When you think of personalized communications, what comes to mind? Possibly something along the lines of “Hi Joe, check out this offer” or “Isn’t New England cold this time of year?”. But what kind of value does this sort of personalization actually provide. With advances in technology and new media, why are we not providing more value through personalization rather than just trying to impress them with our fancy greeting.

Well, we at Magicomm have been thinking a lot about this recently and have worked hard to come up with unique campaigns that go beyond traditional personalization. For example, in a recent campaign we did for Canon USA we wanted to establish each prospects pain points and address their issues in a unique manner. We achieved this through a set of video testimonials that reorganizes itself based on the individuals responsibilities. What we ended up with was the beginning of a conversation that we hope to continue in the free webinars that are a component of the campaign, which includes personalized mailer, purl, responding email, and the videos.

So the more information I have about my prospect the better?

Well not necessarily. You don’t want to scare them away as there is such thing as TOO personal. Instead of talking about how you know where they were last week (creepy), why not instead use that information to write a more appealing call to action.

Now taking this idea of personalization to your every day marketing strategies, wouldn’t it be cool if you could welcome your users to your blog with a customized message based on how they came across your blog. For example, if you know someone found your site through YouTube, why not also ask them to friend you on YouTube and check out the rest of your companies videos. The technology exists, it’s just on us to push it’s limits.

Personalization was fun at first because we could “see our name in lights”. Now it’s time we become more sophisticated with our marketing communications by providing relevant information that is taylored to the receiptants interests. It’s not rocket science … just the next logical step.

This should cause all printers to sit up and take notice…NOW

If you haven’t seen this yet, check in out (HP-MySpace Press Release ). This is huge for several reasons. HP is going direct to provide their services to an organization by providing them with the technology and support to produce their photos with an web-to-print application. A very strong move into facilities management by HP. Certainly will cause stress for their customers by taking the type of business away from the same printers that purchased their equipment.

Additionally, this illustrates that HP “gets it” by recognizing the power of these type of social networking sites. In the press release they indicate that “over 5 million bands on MySpace” and they are trying to tap directly into their marketing engine. Another smart move by HP and, if they manage it right, this will provide for an extremely profitable revenue stream for them for many years to come. These social media sites (MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, Plaxo, etc.) are increasingly being used as marketing tools by small and large companies alike. The next most natural move is to allow them to upload their brochures to these web sites and if the client wants a printed version, they get it at the press of a button. Or, they can download the PDF to their local workstation. Interesting concept linking social media with web-to-print.  Hmmmmmmmmmmm…the mind can wander all over the place with the possibilities.

How will the local printers play in this workflow evolution? Will they be able to? Only time will tell, but watch for further moves by the traditional print vendors establishing relationships with these type of web communities. Mark my words, there are more to come and it will happen faster then you think.

“See” Ya Later,

Rick Littrell

Magicomm, LLC

Recognizing the merging of media workflows is HUGE for Printers and their customers

I have reviewed the new Adobe Creative Suite 4 features and I have only one thing to say…AWESOME…INCREDIBLE….WOW!

Ok, that was more than one word, but Adobe has really outdone themselves this time. What is clear is that they have recognized that “Content is King” and the creators of the content need to move faster and be more efficient, while enabling them to move across different medium seamlessly. Consider It Done, Number 1!

In reviewing the key new features of the entire CS4 product line, I have some thoughts. I know that many of you will be surprised at that, but let’s discuss that at another time. My thoughts are below.

• Speed Enhancements: Photoshop really got a supercharged upgrade. Moving large file without having significant wait times is a big deal. None of us get paid extra for watching the screen refreshing. That just costs us time and money. Besides, we have a tendency to be bored and then our attention will wonder to Twitter (@ricklittrell) or check the local news on the economy (well, maybe not. I don’t want to get depressed). Also, adding real time Preflight lets us fix things while we are working on them and will help us down the road as these files get deeper in the process, where all changes are more expensive and could impact the final delivery. Multiple art boards in Illustrator shows that they recognize the reality that in integrated marketing has many parts and that they all may not be the same. Good Call!
• Image Editing: Content-Aware scaling is INCREDIBLE! When I first saw it in the announcement, I couldn’t believe my eyes. I’m sure that situations will arise that will cause some hiccups, but just making the scaling algorithm more “content sensitive” is very cool. I don’t know how they did that, but my hats off to them (whoever “them” is at Adobe). Additionally, enhancing the editing of 3-D images will make these tools a “must have” for those of us (and who would not qualify in the graphics industry) that provide solutions integrated with the internet. I can only image what type of Avatars will come from this feature set. This will be fun to watch.
• Video: They have clearly shifted into high gear with the video functionality. With video being one of the fastest growing areas on the internet, having more tools at your finger tips for video and audio editing and integration will be a huge time saver, as well as allowing us to better build the imagery that our clients push us to. Variable video will become easier to produce and deploy. By adding their new “Speech to text” abilities that will link directly to the metadata, will enhance our ability to search for specific scenes and make these clips more internet search friendly. The search engine optimization friendliness of this function is HUGE! Don’t leave home without it.
• Interaction between Adobe applications: They have completed (for the time being) the integration of Macromedia into the Adobe core product line. Bouncing from medium to medium, without losing significant features in the process, allows designers/illustrators/photographers to play in all mediums at once. This will not replace the skill sets required to excel in each medium, but this recognizes that being “multi-media” friendly is the new world (and very fun world) for the creative and graphics production community. Kudos to Adobe for giving us the ability and tools to do this more easily. This is a step forward with enabling us to produce cross media solutions quicker. It’s still a challenge, but the mediums have so much overlap in today’s marketing, graphics production, and creative world, it just got easier to do. NOT EASY, just easier.
• Collaboration: By bundling in with Acrobat Connect, they understand that everyone on the team for a project may not be in the same location. That is the reality today for most of us. Due to the complexity of the integrated campaigns that have become the norm, most of us partner with others to expand our abilities to support our clients in an expanding media world. NO ONE, not even the biggest companies, can have on staff the necessary skill sets to produce, at a high level, an integrated campaign without assistance from outside groups and individuals. With “the outside” being potentially beyond your country boarders, even on the other side of the world. We are in a worldwide economy (the past week’s events confirms that even more), we need tools that allow us to build best-in-class teams, from a selection of partners that potentially could be located anywhere in the world. We will still have the language and cultural issues that have to be dealt with, but the geographic issues just got reduced and we all are now closer and the better for it.

So, that’s my cut on the new Adobe Creative Suite 4. With Magicomm focusing on cross media solutions, that use variable data printing, customized emails, personalized url’s, and variable video (with social media thrown into the mix for good measure), we are very excited about this release. Many of you already know that I have been a HUGE (both physically and philosophically) supporter of Adobe for many years and with this released they have confirmed my support. Great job, Adobe! Now the challenge is…What do you do next to top this?

“See” Ya Later,

Rick Littrell

Magicomm, LLC

Moving from a “Push” model to more of a “Pull” model.

The New England Printer & Publisher Magazine just published an article “The new marketing and sales business model” by John R. Graham, who is president of Graham Communications. This is one of the first articles that I have seen in a Print-focused magazine which discusses the concept of “social media marketing” and how it is impacting conventional marketing wisdom. It is important that printing companies that want to become “marketing solutions providers” pay attention to this trend. I think that he is DEAD ON in his assessment!

There’s an interesting dynamic going on now in the global marketplace. The individual is taking control of their communications (now being more appropriately called “conversations”) with corporations. Now, an individual that is not satisfied with a product or service can communicate that worldwide in nanoseconds through the power of the internet. The traditional editing process that publishers provided during the dissimilation of information has been reduced, if not completely removed in most instances. With YouTube, blogs, discussion groups, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc….The individual (or community would be a better description) has taken control of the message from the corporations. Corporations must “interact” with their customers if they expect to thrive in the future.

The concept of “Open” bi-directional communication between an individual and a corporation should be the rule, not the exception. By using this strategy, while engaging in a conversation, you will reap surprised by the results. But putting this into place requires commitment of resources and time. You have to develop a culture that wants to share and be committed to create an “individual” conversation between your customer/market/prospect. Strategies will vary, but the result will remain the same…Have conversation with individuals, Enhance relationship with market, Expand revenue opportunities. It’s as simple as that.

“See” Ya Later,

Rick Littrell

Magicomm, LLC

So it’s no news that a personalized landing page as a response portal to any kind of direct marketing campaign can increase response rates dramatically, but where’s the next step up?

Well it seems as if there are multiple cross-media technologies emerging from the web to help engage, interact and even entertain the user, therefore increasing conversions. We’ve seen how XMPie can personalize images with its powerful VDP engine, but what if the user could change their name at runtime? Furthermore, what if the users name wasn’t in an image, but in a short movie? This is the future of PURLs and will be a hit in the social media world.

I received a link through Twitter for a website about a TV Show on FX and I was amazed at what they had done. Here is the PURL someone made for me. This type of PURL has both a viral marketing factor to it and a huge fun component. Everyone wants to be the star of their own movie and show it off to all of their friends. Personalized video could very well be a key component in the future of PURLs as VDP in images becomes all too familiar.

Another key component will be the “on demand” factor. General URL’s are limited in how they perform once you leave the realm of your database. So how do you appeal to the masses with personalized landing pages? Well, why not have the website change at runtime. Here’s something my own company put together. Basically I wanted the user to be able to interact with the flash movie in real time from outside of the movie via the web-form. Using JavaScript, I was able to insert the users name into the newspaper at runtime and it’s had an amazing response. Using this method there are endless possibilities to creating unique personalized experiences where everyone has their own PURL.

People need a break from their everyday activities and these fun side trackers give them this opportunity and not only will these methods produce higher responses, but they’re great for PR. So the future is about Interactivity and Engagement, have fun!

NOT! But first I have to lay the groundwork for this conclusion.

When thinking about want do I do for my first blog, I wandered into reviewing my career (or is it my life?) experiences and how I got to this place and time. I think that I am going to share some of it with you, so that you can have a better understanding of how my thoughts have been influenced and developed over these many years. Let me start with high school and that you through my initial years of getting my education and starting my first job in the industry. Then I will get to my point…Which I am sure that you will be ready for!

When I graduated high school in the summer of ‘70, I “knew” that I wanted to be an engineer like my grandfather. Seemed like it was the family thing to do and it would be fun designing and building “stuff”. And I decided going away to college would be an even better thing. So, I decided to go to engineering school at Southern Methodist University. I was way over my head very quickly and decided it was better to spend my time playing pool and cards while learning the finer points of night life in Dallas. Fun times, but my grades suffered. In the summer of 1971, after my first year at college, I got my draft number…#1! The only thing that I won, had to be the first slot in the military draft during a time of war (Vietnam). I didn’t like anything about that so I joined the Air Force to take back control of my life. Little did I know that I would never get control of my life, at least this far into it. The USAF guaranteed me that I would get into electronics and that would reduce the changes of me to going the war zone.

I ended up working on air-to-ground nukes…30 feet long, range of 600 miles and only used for in case of “the s&#t hitting the fan”. It was during this time that I got the “tech bug” while I was working on the nukes, troubleshooting them and maintaining them. Fun stuff as long as I didn’t think about their purpose. And the military gave me a focus and discipline that I needed at that time. Being told what to do is a good thing some times! I was in the Air Force 3 years, 2 months, and 24 days…Not that I was counting or anything.

Now I had to decide what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. What a load of crap, asking an 24 year old that question. I still don’t know to this day, but I do know one thing…I’m having fun at what I am doing now!

Anyway, I wanted to be an architecture. I wanted to design and build cool buildings. So, I decided that I wanted to go to the University of Kentucky (Yes, I do bleed blue!), because they had a good architecture program there. There was one problem and that was they only accepted new students to the program in the fall semester and I got out of the Air Force in October, which was too late. Then plan B would have to be go to Eastern Kentucky University (20 miles south in Richmond, KY) to take their Industrial Technology program and all the credits would transfer when the time comes.

That is where I was introduce to graphic arts…made my own business cards, shot and developed my own pictures, silk screen t-shirts and other fun printing stuff. I was hooked, but still focused on becoming an architect. Took the entry exam with over 200 others for entry in the upcoming Fall session. I scored in the top 15…BUT, they only accepted 9! I now had to wait another year before trying again. I’m getting too old to wait (a ripe old age of 24!). I have to decide Plan C. What else would I like to do? I remember sitting in my living room and looking around me. Printed “stuff” everywhere. Newspaper, magazines, wall paper, napkins, t-shirts, and the list went on and on. There’s so much opportunity, I just have to make the decision to enter the “graphic arts” trade and see where it took me.

NOW WE GET TO THE POINT…Times have changed again. My journey is changing again. Print is still an important part of the “communications food chain”, but there are many more options to use then ever before. Each new media offers a different experience that is uniquely for the individual. No longer are we limited by mere physical restraints. Our reach can go worldwide in nanoseconds. It’s a remarkable thought that you can linger on for awhile. The roll of print has changed and the communication streams can now “time shift” and “space shift”. No longer is time and location a limitation (for the most part). Those that recognize that there will never again be “just one way to communicate” will come out ahead. Print IS part of Cross Media food chain and we need to learn to change our communications style based on how the recipient wants to receive the information. Print is Cross Media and Cross Media is Print…I like that thought.

Bottom Line…Print services have changed. It now includes other media creation and manufacturing processes. Video, Audio, Web Pages, Flash animations, and email…The options are widening and the requirements to support multiple design and production flows is increasingly important for a companies success. Therefore…Are you going to be a printer in the future OR a communications company? Your decision could make the difference between growth or…Need I say more?