Good QR Code, Bad QR Code

QR Codes have been called the marketing tool that marketers love to hate. Why? Because so many seem to provide absolutely no value.

Perhaps you scan a QR Code and it doesn’t go anywhere at all. Perhaps you get an error or the page to which the code points doesn’t exist. Perhaps you see a QR Code on a product you are interested in, so you scan the code and end up at a manufacturer’s non-mobile website where you get lost in a maze of links so dense that you forget why you went there in the first place.

Does this mean that QR Codes are a waste of time? No. It means not enough thought was put into creating them.

When you are thinking about creating a QR Code, the first thing you should do is ask yourself, “What purpose do I want this code to serve? What do I want the person scanning it to get out of it?” If you don’t have a good answer, wait until you do.

A great example of QR Code use is Best Buy. When you enter a Best Buy store, all of the products have QR Codes. When scanned, the codes take you to products specs, customer reviews, and other information not available on the shelf talkers or product packaging that will help them make a purchase decision. The QR Code puts the information in the customer’s hands at the very time that they need it — as they are making the decision. That’s a QR Code used well.

Contrast that with a QR Code placed on a lawnmower that takes you to the manufacturer’s corporate site. Or a QR Code on a “house for sale” sign that takes you to the realtor’s entire inventory. Those are QR Codes used poorly. It’s not the QR Code that’s the problem. It’s the lack of thought behind it.

When creating QR Codes, think about the end use!

 

Jeff Lampert

Director of Marketing & Business Development

 

“Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.” 

Warren Buffett

 

Old Trail Printing wins 19 awards for Print Excellence

February 25, 2013

Old Trail Printing is proud to announce it was recently awarded nineteen 2013 Print Excellence Awards from the Printing Industries of Ohio / N. Kentucky.

The print contest judges this year were Ken Eberhart, The Merrick Printing Company; Paul Schmitz, Schmitz Printing Co. and Glenn Petry.  These experienced judges and printing experts stated that the quality of print among the 458 entries continue to get better every year.

Each year, Printing Industries of Ohio / N. Kentucky holds its Print Excellence Awards Competition to reward Ohio and northern Kentucky printers that demonstrate excellence in 34 categories.  Each of the gold winners in the regional competition are entered in an association-wide competition for Best of Category and Best of Show prizes what will be awarded in August 2013 at the Grand Ceremony, being held in Columbus, Ohio.

Old Trail Printing won the following awards:

                7 Gold Awards

                11 Silver Awards

                1 Bronze Award

Jeff Lampert, Director of Marketing and Business Development commented, “We are especially proud of the fact that The Limited 2012 Holiday Conference Brand Book won a Best of Central Region award and will go on to state competition.”  You can view the award and brand book in the Gallery section of Old Trail Printing website.  www.oldtrailprinting.com

 Founded in 1928 and one of the largest woman owned printers in the Midwest, Old Trail Printing has a rich history of servicing clients across the country. Our combination of offset and digital presses means we have the right equipment to handle a variety of projects. In addition to being recognized as an award winning printer, we have invested in technology tools that enable our customers to streamline their procurement processes, increase efficiencies, reduce waste and gain a higher return on investment with their printed communications. With our comprehensive list of services our customers benefit from using Old Trail as their single source for creative, printing, mailing, fulfillment and more.

Printing Industries of Ohio / N.Kentucky serves nearly 400 commercial printing companies and suppliers to the industry in its service area. The Association provides a broad range of products and services to its membership, including workers’ compensation and product discounts. Printing Industries of Ohio / N.Kentucky is an affiliate of the national Printing Industries of America, the largest graphic arts association in the world. For complete information on Printing Industries of Ohio / N.Kentucky and Printing Industries of America, please visit www.pianko.org.  

 

Jeff Lampert

Director of Marketing and Business Development

Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success

Henry Ford
                                                                                                                                                                                   

Creating Customer Loyalty. Step by Step

What does it take to create customer loyalty, the kind of loyalty that makes customers stick with you, even when their favorite sales representative, hair stylist or financial advisor moves on? Even when your prices change? Or when the extra 10 miles between your store and someone else’s means they spend an extra half-gallon of gas to reach you?

 

Here are some tips from the experts.

 

1. Know your customer base. Do you know who your customers are? Customer bases are not homogenous. They are made up of different demographics, with different needs and with different motivators for shopping with you. Profiling your customers can tell you a lot about how to keep them.

 

Then take it a step further. Find out not just who your customers are, but what they think. When was the last time you did a customer survey or conducted a focus group?

 

The more you get to know the unique demographic and psychographic makeup of your customer base, the more you are able to adjust products and services to respond to their unique needs and the more likely you are to hang onto their loyalty.

 

2. Make it personal. Shift from mass mailings and generic communications to 1:1 print communications as much as possible. This should go beyond “Dear <<name>>” and include content driven by demographics, demonstrated preferences or past purchase history. The goal here is not just to let your customers know that you know their names, but to increase the relevance of your communications to their lives. Large online retailers like Amazon.com use this strategy to great success—shouldn’t you?

 

3. Spread the communication around. Some companies assign each customer a specific customer service representative or sales consultant. This creates a special relationship between customer and sales rep that can be invaluable. The downside is that this relationship can become so valuable that, should the sales rep leave the company, your customer might be willing to leave with them. For this reason, encourage your customers to have multiple contact points within your company. Try to avoid relationships being through a single individual.

 

4. Increase the frequency. Stay in communication with your customers on a regular basis, not just when there is a special promotion or event. This is the idea behind monthly newsletters and “tips and tricks” postcards, especially those personalized to each recipient’s individual needs. This develops a relationship that creates a value beyond price and convenience and keeps your company top of mind.

 

5. Reinforce and reward loyalty. When customers are loyal, let them know that you appreciate it. Send them a thank-you once in awhile. Then reward them for that loyalty. Send them special “loyal customer” discounts, personalized to their unique habits and preferences whenever possible.

 

Retaining customers takes effort. It requires a customer retention plan and an intentional, focused effort to keep those customers you’ve worked so hard to have. What’s your plan?

Jeff Lampert
Director of Marketing and Business Development

"Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other"
-Abraham Lincoln

Personalized Marketing: It’s Mainstream

Just look around you. Personalized marketing is everywhere. From personalized coupons at the checkout counter to personalized recommendations at Amazon.com. Now there is research to show just how prevalent personalized marketing has become.

In a study of 466 marketers (“Capturing the Cross-Media Direct Marketing Opportunity,” 2010), InfoTrends found that only 40% of marketers’ campaigns fit into the category of “one to many.” Forty percent fit into the category of segmented marketing (“one to few”). More than one in five (21.0%) fit into the category of full personalization (one to one), whether print or electronic media.

Think about that for a moment. One in five campaigns is fully personalized. What does that mean for you? It means that if you are sending static mail pieces, you’re competing with marketers who are speaking (potentially to the same customers and prospects) on a personalized level.

If your competitors are personalizing and you are not, who do you think is going to get the most mind share? Even if your competitors aren’t personalizing today, they might be tomorrow. You want to get there and establish a relationship with those customers or prospects before they do.

Personalization doesn’t have to be difficult. Even with a simple basic customer list, there are steps you can take:

1. Personalize by name.

Don’t just personalize the message. Use the recipient’s name creatively. Integrate it into the design in an interesting, eye-catching way.

2. Target by a single, simple variable.

Will it help to target the mailing by gender? How about by ZIP code? Would it help to add a map? (This works great for new businesses or new branches or locations.) These are data you already have. Use them!

3. Append the database.

Still think you don’t have any variables you can use? Do what’s called a database “append” in which you purchase simple variables like home ownership or household income for the names you already have. Appends are not expensive and can boost your marketing effectiveness exponentially.

Talk to us about how you can put it to use to create a more personal relationship with your customers. You probably already have more information than you think!

 

Jeff Lampert

Director of Marketing and Business Development

Tis the Season for Giving

I think everyone has heard the saying, “It’s better to give than receive.”  Did you know the origin of that saying is from the Bible, Acts 20:35 (King James Version) and it reads “I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.”  Well, Old Trail Printing not only believes in giving back to the community but we actually practice what we preach.  Recently we printed a calendar for Cap City Creatives to help promote local artists.  I would like to share the press release from Cap City Creatives.

                                                       FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ARTIST’S GROUP AND LOCAL PRINTER COLLABORATE ON 2012 CALENDAR

Columbus, OH – December 14, 2011 – Cap City Creatives has published its inaugural artists’ 2012 calendar with help from local printer Old Trail Printing and is offering it free to local art lovers.

Back in early summer 2011 Whitney Works – the founder of the artists group Cap City Creatives and her fellow member Hanif Abdurraqib played around with the idea of promoting a 2012 calendar featuring local artists within their 20+ member strong group. However, the printing costs involved put the idea on the back burner. 

Eventually another group member, Darrell White started to pitch the idea to local printers to see if they would help with the costs. Most said “no” but then Jeff Lampert – Director of Marketing for Old Trail Printing - agreed to present the idea to others at Old Trail Printing.

In the end, the team at Old Trail Printing (including Jeff Lampert, Natalie Burwell – Account Executive and Mike Held – principal at OTP) agreed to cover the printing costs free of charge to the artist group. The end result was over a thousand calendars printed for the relatively new artists group to offer free to the public just in time for the Short North’s gallery hop.

“It really was a collaborative effort” says White, “Dale Ziemianski, a digital artist, did the cover design,  Donna Estep, a pop artist, and Molly Durst, a Graphic Designer both worked very hard to create the internal design.” The result is a very unique calendar with art from painters to poems to even… soap.

White later added “Without Jeff and his team, [at OTP] I’m not sure how we would’ve made this happen.”

 The complimentary calendars are currently being offered at various locations throughout the Short North including Travonna Coffee House - 1195 N. High Street Columbus, Ohio 43201.

Cap City Creatives is a dynamic group of visual artists, musicians, photographers, performers, designers, and art enthusiasts from all over the Columbus area that meet up to network, promote local artistic talent and plan collaborative art events. For more information please visit: www.capcitycreatives.com

Old Trail Printing - Founded in 1928, OTP is one of the largest woman owned printers in the Midwest. OTP is a leading creative and graphics solutions provider offering creative, printing, binding, mailing, kit packing and distribution solutions.  Old Trail Printing is a qualified G7 Master Digital and Offset Print Solutions Provider headquartered in Columbus, Ohio.  For more information please visit our website:  www.oldtrailprinting.com

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Written by Jeff Lampert, Director of Marketing and Business Development

“The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree:  the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other”

So much art! So much talent! The paper project comes to an end.

The Paper Project has come to an end- the children have used the paper and created some extraordinary crafts.  There were hats, ornaments, signs and holiday pictures.  The students got really creative and the products are amazing.  And without further ado, the winner of the additional $250 gift card is...

Licking Valley Local Schools!

Teachers Kristin Dennis and Kellie Caplin asked their students to create fall-themed projects in the style of Juan Miro and Jackson Pollock.  These two teachers help close to 900 students, from kindergarden to 5th grade, express their inner creativity with funds raised just as creatively.  Old Trail Printing couldn't be more proud of every single student and teacher who participated in the paper project- the overwhelming gratitude for such a basic need like paper supports Old Trail's original reason for donating it in the first place.  So many schools have seen their art budgets slashed over the past few years that even just their basic needs go unmet.  Old Trail Printing is just so happy to be able to give even just a little back.

The paper project means even more to me, as an art student.  I have studied how art has progressed since the beginning of time and a part of my goal in life is to foster young artists; to give them the opportunity to be creative in any way possible.  This project was organized with the goal of helping local kids find a different outlet for their energy. With all the budget cuts, it's no wonder why children these days go home and play video games.  They cant play sports without paying an arm and a leg for "pay to play" and the proper equipment.  They cant make art because there are no supplies.  It is safer to have them go home, do homework and sit inside the rest of the evening.  Granted, this is not always the case, but isn't it our duty to help improve the lives of everyone in our community?  I think so.  My family thinks so.  Old Trail Printing thinks so.  We hope that this project inspires creativity in these children, directing their energy towards something that can help them be better citizens in the future.  By creating art in school now they are actually learning how to think outside the box later in life when the tasks are more business-driven.  Also, Old Trail hopes that some of these students continue to pursue the arts and after college come back to work for companies just like us, keeping print current and competitive with possibly more popular or trendy forms of marketing.

I could go on and on in circles about how happy I am that this project was a success and how I cannot wait to do it again next year, but that would just bore you to death.  Instead, take a look at some of the images of the winning school's projects and think about how you can improve your community.

 
                         

Written by Julianne Kaercher, Social Media/Marketing Consultant
"The cultivation of a hobby and new forms of interest is a policy of first importance to a public man"
-Winston Churchill

What Happens in Vegas Does Not Necessarily HAVE To Stay In Vegas!!!

Wendy’s held their franchisee convention in Las Vegas last week and Dave Held, Lori Mitchell and I were there!  It was a great opportunity to meet so many franchisees face-to-face from across the country.  I’m proud to say, Old Trail Printing was honored by Wendy’s Corporate as a 35-year partner.  We have been printing, kitting and fulfilling their training materials for decades.

On Monday morning, Wendy’s new CEO, Emil Brolick, gave one of the most inspiring presentations I have ever witnessed.  He literally had 3000 people in that room riveted in their seats.  I quote from USA Today, “Emil is fed up with the No. 3 burger chain being portrayed as the fallen star of the fast-food industry.”  It was so interesting to hear about his plans to once again make Wendy’s an industry innovator.  Emil is a big believer in the importance of leadership in an organization and he believes his leadership can make a difference.  Again, I quote, “A leader has to bring a vision to an organization, because an organization works best when you have an end in mind.  Vision is great, but if you don’t have strategies, people get frustrated quickly.  A leader has to define reality and give hope.”  Hold on, stop the presses…did I hear him say “have an end in mind!”  Why, that is Habit #2 of Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, “Begin With The End In Mind.”  Covey says, “If you don’t make a conscious effort to visualize who you are and what you want in life, then you empower other people and circumstances to shape you and your life by default.”  After spending time listening, observing and interacting at the Wendy’s convention, I am confident Wendy’s will once again rise to the top!

At Trojan Litho in Seattle around 1998, the management team was trained on The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.  I found Covey’s 7 Habits useful in not only my business career, but personal life as well.  How many times have all of us wanted to drive our point home so badly to someone we are talking to without listening first?  I try to remember Habit 5, “Seek First To Understand, Then To Be Understood.”  If we as managers practiced this habit regularly, I’ll bet we would have more effective relationships with our employees.  I got to thinking after Emil’s presentation: would the owners at Old Trail Printing be open to learning more about Covey’s 7 Habits?  If they are, would they practice what they learn?  Well, I have ordered 5 of Covey’s books from Amazon and am preparing our management team for training.  I have 2 simple goals for this program:  Create an environment where our management team communicates more effectively with each other and give our management team the tools and knowledge to communicate more effectively with our employees.  I hope to have this training completed before the end of the year.  I am very fortunate our ownership gives me the freedom to take time to “work on the business” as compared to always “working in the business.”  I believe this is the way you move companies successfully into the future.

Circling back to Emil Brolick’s presentation, when he finished, all 3,000 people stood up and gave him a standing ovation that seemed to last forever.  What an inspiration not only to his employees, but the rest of us who were fortunate to be there.  If you are interested in reading USA Today’s interview with Emil, go to:

 http://usat.ly/sPKf3o

Written by Jeff Lampert, Director of Marketing and Business Development

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.”