I n n o v a t i v e T e c h n o l o g i e s i n P r i n t

November 2009 Volume 7 Issue 9

In This Issue:
USEFUL INFORMATION A PERVASIVE DEFICIENCY
Despite general agreement among marketers about the need to become more conver-
sant with the needs, challenges, objectives, and perceptions of customers in order to
more intelligently engage in business planning and to more effectively target promotion
programs, research continues to indicate a chasm between the perception of marketers
and customers. A recent study by Harris Interactive found that 53% of advertisers
believe that ads that make people stop and think are effective. Fifty-one percent believe
that ads providing new information also are effective. However, customers perceive
things differently: 30% and 29%, respectively.
• Optimism As a result of this gap of perceptions, the academic community is developing research
• Taming Blogs and programs around CNK — “customer need knowledge.” It is defined as the extent to
• Catalog Benchmark which all employees of
a supplier’s organiza-
• Direct Mail Tips
tion can accurately
• Investment Shift identify a given cus- 30%
• Where and When tomer’s hierarchy of 53% Effective
needs in terms of both Effective
• Last Minute Action
customer satisfaction
• A Precious Few
and perceived value.
• Perhaps Next Year
• Paper Mill Babel
and more... ALMA MATER MAIL
Direct mail is clearly the medium of choice when it comes to colleges’ and universi-
ties’ communication with alumni. In the case of information, 57% of graduates prefer
news and correspondence by regular mail while
31% prefer e-mail. When solicitations for gifts
and donations are involved, the preference for
Dear
U.S. Mail compared to e-mail is 54% to 23%.
The explanation for the results of this survey,
Alumni:
An Information conducted by International Communications
Distribution Company Research, may involve the attempted use of an
electronic vehicle that is not intimate to raise
funds for a purpose considered intimate
by donors.

• This edition of ITP Notes was produced on ITP’s Indigo Digital Press.
 I T P NOTES

OPTIMISM WHERE AND WHEN

Magazine publishers If your organization doesn’t take extraordinary steps to
appear to be optimistic inform those in the supply chain with which it interacts, it may
about the U.S. economy. In be missing an opportunity. Americans are taking advantage of
August 2009, the last technology to learn the status of flights, orders, and virtually
month for which statistics everything in pro-
are available, 75 new mag- cess. During the
azines were launched in month of Decem-
the United States. That ber 1995, U.P.S.
number surprised even the most optimistic observers. Only received 100,000
43 new magazines were launched in August 2008 and 61 tracking requests.
were first published during the same month of 2007. Among In December 2008,
the most recent launches: PHOTOSHOP, RETOUCH, BIBLE it received 27.3
STUDY, COMICS, and GREEN CRAFT. million tracking
requests a day.

TAMING BLOGS
The Federal Trade Commission, concerned about the DIRECT MAIL TIPS
misstatements of both users and manufacturers of products With the responsibility of variable data digital presses,
and services on the Internet, is within weeks of implementing there’s a tendency by many marketers to use personalization
its first revision to advertising guidelines in the past thirty as much as possible. However, direct mail expert Dick Ben-
years. Among other changes, companies using blogs and son cautions marketers
other social media as promotion tools would be required to
identify themselves and to meet specific standards of truth A Great that personalized letters
are more effective when
and transparency.
Deal fo sent to house lists (current

ANOTHER MARKETER-USER
DISCONNECT
So-called loyalty programs are not “hot stuff” with market-
ers even though most are, in truth, frequency, not loyalty, pro-
grams. Loyalty programs can be found in most industries.
However, consumer enthusiasm lags far behind that of mar-
keters. Using a one-to-ten variability scale, research by Direct
Antidote found that only 32% of consumers assigned a rating
of eight or above to marketers in terms of offering communi-
cation relevant to their personal needs.
CATALOG BENCHMARK
Experts in catalog management use the ratio of all selling
expenses — print and online — to net sales as an important
metric. A rule of thumb is that the ratio should be no more
than twenty percent for a business-to-business catalog and no
more than thirty percent for a consumer catalog.
you Joh r
or prior customers and
subscribers) than to lists
n! of prospects. Benson also
says that, despite addition-
al investment, premiums
are more effective incen-
tives than cash discounts and that a credit or “bill me” offer
will substantially improve results.
INVESTMENT SHIFT
This newsletter has reported on the impressive growth of
custom publishing and, in particular, magalogs, a sub-set of
customer publishing. The nation’s largest advertiser, Proctor
& Gamble, has shifted millions of dollars in advertising from
other media into custom publishing, discontinuing its spon-
sorship of the “Guiding Light” soap opera and shifting much
of its advertising in women’s magazines into a custom publi-
cation called ROUGE. Circulation in the U.S. will be six to
seven million and four million in Canada. The publication will
carry a large number of coupons. ROUGE allows Proctor &
Gamble to use its extensive consumer database.
 Quick
I n n o v a t i v e T e c h n o l o g i e s i n P r i n t

POSTAL ISSUES

LAST MINUTE ACTION QUICK NOTES

Notes
On the last day it could take action on the matter,
the U.S. Senate added a provision to unrelated
legislation that will defer about four billion dol-
lars of pre-payment for U.S. Postal Service retir-
ees’ health care. There was no floor debate on
the issue. The provision mirrors legislation
already passed by the House of Representa-
tives. Passage provides some relief to the
agency but does not address the fundamen-
tal and substantial challenges facing the
agency. During the next year, Congress
will probably be forced to confront basic
issues facing U.S.P.S., including five-
day-a-week delivery, increased rates,
multi-billion dollar operating losses, closing
of some post offices, and revision of its contracts with unions.
Many senators who voted for the Senate bill referred to it as a
“Band-Aid.”
GOOD NEWS
The Postal Service has made a strategic decision that bodes well
for business. It has decided that there is more to be gained from
not raising rates on “market-dominant products” in 2010 than in
generating additional revenue from rate increases. Consequently,
the Postal Service will not raise rates next year on First Class Mail,
Standard Mail, single-piece Parcel Post, and periodicals.
A PRECIOUS FEW
The Postal Service viewed consolidation or closure of under-uti-
lized facilities as an opportunity to cut its financial losses. In May
2009, it announced that 3,100 branches and stations had been
THE PARADOX OF SPEED BUMPS
Speed bumps were devised to reduce or prevent such
environmental violations as noise and inefficient fuel
consumption attributable to speeding. However, there
are unintended consequences as a result of the slow-
ing and speed resumption of vehicles. Mexican engi-
neers have created a “smart” speed bump that auto-
matically retracts into the ground when approaching
vehicles are moving at the posted speed limit or
slower but remains elevated if a vehicle is speeding.
GIVING IT BACK
The American Forest and Paper Association reports
that 57.4% of paper consumed in 2008 was recovered
for recycling. That’s a record.
DISAPPEARING NUMBERS
Many directory publishers are phasing out the white
pages telephone book of residential listings.
The reasons:
— the increasing number of homes in which cell
phones are displacing land lines.
— the large number of people who have unlisted
phone numbers.
Some providers, such as AT&T, are discontinuing auto-
matic delivery of residential white pages and are offer-
ing the directory on an opt-in basis. Phone companies
will continue to publish Yellow Pages and business-to-
business white pages.
CELL PHONE LISTS
Sources of lists of cell phone numbers are becoming
available. Base prices start in the neighborhood of

D
identified as candidates for consolidation or closure. That prompt-

E
$120 - $125 per thousand names. When leasing a list

S
ed opposition from

CLO
unions concerned
about staff reductions
and from many mem-
bers of Congress. As a
result, the number of
targeted facilities
dropped to
677…..413 soon
thereafter….and now
numbers only 317 — too small to make a meaningful dent in the
agency’s multi-billion dollar deficit.
of cell phone numbers, make sure that those on the
list have given their permission to receive communica-
tions from third parties.
MULTI-MEDIA MARKETING
Evidence continues to mount regarding the benefits of
coordinated multi-media marketing. Third-par ty
research recently sponsored by the Postal Service
found that consumers receiving a catalog from a retail-
er spent 28% more on that retailer’s Web site than
those who did not receive a catalog.
 I n n o v a t i v e T e c h n o l o g i e s i n P r i n t

PAPER MILL BABEL

Print buyers in some parts of the nation have experienced problems with availability of
paper stock in recent months. In addition, many mills have increased prices. Domestic
mills are facing the elimination of the so-called “black liquor” provision under which they
earned hundreds of millions of dollars of federal tax rebates for recycling a by-product of the
Information Distribution
manufacturing process. These mills are facing continued decreases in demand but are
Graphic Design
engaged in distinctly different corporate strategies.
Printing
International Paper Co. has “slimmed down” in Mailing
recent years, selling forest land and divesting itself of Fulfillment
its fine paper and coated paper businesses, and closing
Bindery
four mills. Its C.E.O, John Faraci has declared the com-
pany’s intention to “aggressively compete in a com- Warehousing
modity environment.” AbitibiBowater, a major news-
ITP is an information distribution
print manufacturer, has filed for bankruptcy company in Elizabethtown, PA.
reorganization in the face of declining circulation and This newsletter is intended to give
advertising revenue at daily newspapers. NewPage Cor- our peers brief details of industry
happenings. If you have any
poration is continuing to petition the federal govern- questions regarding our services,
ment to take action against paper imports from Indo- please visit us at:
nesia and China, alleging unfair price competition. Perhaps the most radical response of a mill www.itpofusa.com
is Kimberly-Clark’s investment in the business of medical devices. ITP of USA
200 South Chestnut Street
Elizabethtown, PA 17022
717.367.3670
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