Markit Blog

Design From the Heart

Why do your customers buy from you? Is it because your company provides the Best Price, Quality & Service? Blah, blah, blah...snooze.

Every amateur marketer or salesperson relies on these points to sell their services, but that's not what we buy. We buy the intangibles.

We don't buy the sweater. We buy the feeling of the fit, the energy of the color, and the experience of the texture. We invest in who we feel we become in the sweater.

We purchase pride and prestige. Having the best shows we deserve the best.

We pay for the feeling of belonging to something bigger, something popular, current or trendy. 

Think beyond Price, Quality and Service. Aren't those expected anyway?

Have you ever seen an ad for a dental office touting they are the cheapest dentists in town, using the highest quality fillings while they drill into your tooth faster than any other dentist within 100 miles? Of course not, that would be ridiculous. And a little frightening.

Here's how to Design From the Heart, appealing to emotions.

Choose your words carefully and get to the point with your copy. Period. Just because you write it, doesn't mean they'll read it.

Use authentic adjectives to describe the products you're selling (Luxurious Ride, Painless Fillings, Current Styles, etc.).

Don't go overboard with the over-promising adjectives or you'll sound like an infomercial (Amazing Offer, Spectacular Savings, Unbelievable Quality, etc.).

Use pictures to provoke a thought or evoke a feeling. Prospects are more likely to remember your story if they figure it out themselves and Photos are a great tool to create a perception of your company in their minds.

Focus on the feeling and speak to the senses. You've heard it before "Sell the Sizzle, NOT the Steak".

Details about Price, Quality & Service are important in preventing buyer's remorse so be sure to reinforce these attributes on printed materials they leave with after the sale. This reinforces their excellent decision and creates confidence. Stay in touch and you'll likely land a repeat customer.

 www.Markit4Events.com 

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Social Blue Bird Seeded in Promotional Products

 

Did you know that according to legend, eBay was started as a way to locate PEZ dispensers?

Another startup seeded in promotional products is Twitter. When this early bird was still in it's nest, many other dot coms were closing their virtual doors.

When Twitter was beginning as a simple social texting platform in 2006, an employee named Noah Glass was at a party called "Valleyscwhag Hoedown" in San Francisco. With all the failed startups, there was plenty of unused swag, so the idea was to gather and gift their dead branded merchandise to the party-goers.

Odeo was one of the flailing startups represented at the party, and also happened to be the corporate parent to a little blue bird we'd all come to know as Twitter.

As the story goes, Glass shared Twitter with Om Malik, a popular tech blogger, who tweeted "looking 4 food," and then blogged about Twitter the next day and that little bird took flight.

When done successfully, branded merchandise is the strongest marketing tool companies can use to connect with their customers. These days there's hardly a website or storefront that doesn't have a Twitter bird on it.

Twitter caught the attention of one person that night, and with a social stage the next day, the buzz about Twitter spread and the curious started trying out this new way to communicate.

To think none of this would have happened if it hadn't been for some left over t-shirts and key chains. The bird was born because a bunch of people gathered to mark a milestone (or gravestone) of ideas that never took flight.

www.markit4events.com.

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Agua Fria Freddie 2014 - Arizona's Version of Groundhog Day

While Punxsutawney Phil is famous for his annual weather prognostications on February 2nd, he lacks knowledge of weather in Arizona.

Legend has it that a lesser-known prognosticator lives right here in Arizona with a 95% accuracy rate.

Locals know him as Agua Fria Freddie, a shadow-seeking rattlesnake that comes out every year on February 2^nd to predict the coming of Spring to us desert-dwellers.

This event is actually a non-event, as we cannot find record of any gathering to watch this legend search for his shadow. There are some legitimate reasons for not having an actual event to celebrate his findings this year. 

• Nobody ever volunteers to get close enough to look for the shadow of a rattlesnake.
• Tourists are already in shorts and t-shirts so they don't care
• The big party is at the Phoenix Open Golf Tournament
• Football fans are focused on Super Bowl XLVIII

Rustler’s Rooste got to Freddie first and he’s an appetizer

It’s not difficult to predict when Spring will arrive in Arizona when the sun shines about 300 days a year, but it is comforting to know that Agua Fria Freddie is watching out for us. Just watch out for him the other 364 days a year when you’re hiking around South Mountain.

We hear that the TV stations in Phoenix are hiring Tukee the weather parrot to fill in over the Summer.

“Hot & Sunny…bawk!!!”

www.markit4events.com

7 Shades of Bulk Mail

All Bulk Mail projects must be sent through a mail house to get bound and tied in a specific address order to qualify for the postage savings we've discussed in previous articles.

To add to the confusion about Bulk Mail, the Post Office has created 7 different classifications of Bulk Mail that effect cost.

Here's low-down on the USPS Bulk Mail Classifications:

1) POSTCARD

• Shape: rectangular
• Size: 3.50"-4.25" high x 5.00"-6.00" wide
• Thickness: .007-.016"

2) LETTER

• Shape: rectangular or square
• Size: 3.50"-6.125" high x 5.00"-11.50" wide
• Thickness: .007"-.25"

3) FLAT

• The short side is > 6.125", OR
• The long side is > 11.50", OR
• The thickness is > .25"

4) MACHINABLE PARCEL

• Height is 3"-17", AND
• Length is 6"-27", AND
• Thickness is .25"-17", AND
• Weight is 6oz. – 25lbs.

5) IRREGULAR PARCEL

• Odd shape
• Larger than any category listed above
• Heavier than any category listed above

6) MARKETING PARCEL

• Maximum size: 9" x 12" x 2"
• Maximum weight 16 ounces
• Must be addressed to “Occupant", or Name plus “Or Current Occupant"

7) OUTSIDE PARCEL

• Exceeds the size limits of a Machinable Parcel
• Rolls & Tubes > 26"
• Metal or wood boxes
• Cartons containing more than 1 gallon of liquid

To make sense of all this, give us a call. We do this stuff Blindfolded.

www.markit4events.com

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Veterans Day

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Veterans Day is an official United States holiday honoring armed service veterans. It is a federal holiday that is observed on November 11th. It coincides with other holidays such as Armistice Day or Remembrance Day, which are celebrated in other parts of the world and also mark the anniversary of the signing of the Armistice that ended World War I. (Major hostilities of World War I were formally ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 with the German signing of the Armistice.)

Veterans Day is not to be confused with Memorial Day; Veterans Day celebrates the service of all U.S. military veterans, while Memorial Day is a day of remembering the men and women who died while serving.

Most sources spell Veterans as a simple plural without a possessive apostrophe (Veteran's or Veterans').

History

U.S. President Woodrow Wilson first proclaimed Armistice Day for November 11, 1919. In proclaiming the holiday, he said"To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country's service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations."

The United States Congress passed a concurrent resolution seven years later on June 4, 1926, requesting that President Calvin Coolidge issue another proclamation to observe November 11 with appropriate ceremonies. A Congressional Act (52 Stat. 351; 5 U.S. Code, Sec. 87a) approved May 13, 1938, made the 11th of November in each year a legal holiday: "a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated and known as 'Armistice Day'."

Source

Description above from the Wikipedia article Veterans Day

 

www.markit4events.com

The Demystification of Printing

Have you ever looked closely at a proposal from your printer and wondered what all the code was for but were afraid to ask? Here are 3 of the most understood terms used by printers:

CMYK

Everyone in the business of print understands that CMYK refers to the colors of ink used to print a four-color process piece. Even the greenest rookie in the print shop quickly learns these:

C= CYAN (blue)
M=MAGENTA (red)
Y=YELLOW (yellow)
K=BLACK (what?)

Why is K=BLACK? If you ask most seasoned print professionals, the answer you would get would be that if BLACK was represented by a B, then it would be confused with BLUE. Not true...

BLACK is represented by a K because the BLACK plate on the press is considered to be the KEY plate that all of the other colors must register to. Use that one to stump your printer next time he tries to use this acronym on you.

Four-color Process

The best way to understand four-color process is to first imagine an old-school comic book with the large dots in the color photos. Well, those dots are still there but they have been dramatically reduced in size so much that they are difficult to see without a magnifier. Offset printing presses can only print in solid colors so those dots are made up of various sizes and the CMYK colors referred to above.

This allows for thousands of shades of different colors to be reproduced from only four inks on the press. Example — the Greenest Rookie spoken of earlier would print with a percentage of Cyan dots and a percentage of Yellow dots.

Paper Weights

How can 100# paper be thinner than 80# paper? The BASIS WEIGHT is a measure of the weight of 500 sheets of paper of specific size in pounds (#). Here's the confusing part of what should be a simple answer, each type of paper (cover, book, writing, etc.) is measured with different sizes.

That's how 80# Cover can be thicker than 80# Book. The 80# Cover is the weight of 500 sheets of 20" x 26" sheets, while the 80# Book is the weight of 500 sheets of 25" x 38" sheets. Here's a brief list of types of paper and sizes that determine the basis weights...

BOND & LEDGER PAPER (20#, 24#, 28#, 32#) is the weight of 500 sheets of 17" x 22"

OFFSET, BOOK & TEXT (50#, 60#, 70#, 80#, 100#) is the weight of 500 sheets of 25" x 38"

COVER PAPER (65#, 80#, 100#, 120#) is the weight of 500 sheets of 20" x 26"

OK. We didn't make this stuff up and there will definitely NOT be a test after this. We're here to make sense of this for you.

Either you can remember all of this, or you can let us demystify all of this for you.

www.markit4events.com

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The Man with Two Brains

It wasn't long ago that designer's studios were equipped with tools like X-Acto knives, drawing boards, T-squares and dark rooms. The evolution of computer graphics has increased the efficiency of design, and allowed for spectacular effects that were not possible before.

The technology of design, however, can get in the way of great design if you don't understand the strengths of the designer you choose for the project.

It's a left-brain, right-brain thing.

Would you ever ask your CPA to provide your quarterlies in a font that represents your brand? Or hire a painter to download the appropriate apps on your tablet to run your business? In essence, this is similar to what designers are asked to do every day.

Every designer has different strengths and you'll waste resources and overspend if you don't know their specialty.

Don't waste your money hiring the designer who created your logo to change a name on a business card every time you hire a new employee. It's like asking the team that designed you car to change your tire.

Having more than one designer is best, so you can use them only when you need their specific talents. Some are great at font selection, others are color specialists, while the best choice for the project may be the designer that can most efficiently get the changes made in a file created in software program that none of us non-designers understand. Also, be sure they all understand the basics of your brand.

A team of designers will keep your brand fresh and current.

Great on-going design for your business requires a solid understanding of your brand, eye-catching imagery that doesn't get in the way, and a compelling message that leads your prospect down a direct path to purchasing what you are selling.

Don't have time to manage a team of designers? Get to know us!

www.markit4events.com

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Stand Out with Intangibles that Leave a Lasting Impression

When we think of design, usually an image, logo, brochure, or web site pops into our heads. These are very tangible designs that we see. Something we can relate to, and yes, they are extremely important in sharing our company's image with our customers.

But there is so much more to your Brand. And if you don't get the intangibles right, those images will stick with your customer far longer than the pretty picture you paid to create.

Create a brand that stands out. Not just with a great logo or website, but make an attempt to understand your customer's experience and manage it. Help them have a great day and look forward to the contact they have with your company. It doesn't take much.

Chart Your Brand - Teach the team all across the organizational chart with an internal brand campaign. Use Employee Handbooks that outline expectations and create Mentor Programs where coworkers model best behaviors. Print Posters reinforcing company values and reward years of service and leadership with Incentive Awards.

Break down barriers to exceptional, natural customer service. Start by answering the phone. So simple, but so rare these days. If you must use an automated service, reduce phone prompt choices before personal contact. Train your team with a script of key points and questions to gain information you need, then encourage them to relax and be themselves.

Packaging your Brand - Make sure your brand is everywhere it can be. Review packaging of products on boxes, wrapping and shipping supplies. Offer solutions and ease of support with downloadable instructions what are well branded. Be sure all profiles on social media are consistent.

Establish Follow up Systems of Gratitude. With the ease of automation, no one has any excuse not to send a thank you. Emails are bare minimum, a phone call is great, but nothing beats a good old-fashioned hand written note card. If your crowd is more current, maybe a post in the social realm is what your audience expects. What fits for your brand? However you do it, recognition is critical for establishing brand loyalty.

Design your brand by understanding what your customer wants. Every person within your company is in the position of supporting your brand, and the companies that do this stand out. Be the Nordstrom, the Google, or the Land's End in your industry and your customer will be your best and most effective sales team.

www.markit4events.com

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Acquiesce to the Aqueous for Low-cost, High-impact!

There are many options in coating a marketing piece after it's printed. The choice to coat a piece may be for effect or durability.

Aqueous coating is a fast-drying, water-based, vegetable cellulose product used as a protective coating that is applied in-line on some presses.

It's a biodegradable and recyclable option of coating that does not add much to the cost of a project. This clear coating is used for any project that requires a more durable finish, protecting the surface from fingerprints, dirt, smudges, and scratches.

Aqueous coating improves postcards durability as they go through mail or inserted in pockets. It is also applied on brochures, catalog covers, fliers and other visual aids.

Available in Gloss, Dull or Satin finishes, the aqueous coating is applied on press during the print run and dries in minutes after it comes off the press allowing for immediate finishing in the bindery.

Aqueous is generally considered to be one of the most sustainable coating options because the formulas are non-toxic and treated paper can be recycled in standard municipal systems without emitting harmful byproducts.

This low-cost, high-impact coating is one of our favorites because it can speed up the printing process on rush projects because there is no wait for cutting or folding.

The only downside to aqueous, as we see it, is that it cannot be used in spot coating applications. The entire sheet must be coated with the same finish.

 

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Happy Memorial Day!

Markit Wishes everyone a Happy Memorial Day!

www.markit4events.com