Nov 27

How can it be? 30k gone-aways out of 85k mailed

Direct Mail/Marketing, Print No Comments »

Imagine my shock and horror today when I was told of a mailing that was posted out recently where it was found that 30,000 catalogues posted out in a total of 85,000 mailed were gone-aways!

Absolute madness… How can a business be so irresponsible and make such a fatal error? They might as well have done a KLF – set fire to the money - and profited from the publicity.

If you are in the business of mail order and home shopping then it is surely imperative to ensure that each and every name on your database is a potential purchaser. Even the postage alone does not come cheap. Then when you consider the production costs of a printed item, you are looking at a minimum of £10,000 wasted on 30,000 duff names.

Obviously, the solution would have been to run a suppression on the data, which would have cost up to 40p each but at least there would have been the chance to make a claim against the supplier of the list, not mail those names more than once, deal with the returns from the Royal Mail or have to deal with the elimination of the names in the aftermath.

If your organisation has not had a health check on its mailing list for 12 months then I suggest that you raise it with your marketing service provider who can do what your list managers should already be doing for you.

Mulberry Square can offer to run a mailing list health check for you as well as a comparison on the price that you are paying for your print, mailing and postage. We have many years of experience to offer in this field and would welcome the opportunity.

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Nov 15

Why be a ‘Marketing Services Provider (MSP)’?

Design, Direct Mail/Marketing, Print, SEO, Web Design, Web Development No Comments »

Simple… our world is changing. Business is changing, marketing communications are changing and communications platforms have already changed. Long gone are the days when you could stand alone in this world as a Marketeer, Graphic Designer, Web Designer, Web Developer, Data Analyst, Printer, Print Manager, Print Finisher, Mailing House, even a postal service provider – just look at the Royal Mail!

Whether it be the pressures exerted by the recession or clients becoming more demanding, value no longer remains in being a small cog in the great machine that is the creation and delivery of marketing communications. Very small, and lets face it one dimensional, players who are scrapping to stay alive on the one hand and some very cute purchasing on the other perhaps baiting the situation have put paid to that. Just take a look at the examples being set by the print management giants of this world such as Communisis, St Ives, the Lateral Group and the GI Group, all of whom printed, mailed, managed data and now offer platforms to deliver communications by email and SMS through trigger marketing, whether that be via web pages, telephone calls, texts or some other way.

In the same way that Mulberry Square has looked to innovation to stay one head of the game, all of these big boys are doing the same by either developing their own platforms or working with the likes of Kodak, who themselves are looking for the next new angle, to develop solutions to knit the whole complex mixture together into a marketable product. Where Mulberry Square are ahead of the game is that we have outsourced the more commoditized services of printing and mailing with high quality well managed partners and introduced services that deliver creativity and greater value, particularly in the internet services arena.

Where we are now is in a more mature place where clients want us to help them deliver clear measurable results for their organisation whether that be the way that they present their propositions on just a campaign level, an overall strategy or across their business as a whole. That way it is not just about a question of price, it is about creating, managing and delivering communications that justify the trust placed when working intimately with the client by creating true return on investment (ROI), with lead generation, customer retention and enhanced data t’boot.

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Nov 15

Paper price hikes put additional pressure on marketing budgets

Direct Mail/Marketing, Paper No Comments »

I refer to the latest round of paper price increases introduced by all of the UK paper merchants on Monday 2nd November 2009.

These increases of between 5-8% affect both coated and uncoated papers and boards and come despite significant restructuring and cost reduction programmes implemented by the paper mills and merchants. The merchants claim that the impact of the Sterling’s continued weak value against the Euro has resulted in paper prices that are currently the lowest in Europe. Mainly for this reason, coupled with the escalating cost of pulp, returns from the UK market have fallen to the point where they are unsustainable for the paper mills.

Printers who ultimately attempt to pass on the increase to their clients face the nightmare task of trying to make the increase stick when British Printing Industry Federation (BPIF) survey statistics* show that only 31% of UK printers are working at over 80% capacity during the period 1 – 11 September 2009.

To the business owner or marketeer looking to take advantage of the opportunity presented by the downturn, doubts could be raised as to the sense in utilising print collateral as part of their marketing strategy. Our advice still remains the same; that a well conceived, well planned, multi-channel strategy using a combination of online and offline media, delivered to a well researched, targeted audience will more often than not win out on the day.

By working in partnership with experienced professionals, such as the guys within the print management division of Mulberry Square, the impact of these increases can be managed and solutions can be found to overcome these obstacles created by the adverse economic conditions we are experiencing at this time.

*The Printing Outlook report is based on an online survey carried out during the period 1-11 September 2009. The survey consisted of 114 companies employing 10,958 people with a turnover in excess of £1.1bn.

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Nov 14

Why print an ISO12647-2 Colour Management Guide on a paper that does not meet the standards set by the ISO?

Colour Management, Print No Comments »

I refer to this article dated 29th October 2009.

An oversight or a cock up? I commend Heidelberg for their effort but to what end? I find it pretty difficult to criticise what I and many deem to be the standard bearers in terms of printing press manufacture – 95% of the presses our partners in print employ are made by Heidelberg, and why? Because these printers can, when using ISO12647 accredited papers supplied by Howard Smith Papers, match our contract proofs, ran through a GMG/Epson system and calibrated to FOGRA 39L – the ISO12647 standard for proofing. In their attempt to align themselves with the ISO12647-2 colour management standard Heidelberg have scored a bit of an own goal!

The word on the street is that Heidelberg have a deal in place with Robert Horne for the supply of paper – well done Robert Horne but really, how can it be that they thought that nobody would pick up on the fact that the papers used in the guide do not meet the criteria set by the ISO? The result – a colour guide with a price tag of £50.00 that does not meet the standards set by the ISO!

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Nov 13

A feature that discusses environmental accreditations in the printing industry

Paper, Print No Comments »

I refer to this article published on 13th November 2009.

A brief but interesting report that offers a little light on the debate that continues regarding the extent to which printers should improve their environmental credentials at this time of economic turmoil.

Mulberry Square takes its responsibility for the environment seriously. We actively encourage our suppliers to make ongoing improvements to the the way they use materials and the waste they create. We also make it our business to promote the environmental benefits offered by certain papers, particularly when it comes to recycled papers and the strict management of forests developed for the production of paper.

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