KnowledgeTAP™, The CMO Team’s customizable, multichannel content marketing program for printers, has been named the winner of a 2014 PEAK Award by the Print Services & Distribution Association (PSDA).  

PSDA’s PEAK (Print Education and Knowledge) Awards salute industry firms that help their customers grow with innovative marketing and brand-building programs. KnowledgeTAP™, a package of marketing collateral products that enable print service providers to better educate and influence their key accounts, is the Grand Award winner in the “Best Cross-Media Marketing Campaign for Client” category.

“We’re grateful to PSDA for selecting KnowledgeTAP™ to receive this special distinction, which also recognizes the importance of strategic communications outreach programs for print service providers,” said Cindy Woods, President of The CMO Team. “KnowledgeTAP™ is all about giving printers the tools and touch points they need to underscore the high value of what they contribute to today’s media mix.”

Subscribers to KnowledgeTAP™ receive regular installments of professionally produced marketing products that they can produce under their own brands for delivery to whomever they wish. Developed and edited by The CMO Team, the 100% original content of these inbound marketing resources is aimed entirely at media decision-makers at all levels from print buyers to C-suite marketing executives.

The core of KnowledgeTAP™ is IdeaTAP, a quarterly, custom-published magazine about the latest developments in multichannel media communications. Its editorial objective is to position the print service providers who distribute it as knowledgeable, trend-savvy sources of information about best practices and proven techniques for marketers in all media. 

Each issue of IdeaTAP delivers quick-take news, expert opinion, in-depth features, bullet points, and stats with layouts and graphical elements that showcase the visual power of the printed medium. Subjects in recent issues have included marketing to millennials, developing social media strategies, understanding the psychology of color, and exploring augmented reality on a budget.

Sent to subscribers in print-ready digital form, each 16-page-plus-cover issue of IdeaTAP can be customized with a masthead, a welcome letter from the CEO, front and back cover designs, and house ads that characterize the magazine as a publication of the print service provider distributing it. To assure competitive advantage, The CMO Team limits participation in IdeaTAP and the other elements of KnowledgeTAP™ to specific numbers of subscribers in geographical areas where the program is in operation.

KnowledgeTAP™ also furnishes subscribers with equally customizable “lite papers,” e-mail blast copy, infographics, slide decks, and how-to guides for direct-mail campaigns and other kinds of marketing programs. Books and other educational items provided as giveaways help subscribers strengthen ties with customers via prize drawings. The CMO Team also coaches participants on how to repurpose KnowledgeTAP™ materials for online and social media use.

“This is turnkey, multi-layered content marketing in its purest form,” said Woods. “Its ‘secret sauce’ is the fact that all of us at The CMO Team come from print industry backgrounds. This shared experience lets us know how to make KnowledgeTAP™ speak clearly and persuasively to all of the decision-makers our subscribers want to reach.”

The CMO Team is the print industry’s recognized leader in customized marketing and strategy programs for print organizations. It is a division of The Advisement Center, a consultancy in leadership, sales, marketing, and organizational development for print entrepreneurs.

Print Services & Distribution Association (PSDA) is a broad network of supply chain partners representing hundreds of companies and thousands of active participants collectively accounting for more than $5 billion in annual sales. Members include distributors and resellers of print, marketing, and related services; printers who sell actively to the trade; and suppliers of marketing, technology, promotional, packaging, direct mail, and related solutions.