Fishing is one of America’s top participant and competitive sports and Lund Boat Company, manufacturer of many of the most desirable boats, is a major player in this highly competitive industry.

So it wasn’t unusual when Lund’s agency, the John Miles Company, contacted GLS Companies’ Account Executive Gary Alderman for help printing a number of pieces for Lund’s upcoming dealer sales meeting. Time was relatively short but that’s not unusual says Agency Principal Tim Tischer, “Specifications can change throughout the new boat development process so collateral may need to change right down to the wire.”

Tight deadlines are normal for GLS Companies too. But in this case, in addition to several pieces of collateral, John Miles and Lund were aiming for something new, something special.

A new line needed a new look

Lund has been in the process of introducing a new line of fiberglass boats and Tischer was looking for something spectacular to highlight the boats in a new product brochure. “We’re always looking for something to enhance our sales materials and in this case we wanted a new look to highlight its new product line.”

Normally, touch plates would be used to coat selected images with a glossy UV coating. But some months earlier GLS had started testing a new technique that promised to dramatically improve the results. It took time to perfect but encouraged by Tischer and Lund Marketing Manager Tony Kolker, and the GLS team continued the testing.

The idea was to get the images to appear to leap right off the page— and they found a way to do it.

Lund Boats Brochure "Gary and GLS are proactive with ideas and constantly looking for ways we can enhance the products we can deliver to our clients, this was a great example."

— Tim Tischer,
— Agency Principal,
— John Miles Company / Lund Boats

Making it happen

“GLS took the initiative,” said Tischer. “The technique hadn’t been perfected, but GLS really went away and worked on it. After more trail-and-error testing, they came back and said ‘we think we’ve got it’ and showed us some samples.” The new technique reversed the conventional touch plate process by covering the entire page with a high gloss coating, then applying a dull UV varnish surrounding target images.

Tischer was impressed with the results. “If you look at each of the highlighted images it actually looks like they are lifting right off the page, it really gives it dimension—it did everything we wanted it to do.” Lund’s Marketing Manager, Kolker loved the look too and soon the project had final approval. “I give a lot of credit to Tony for having the vision to move the project forward—and to GLS for making the project financially feasible,” said Tischer.

This isn’t Tischer’s first project with GLS and he says the main reason he continues to work with the company is that the finished product has always been superior. “Gary and GLS are proactive with ideas and constantly looking for ways we can enhance the products we can deliver to our clients, this was a great example.”

Back to everyday excellence

Once the new technique was approved it was back to routine: providing the John Miles Company and Lund Boat Company with on-time delivery of a full-line, 68-page catalog, two product brochures, a dealership poster and other collateral for Lund’s dealer sales meeting—and a successful launch of the latest Lund boats.

For the John Miles Company it’s teamwork that makes the difference: “Gary and GLS have been key in doing everything possible to work with us and all of our clients. Gary comes to us with innovative ways in which he can help us solve problems for our clients. And he and his team go out of their way to make sure that some of the impossible deadlines we put on them are met. Their flexibility and willingness to work with us, keeps us coming back.”

Need an update on ideas? Your GLS representative is a terrific source for new ideas to differentiate your project.

To learn more about The John Miles Company, call (952) 898-8844. To learn more about the Lund Boat Company, visit www.lundboats.com