Written by Siddhartha Bhattacharya
Worldwide Senior Product Marketing Manager
Enterprise Business Group, Xerox Corporation

“Back in black I hit the sack I’ve been too long I’m glad to be back…Forget the hearse ’cause I’ll never die, I got nine lives, Cat’s eyes, Usin’ every one of them and running wild…”

It seems certain to me that this hit song was written as an ode to monochrome printing! For years now, we keep hearing and reading about the demise of black and white printing. Contrary to popular belief, the trends are actually quite the opposite. If the recent reaction to the Xerox D-series launch at Drupa – the world’s largest printing show – is any indication, black and white printing is here to stay and  to thrive, especially in the 100 – 134 pages per minute segment!

One would imagine that with the steady lowering of color printing costs, the overall attractiveness of printing in monochrome would disappear. However, the true advantages of printing in black and white over color, tie directly to the applications printed. From book blocks, security documents, labels to transactional documents, bills and manuals – printing in color might not make sense as monochrome printers are more cost effective and faster. If you add variable data printing to the mix, and the host of advanced inline finishing options available on these ‘light production’ monochrome devices, the equation becomes that much more compelling.

An emerging trend that offers a unique value proposition to printers is the collaboration between monochrome and color printing – also known as a ‘hybrid job’. Think about creating a document that is predominantly black and white but uses color strategically to add value to the document using color covers or color inserts – low cost black and white, high impact color create a powerful combination. One such Xerox designed application – Best of Both Worlds –  printed on the Xerox 4112/4127 (predecessor to the Xerox D Series) and the Xerox 700i Digital Color Press has won several industry plaudits ranging from the IAPHC International Gallery of Excellence award to the Gold Ink award. It is a testimony to the capabilities that exist and the opportunities that abound when it comes to monochrome printing.

For the music aficionado, the 1980 song ‘Back in Black’ is known for its opening guitar riff, and the song was AC/DC’s tribute to their former singer Bon Scott. His replacement Brian Johnson recalled to Mojo magazine in 2009 that when the band asked him to write a lyric for this song, “they said, ‘it can’t be morbid – it has to be for Bon and it has to be a celebration.’ And that’s what monochrome printing is all about – a celebration!

Written By Joel Basa
eMarketing Manager
Xerox Corporation

Unlike the many Xerox veterans going to drupa, I’m a “Rookie” to drupa. I’ve been to other tradeshows such as IPEX, Graph Expo, Print 09, On-Demand to name a few but this is my first drupa. I leave tomorrow(Monday) and I started to pack for my trip and I thought I’d share a few of my thoughts on what to pack / not pack:

First, what I’m NOT packing:

• Dining Guide to Dusseldorf: The one thing I love about international travel is looking forward to the cuisine. I usually come prepared but since XMPie is producing a “Dining Guide to Dusseldorf” I can just pick up a copy in our stand (Hall 8b).
• My Wife and My Dogs: I’ll miss my wife and my dogs but don’t think they’ll fit in my luggage.
• Suntan lotion: Weather forecast for Dusseldorf looks like Upper 60s Fahrenheit…not bad but suntan lotion not required.
• My passport: Just kidding, I wanted to make sure you’re still reading!

Now, what I AM packing:

• iPad with drupa App: I’m amazed to see the number of drupa mobile apps by many vendors. I’ve already installed the official drupa App on my iPad and iPhone. What a great resource!
• A Doctor’s Coat/Jacket: That’s right! I’ll be with Andy Hill and Christina Klos in the Social Media Café holding Social Clinics. We’ll be “Doctors” to help you with your social media questions/needs. Stop by any day from 10:30-11:30 or 2:00-3:30.
• Camera: With so many things to see (at the show and in Dusseldorf) I want to be sure to take some photos.
• Comfortable Shoes/Sneakers: Standing and more standing. Knowing that, I bought some comfortable insoles for my shoes and for after the workda, my Asics Kayano 18s will be like heaven to my feet.
• Workout Bands: With no access to a gym, must be creative with getting a few workouts in. Workout bands are small, lightweight but are versatile workout
• Other important things: My passport, money, and tickets.

Any of you veterans have any thoughts to share? Let me now! See you at drupa!

Written by:
Mamta Moolchandani & Victoria Burlison
Xerox Corporation

I’m (Vicky Burlison) a Curious Cat. When I say this, I do not mean that I am a soft furred feline who likes to explore. Upon considering a purchase I like to assess all the options, go away, think about it and then nine times out of ten I return to the first shop I entered and purchase the first item I saw. This drives my friend mad, but as I recently explained to him after a 5 hour long shopping expedition; the behaviour is beyond my control.

On the other hand I (Mamta Moolchandani) an Obsessive Compulsive Brochure Collector (OCBC). When walking around fairs my eyes immediately focus on the free literature, I am eager to accept any booklets that are being given out. I always leave with a bag full of brochures detailing everything from how to open your own pet shop to the best way to bathe a child (I have no children). When leaving IPEX 2010 I found my suitcase laden down with print samples, posters and numerous books. I was over the moon!

The type of visitor we are, whether going to a retail shop or to an international trade show, is dependent upon our attitudinal and behavioural characteristics. Which category do you fall into?

Definite: Prospect customers that have already made purchasing decisions prior to entering a shop or tradeshow.
Demonstration Junkies: Do you pass by shops or tradeshows looking out for activities such as product demonstrations, which attracts you to spend more time in store or on the stand?
Curious Cats: Do you fall into the same category as me (Vicky), information hunting before making any decisions…
Obsessive Compulsive Brochure Collector (OCBC): Or are you like me (Mamta) who loves to collect and keep just about anything and everything!
Eye Ballers: Are you exceptionally keen to gain more information, and may consider purchasing if all of your boxes are ticked?
Keenos: Do competitions encourage you to interact and purchase?

Keepsakers: Or are you attracted by the freebies being offered?

Dis-interested: We all have those trips where we like to window shop and aren’t too serious about considering buying…unless something special catches our eye!
Socialites: Do you enjoy networking, socialising and meeting new people from around the world?

Researchers: Instead of going out looking to purchase, do you focus more on extending your knowledge by researching around different products and services? 

Whichever category you fall in to, at drupa 2012, we are looking forward to accommodating your needs. We will be demonstrating revolutionary products and end-to-end workflow solutions for all of you demonstration junkies! Curious Cats will be pleased to hear that we will have industry experts at hand to answer all of your questions, be sure to bring your notepad. OCBC-ers watch out, our print offerings are likely to set you over your luggage allowance on the way home. For those of you looking to win a prize, make sure you register with Xerox @ drupa to be entered in to our draw! On top of that, everyone who registers with us will enjoy a free cup of coffee on us! For those of you browsing, our Cirque du Soleil performances are sure to keep you entertained. For our Socialites, we are putting on a Happy Hour consisting of music and beverages where you can meet people from around the world – on the last opening hour, every day. For all of the researchers out there, make sure you drop by and talk to our keynote speakers.

With 14 days to go, the excitement is really building! No matter your purchasing characteristics, we really cannot wait to see you there.

True or False? Investment in Direct Marketing has risen versus investment in general advertising.

True or False? The marketing department and its surrogate creative agencies have been the greatest source of corporate opportunities for graphic communications providers.

The answer to both of these questions is a resounding TRUE.  So how do you tap into this key market? For years, it was enough to simply deliver attractive printed collateral pieces and/or advertising promotions. But the game has changed.  More consumers use “always-on” electronic media. The media landscape is increasingly complex and ever changing. Marketers have change their approach and have an increased need to show ROI.

The following three of seven tips are a sampling of a Xerox Whitepaper: Seven Tips for Selling to Direct Marketers:

1. Target the right prospects: Know your customers. Rank who is most profitable and understand their industry. Also, sell more to your current customers as they are often have “low hanging fruit” for you business. Once you identify your high value customers, target prospects that resemble them.  When venturing outside your “comfort zone, “choose wisely.  Focus on the areas that offer the greatest potential return.
2. Demonstrate your market knowledge: Did you know that 92% of marketers said they would engage in a sales discussion if an agency produced some research or insights in their vertical category (MediaPost, The Winterberry Group)? Finding this insight is the challenge. Trade publications, web searches, magazines, newsletters are all sources of information. However, one creative way to understand the market is to become a customer of your target. No better way to learn more about their business then doing business with them.
3. Communicate your value proposition: “The mark of many successful graphic communications companies is their ability to serve as trusted advisors who lead customers to new and innovative solutions. “ Defining your business with a value proposition that reflects a realistic understanding of what you do well and what you don’t. Once you can articulate that you’re a step closer to being a trust advisor to your customers.

The remaining 4 tips are: Overcome objections from prospective customers, Leverage data to drive results, Capture powerful synergy by integrating multimedia campaigns and Build windows of opportunity

For detailed information on these 7 tips, please add your comments below and we’ll choose one person to receive the full Xerox Whitepaper.

Written by:
Howard Fenton
Senior Technology Consultant
NAPL

Just as declining print volumes are impacting commercial printers it is also impacting in-plants –  especially university in-plants. In addition to budget cuts for departments and staff, universities are aggressively pursuing Green Initiatives and asking facility and students to print less.

The obvious question is what should the university in-plant printer do when the administration is discouraging print. One answer we often recommend is offering new services such as design, signage, mailing, and social media services.

Without a doubt, the fastest growing communication tool is social media. According to Pew, 65 percent of all adults in the U.S. use social media and 13 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute. But the idea of using social media to promote colleges and universities or to help achieve their business objectives such as branding, recruitment or fundraising is not without concerns. Clearly there are pros and cons associated with social media.

Cons:

• It is time consuming. Content must be created, edited, approved and published. Although it can be worked on between other tasks and using mobile technologies, expect a minimum of 30 min./day for 5 days.
• If the administration are control freaks, this can be seen as a huge risk. Anything you publish is immediately available and up for grabs, others can easily criticize you.
• It is a long term effort. Your return on investment is delayed. The benefits may require months or years to become obvious.
• If you make a mistake, the effects can be immediate and fast because it will be via social media too (YouTube, Twitter, Facebook).

Pros:

• For students and young faculty it is the preferred method of communication.
• Except for a time commitment it has a low cost.
• It offers tools such as surveys and data analytics to learn more about customers existing and changing preferences.
• It is effective for communication, reinforcing brand loyalty, building new relationships and maintaining them.
• It can be very effective to help faculty and staff achieve their goals such as student recruitment, improved SEO (Search Engine Optimization), fundraising, and is a faster and less expensive vehicle to communicate to your community (Alumni).
• Most importantly, it can be combined with other communication tools such as QR codes, pURLS, texting and variable data printing to create customized solutions that are less expensive and more cost effective for customers.

Last but not least is who should be responsible for social media in colleges and universities? There is no clear choice. If you ask around, you will find social media work being done by University Relations, IT and even the in-plant printing facility. Sometimes all it takes is someone volunteering and building a business case. How are you ensuring your relevance and creating more value?

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Howard Fenton is a Senior Technology Consultant at NAPL. Howie advises commercial printers, in-plants, and manufacturers on workflow management, operations, digital services, and customer research. He is a paid contributor to this blog.

Written by:
Al Lautenslager
Author of Guerrilla Marketing in 30 Days, Speaker, Consultant

Mention Guerrilla Marketing and people think street marketing, camouflage, sneaking around, etc. That might sound extreme but it really is more than that. Guerrilla Marketing is marketing, using time, energy, imagination, information and knowledge instead of big checks out of check books for advertising that may or may not work. It works even for marketing and print service providers.

When used properly, guerrilla marketing is one of the most effective weapons available in today’s print service provider’s marketing arsenal to develop business, increase sales and make more deposits in bank accounts.

The best way to start thinking about an effective guerrilla marketing campaign is to determine where your target customers are, and find a unique way to reach them. This might mean using a wacky, attention getting headline, a different marketing vehicle to carry the message in a different way to the target market or something extreme to get noticed, all without spending big bucks. While there are a host of ideas that we will communicate to you over time here are some starters:

Create your own holiday, (e.g. Dec.1 is National Take a Customer Out to Lunch Day or National Thank You Letter Day or even Send a Postcard to Your Favorite Prospect Day) and then garner all kinds of PR coverage.

You might consider staging a protest for, “Good Customer Service,” outside your business, or even something like, “This business beats all customer deadlines,” also getting attention and potential coverage by the media.

The last idea I’ll leave you with in this post is the Pay It Forward Idea. I learned of this when in Chicago and going through tollways and paying daily tolls on the way to work. Pay the toll for the person behind you and give the toll collector a business card and a notepad from your company to give to the person following. You never know who is behind you and who might recognize your good gesture, contacting you and ending up doing business with you. You can also do this at the movie theater or any place that collects money from a line of people. People love the free notepads and it may bring them back for more.

These are just a few ideas and they work! Let go of your imagination, get noticed, be remembered and let people talk about your guerrilla marketing ways and you will increase your bank account deposits. Happy Marketing!!

Written by:
Joel Basa
eMarketing Manager
Xerox Corporation

It’s In-Plant week here on our social channels at Xerox. Today we’re hosting a James Bond Inspired Workshop for In-Plants, “In-Plants are Forever.” Our agents (attendees) come from around the country and have made their way to the Gil Hatch Center on an Aston Martin Shuttle Bus. Their mission: to transform their in-plant from being perceived as a “cost” to the organization to a valuable partner that saves your organization money.

Last night our agents participated in a Keynote by Peter Muir. Peter shared some of his thoughts on how to be like Bond….James Bond. Here are a few slides from his keynote.

At 1:00 PM Et, Peter will speak about In-Plants and their need to develop a marketing plan. We’ll cover this with a Live Blog. Tune back in fellow agents!

[01:03] - Running a little late here. Our mission will start soon…stay tuned!

[01:09] - Okay Peter is getting started and he’s showing a photo book that was produced with photos taken from last night’s customer dinner.

[01:10] - Peter starts with: There are 5 things to achieving Strategic Relevance: 1.Consider your customer 2.Understand the market 3.Develop a plan 4.Market your services 5.Expand your offerings

[01:12] - A question to the audience, “what are some of your objectives of your organization?” One customer responds, “to take on 90% of the print work that is done in our organization rather than having it sent out.” Does that sound like a goal you have?

[01:19] - Another customer responds saying, “we’d like to create a DVD to distribute internally to market our services.”

[01:24] - What are some of the objectives that you, in-plants, are striving for? Share by commenting below and I’ll share with the live audience. here.

[01:25] - Let’s talk about step 1. Consider your customer. Here are some questions to ask: Do you know who your customers are? How do you identify them? How often do you really engage with them beyond the ordering process? Beyond the satisfaction card? Your customers – both current and future – are the core of a successful profit strategy.

[01:30] - Peter asking the question, “has anyone received negative feedback?” and “How have you handled it.?” Peter talks about how similar to social media responses, negative responses and failures often turn into positive circumstances depending on how it is handled.

[01:35] - Adding to “Consider Your Customer:” Discuss existing strategies for learning more about your customer’s needs: Identify what has worked and what hasn’t, Identify customer service strategy strengths and weaknesses, Share how your existing product/service mix fit into your customer service strategy, and Use this as an opportunity to learn and share

[01:39] - What are you doing to figure out what your customers are doing? How about Face to Face meetings? A customer chimes in saying he checks what they are producing. Another customer looks at what jobs are going “out the door” and sees what they are capable of keeping in house.

[01:44] - How about aligning yourself with new hires? That way you’re better aligned…

[01:45] - #2: Understand Your Market. Before you can assume to anticipate your customer’s needs you need to understand their/your industry Elements to learn: Daily tasks, Products/Services they work with/develop, Trends in their industry, Their challenges, Your customer’s position within their industry

[01:46] - #3:  Develop A Plan. The plan parts according to Peter:  Value statement, Business evaluation, Develop goals, objectives and tactics –Use SMART objectives, Marketing to Succeed (4P’s Product, Pricing, Placement, Promotion, (Partnership), Determine product/service needs, Produce products/services that meet needs)

[01:47] - #4. Market Your Services: All of your efforts working towards improved positioning within your in-plant will be for not if you can’t properly market your services. However, the manner you choose to do so should also be influenced by the new information you’ve acquired about your customer and market

[01:49] - Face to face is still an effective way to market. How about referrals? Do you reward for referrals? How about product displays? A Facebook fan page? How about a seminar or workshop to help your customers do their jobs more efficiently and effectively. How about an open house?

[01:59] - Similar to the themed James Bond that we’re hosting right now…how about a themed workshop or open house? Create buzz about your shop so they don’t forget the value you bring to your organization.

[01:59] - Another forgotten aspect of a marketing plan is having a formal schedule. It is often overlooked but it is critical. Have a schedule for your great marketing activities.

[02:00] - So this session became more of a brainstorm of ideas rather than a step by step of the plan. Hopefully we’ve provided some great ideas to you on how to make your organization more strategically relevant. If you’re interested in Xerox’s “Guide To Strategic Relevance,” please comment below and we’ll work with you to put a copy in your hands.