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Today begins a 10-week series - Learn from the Winners - that introduces each of the winners of the 2010 AND 2009 Environmental Innovation Awards and highlights their award-winning programs and initiatives. By the end of the series, we will have described real and concrete innovation, implementation and communication of environmental solutions. Read More
Joel Templin, Craig MacLean, and Katie Jain, founding partners, JAQK Cellars; David Dees, national sales manager.
Last night, in a tasting at a wine boutique on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, the creators of a new line of premium wines from the Napa Valley made their first bid for attention in the New York metro market. Those who dropped by to sample—including one lady with a live lobster in her tote bag—were intrigued not just by the complexities of the eight varietals on offer, but by the distinctive appearance of their gambling-themed bottles.
Tumbling dice. Suits of cards. Points from a roulette wheel. An embedded poker chip. Tightly executed color images on offset-printed paper labels and screen-printed wraps. Meet JAQK Cellars, a brand that comes to market with an exceptional pedigree in graphic design and package printing. Read More
Small, scrappy, and more nimble than ever, Finch Paper is a sustainability giant in the uncoated freesheet sector. Its cadre of professional foresters for hire is just one reason why. Read More
Change is something everyone in business (and in life) has to face. With the economy still fragile and the graphic arts industry in transformation, it’s likely you, your company and your customers are in some state of significant change. You might be changing your go-to-market strategy…your business model… the services you offer…or a cutback in staff or capabilities. Read on to understand how managing change more deliberately could make the difference between success and failure. Read More
New York State’s budget was 125 days late when it finally was passed on Tuesday, but it contained something that printers throughout the state considered well worth waiting for: their continued exemption from the sales and use tax on printed and mailed promotional materials. Printing Industries Alliance (PIA) said that preservation of the exemption is a major victory for printers in New York State. In a message to his members, Timothy Freeman, president of PIA, called the exemption “critical for our industry. It is a significant competitive advantage for New York State printers.” Read More
Mobile media devices have become a primary source of portable media from which we can obtain information and communicate. This article highlights some recent examples of companies that are combining print and mobile technologies to create added value. Read More
Workers of the world, unite. You have nothing to lose but your fear of getting printer’s ink on your jeans.
As a revolutionary slogan, it probably wouldn’t rouse the masses to the barricades, but Levi Strauss & Co. is hoping that the universal appeal of ink on paper will draw visitors to the craft print shop it has set up in San Francisco. A temporary installation, the shop is part of a marketing campaign through which the apparel maker aims to demonstrate solidarity with America’s working people. Read More
What if you could quickly, easily and accurately calculate the carbon emissions any printing job as part of the estimating process? And what if you could shift the burden of neutralizing those emissions to the client? With a couple of tweaks, a new online tool might be just what you are looking for. Read More
Does email marketing still work, or is it beset by too many problems with mailbox clutter, spam and more? A recent study and a specific example indicate there is plenty of life left in this medium. Is it part of your service mix? Read More
June 2010 commercial printing shipments were $7.2 billion, up +2.4% compared to 2009. Adjusting for inflation, shipments were up +1.3%. “This is the first three month gain in shipments on an inflation-adjusted basis since the period of October 2006 through April 2007. Read More
In the second article of a series, industry expert and WhatTheyThink contributor David Zwang continues his discussion about cross-media communications with details about the new communications channels that print service providers/marketing services providers should be considering as they lay out their cross-media strategies. Read More
Who's buying and who's selling? The print business has been consolidating, and we're certain there is more to go, especially with the popularity of "tuck-ins." Dr. Joe explains why "tuck-ins" are not about what you should do with your shirt, but how it has slowly been creating a more efficient industry. Read More
(detail from original art)
We’re only passing this along, folks.
Headbäng, a music blog for heavy metal fans, reports that Watain, a black metal band from Sweden, recently commissioned the printing of a poster in human blood.
The job was perpetrated—uh, we mean produced—by Metastazis, a photography and graphic design firm started in Paris and currently based in New York City. Read More
We hear it constantly: the industry won't return to normal until printers start investing in their businesses again. But at one printing company in New Jersey, they never got the memo about capital investment being on hold. Sandy Alexander of Clifton isn't waiting for economists to tell it that the time finally is right to add capacity and services. The company - with a staff of 230, one of the largest printing employers in the state - has already spent $7 million on new production machinery this year, and its quest to equip itself for growth isn't over yet. Read More
Today’s printing environment is seeing shorter production cycles, diminishing run lengths, and an increased emphasis on versioning and variable data. The ability to respond quickly to varying customer demands requires the use of manufacturing production techniques and systems that can be reconfigured on the fly. This article discusses the lean manufacturing techniques that printers might utilize in today’s marketplace. It also provides background on RT Associates, who implemented lean manufacturing in 2008. Read More
The Direct Marketing Association has put in place a number of environmental responsibility initiatives that look really, really good. So why haven't more direct marketers jumped on the bandwagon? Read More
A new web-based resource targeted at sustainability-minded packaging purchasers promises to cut through the clutter and hyperbole of green claims and help professional buyers achieve their sustainable packaging goals. Read More
The fashion designer Calvin Klein is famous—or notorious—for advertising that pushes the limits of public taste with highly eroticized imagery. But, in terms of marketing effectiveness, the strategy has its limitations.
Last year, the company raised eyebrows in the SoHo district of Manhattan with a five-story building poster depicting four young, semi-undressed models striking poses that struck some as orgiastic. The shock value was obvious, but, as with all media novelties, the shock eventually wore off. What to do for an encore in a jaded media market that Calvin Klein is largely responsible for jading in the first place? Read More
The rise of inkjet printing is making its mark on the print industry. Andy Tribute has been following this trend, and he’s noticed some unexpected changes in short run book printing, shrinks sleeves production, label printing and localized news print production. Read More
The printing industry may be through the worst of its restructuring efforts, but we know there is still more work to do. Dr. Joe explains how the corner may have been turned about a year ago, creating a class of surviving businesses that are claiming revenue increases. Then he puts on the green eyeshades and discusses "bonus depreciation." Of course, his take on the issue is different than what you might have heard elsewhere. (Again?) Read More
The Virginian-Pilot has reported that Shorewood Packaging intends to close its gravure printing operation in Newport News, VA, in October. The closure will shutter the plant and result in the loss of 35 jobs. Read More
Bind me. Use me. Recycle me. A new concept in binding – paper rings – allows printers of reports and presentation materials to offer their customers the environmental value-add of total recyclability. Read More
None of us know what the future holds for the print industry, but Frank Romano looks into his crystal ball and sees a bright future for a trimmed down industry, run more by computers and technicians that printers, better integration between products and packaging, and a few other surprises. Read More
WhatTheyThink was notified yesterday by the Senate Rules Committee that: "The Senate Rules and Administration Committee voted to discharge the nomination of William J. Boarman out of committee. It will now go to a vote on the Senate floor." Read More
Today’s successful print service providers are finding was to target the consumers that truly need and want their services. Your target market is the bulls-eye at which you want to aim all of your marketing efforts. This article discusses the benefits of target marketing, considers different strategies, and highlights a few companies that are successfully targeting certain markets. Read More
Entries are now being accepted for 2010 Aveda Environmental Awards, a competition designed to recognize superior environmental performance by magazine publishers, in partnership with their printers and distributors. Read More
When he isn’t pitching horseshoes with deadlier accuracy than probably anyone else in the world, Alan Francis works for a printing company. Francis is the subject of a front-page profile in the print edition of today’s New York Times. Read More
A friend who dropped a chunk of my writing into IWriteLike tells me that the answer is H.G. Wells (1866-1946). The good news is that I correspond stylistically with an author of the 20th century—I wasn’t sure that I was this far along on the timeline of the English language. The fantastic news is that the answer wasn’t Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1803-1873), poet, playwright, novelist, and inspirer of the famous Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest. Read More
In Part 1 of this primer on evaluating acquisition targets, Paul Reilly and Peter Schaefer of New Direction Partners reviewed the questions a prospective buyer should ask about the things that make the seller's company productive: its plant, its equipment, and the state of its relations with employees. Their discussion continues with advice for assessing the outcomes of that productivity: the quality of the financial results; the condition of the customer base; and the nature of the relationships that the seller has with its suppliers. Read More
“This man is an author. He writes stories. He has just finished a story. He thinks many people will like to read it. So, he must have the story made into a book.
“Let’s see how the book is made.” Read More
There was a fascinating article written by Lucia Moses a few days ago, titled Hearst Launches Pro-Magazine Readership Campaign, and it is filled with important informational magazine tidbits. Read More
Agfa Graphics announced last week that it signed an agreement to purchase the assets of Pitman, one of the few remaining independent dealers of equipment including prepress, inkjet, pressroom and packaging printing products. This was not a total surprise as speculation of a Pitman sale grew a few weeks ago after Kodak announced it would cut distribution ties with the company, which had been its largest U.S. reseller of prepress products since 2007. Read More
Dr. Joe discusses how commercial printing segments have changed their share of industry shipments from 1997 through 2008, and why digital printing's share might be even larger than the data indicate. Read More
David Zwang has a new series for WhatTheyThink readers called “Print + eMedia: the path to success.” David will take readers through the variety of channels printers now have to reach potential customers. This first article goes through the basics of what it means to be a marketing services provider. Read More
New evidence has surfaced in relation to the nomination of William Boarman for the post of U.S. Public Printer. WhatTheyThink has been covering this story since the nomination was announced through posts on the Print CEO blog. Most recently, we learned that Boarman had received—and cashed—a check for a “gain sharing” payment in 2010—33 years after he left active employment with the GPO. Read More
The July 15th announcement of Agfa’s Pitman acquisition had been rumored for some time. Agfa expects the acquisition to strengthen its presence in the U.S. printing market, including an expanded growth opportunity for Agfa’s industrial inkjet and prepress solutions. The company held a press conference to discuss the acquisition. Read More
Fujifilm North America's polypropylene wall graphic film promises to be a high-performance, more environmentally benign alternative to PVC-based wall graphic substrates. Read More
Print service providers have historically not spent a lot of time positioning—much less re-positioning—their firms. During a prolonged recession, however, the business approaches that worked during a healthy economy will often become ineffective. When this happens, it becomes necessary for a firm to change its positioning. This article offers an overview of the strategies that print service providers can use to reposition themselves and also provides key examples of vendors that have effectively transformed their businesses. Read More
There are a lot of quirky green products out there in eco-land. Some of them are dismissible. Others actually grow on you. Find out how the Life Box is cultivating the seedy side of corrugated - in a good way. Read More
Printers in New York State are a step closer to seeing their legislature preserve a sales tax exemption that would have been extremely costly for them to lose. Tim Freeman, president of Printing Industries Alliance, reported the progress to his members yesterday: Read More
The print industry is yet another area where the Chinese are making enormous strides. How will American printers compete? Andy Tribute might not have all the answers, but he has the perfect vantage point for providing key insights about what the Chinese are doing so right. Read More
A much-quoted survey of small business owners said that the economic confidence felt by this segment leveled off in June to halt a two-month rise. The dip, although not large, reflected increased unease about the near-term outlook for smaller firms. Read More
WhatTheyThink started 10 years ago this year and we've been reflecting on it and sharing this fact with people in the industry. Most doubted it could be that long, but you know what they say about "overnight successes". They take years! We recently told some of our members that we were celebrating 10 years this year and got their reaction. Read More
AlphaGraphics has recognized the importance of keeping up with the changes in the marketing services industry. At the their recent annual owners conference, CEO Kevin Cushing announced to franchisees the major strategic changes they’re planning for the network. Cary Sherbune caught up with Cushing to find out how they’re staying on top. Read More
Months ago, Dr. Joe said we would have an L-shaped recovery, and indeed that seems to be the case. 2011 taxes are already playing into today's economy and creating unintended consequences. And then there's the Postal Service request for emergency price increases. Is it as out of touch with the marketplace as it seems, or is that just the way bureaucrats cry out for help? Read More
I like to think that I am pretty knowledgeable about “green” – at least as it relates to the graphic communications business. But once in a while I read something that leaves me thinking I am as dumb as a post. So here's my list of supposedly green stuff that, for one reason or another, just doesn't make sense, In My Humble Opinion. Read More
With a little more than a week in his new position, HP’s Director of Marketing for the Americas, Graphic Solutions Business, took time out to speak exclusively with WhatTheyThink about his goals and objectives in his first 100 days. Read More
Here are five trends that will remain hot for the foreseeable future. As you think about how to sustain and grow your business over the next few years, consider making some big bets in these areas. Read More
Last month, Kodak’s Vice President of Worldwide Sales & Marketing for Digital Printing, Kevin Joyce, announced he would be leaving Kodak—and the industry—for a different media opportunity. Among other things, Joyce looks forward to taking some lessons learned from print into broadcast. Read the whole story in this exclusive WhatTheyThink interview. Read More
Rather than focusing on cost cutting measures, aggressive firms are now seeking revenue growth opportunities to improve their bottom lines. The starting point in this process is the creation of a good strategic marketing plan. This document outlines strategies for revisiting your marketing plan and also explains why now is the perfect time to make a change. Read More
Eleven employees of Boston’s municipal printing department headed into the Fourth of July weekend with the glum knowledge that they would not be returning to work this week. Their jobs were taken away by the city’s decision to close the 113-year-old plant and give the work to private-sector printers. Read More
For some reason, the latest mantra in the print world is that we have been saved and proven to be forceful and relevant by the success of one title. Read More
As we have been discussing in the Quick Printing thread of this blog, the classifications for our industry are about to be changed to the following: 323113, Commercial Screen Printing, 323117, Books Printing, 323119, Other Commercial Printing (except Screen and Book. Read More
The U.S. Postal Service has proposed increasing the prices to help close a projected $7 billion budget shortfall in 2011 Fiscal Year. Under the proposal the cost of a First-Class stamp 2 cents to 46 cents. Periodicals will see an 8 percent increase, catalogs rates will increase 5.1 percent and Standard Mail will see a 23 percent increase. Read More
The title of the dialogue was “Keeping America Informed 3.0: How Electronic Media, Digital Printing, and Sustainability Imperatives Will Change the Way the World Communicates.” Its main purpose, though, could be summed up in fewer words: to recap the tenure of Robert C. Tapella as the 25th Public Printer of the United States. Read More
The time is getting closer when FSC Chain of Custody certificate holders will have to conform to a new set of on-product labeling standards. This time, thankfully, the powers that be in Bonn have made things more simple. Read More
May's shipments were up compared to 2009, and April's were revised significantly upward. This is the first time since early 2008 that the industry produced two consecutive months with shipment increases. For complete details see this month's printing shipments report. Read More
Six NGOs have filed suit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture to stop field trial planting of genetically engineered, cold-tolerant eucalyptus trees in seven southern states by ArborGen, a joint venture of International Paper, MeadWestvaco, and Rubicon. Read More
Louis Moyroud just died. Doesn't ring a bell? He and Rene Higonet invented photographic typesetting. Oh, phototypesetting does not ring a bell either? From the 1950s to the 1990s, we set type using photographic techniques, exposing miles of photo-sensitive paper and film. The printing industry moved to CTP in the 1990s and digital printing in the 2000s, but the era of pre-press automation began with Louis and Rene. Rene died in 1983. Louis died on June 30 at the age of 95. Read More
A Berkeley, California printer is taking to the rails with a hybrid plan to cut the carbon and particulate emissions associated with its paper deliveries. Read More
As consumer media consumption patterns continue to change, marketers are shifting their budgets from traditional to new media at a rapid pace. As the budget shift continues to digital media channels, marketers will be seeking partners that can provide expertise in execution. With limited resources, outsourcing is the only choice for many. This article discusses how marketing service providers can capitalize on this opportunity. Read More
