The Fine Print

No, we’re not referring to the printed matter in small type. We’re talking about the fine art of print, ink on paper, the moveable type that shares information quickly and helped shape our history.

Okay, okay without sounding too esoteric, the question continues to be: to print, or not to print amidst a wide range of traditional and non-traditional media.

The research is clear: print marketing outperforms other forms of marketing and can generate even greater results when used in combination with other media. Hint: the key is how our brains capture and process information:

1. Reading on Paper is Slower and Deeper

When people read content online, they tend to read very quickly, skimming the information for key ideas. In contrast, when people read information on paper, they read slower and more deliberately, allowing them to take in more information and understand it at a deeper level.

2. Paper-Based Reading is More Focused

Frequent interruptions from advertisements, notifications, applications and other on-screen components make it difficult for readers to focus on the material. Print materials don’t offer the same distractions, meaning readers can stay focused on the content.

3. Print Readers Comprehend and Remember More

Being able to slow down and focus while reading means print readers achieve better comprehension and recall than those who read the same material online. Studies have found that the multisensory experience of holding and manipulating paper while reading helps form connections between the content and more abstract ideas.

4. Print Marketing Makes Products More Desirable

Multisensory connections also make it easier for readers to visualize doing, feeling and experiencing the concepts, situations or products they are reading about, especially in advertisements. This can increase affinity for the brand or products being advertised. Digital-only campaigns do not generate the same response.

5. Print Leads to Purchases

Increase in brand favorability and purchase intent via print magazine ad exposure is seven percentage points greater than through online advertising, and three percentage points greater than television advertising. Brand favorability and purchase intent are the metrics most closely connected with purchasing behavior.

6. Print Works in Combination with Other Platforms

Print can help boost results when used in combination with one or more other channels. Combining print and television advertising can produce results two times greater than television and online combined. The combination of all three types of media can produce even better results, furthering the idea that print is a cornerstone media that drives results.

7. Print Boosts Recall of Other Media

People better recall television advertisements when print ads are part of the overall campaign. They are better able to associate brands with advertising messages when exposed to print.

8. Print Continues to Raise Awareness Over Time

Television and online campaigns show diminished returns after four exposures. Print marketing, on the other hand, continues to improve ad awareness and persuasion at five or more exposures. That makes print an ideal platform for long-term campaigns.

As a leading print, mail and marketing partner, we acknowledge that we are an advocate for paper. However, we also recognize the role paper plays in creating a rich multi-media experience that spans print, social media, video, online and other channels. Print can drive people offline, online, with augmented reality and QR codes — things that didn’t exist in the past. They all work together to enrich the experience for readers and generate greater ROI for marketers.

And those are results worth the paper they are printed on.

Transactional Banking for the Win

This past week, we were a sponsor at the Florida Banker’s Association’s (FBA) 130th Annual Meeting. As a leader in the print, mail and marketing space, we were proud to exhibit our proverbial wares, armed with brochures, case studies, giveaways and for the challenge – a putt-putt golf game at the opening reception that provided attendees a chance to score tickets for prizes by hitting PCI-branded golf balls into the target.  

And we scored too!

The event provided us with a platform to reach many of the top banking leaders to discuss our high-volume statement, billing and invoice printing. Par for the course were our end-to-end suite of services – creative, print, mail, marketing, signs, ebusiness, ad specialties, and so much more – that complement their financial print needs.

We up our game by inventorying premium stock and custom envelopes and craft high-impact messaging that transforms transactional documents into highly targeted marketing tools.

And we provide unmatched visibility via intelligent sorting that allows us, and ultimately our clients, to read, print, verify and track any single piece of mail throughout the assembly process.

Taking the “ace” is our supporting regulatory compliance – SOC2, Type II and HIPAA Compliance certifications – that safeguard critical information through the workflow process.

And for the win? We help clients with their “A” game by analyzing, understanding and automating the process for managing large volumes of incoming and outgoing mail via our 10-Point Mailing Systems Analysis program, which helps identify overall efficiencies and the ever-important cost savings of mail services within their companies – at no cost to them. To schedule your complimentary audit, visit www.surfpci.com/10pointsystems7

#ProTip to help up your game and save some green – Sign. Up. Today.

The Envelope: The First Part of Corporate Storytelling

Let’s be honest, we all love a good story, because stories go beyond the telling. They’re about the sharing – the communicating why we do what we do.

In marketing, the first part of that story, very often is the envelope the story is packaged in. It’s a little old-fashioned, but people still like to open their mail – especially if it’s sealed in an envelope with a compelling design or message. From plain or printed, standard or custom, offset or digital, we have the envelope that is right for your business.

And lest we forget the paper? The story continues with the paper, as it’s still the preferred medium for several types of information and the proper mail-handling ensures that said “paper” and accompanying envelope reach existing and prospective customers.

And so, the story goes that a choosing the right printing and mailing partner — with the equipment, services and expertise to get the job done – can mean the difference in achieving business goals and missing the mark. That’s why we recently published a white paper entitled “5 Must-Have Capabilities for a Print Partner in the Digital Age.” If you haven’t already checked it out, you may want to consider doing so. It just may be everything you didn’t know, you didn’t know about how an envelope can set your brand’s story in motion.

Just read and see…

Setting Standards

At the risk of sounding cliché, it’s a new year and new you, but while many are tasking themselves with personal goals and objectives, they are also taking a deep dive into their professional ones. Well the same is true for brands; a new year means a new opportunity to take a fresh look at your brand standards – from typeface to tone to the tools leveraged to tell your story.

A Brand Standards Guide is the keeper of all things your brand. It puts rules in place – not to limit creativity but rather to keep a brand identity consistent and recognizable so that consumers make a connection between the logo, the product and the brand promise. Beyond being a set of rules, a Brand Standards Guide is a tool that is used by designers, copywriters and anyone else who uses the various elements of a brand to create collateral that tells a succinct and cohesive story. 

So what’s in Brand Standards Guide, you ask? There are a few key elements that must be included:

Color Palette: primary, secondary and any complementary colors

Typography: the one or two typefaces that showcase the look and feel of your brand

Tone: the voice of your brand whether it’s more corporate, or whimsical; does it use all caps or lowercase

Various Uses: appropriate orientation whether it is horizontal or vertical and if any accompanying taglines or elements should be included along with it

So if we’ve got your wheels turning and your creative juices flowing, it may be time to reevaluate your brand standards to make sure your brand is, as they say, on brand. If you need help figuring it out, the PCIOIpowerhouse will help power up your brand. By the way, Happy {Brand} New Year!

Happy International Print Day!

Happy International Print Day, the day marked around the world to celebrate all things that make print unique in the marketing mix, and all the tools that make the print experience possible.

As a print powerhouse, we understand and appreciate that in an increasingly digital world, print in all forms, including direct mail, provides the sensory input that clients crave, giving advertisers the biggest bang for their buck. And when direct mail marketing is paired with digital marketing in an optimized media mix, advertisers get stronger results, and consumers respond on an emotional level, creating connections that are difficult to forget.

Four Reasons Why Direct Mail Marketing is Effective

1. It Commands Attention

Direct mail gets a viewer’s attention in a way that digital marketing might not. Why? For starters, there are fewer distractions. When you receive a direct mail marketing piece, you aren’t being distracted from another task. As a result, you’re more in control of the length of time you interact with each piece. And on average, people spend 25 minutes with direct mail pieces.

2. It Creates a Greater Sense of Trust

A recent study that surveyed people in 13 countries found that 90 percent of respondents prefer direct mail marketing to social media, and 63 percent said that they thought print ads were more trustworthy. Perhaps as a result of this perception,
92 percent of shoppers in another survey say they prefer direct mail when making purchasing decisions.

3. It’s Fun

Everyone loves getting mail. Whether you’re opening a card from a loved one or browsing through your favorite clothing catalogue, sitting down to read your mail can be enjoyable – and an added textured varnish or an interesting fold or a uniquely sized piece will help a direct mail piece stand out.

4. It’s Personal without Being Creepy

While a banner ad that calls you by name makes you feel spied on, personalized direct mail marketing feels friendly and exciting. Companies can create more personal relationships with customers by sending special birthday offers, catalogues that complement previous purchases or simple promotional pieces personalized with a customer’s name.

So there it is, just a few reasons why we love print. You can join us and print lovers from around the world in declaring your love for print today. Feel free to share what you think makes print a beloved and invaluable part of today’s media mix by tagging #PCIOILovesPrint and #IPD17.

For The Love of Presses

Reliable, high-performing speed. 

Unmatched precision control. 

Custom, long range applications. 

We’re not talking about the latest sports car. For the love of presses, people, we’re talking about the Océ VarioPrint i300, the new cutting-edge press installed at the PCIOIpowerhouse that offers our clients a wider print range and faster, more efficient one-to-one marketing pieces. 

Dare we say the future of print production is here at PCIOI? And as one of the early adopters of inkjet in South Florida, we’ve supercharged our print arsenal with the latest offering by Canon Solutions America, a leader at the forefront of print technology, to deliver a consistent end-to-end client experience from strategic planning through market delivery. 

But don’t stop the presses just yet. Inkjet is a winning alternative to conventional systems for its ability to offer single-off sheets, short runs and personalized prints #truth. But beyond this, the applications for inkjet are many. There is addressing, wide-format (sheet, roll-fed and hybrid), flatbed imprinting systems and high-speed sheet-fed – all the things that get our printing juices inks flowing. That said, the single greatest advantage of the i300 is that it is without question the fastest and highest quality sheet-fed production inkjet press in the world.

Still too, new applications are developing almost daily, and if you ask us that’s reason enough for us to press on. If you want to see the Océ VarioPrint i300 live and in action, contact us today. 
 

Corporate Giving: It's In The Backpack

Break out the crayons. Pull out the paper and pack a backpack.

Each year, school supply lists grow, and families in need struggle to find a way to ensure their children will be able to go to school with their necessary supplies.

Enter PCIOI, faster than the homeroom bell can ring. This #PCIOIpowerhouse knows just how to rock that schoolhouse – and its growing list of supplies.

We kick-started our newly launched corporate citizenship program with a Backpack Drive, benefiting Second Chance Youth Outreach, which supports the inner-city youth of today with the programs, support and resources they need for a second chance for their families.

We provided the backpacks; our employees provided the supplies and the students provided miles and miles of smiles.

Our weeks-long efforts delivered more than 190 backpacks that will go toward helping the students of Second Chance Youth Outreach excel in the 2017-2018 school year. According to Executive Director Miguel Mendez, prior to our call of support a few months back, he did not have any funding in place for a backpack drive. He had no idea that one call would have afforded his organization so much – and that’s in large part due to all of our employees.

By providing a brand-new backpack filled with school supplies, the kids can show up to school ready to start the new school year on the same level as their peers and excited to learn. Through their efforts, our employees demonstrated that there is no more powerful force than the human spirit.

We are the #PCIOIpowerhouse, helping to build our South Florida communities.

From Brick and Mortar to Click and Mortar

Let’s get digital, folks. And by that we mean, let’s channel the Eye of the Tiger and take brick and mortar to click and mortar with all your marketing collateral and supply management needs.

Are you ready to take command of your brand? To boost your marketing impact while still maintaining your brand standards and controlling costs?

Enter the PCIOI resource portal that combines the same automation you would see in a manufacturing plant, with the sophistication of online tools that are fully integrated. Anyone you authorize in your network can access and order materials online with a single sign-on. You set up user roles, permissions, and approval levels in the portal – so you can be confident that anything they can access is what they are authorized to use. 

More power to you…automation allows you to maximize your print spend by keeping better visibility and control of your marketing inventory. So, if there’s a new product launch down the road, or vertical specific details that need to be highlighted, you can leverage our print-on-demand services and ensure you update your materials accordingly so the information you are presenting is always current and up to date.

And to quote Rocky Balboa, that’s how winning is done.

#PCIOIpowerhouse

There’s a Business Case for Business Continuity

5…4…3…2…1…no, that’s not the countdown from Mission Control, but it very well could be. Companies today face an unprecedented number of potential exposures and they must be armed and ready for the punch.

Having a Business Continuity plan in place, especially if you are a B2B provider (like we are), to help mitigate those risks is more than smart business; it’s the right thing to do to promote corporate resilience in the face of potential disruptions to the business,

A business continuity plan should include executive succession planning, emergency preparedness and disaster recovery. This will ensure your company has critical back up and resiliency in the hours, and days, after a threat.

Here we offer up a few reminders as to why a plan should be part of your business’ master plan:

1. It’s about the business – Businesses should look beyond its service portfolio and communicate the plan to clients. Chief among these is having the right technology and security systems in place to protect both physical and intellectual property
2. It’s about planning and practice – A plan is only helpful if it works. We’ve got ours on repeat, especially now that hurricane season has started. A pre-defined business continuity plan maximizes the chance of a successful recovery by eliminating hasty decision-making under stressful conditions.
3. It’s knowing who’s on first – and knowing what’s on second (noooo, it’s not the Abbott + Costello shtick; there’s nothing funny about business continuity). Having clearly defined roles help bring a daunting task down to size.
4. It’s about reflecting your company's culture – Clients demand uninterrupted access to critical data. Having safeguards in place, and testing them each year to make sure they are effective and flexible, is the cost of doing business in today’s on-demand marketplace.
5. It’s more than technology – Along with having data colocation, businesses should consider having other details in their continuity plan for facilities, equipment and inventory.

So that’s it in a nutshell. Dare we suggest that if you keep these tips in mind when planning your plan, you’ll be business-continuity-game-strong when the need arises…and we sure hope it doesn’t.

#PCIOIpowerhouse

Blog That

It’s a Momtra we’ve held onto since Kindergarten: go in there, introduce yourself to everyone and connect with one or two friends.The same is true about blogging – although one or two friends can easily be communities of like-minded people who want to hear your story. It’s important for brands to put their best face forward, reach across the World Wide Web and start an open and honest dialogue with consumers. Blogs provide that opportunity to take an offline conversation – online – in an effort to deepen the connection with our customers (we’re hoping you’ve got that loving feeling for ours)!

At a recent brand activation for a client (it didn’t hurt that it was a blogger conference), we had the opportunity to make genuine, direct connections with other leading brands and put a friendly face behind them. We also discussed trends and shared best practices and hosted social gatherings via live stream interviews.

So where are we going with this? Well, if your company doesn’t already have a blog, start one. And if it does, get on there more often and get a conversation going.  We leverage ours to showcase recent projects and discuss what’s new in the PCIOI world. Admittedly, we, too, need to do it more often. Lest we not forget that blogs create opportunities for sharing. Whether your audience likes it, emails it or Tweets it, they are validating your content – and validating you as a thought leader. 

So go ahead. Dish it. Tell us what you want to see and hear. These blog posts are not about us. They’re about you.  Wanna collaborate? Comment below. Need help blogging? We’ll help power one up for you.

In the meantime, don’t mind us; we’ll be brainstorming our next post.

#PCIOIpowerhouse