QR Codes - Tracking Response to Your Printed Piece

QR Codes, or Quick Response Codes, have been wildly popular in Japan. They are now common in Europe, and are starting to gain more popularity in the United States.

A QR Code is nothing more than a 2 Dimensional Bar code. These are used by downloading a software application to your Smart Camera phone, and then simply taking a picture of the code.

On the left is one that I made.

For Point of Purchase projects, Signs, Posters, landmarks on a tour, these can be great tools to expound on a printed piece. Ideas that quickly come to mind for me:
• Movie posters with links direct to the movie’s microsite
• Join a fan club with a direct link
• Directions to an event – just take a picture and it will give you all of the info in text on your phone

The most important that I see is making print come alive the way the internet does. If you are reading this blog, I can send you AGS here: http://www.ags.com. QR Codes allow me to do the same thing with print


This means that print becomes dynamic and interactive!
Now you can drive print to web for Donations, Registrations, and Purchases. This is huge!

Also, there are providers that allow you to TRACK WHO CLICKS on the QR Code. This allows you to track hits, just like an e-solution.

"Scan to Win Sweepstakes", "Scan to Subscribe", "Scan to Purchase", "Scan to Donate", "Scan to Register".

Its all possible now!

New "Green" Paper from Mohawk

Mohawk Fine Papers, (Cohoes, NY) announces the launch of Mohawk Loop: a comprehensive line of recycled and environmentally preferable papers. The papers are made with renewable energy and post-consumer fiber — including the largest selection of 100% postconsumer waste (pcw) options — without sacrificing quality, variety or performance. The line also includes the new coated Mohawk Silk with 50% pcw.

Mohawk Loop includes:
100% postconsumer waste (pcw), recycled papers.
A rich color palette with 35 shades ranging from bright white to rich black, with fibered shades and fashion colors.
Eight finishes, including a "silk coated" finish with 50% pcw, among the highest pcw content coated papers available.

Mohawk Loop is entirely FSC-certified, manufactured with Green-e certified windpower, and made carbon neutral. Green Seal certification is pending. Mohawk Loop papers are packaged in Mohawk's new environmentally responsible packaging materials.
For more information: http://www.mohawkpaper.com/getintheloop/index.php

Mailing Mistake with Wafer Seals

This beautiful 8 page + Cover mailer recently arrived in my mailbox (name covered up to protect the innocent). With 4 color process + aqueous coating + Spot UV + 2 pull out plastic coupons this is an expensive and high profile piece. Whoever designed and printed it did a fantastic job, the piece immediatly caught my eye and I wanted to open it.





BUT, before opening I noticed that there were 5 clear plastic wafer seals! These are indicated with the 5 pens. I knew that opening this piece would be no easy task. The clear plastic wafer seals used are stronger than paper and difficult to rip.



I found a razor blade to open up the lead edge, then to see how the piece would respond to the average user, I carefully pulled at the remaining wafer seals. The result, only one of the 4 remaining wafer seals yielded to pulling. The other 3 areas ripped the piece badly, and turned this previously beautiful mailer into a scrap heavily leaning toward being thrown in the garbage by my wife.



Its hard to imagine the average recipient searching for a razor blade to open a direct mail piece. That likely means most of these were damaged much worse by the end user, and a higher percentage of a piece that started off with everything right, ended up in the recycling bin.





The US Post Office made several changes to the type of closure that is needed on a Direct Mail piece. This does not mean that every piece needs to get mangled when opening. What could have been done differently?



First, only three wafer seals are needed for this piece with its current design: Two on top and one on the trailing edge. Someone screwed up on the mailing spec or assembly.



Second, plastic does not rip as easily as paper. Perforated wafer seals are no longer permittable. This means someone should have used transluscent - not clear, and designed around it from the beginning. Here's the Postal Guideline for this piece.



http://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/201.htm#wp1084261



My advise is to partner with someone that knows mailing. Ask them some questions:


What are my mailing options for Postage?
Will this Postage Option arrive in time for the promotions?
How can I protect this from damage in the mail stream?
How many wafer seals do I need? What is their size and position?



Someone once said, "Begin with the End in Mind". This is the key to a successful piece.

Printing is Green

Interesting article that suggests printing is environmentally friendly:


"According to the co-founder of Greenpeace, Dr. Patrick Moore, choosing print on paper is helpful to the environment. "Forestry is the most sustainable of all the primary industries that provide us with energy and materials...To address climate change, we must use more wood, not less. Using wood sends signals to the marketplace to grow more trees."...

"Nearly 60% of all paper in the US is recycled, by comparison less than 20% of electronic devices are."

The article link is here:
Print Pays Back

Amazon, Apple, iPad, Kindle

Great article in the Washington Post on Amazon, ebooks, the iPad and the future of book writing as well as distribution:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/02/AR2010020203910.html?referrer=emailarticle

HP T300 Digital Inkjet Web

Color Digital Web Printing is here! This new HP Ink jet Web Press is an impressive machine. I haven't promoted a piece of machinery in a very long time. Normal discussions revolve around how to use technology to increase responses in marketing campaigns. This new digital web press is a game changer!

The HP T300 is wide format Color high-quality digital: Fast - over a million 8 1/2 X 11 images in one day!

This allows for lower costs and shorter printing runs:
Greatly Reduce Warehousing Costs
Eliminate Obsolescence Costs
Speed time to market
Reduce Print Costs

Check this link out to see it in action:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nD1h60oQ04

Contact me if you want to price a book, or Variable Data Project on this Piece of equipment.

College Increases Applications by 30%

"Lifting a page from the marketing playbook of credit card companies". This is how one company describes their Variable Data Direct Mail Campaign designed to increase college applications.

Last year, over 100 colleges sent out Ready-to-Submit applications to prospective students. All of the student's information was filled out, and the application fee was waived. All the receiver had to do was sign their name, and mail it back to the school.

The result of these campaigns has been a significant spike in the number of applications. At the College of Saint Rose, in Albany, NY:

• Increase in Percentage of Men: from 28% to 35%
• Number of Enrolled Students from outside Albany area: from 53% to 63%
• Increase in Students who identify themselves as African American, Asian or Hispanic: from 7% to 18%
• Campaign Value: Priceless

See the full New York Times article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/26/education/26admit.html?pagewanted=1