This is the first in our new Vendor Spotlight 1/1 Interview Series! It is our goal to bring you information on companies that have added marketing technologies to their service offerings and share their transition stories. PMC is not endorsing the services or the companies that have asked to participate and their inclusion is for informational purposes only based upon criteria we posted, and they responded to. Not everyone who responded fit that criteria or will be featured. Please see the bottom of this post for info on how you can participate in this series and share your story with our audience and your colleagues. ENJOY!
DC: Who is Jeff Sierra and what does he do?
JS: I’m the vice president of Marketing and Product Development at Budco, a leading fulfillment and direct marketing organization. I spend my time trying to help set the strategic and marketing direction for our organization. I also work directly with a wide variety of our Fortune 500 clients to help them design, implement and manage multi-channel direct marketing and fulfillment initiatives.
DC: Please provide an overview of the products and services offered by Budco.
JS: Budco is a leading fulfillment and direct marketing organization headquartered in Highland Park, Michigan. We started out nearly 30 years ago as a small printing and fulfillment company but we have steadily expanded our resources to serve the changing needs of our customers. As a result, we now offer an extensive suite of in-house resources that we use to develop and execute end-to-end business solutions, which include utilizing both traditional offline communication channels as well as online or digital channels. So, our competencies include things like offset and variable digital print, database management and marketing, website design, traditional and eCommerce-based fulfillment, mailing operations, inbound and outbound contact center operations, warehousing and logistics and more.
DC: What challenges have you experienced in transitioning from a “Traditional” Printing company to an Integrated Marketing Services Provider and why did you undertake that journey?
JS: Well, for Budco the journey started many years ago from simply focusing on our customers’ needs and identifying innovative ways to meet those needs. Customers needs have always been our driving force. We never really said “we have to add this competency or that technology or build this specific solution so we can then go out and sell it.” It’s been more about really understanding a clients long term objectives then figuring out the best, most cost-effective way to help them meet those objectives. This includes figuring out how to combine or expand or acquire the resources and technology to make it happen. I think that approach, over time, has allowed us to build a very broad set of competencies that fit really well together. Having the ability to integrate them in different ways allows us to provide strong solutions for a wide variety of customer needs.
We have also figured out along the way what we are good at, and not so good at which helps us focus on pursing the right opportunities. In terms of challenges, I think a common one is identifying and implementing the right technology infrastructure and platform(s) to support your offering. For example, we’ve experienced the dilemma of “build vs. buy.” We have established a large IT footprint within our company so we have the knowledge and resources to build our own proprietary solutions to solve many of our client’s problems, but this isn’t always the right answer. There are some SaaS (software as a service) products out there that are great solutions with a lot of functionality and also make cost of entry and long term cost of ownership very affordable. It usually comes down to how customized the solution really needs to be to meet a given clients needs. Combine that with the speed at which technology continues to evolve and change, and there can be a lot to weigh out and consider to make the best decision for everyone involved.
DC: What are the benefits of the Marketing Technology services you offer to your customers and do you have any data or case study examples to share.
JS: There are a number benefits to the technology services we provide. As an example, we are finding a lot of success in combining traditional print and direct mail with digital components like personalized URLs (PURLs) and custom micro sites. We are using the digital piece to leverage things like video, animation and other more interactive components to both reinforce and communicate the key message in a different more engaging manner. And of course, the added benefit with the digital component is that it provides more immediate, detailed data regarding response measurement and ROI so we are able to quickly see what is working and what isn’t, and adjust accordingly, which is big benefit to our clients.
We recently ran a lead generation campaign that included a personalized direct mail piece, a PURL and a micro website. We achieved a 23% response rate which we were very happy with. The technology we used isn’t necessarily new or groundbreaking, but that brings me to the next point on delivering benefits to your clients. A big driver of response was our ability to use the basic demographic data we had on the target audience to create communications that were highly personalized and relevant to each recipient at every touch point in the campaign and across every channel and technology we used. How you connect the channels is really important.
DC: Including Social Media, how can people connect with and contact Budco.
JS: Well, Budco has a social presence. You can connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and You Tube. You can also visit our website at www.budco.com, email us marketing@budco.com or call us and talk to a live person at 1-888-BUDCO-40.
DC: Lastly, if you were to give the commencement speech at Michigan State University, what would your message be regarding the role of Print in a multi-channel marketing campaign?
JS: That’s a tough audience to try to convince that print is still relevant, but I’d share with them that print is often a key component of a successful multi-channel marketing campaign and will continue to be for a long time. Take direct mail as an example…is direct mail dead? No way. It’s not as cool as social or mobile marketing, but 98% of the U.S. population still interacts with it daily, so it’s familiar, reliable and part of our culture, especially to the baby boomer population, which is still the largest and most wealthy segment of the U.S. demographic, so it still has an important role in marketing. I’d also remind them that things like QR codes, that cool phenomenon that links the physical and digital world via a mobile device, which this younger generation is familiar with and does understand the power of, often originates with good old fashioned print. But I’d also tell them that to create a really effective multi-channel marketing campaign, the key is relevance, regardless of the channel….print, mobile, social…it doesn’t matter. Relevant, meaningful content is what matters. And I think they’d relate to that because no one wants to spend time or effort on content that isn’t of interest, isn’t accurate, doesn’t entertain or wasn’t asked for.
Not to belabor this answer, but I have a recent college grad that is fighting to land an entry level position and begin her career. She’s sending out her resume, interviewing a lot and interacting with lots of companies. As I talked to her just last night she mentioned that one of the companies she had interviewed with sent her a letter, unfortunately telling her she didn’t get the job. She commented how she “couldn’t believe that they actually printed the correspondence on paper and mailed it to me” as opposed to the typical email she seems to be more used to. What struck me was that when I asked her what company it was she immediately recalled who it was, the position in question and the name of the person who sent her the letter. Then, in almost the same breath said, “I also got two other responses but I have so many emails in my inbox today I don’t really remember who they were even from.” If you were to turn that situation into a marketing communication scenario, I’d say you have an example of where print proved to be effective.
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