Print Solutions Magazine

I can count on one hand the times I’ve been shocked during the past year. These include moments of joy (my wife telling me she was pregnant with our first child) and astonishment (the number of diapers our son requires). The list of moments also includes a guy named Phillip Wall.

Wall, director of marketing and print procurement for Wachovia Bank, was an end user panelist at the last session of DMIA’s 2004 Spring Management Conference in Asheville, N.C. He gave attendees tips on approaching end users and cited examples of vendors Wachovia liked and loathed. Wall impressed me as he spoke about the bank’s willingness to meet with potential new print vendors. Then he shocked me: He said only 5 percent of vendors who call on his company take the time to research Wachovia’s needs and come to his office prepared to discuss solutions. Only 5 percent!

“They’re trying to get education at our expense, and that’s not our responsibility,” Wall said. “There’s opportunity for everyone in this room to get great accounts, but you must be prepared and responsive from the beginning. You need to do your homework before knocking on our door. You need a marketing strategy.”

That’s good advice, and I don’t know of a distributor, manufacturer or supplier who would disagree. So why is marketing a self-admitted problem for many printing firms? One possibility: The industry is fast-paced, so planning beyond the short term seems fruitless. Another: Companies are comfortable with the business they have, and word of mouth is enough marketing for them.

Smart and effective marketing goes beyond referrals. It necessitates knowing your own company (developing your objective, honing a positioning statement), knowing your customers and prospects (understanding your target audience, researching key contacts), and knowing the best vehicles for your message (budgeting your campaign, reaching your audience). Crafting a marketing plan forces you to look internally so you understand the results of past decisions, as well as externally so you understand the market’s challenges and opportunities. A solid marketing plan is a prerequisite for setting goals and a direction everyone in your organization can understand and support.

An irony maligns the industry: Many distributors want to be known as value-added communication providers, and they spend an impressive amount of time and energy offering clients eye-catching brochures, well-designed presentation kits, valuable promotional items and slick web sites. But many of those firms don’t plan and create such marketing materials for themselves.

Our cover story, “Marketing U,” beginning on page 56, includes five pieces about printing companies who respect marketing’s importance. Each piece includes details about a successful marketing project, as well as tips and “homework” you can use to boost your firm’s promotional prowess. Also, go to Print Solutions’ award-winning web site at www.printsolutionsmag.com for additional marketing advice that’s not included in the story, including a great list of 15 marketing-related web sites. And DMIA members should check out the “Marketing Library,” which is in the Solution Center at www.DMIA.org. It includes text, templates and graphics you can use to create powerful marketing pieces, e-newsletters and web site content.