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.”

Is printing’s online presence dying? With such a rush to “go social“, the industry news fails to keep us interested.

If you haven’t noticed, our Twitter feed has been unusually slow.  Now, this is not for a lack of effort.  In fact, it feels like I am trying even harder than before to find interesting news about the print industry and get the information out to our followers before it becomes either irrelevant or redundant.  When I think about the reasons why it feels so much more difficult now than before, I keep coming back to the same excuse.  Well, it is not an excuse, but I suppose whenever I see something not being done, I call the reasons behind the inaction an excuse.  But anyway… the reason it is harder to keep our social media sites constantly streaming and buzzing with current topics and news is that I am no longer doing “the social media thing” full time.  In fact, I am doing a completely different job now and we all thought it would be fine to drop to an hour or two a day for Old Trail Printing’s social media “maintenance” since all the sites are up and running.  How other companies can do this, I do not know!

So, you would think that setting aside an hour or two within each day to search and read articles, other social media feeds, etc. would be an easy thing to integrate into someone’s work life, right?  No- it is actually harder to ask someone to squeeze in another task when they already have a full day.  And it is not like the world of social media waits- if you don’t have time today you cannot just get to it tomorrow.  There is new information, new technologies, new everything out on the web and so the cycle starts over; you can’t post tomorrow what you found online today.  So, this leads us to the question: how do you do it? If your company cannot afford a full time social media assistant, or does not have an internship program in place, how do you stay relevant with your online presence?  I know there are tools and dashboards out there that are supposed to help you manage RSS streams and schedule your posts, but it still does not do the research for you to the point where social media is an easy thing to fit into your schedule.  Easier, yes.  Easy, no. 

Now, I think Old Trail Printing, along with the other print companies who are embracing the world of social media, are at an even bigger disadvantage than other companies.  Why?  Because we are print.  This means that there are a limited amount of legitimate and credible sources online to get your information from- and that means we are all competing to see who can translate that information to our followers first and in an interesting way.  Sure, there might be an article here or there in newspapers and magazines that are great to pass along, but not always.  This means we have to decide if it is worth a few minutes of our precious time to actively seek out random publications and hope to find information to share.  Wouldn’t it be easier to just wait for someone else to find it, share it then ride their time-invested coattails?  Well, that just isn’t the point, is it?  So, will it ever get easier?  Probably not.  In fact, with the internet changing daily, I am sure it will become even harder to stay relevant unless you can devote your entire day to it… but maybe one of these changes will involve micro-chipping and newsfeed contact lenses or something “futuristic”.  But, I digress.  In keeping with the challenge of social media and print, I have also found that it is not just our Twitter and Facebook feeds that have slowed, it is the diversity of topics in general that has slowed.

I remember when I first started looking at all the online websites for print, media, marketing, etc. everything was new and interesting.  Great- there was a lot to share and so many topics to cover.  However, as time wore on, I noticed the topics all stayed the same and were just being presented with a different title or with one “new” piece of information that did not necessarily affect anything.  I started to grow frustrated, which is part of why I decided that dropping the amount of time I invested in Old Trail Printing’s social media maintenance was going to have little effect on our feeds.  I mean, how many times can you read about the debate between PSP, MSP, OSP or any other type of “service provider”?  Or how many times do you need to be told that “going green” is what printers need to be doing and all the ways to do that, especially if you are already, in fact, green?  So when everyone in the printing industry says, “things change so fast”… do they?  I mean, yes, the technology behind the printing changes fast- very fast, but what else is actually changing?  The need for print fluctuates with the economy- this is usually a constant.  Print has integrated with the internet to create very effective multi-channel campaigns… ok, so that is kind of the end of that discussion.  We have all participated in the “what do we call ourselves” discussion and, frankly, I am blue in the face from it.  These are just a few examples of how the “trending topics” in print are, well, dead.  Yes, new experts and anyone with a computer can put their opinion out there (clearly, we are), but is it changing the discussion; is it progressing?  I guess my question is: What is next?  I am bored with the topics and bored with searching for topics.  How can the printers who want to be out there, online and active, maintain that level of involvement without the time, budget and conversation to fuel it all?

Written by Julianne Kaercher, Social Media Consultant

"Creativity is the result of boredom if you are inspired enough to make the change."