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Tips & news for
the creative mind
The public is bombarded with thousands of marketing messages each day. Customers have become leery of sales pitches, and there is more competition for their time, attention and money than ever before. Today’s savvy organizations are communicating with key audiences on a personal level…and they’re doing it with a few clicks of the mouse. How? With web-based, print-on-demand (POD).
 A web-based POD system offers easy, 24/7 online access for creating and ordering personalized marketing materials – from brochures and flyers to newsletters, ads, direct mail campaigns and more. A typical system consists of four basic elements:
1) a back-end component,
2) a database of contacts,
3) a front-end user interface, and
4) full-service printing and distribution services.
Back-end Component
The heart of any web-based POD system is the back-end component, which consists of four basic elements:
- Templates: Designers create pre-approved templates that contain the graphics, text, images and data-driven customizable fields from which users can order.
- Content: This is the digital “warehouse” of assets that will fill the templates. These assets can include everything from graphics, logos and photos to words and paragraphs.
- Order entry: This module handles the key administrative tasks for each order. It is the system’s “shopping cart.”
- Composition engine: This is the engine that merges the templates, art and copy with information from the database to create an electronic PDF for proofing and/or a file for output and printing.
Database of Contacts
This is the information that allows for personalization of each piece. It contains names, addresses and other information about your key audiences that will allow you to customize materials and messages to their personal preferences. This information may come from a variety of sources, including Microsoft Outlook Contacts, Excel or Access, or nearly any other internal CRM database.
Front-end User Interface
This is the web-based interface where users log on to the system to customize, order and send the desired pieces and/or programs to the audience of their choosing. GLS can build and customize the interface for each client, meeting your company’s brand and identity standards.
Printing and Distribution
Once orders are placed, they can be pulled from inventory or printed on-demand at GLS. This allows users to order the exact number of pieces when they’re needed, where they’re needed and how they’re needed. Once printed, the pieces are sent to our full-service distribution and mailing facility for quick and easy turnaround – whether users want them to mail individually or be shipped in bulk to them for personal handling.
What does all of this mean for your company? First, it gives you greater control over your company’s brand and identity, assuring that core messages are communicated consistently across the board. Research also has shown that personalized messages help to increase response rates, boost order rates and improve customer retention. Finally, a web-based POD system can help you increase productivity through improved cost controls, reduced production time and elevated brand equity.
GLS offers expertise in building and implementing complete web POD systems. Please call your account executive directly for more information.
In accordance with the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act signed into law in December 2006, the USPS has announced that it will increase postage rates on May 12. Under the new law, price increases for most mail cannot exceed the rate of inflation for at least the next nine years, and the USPS has unprecedented flexibility to manage the rates it charges underneath this inflation-based “rate cap.” It is likely that future postage adjustments tied to this cap will occur every year in May.
For detailed information on the individual changes by class and category, visit: http://pe.usps.com/2008_RateCase/RateCharts/R08_Rate_Charts.pdf
Other changes to watch for include:
- November 23: Move update will be extended to Standard mail and will change in frequency from 185 to 95 days
- January 2009: Use of Intelligent Mail Barcode (IMB) will be required for automation discounts
- Late 2009: New addressing standards expected for address placement on Flat mail
GLS will continue to keep you updated on future USPS mail rate and guideline changes. Please watch your mail and email for more information throughout 2008.
Who do you trust more – business or government? According to the ninth annual Edelman Trust Barometer, trust in business has climbed to an all-time high, with 58% of Americans saying they trust business to do what’s right. Only 39% of U.S. residents said they trust government, making this the widest divide in trust between business and government in the survey’s nine-year history.
Other key findings of the 2008 Edelman Trust Barometer include:
- Technology remains the most trusted sector in 17 of 18 countries surveyed, followed by the biotech and life sciences, and automotive industries.
- 85% of respondents will pass along good information about a company or will discuss negative experiences.
- Only 20% of respondents trust corporate or product advertising.
- Going online for news tops shopping as a person’s main motivation.
For more information or full survey results, go to www.edelman.com.
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