Jewelry

When working with jewelry companies, buyers tend to be very sensitive about issues especially when, for example, you print a gold watch on the same page or in line with a silver watch. What happens many times is that in order to get the gold watch yellow enough the silver watch takes on a yellowish hue to it. There are a couple of ways a printer can help prevent this. At McCormick Armstrong we use UCR/GCR….UCR is Under Color Replacement and GCR is Cray Component Replacement.

Here is how it works:  When a client sends us a 4 color file we can replace some of the “dirtying” or under colors that can affect the overall hue of the piece with black. This is done with our prepress software and the result is removing the 3 colors that can cause the color to shift in the printing process. By replacing the under colors with black the image quality remains un-perceptively the same and the result is that you can print a bright silver watch directly in line with a bright gold watch and never cause the shade of each color to shift while running on press.

For many jewelry manufacturers that we have printed for in the past, this has always been a “hot button” for them and most print buyers for jewelry organizations will tell tales of a silver piece of jewelry turning pink, green or yellow. The good news is that this is a solvable challenge.

Flesh Tones

The challenge with skin tones is the coloration is entirely dependent upon ones ethnic background and thus is a challenge more due to the wide range of skin colors we humans all have. For example, a person from Ethiopia may be so black that their skin actually has a fair amount of blue in the shows or highlight areas. At the same time, a fair skinned person from the Netherlands may be so white their skin is almost blinding it is so bright with yellow in the highlights. On the other side of things, people that have a SW American Indian heritage may be very brown with a tremendous amount of red and black in the highlights giving them a dark “brown as a berry” type appearance. The challenge with flesh tones is that the “dirtying” colors can be a challenge to replace with black. For example:  In the example above of the Norwegian fair skinned person, the dirtying color would most likely be yellow. If you replaced the yellow with black the flesh tone would then become very muddy in appearance. The same may go for the person that has a very black coloration to their flesh tone. If the “dirtying color happens to be blue it would be replaced with black and result can be an extremely flat appearance.

 Our G-7 certification and discipline to that standard as well as our color management experience with System Bruner can help clients achieve their desired results.  When it comes to skin tones, there really is no one piece of software or technology that will ensure every skin tone is an exact reproduction of the photograph. That said, the G-7 methodology and standards coupled with our experience and ability to partner with our customers is one of the strongest selling points McCormick Armstrong has.

 Color fidelity and consistency will improve your printed products and help drive sales up, increasing your ROI.  Check us out at www.mccormickarmstrong.com or give us a call today at 316-264-1363.  You’ll be glad you did!

There has been a lot of talk about the USPS being in financial trouble; the closing of post offices; and downsizing of its work force.  The debate over what is driving their poor financial status is a separate debate and one that is extensive.  One aspect of those declining revenues is the proliferation of social media reducing their key profit center:  first class letters.  People prefer to text; use face book or other forms of communication.  Well what about direct mail?

Last year according to the Direct Marketing Association (DMA), every dollar spent on direct marketing advertising resulted in over $12.00 in direct marketing-driven sales.  In 2010, over $150Billion was spent of direct marketing, which accounted for 54.2% of all ad expenditures in the United States.  Direct mail is on the rise and is working in conjunction with Multi Media.  Direct mail is helping to drive consumers to the internet to make purchases.

One of the keys to smart marketing is  knowing how to design and manufacture the direct mail products to take advantage of the USPS regulations and keep postage and low as possible.  The USPS is working on new regulations for Folded Self Mailers.  There is not a proposed date for implementation, but since their comment period ends in September, our Certified Mail Managers here at McCormick Armstrong guess these will go into effect with the next postal increase in January, 2011. 

One of the key changes is a maximum size change from 6.175X11.5 to 6X10.5.  There are also several regulations for those marketers that would like to stay away from tabbing.

Many companies and Marketers alike, pontificate and debate how to qualify and quantify the effectiveness of their marketing dollars, especially when it corresponds to print spend. Most agree that the best time to market your products either B to B or B to C is during difficult times, in order to emerge with a larger market share.  That said, in a down economy, CEO’s look at marketing expenses as discretionary spending.  Without a sound ROI, this is an expense that is one of the first to either be reduced or cut.  So where do you spend your marketing dollars and how do you gage its effectiveness?  In the realm of process management, there is a saying that goes something like this:

If you can’t define it, you can’t measure it

  If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it

If you can’t manage it, you can’t control it

If you can’t control it, you can’t improve it

With direct mail and multimedia marketing campaigns, it’s imperative to create a P/L that ties to the costs incurred.  Whether the campaign is a test ongoing marketing, the ROI needs to be reviewed for each project, analysis, and if needed adjustments made.

There was an article in the July issue of Target Marketing www.targetmarketingmag.com , written by Philippe Graner.  He relates the important aspect of charting your costs, benchmarking and identifying key costs against your company’s financial plan.   Analyzing your profit-and-loss statement for your marketing campaigns, coupled with competitors’ results and industry averages will allow you to evaluate your market position, and make adjustments moving forward to improve your ROI and bottom line.

Being a print provider, it’s encouraging to know that print and direct mail are still the most cost effective and results oriented means of generating sales.  Feel free to give us a call at 316-206-1228 or check our website at www.McCromickarmstrong.com .  We’re here to bring solutions to your print marketing campaigns and help you increase your sales and the ROI of your print marketing.

Many companies using print as a marketing medium will engage their printer at the tail end of the planning cycle.  At this stage, after the design, and with limited time prior to deployment of the printed product, your manufacturing partner, has limited resources and time to help contain costs and maximize the ROI of your collateral advertising.   Involving your printer earlier in the production cycle, will ensure that they are delivering the most cost effective product, using the best resources available.  Saving costs due to efficient sizes, mailing configurations, raw materials and distribution are all ways to bring more value to your print marketing.

Raw Materials

Stock (paper) can exceed 50% of the manufacturing cost.  The last 12-months have been fraught with numerous paper increases.  The planning of incoming raw materials can be just as important as the planning of the final distribution of a printed product.  McCormick Armstrong has over One Million pounds of paper with over 36 SKU’s in its warehouse at any given point in time.  McA also has 24 hr access to one million square feet o f paper warehousing at our disposal through are strategic partners.  In many cases, we can purchase paper in advance and store it on our floor to lock in pricing long term, or create a program that cuts the cost of raw materials tied directly to a customized program built around your needs. 

Warehousing and distribution

Getting your products into the hands of your prospects and customers the most efficient way can save thousands of dollars.  In some cases, it is warehousing and fulfillment.  Our strategic location can impact those costs significantly.  In other cases it is getting the product in the mail stream the most cost effective and efficient way driving more revenues in a shorter time frame.  With two USPS certified Mail Mangers on site, we can counsel you maximizing your response and minimizing your distribution costs.  The key is to have a distribution plan that is in concert with your goals, planned at the design stage to take full advantage of the best practices that exist in the industry.

Summary

McCormick Armstrong is financially secure and has a core competency in securing raw materials and the distribution of the finished product.  Your cost of marketing with print is not just the manufacturing cost.  Let us help you maximize your efficiencies and costs of incoming and outgoing product and materials, increasing the value of your print marketing.  Call us today at 800-733-1363 or check us out on our website www.mccormickarmstorng.com.  Let us bring value to your next marketing project.

Quick Response Codes (QR codes) are not new.  They have been used for some time as a tool in warehousing and tracking distribution.  In the past couple of years, they have moved to the forefront as a marketing tool with various applications.  The QR code is a two dimensional bar code which, when scanned by a smart phone, will take the user’s web browser to a landing page.  In Japan they have become part of everyday culture used on billboards, magazines and direct mail, as well as other applications.  They allow the consumer to be more interactive with the products and services that are being deployed.  Microsoft has also come out with their 2D barcode called Microsoft Tag.  The Microsoft barcode doesn’t actually store the information.  It stores a unique ID which it sends to Microsoft’s servers.  Using this vehicle, you can include more information and reporting data.

The key to the use of these marketing tools is their implementation, along with defining your strategies and goals in employing them.  In either case, downloading the application is free.  The QR code is the one most widely known, with the majority of use demographically coming from the 35-44 year old age group.  The age group from 18 to 54 is seeing greater than 80% adoption of the code.  From July to December 2010 QR barcode scanning grew an impressive 1200%, showing that this is a marketing tool that needs to be looked at very closely. 

Social media as well as print and POP are all vehicles to consider for the use of QR codes.  Scan our Code below and go directly to our web site, http://www.mccormickarmstrong.com.  For more information, contact us at sales@mccormickarmstrong.com or call us at 800-733-1363. We are here to help provide you with solutions to your marketing needs. 

You’ve heard the expression that a house is only as strong as its foundation.  This holds very true in the world of Print Marketing as well.  Very often, the printing company is the last in a chain of resources to be involved in the manufacturing of a printing project.  This can result in a project that either increases your budget unnecessarily or creates an experience that doesn’t meet your expectations. 

At McCormick Armstrong, not only do we have an Account Executive and Account Management team that becomes your print communications consultant, the technical support behind the scenes keeps you out of harm’s way. We can help you expedite your print schedule and keep you within budget.  McA wants to be your strategic partner offering our knowledge to properly prepare files optimally meeting the needs for increasing throughput and quality while keeping costs down.  We learn your business and your needs and then deploy our team to give you solutions taking away your pain.

Go to our website at www.mccormickarmstrong.com and click on” Upload Files”.  There you will see a wealth of information for preparing files and much more.  If you want a shortened version of what we call “McCormick Armstrong Designers Tips” send an email to sales@mcccormickarmstrong.com and we’ll send you a one page “how to” sheet that will save you time and money.

Experience the McCormick difference today. 

Printing goes green

Years ago, printing was not as environmentally friendly of a manufacturing process as it is today.  Inks, solvents and chemicals in the manufacturing process were not eco-friendly.  There was not much thought put into where the stock (paper) originated from, i.e. responsibly managed foresting versus rainforest timber depletion.  There was little recycling of waste, which impacted our environment negatively.  That has all changed

McCormick Armstrong not only believes it’s good business to be one of the “Greenest” Printing Companies in North America, it is our moral obligation to contribute to a clean planet for future generations.  See our Web site, www.mccormickarmstrong.com, and click on Green Printing to learn what we’re doing and how we’re doing it.

One of our nation’s most eco-friendly renewable resources is paper made from responsibly managed forests

Properly managed and farmed forests actually produce more healthy trees than if they weren’t farmed. Paper can be recycled or will decompose in landfills extremely fast, while many plastics and other materials take hundreds of years to decompose.  But, not all paper comes from forests that are managed in an environmentally responsible or eco-friendly way.

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) was established with the goal of promoting environmentally responsible, socially beneficial and economically viable management of the world’s forests, by establishing a worldwide standard of recognized and respected Principles of Forest Stewardship. There are several FSC certifiers; however, the Rainforest Alliance Smartwood Program is the largest FSC-accredited certifier that creates a “chain of custody” from the forest to the consumer, ensuring that all products that have the FSC and Rainforest Alliance bug come from certified manufacturing and distribution entities that are in compliance with all processes.

In addition to offering the Union Bug, McCormick Armstrong is FSC certified and Rainforest Alliance certified, offering those bugs on your printed materials as well. 

So what does this mean to you, your print marketing and growing sales?

By having McCormick Armstrong print your products with the FSC and Rainforest Alliance bugs, you can show your customers that you care about the environment and the social and economic well-being of its dependent communities.  Many Fortune 500 companies are using this to their benefit in marketing.  For example, Lipton Teas increased annual sales by more than 10 percent after promoting the Rainforest Alliance Certified seal on-product and in advertising.  It’s time McCormick Armstrong helps you increase your sales.

Let McCormick Armstrong help you grow your sales with marketing ideas and solutions.  Contact us at 1-800-733-1363 or via email at sales@mccormickarmstrong.com

 To learn more about The Forestry Stewardship Council and The Rainforest Alliance, go to www.fscus.org or www.rainforest-alliance.org

In this current economic climate, where many companies are reducing their marketing budgets, there are those that have put an emphasis on marketing, specifically Direct Mail, in an effort to gain greater market share.  The most successful organizations that have emerged from times of recession have done so through marketing and advertising, where direct mail was a critical component of their strategic plan. Why and how did they take a lemon and turn it into lemonade?

Direct mail, if implemented correctly, is the most beneficial way to contact your marketplace, whether you are Business to Business or Business to Consumer.  It’s targeted, personal, flexible and measurable, and can be implemented in any vertical market.  The key to a successful campaign is threefold: 1-Have a database that is up to date and ties directly to your audience; 2-Have compelling art and a message that has relevance to your market-(make it stand out); 3-Have the ability to follow up on the campaign, analyzing  the ROI to augment future campaigns appropriately.

There are many forms of direct mail, from personalized multimedia using Purls and QR codes, to a mass approach with a consistent message to your target audience. The key is keeping your costs of distribution down and your results high.  What form of direct mail is best for your organization?  Look for a consultative, solutions-oriented team to partner with you and create great results, with a customized action plan specific to your goals.

McCormick Armstrong is located strategically in the center of the country, with the expertise and high tech manufacturing capabilities that will simplify your logistics and grow your sales profitably.  Armed with Database Management, USPS Mailpiece Quality Control (MQC) certified personnel, and a full array of options for warehousing, fulfillment and distribution, we can get your product to market saving you money while we increase your bottom line.

Here are some useful web sites to learn more about marketing effectively:

The American Marketing Association www.marketingpower.com

USPS  www.usps.com

US Postage Calculator dbcalc.usps.gov

Or better yet, let McCormick Armstrong’s experience and expertise go to work for you today.

Contact us at sales@mccormickarmstrong.com

For those print buyers wanting consistency in their product regardless of where or how they’re printed, G7 is an improved method for matching color across multiple devices.  It’s all about calibrating printing presses and proofing systems with the goal of repeatable, consistent color.  The G7 specification is managed by IDEAlliance. The G7 emphasis is monitoring gray balance target values in order to control color. 

At McCormick Armstrong we have both the sheet fed and web presses certified.  It gets us to color faster with greater reliability.  This saves make-ready time, reduces paper waste and, best of all, makes our customers happy with a higher quality product.

Customers benefit because they’re getting the very best color management available. G7 Master Printers have to prove that they can match proof, plates and press sheets to Idea Alliance.  G7 Master Printers don’t just rely on the human eye to adjust color.

By using G7, you are measuring color with spectrodensitometers, which provide accurate numbers of where you are printing. On our M600 Web, the press itself is monitoring Solid Ink Density, midtone dot gain, and gray balance as it is printing.  Not only does our M600 monitor these numbers; it is adjusting the ink as the press runs. No pressman in the world can see and adjust color on the fly this efficiently. Color has always been subjective, so why rely solely on human eyes when we at McCormick Armstrong have the latest equipment capable of measuring color so accurately?

The long and the short of it is you are getting the best color management system that is out today, better proof / press matches, faster make-readies, more consistent press runs, and job portability from printer to printer. Best of all peace of mind, because any printer that will go to all the trouble to get G7 certified will print a higher quality product day in and day out!!!!

Don Nelson

McCormick Armstrong Prepress Manager