Hi! I’m Chloe! I live in a world of print and I’m starting to get annoyed. Maybe you are too?
Too much of what is coming across my desk is b-o-r-i-n-g! It’s the same look, same feel, same format, same color schemes – over and over again! When did brands become so timid?
There are so many options and I can’t seem to sell anyone on them. If you want your message to stand out in a multichannel world, you must begin to look at all of the options and you must start to think outside of the box when you start the work on your next direct mail marketing pieces. Oh, and your point of sale posters and your in-store flyers! If your marketing message is boring you cannot compete for mind-share from the 12 to 18 year olds who are going to be 18-30 year old buyers before you know it.
Let me explain what set me off! I’ve been out running around the world and looking at a lot of print that is amazing. Then I came home and sorted through my mail. I don’t do it over a trash can like many people do, I sort it by catalogs, magazines, DM pieces and transaction mail I need to interact with to protect my financial health. Once I set the bills, statements, and notices it’s time to dive into the marketing mail and catalogs.
The first thing that hit me in the face was that it all looked the same. Four were mailings from hotel chains I stay in regularly, all in the same basic mail format. Some pretty pictures of places I never go, and offers for a free weekend night in places I never go. Not a single offer or picture related to the places I go regularly. Not one of the pieces even acknowledged my platinum status, the number of nights I have stayed in their hotels or where I usually cash them in. Another half dozen were from credit card companies regarding cards I don’t have. They were trying to entice me to join their credit card family, but frankly they fell flat. They came in number 10 envelopes with a little bit of color on the outside and a pretty boring letter-format sheet on the inside with a message that wouldn’t compel me in any way. One was from a large warehouse company I frequent, but the offers in the catalog were a hodgepodge of things that mean nothing to me. I don’t have kids or grandkids so the baby stuff fell flat. They know what I buy, but there wasn’t a single thing in the mail piece that spoke to me. What a waste of my time and their money!
The bottom line here is that no one is really practicing what so many of us are preaching, and it is really annoying me.
The talk track I hear is that moving into relevant marketing or unique print styles is too risky. The risk is really sending the same boring pieces to the new waves of buyers and expecting them to react to them.
Why not take a look at what’s out there. Look at the unique folds that Trish Witkowski features on foldfactory.com or look at some of the YouTube videos featuring Scodix technology (some of them are old but interesting… they need some new ones!). Step up the game a bit. Get your message out there with a bit of spice and sass. Your customers and potential customers will be more engaged.
And I won’t be so annoyed.
Until next time… Watch this space for more from the life of a Print Diva.
Chloe Mahendra-Fuji practices the fine arts of design critique, content creation and editing, and communication consulting. She has decades of experience working in online content delivery, print delivery, and content development.
Connect with Chloe: @ChloePrintDiva / ChloePrintDiva@gmail.com
