EAST COAST GRAPHICS

As 2010 is upon us, many companies are trying to slim down on their direct mail and/or printing budgets.  Companies often end long relationships with their current vendors over a few dollars.   During tough economic times, everyone is trying to save money.  However, is it really cost effective to make your decision strictly on price?

The title of this article is “Lowering Printing Expenses Efficiently”.  Efficiently is the key word!  Being efficient with your printed material and promotional items does not necessarily mean making a purchase based strictly on the lowest price.  As we are all in business to make the most money possible, sometimes the overall picture of what we are trying to accomplish is lost.  If a company wanted to get a printed piece done for the cheapest price, it could probably achieve its goal every time.  Is this really our goal?  Are we really being cost effective by taking this approach?  We absolutely are not being cost effective by taking this approach.
 
So how do we lower our print expenses efficiently? 

While some printing companies are not interested in educating clients on purchasing efficiently, other firms are.  Whether an organization is local, national or global, the process of managing commercial printing, promotional products and fulfillment in a centralized location has proven to be successful on many fronts.  Dealing with a print management firm to centralize your printing and promotional procurement process instead of using a job-by-job mentality will ultimately lower costs, increase savings, improve accounting, service, quality and your overall brand.

Partnering with a Print Management Firm to streamline your printing procurement process and leverage their expertise to help you purchase more efficiently eventually results in large savings to the customer.  Here are a few reasons why a Print Management Firm could be a great asset to your company or marketing department.

• Leverage the print management firm’s buying power
• Utilize the print management firm’s expertise to rationalize specifications on certain projects, creating production efficiencies
• Implement the print management firm’s vendor network and pay only one invoice, reducing accounting expenses

If you or your company would like to learn how we can help you streamline your printing procurement process more efficiently please contact us.  We are always happy to help!

East Coast Graphics, Inc.
Thomas Glenn
631.231.9300 xt.11
info@EcoastGraphics.com
www.EcoastGraphics.com

East Coast Graphics serves the commercial printing needs of organizations of every size, from small family-run businesses to large corporations. From one-color letterheads to eight-color consumer catalogs with die-cutting, perfect binding and UV laminating, East Coast Graphics’ committed professionals deliver on every job. Contact us for a FREE QUOTE TODAY!

What We Provide:

Fast Turn Around Time and Shipping
Eco-Friendly Printing
High Quality Results
Sheet-Fed Printing up to Eight Colors
Web Capabilities up to Ten Colors
8 Color Label Printing with UV Finishes
Friendly and Helpful Staff with Years of Experience

We understand the dynamics of managing a successful print program and provide the quality, consistency and rapid turn-around times necessary to ensure that your objectives are met. Whether your needs include catalogs, brochures, annual reports, product packaging, business forms, or labels, East Coast Graphics is the company that will make you look good on paper.

Our Commercial Printing Services:

Consumer Catalogs

Brochures

Newsletters

Presentation Folders

Marketing and Sales Collateral

Labels

Annual Reports

Stationery

Business Forms Printing

Mounted and Laminated Posters

Digital Printing on Demand

Variable Data Application

Additional Features:

Varnish, Aqueous and UV Coatings, Embossing, Die-Cutting, Foil, Stamping and Numbering

Business Forms Printing:

Laser Forms (Cut Sheets and Continuous), Snapsets, Checks, Pressure Seal, Mailers up to 8 Colors

Bindery Services:

Collating, Stitching, Folding, Cutting, Binding, Padding and Laminating

Green Printing:

East Coast Graphics is working to protect our environment through sustainable business practices that are protecting our world for present and future generations. By working with FSC-certified vendors, using recycled papers and vegetable based inks, and implementing environmentally responsible practices in our printing operations, we are bettering our world today for a healthier tomorrow.

To find out more about our products and services,

CONTACT OUR COMMERCIAL PRINTERS AT EAST COAST GRAPHICS TODAY

631.231.9300

Upfront gifts from non-profits to prospective donors are nothing new, but they’re usually low-cost items like address labels, greeting cards and notepads. Not so with a recent mailing from the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). The organization sent prospective members a beautiful vinyl tote, complete with Velcro closure, zippered front pocket and beautiful puppy-themed artwork.

“In its direct marketing program, the HSUS often mails premiums to prospective and current donors,” says Nancy Campbell, DM director for the group. “Upfront tote bags were tested previously, and we did rollout with a mailing to prospective donors in early January 2008.”

Campbell didn’t want to give away trade secrets by commenting further on how the product was chosen, but it’s clear that her team made sure that both the bag and the artwork were high quality. The targeted audience, gleaned from lists rented from or exchanged with other entities, must have been considered good prospects.

She did reveal that by early March the promo had come close to meeting its goal for recruiting new members and supporters. HSUS also got great feedback about the totes from recipients. “Members have said people comment on how nice they are and want to know how to get one,” says Charlotte Mead of the membership department.

She added that some recipients called and wanted extras to use as gifts or because they’d lost theirs. “The one I recall that was extreme is a lady who had her car stolen, and the bag was in it,” Mead says. “She desperately wanted another bag.”

Better still, the requests for extra bags have been accompanied by additional donations.

In their natural habitat in China, panda bears eat almost nothing but bamboo. Does that mean they’re an odd choice as ambassadors for a new beef-centered menu item at a restaurant? Not when the restaurant is Panda Express, a leading Chinese quick-service chain with more than 1,000 outlets.

Several weeks before the company made the announcement about their menu addition; they sent a teaser mailing to restaurant and marketing trade media. A plain white box contained two plush pandas labeled Tom-Tom and Eddie. An accompanying card read, “Experience Pandamonium at Panda Express,” and urged recipients to check their email for “big, beefy news.”

“What’s more lovable than plush panda bears?” asks Kimberly Porrazzo, VP of client services at a marketing agency, the PR firm promoting the launch. “It was a natural link to the new Beijing Beef menu item and the comprehensive advertising campaign, which included a 12-state television campaign, six-market radio campaign, and an outdoor advertising campaign.”

A follow-up email explained that the chain was “stirring up ‘pandamonium’ with its new dish, Beijing Beef” and gave details about the dish as well as the ad campaign.

“Editors and reporters said they loved the panda bears, as well as the food drop that was enjoyed by select editors,” Porrazzo says. “It certainly broke through the clutter, and we are still monitoring results.”

Convenience store chain 7-Eleven was looking to get consumers to ‘walk this way’ right into its stores with its May Guitar Hero: Aerosmith promotion. To promote the debut of its Full Throttle Frozen Blast Slurpee, it partnered with Coca-Cola, Microsoft and Activision’s top-selling video game Guitar Hero.

Throughout May, consumers could enter codes listed on Slurpee cups onto Slurpee.com for chances to win the game, an Xbox 360 and other prizes. To promote the sweepstakes and new Slurpee flavor, the popular convenience store chain created a mobile tour. Media vans with 6-foot by 12-foot video screens visited select stores where consumers could play the game live.

More than 10,000 custom guitar picks printed with Full Throttle Frozen Blast on one side and Slurpee.com on the other side were handed out. “One of the top ways our core customers for Slurpee drinks, ages 13-24, like to spend their leisure time is playing video games,” says Stephanie Hoppe, senior director of marketing of 7-Eleven, Inc. “So it was natural for 7-Eleven to tie-in with the game.”

Giant tear-off pads of posters featuring Guitar Hero and the Slurpee were posted at 484 locations near schools, train stations, beaches and other locations. Coupons were also distributed through college newspapers.

The end result: more than a quarter million fans entered the sweepstakes. “We expect to do more online and guerilla marketing as we continue our ‘Summer of Slurpee,’” says Hoppe. In June, 7-Eleven offered Incredible Hulk movie Slurpee cups and miniature character straws. “Customers seem to be coming back this month,” she says, “because sales are up.”

Human resources professionals are busy people. Besides hiring and firing employees, quarterbacking 401(k) programs and spearheading training initiatives for the company, they are also responsible for health-care decisions. To separate themselves from the many other health-care providers out there, Right Choice Health looked to promotional products.

In May and June, it gave out 1,500 branded USB ports to HR executives, personnel departments and company controllers. “They were very pleased with what they were able to get out of the program,” says Phil Masiello, vice president of sales at HyGrade Business, which created the effort. “They were looking for a marketing tool that could carry the brand name that salespeople could give out to clients that wouldn’t just end up in the desk.”

The USB ports contained materials that were helpful to the sales staff’s presentation and also functioned as a powerful leave behind chocked full information about Right Choice Health’s offerings.

What’s more, it contained a widget. This branded piece of software, which functions when the logoed USB is plugged in, offers the user the chance to get up-to-the-minute information about traffic, weather and other news through the Web. “It’s useful,” says Masiello, so the client is more likely to use it again and again.

“This way they always have the brand in front of them,” he says. “It’s a very inexpensive tweak to a standard USB that provides a bunch of other marketing tools for the client. In the grand scheme of things, it’s an inexpensive upgrade that adds in impressions. In promotion, you are always looking for something that will have retention power. This particular USB will take precedent over any other item you could possibly give them.”

Monroe Shocks and Struts has a message for all of the animal lovers of the world: “Replacing worn ride control components could improve vehicle steering, stopping and stability – and just might save the life of an innocent squirrel darting across the street.”

This was the official statement released by the company after it sent a bag of squirrel food, the Squirrel Street Journal newspaper and a personalized note from a squirrel to reporters. Next, the recipients received a logoed bag of peanuts and a squirrel, or rather, mousepad.

These promotional products were used to build hype for its “Save a squirrel” campaign which launched in April.

“We’ve already had tremendous interest in the ‘Squirrels’ campaign from the automotive industry as well as consumers,” says Carri Irby, brand manager of Monroe Shocks and Struts, prior to the launch of the campaign. “As our billboards go live in the coming weeks, we expect a tremendous spike in traffic to our Web site, as well as word-of-mouth advertising driven by local broadcast outlets and the thousands of businesses that sell and install Monroe shocks and struts.”

The squirrels have gotten around, as the message is broadcast on billboards throughout the country, on 2,000 radio stations, within Major League Baseball stadiums and via the Web.

Monroe also made sure to add a heavy assortment of promotional products to the mix. Mousepads, note cubes, pens, trash cans and bagged peanuts are available for use by its sales force. “Our promotional programs are tightly integrated into the campaign,” says Irby. The squirrels could not be reached for comment.

Want to win $1000 worth of promotional products?
Simply click the link below to fill out our contest form and you will be entered in our monthly drawing :

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Are you looking for a new, creative way to advertise your business? Are you bored with the same old business cards, magnets, flyers, etc? If so, you should try advertising with clothing. Apparel is one of the best ways to advertise, since people are always wearing T-shirts, polos, jackets and hats.

The idea of promotional clothing has been around since the beginning of the 1900’s, but it really became popular in the 1950’s. It was during this time that it became common for people to wear t-shirts with logos and even subliminal messages printed on them. Until the 1970’s, company t-shirts were usually handed out as an advertisement method – however once the 70’s hit, people were also willing to pay for clothing printed with company logos.

Today, it is common for companies to use clothing as a free promotional item and as a way to make a profit. For example, people will pay $30 for a shirt that has the name of the clothing company printed on it. This not only generates quite a profit for the company, but it is also great advertisement and branding technique. If other people want to buy the same shirt, they do not even have to ask where it is from since the company is displayed right on it.

Even if your business is not a clothing company, promotional apparel is still a great advertising tool. Free t-shirts are probably the most well-rounded clothing giveaway. People love free t-shirts and can never have enough of them. They tend to wear free t-shirts to places like the gym and the beach. Think about how many people will see the person wearing your t-shirt. The gym is a great place for your promotional clothing to be worn. There are plenty of cross-promotion items that will go great with your corporate apparel as well. Try advertising your business on items such as bags, golf balls, sports bottles, and umbrellas.

Promotional clothing is an excellent, creative way to advertise your business. There are tons of options to choose from when creating your promotional clothing. You can use t-shirts, sweatshirts, sweatpants, fleece, rain gear, or hats just to name a few items. Then you can choose screen-printing, custom graphics, or embroidery to display your company logo too. Whatever you feel is best for your business, the promotional clothing industry will be able to accommodate all your needs and help you begin a great advertising endeavor. Your imagination is the boundary of what you can achieve!