing and promotional materials on this extranet which links to the national fulfillment center for Visa materials.

What investments do you have planned for 2001?

We want to expand and enhance the Member extranet and implement a brand content management technology solution. In addition, Visa USA is upgrading the computerized accounting system and purchasing system.

Tell us about your supplier list and your relationships with these vendors.

Vendor relationships are critical to our success. Over the past five to ten years, Visa Marketing Services has shortened the list of agencies and manufacturing vendors to include a few select of suppliers. In terms of print, we typically use less than a dozen printers to cover all our print needs.

About seven years ago, we looked at what we were spending with the printers and decided that the volume was substantial enough to ask for something in return. We implemented a Partner Vendor program that included a select group of printers and prepress houses. By offering them a guaranteed volume of our print business, we were able to negotiate partner discounts from these suppliers. Each year, Visa has exceeded the amount of volume verbally committed to these vendors and has gone back to the negotiating table every year and obtained higher discounts. The last two years, these Partner Vendor discounts have earned seven figure discounts annually.

The past two years as Visa print volume has declined, Visa has shortened the list of print suppliers. This was done primarily through attrition. The vendors who went away did not have enough volume to justify their participation in this program. In the meantime, we have actually added a few printers with special capabilities needed by Visa.

Does your production managers “own” the jobs or do your agencies take over in most cases?

We view our print vendors as strategic partners and treat them as such. The agencies consult with them at the beginning of projects to determine the best way to produce an idea. Visa's two production managers are responsible for owning and managing the relationships with the print vendors. This small group of vendors will literally "jump through hoops" for Visa to ensure that deadlines, quality and delivery expectations are met.

We provide direction to our agencies to bid only with our Partner Vendors. This has proved advantageous for our Partner Vendors. The Visa work they have produced with our agencies has actually resulted in them getting work to produce for other clients of our agencies.

Visa is extremely loyal to its Partner Vendors and the vendors show their appreciation by always going the extra mile for Visa. The downside of this is that it is very difficult for other print vendors who want to get Visa business. We receive at least a dozen calls a week and have to politely let them down.

What is your view of traditional prepress houses and their role in the future?

I share the viewpoints that have been presented at Xplor and POD conferences for the past several years. Traditional ink on paper is still going to be around for years but the market segments of print will change as more users implement print on demand, variable area printing and internet based communications. Traditional prepress houses are rapidly disappearing and we continually look at the diminishing role that our two prepress vendors are fulfilling. Both are moving more into the world of printing or digital output.

Being a member of WhatTheyThink, you have certainly followed the e-print providers. What conclusions has Visa come to on these services?

Nearly three years ago, we - the other Production Manager and myself - were approached by the founders of Noosh before there was a Noosh. We were interviewed extensively about our thoughts on such a service. We have kept abreast of not only Noosh but the other major players in this arena to determine if and when this type of service would add value to Visa print procurement. About two years ago, we actually pulled in all the agency production managers that we deal with and had a half day session about this type of service. The conclusion by both Visa and its agencies then was that we could determine no added value to the way we do things. That is still the case. Since that time, we have had presentations by most of the major players in this field and not one has been able to show us tangible savings resulting from their service. With our minds open, we continue to investigate this field and keep up with what the various players are doing.

Our publications services group embraced Noosh early on and used it for a while. They no longer do so as their conclusion was it was costing them more money and adding no tangible value.

Is your branded material available on web based software now?

We actually do have a Web based eTool Kit of all Visa standards and branding philosophy that is used by internal groups and our agencies to help in producing print. The site includes templates for marketing, merchant and promotional material, logos, marks and a basic image library of Visa owned images that can be utilized. Low resolution FPO's can be instantly downloaded from the site which greatly benefits our agencies.

Going forward, we are constantly looking at ways to improve our processes with collaborative approaches. Currently, I am looking into technology for managing and distributing brand content to all members of the Visa brand value chain.

What is your “proof of choice?”

For the past two years, we have printed direct to plate on about 80% of our projects. The Kodak Approval has been the proof of choice. We are still requiring the files to go through one of our two prepress houses before going to press. One of them has just installed a CreoScitex Spectra proofing system which is great because it delivers dot for dot what is put onto a plate produced in the CreoScitex direct to plate system. All the printers we use with direct to plate capability use CreoScitex. The other prepress house uses the Approval as their standard digital proof.

For the past year, I have directed our agencies and the two prepress houses to view loose color as digital proofs. It makes no sense to me to pull a film proof to look at loose color if the final print file is not going to film. The agencies have had a good experience with this approach.

In terms of proofing mechanicals, we are beginning to use PDF's sent via e-mail to speed up the review of layouts and mechanicals. However, we do not use PDF's for the final contract proof.

What lessons have you learned from using digital proofs?

Early on, I went to a press check of a direct to plate job. It was a job that involved 14 different color versions of an insert. The Kodak Approval was the proofing method. The prepress house produced Approvals for all versions that accompanied the files to the printer. The printer then produced three sets of Approvals for all versions from the files they received - one for the agency to review, one for me to review and one to keep at the printer for the press check. I arrived at the printing plant the night before the startup. I compared all four sets of Approvals and they were all different! What we discovered is that each set of Approvals had been produced on different Approval devices on different shifts by different individuals. Therefore, I had to determine what set was closest to what I expected. The printer then calibrated one Approval device to my specifications and then pulled three new sets of Approval proofs that matched exactly. When I went on press, it was a very easy press check! The success of a digital proof is in the calibration and in making certain all proofs to be used come off the same device!

As you know, we have thousands of print buyers and designers as subscribers. What advice can you offer to these professionals in terms of new relationships and pricing?

Remember, no one knows your business as well as you do! If the pitch is, "We can save you money, we can save you time, we can print it better" don't believe it. Most print reps mean well but if they come on to you with this approach and know nothing of your business, pass! If you have sizable, recurring volume, find a few good printers and create a "win-win relationship." And don't beat them up for making a mistake! Everyone makes a mistake. It is how the vendor handles a mistake that is important.

In terms of pricing, lower is not always better. The way you get fair pricing is to know all the cost components and know your printer well enough to have some comprehension of his overhead and his costs and markup percentage. Then you can determine what is fair and negotiate for that price.

What tips can you offer print production managers on getting the most out of an industry trade show?

It is a nice time to get wined and dined. Never make a buying decision at a trade show! They are too much of a party atmosphere! To get serious, they are typically too overwhelming to take it all in. Know exactly why you are attending, what you expect to get out of it and focus only on that which is critical to your success. Up front homework will save you time and help you keep on track. Know the layout of the show in advance, where the booths are that you want to visit and have an agenda in hand. You'll waste less time.

With so many resources out there competing for the print buyer’s time, what is the best approach to gain essential knowledge?

Same as trade shows. I do appreciate the on-line approach that WhatTheyThink.com offers and generally peruse it daily. Again, scan the topics and pick those that relate to what you are doing.