Print Solutions Magazine

Print Solutions July 2005

Go to next page

Table of Contents

Cover story

Marketing U
Tips | Images

CLASS: Creative Self-Promotion

LESSON: AccuLink’s attention-grabbing capabilities book embodies the firm’s motto.

Lindsay Gray speaks confidently about AccuLink’s ability to tackle demanding projects requiring a mix of printing, variable imaging, binding and mailing. Gray, CEO of the Greenville, N.C., manufacturer, wanted customers to feel the same. He decided to create a promotional book that would demonstrate the firm’s capabilities.

“We do so many different things, a simple brochure listing our services would never do us justice,” Gray says. “Breaking down each service into a product flier or independent brochure would be cumbersome and difficult to keep organized for future reference. I wanted to do something where every page could stand on its own and provide detail about what we do.” Equally important to Gray: No page could be boring.

To devise a theme for the self-promotion, AccuLink solicited the help of local design firm Eye Integrated Communications. During a brainstorming meeting, Gray described the need for distributors to understand AccuLink’s myriad offerings and how the company lives up to its long-standing motto, “We Put It All Together.” He gave the firm several pages of information about the firm’s target audience, frequent end user applications and AccuLink’s eight departments. No problem, the design firm said. Then Gray kept talking: “We also need each piece to be personalized for more than 500 people attending a trade show in four weeks.” The show was DMIA’s 2003 Print Solutions Conference & Expo in Las Vegas.

An Eye Integrated Communications designer said the turnaround was like an assignment from “Mission: Impossible.” People in the room looked at each other, realizing the book’s theme was born. “Many AccuLink projects are just like that—seemingly impossible, rush jobs that require several steps,” Gray says. “We’re often our clients’ last line of defense, and we do our best work under pressure. Once we had that theme, our creative juices started to flow.”

AccuLink’s book doubles as a secret assignment for each recipient, or “special agent.” The cover is die cut to reveal the recipient’s name (“Agent John Doe”) and the words “TOP SECRET,” “CLASSIFIED” and “CONFIDENTIAL.” Introductory pages tell the recipient to “lead a mission vital to the security of your country. Because of your expertise in the printing industry, you are uniquely qualified to execute this operation on your nation’s behalf. If you wish to learn more about this assignment, please break the seal on this document for your detailed mission briefing.”

The recipient breaks the transfer tape and sees an assignment (to “neutralize Hans Fitzer’s nefarious plot” to harm the world). Succeeding requires knowledge of AccuLink’s capabilties. “We have included a profile of AccuLink and dossiers of your team,” the piece says. “Please familiarize yourself with them now.” Recipients learn that AccuLink specializes in “operations where stealth, speed and accuracy are an absolute must.” The assignment includes the recipient’s first name in four places.

A folded dossier opens to reveal “expert agents” from AccuLink’s eight departments: account service, design and prepress, QuickTabs, finishing, offset and digital printing, electronic services, quality control and lettershop. Each section features a photo of the agent’s name and code name, job specialty, years of service and number of missions accomplished, as well as a humorous paragraph about the agent and a list of special skills. For example, “Agent Dutch Shaeffer” (finishing department) has a code name of “Chisel.” He has completed 9,567 missions, is a former amateur gymnast and “has an affinity for hot metal and sharp steel and likes to secretly show off his skill with a letterpress whenever he gets the chance.” Eye Integrated Communications handled the photo shoot and creative direction.

The rest of AccuLink’s self-promotion piece consists of tabbed sections that detail the company’s capabilities. Sections about digital printing, variable imaging, e-ordering, offset lithography, finishing, index tabs and mailing include images and samples. The Foil Stamping and Embossing page of the “Finishing” section includes “live” samples of foil stamping blind embossing, along with suggested applications. The Laminating page is printed on 65# cover stock with a 1.5 mil laminate. The book ends with a contact page for AccuLink.

During production of the book, Gray embodied the spy theme, as he was the only person at the firm who knew how the final piece would look. “Every department was involved in a different part of the project with little knowledge of what other departments were working on,” he says. “Information was provided strictly on a need-to-know basis.” On the final day of production, as the company’s finishing department was placing final touches on the book, one employee added to the drama. He uploaded the theme song from “Mission: Impossible” and played it over the firm’s intercom.

AccuLink’s booth workers at DMIA’s show in Las Vegas dressed as spies. The head of the company’s customer service department would prowl AccuLink’s show-floor aisle to read an attendee’s name badge. She would pass the information to another employee, who would look for that person’s personalized book, walk up to the attendee and whisper, “Pssst, here’s your mission. It’s just for you.”

AccuLink’s self-promotion won the Printing Industries of the Carolinas (PICA) “Best Printers’ Self Promotion” award and an Award of Excellence in DMIA’s inaugural PEAK contest. “We now have a complete listing of products and services in a neatly bound format that displays actual samples of our abilities and processes,” Gray says. “The book also accomplished an unexpected feat of uniting our entire workforce with a sense of pride and teamwork.”

Tips

1. Prioritize the parts. Lindsay Gray, CEO of AccuLink, a manufacturer in Greenville, N.C., says a key decision when producing the company’s self-promotion book was beginning with pages that required dies and multiple operations.

2. Trust your help. AccuLink worked with local design firm Eye Integrated Communications, which handled creative development of the project. “They knew when to play up the spy theme and when to tone it down,” Gray says. “They’re experts and helped us with the piece’s design, tone and consistency.”

Homework

Ask yourself how you can show, not just tell, your company’s best capabilities. What case studies or samples can you include in printed pieces or on your web site?

Email your salespeople and customer service representatives, asking them for personal success stories about how they’ve helped customers. Integrate the best responses into your next marketing piece.