The human mind

With all our efforts toward marketing and getting the prospects mindshare it's interesting to see a "test" like this that shows how quickly our mind adapts when reading.




Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can.

i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod
are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit
pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm.
Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the
wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!
if you can raed tihs forwrad it ...


Perhaps a post card with all the text re-arranged?

What if the USPS was not in business?

The USPS is in the news again with a huge financial loss. http://tinyurl.com/3793mek This got me thinking.

If this were a more traditional business what would they do to become financially stable? This discussion might give us some insight into what we can expect in mail cost which heavily affects print. They are talking about going to 5 day weeks however I can’t see that accounting for the 3.5 Billion they lost. If they severely cut services and raise prices will that drive end user customers to digital (non print) marketing?

We have seen banks running dual platforms of paper check and electronic money transfer. Dual platforms cost money so the paper version is doomed to a short life span (probably shorter than most think). The USPS does not have a dual platform so we could think of them as a printer who only produces checks. What happens if their “check” market disappears?

The last I knew ½ of the USPS revenue was in statement, invoices and checks with the other ½ in direct mail and promotional marketing. If ½ of their volume leaves do to electronic billing/payment AND they had to reduce services while increasing postage could they even survive?

What would our business world look like if the USPS was non-existent in 5 years?

AR is coming!

Augmented Reality or "AR" is one of the newer technologies making it's entrance in the direct marketing world. Though it's been around for several years it was primarily only available in the world of Hollywood. Now it's beginning to make it's move into high end commercial marketing environments. Though some say it's still 5-10 years away from being commercially cost effective others say within 2-3 years we could see these costs within reason.
AR combines digital files with live video. Currently most AR is created by using your webcam to scan a 2D glyph however AR can be used with GPS and will soon be able to work from image recognition. Where QR (Quick response) codes are heavily used today to generate web traffic AR will take the messaging process to a new level.

Here's a nice example of AR using GPS technology. http://tinyurl.com/24huqwb
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New FB disussions!

Check the new topics on our FB discussion board!

Customer service on steroids

If you've ever wondered how some companies reach beyond the norm in customer service you might want to check out the Customer Astonishment program offered by Cornerstone Professional Developement. www.AstonishU.com.

We all have had experiences where we witnessed first hand a poor level of customer service. It's also a common occurance to have one of your lowest paid employees upset one of you best customers. Are all employees in customer service? Absolutely! If they do not directly serve the customer they serve someone who does. Everyone is Customer Service and needs to know and understand how vital their part is in servicing beyond expectation.

Today's economy has a very easy solution for poor customer service. The buyer simply goes away.

some great social media presentations

http://tinyurl.com/244h6t2

Quick barcode update

It's not your daddy's barcode anymore.
http://tinyurl.com/2zjoqt

USPS in trouble

It's not new to hear the USPS lost more money in the first part of 2010. As more transactional documents become electronic transfers the USPS mail piece volume drops. Checks, statements and invoices are a few of the transactional documents making up about 1/2 of the postal media currently. The USPS expects a signficant drop The USPS saw a net loss of $592 million for January, according to data released by the PRC earlier this month. The USPS mailed 13.9 billion pieces during January. The USPS has taken a number of steps to rectify its financial situation, unveiling a 10-year plan to stabilize its finances in early March. The plan includes the transition to a five-day-per-week delivery schedule, as well as an exigent price increase that exceeds its inflation-based price cap in 2011.

John Potter, postmaster general and CEO of the USPS, predicted that mail volume could fall by as much as 27 billion pieces in the next decade to an all-time low of 150 billion pieces in 2020. Potter also warned that if the agency did not rectify its financial shortcomings, it would see a cumulative shortfall of $238 billion in the next 10 years.

How will this affect direct mail rates? What will the USPS do to create new revenue streams while cutting cost? Direct mail marketers will be watching.

Movie time? Check out Pop Secret

There are some ways to subliminally promote your product or brand. Occassionally a company comes up with a cool idea that stands out. Enter, Pop Secret! Check out this website they launched to help people select a movie by answering three questions. I wonder if available as a download for smartphnones?
http://tinyurl.com/yzcsg7p

ESN and StrataTac co-host ModuForm presentation

Press Release
3/1/10









PSDA suppliers host equipment presentation for Chicago printers!

Emerging Solutions Now and StrataTac recently hosted a seminar for digital printers to present information on the GIC ModuForm integrated converting unit. The ModuForm unit allows digital and commercially printed documents to be converted into integrated cards, labels, magnets and other applications. Pierre Perdriaud, GIC International Business Development manager (France), attended offering a global view of the overall print market decline as well as insight into the growth of value add promotional printing. “The explosion of digital printing has led to higher competition driving the need to for innovation in color document applications. Adding value creates impact to catch and retain the interest of the customer.”

Following the presentation Tom Yeager, VP of Sales and other StrataTac management escorted attendees as they toured StrataTac’s new St. Charles facility where they are currently installing two additional coating units for creating liners and materials used in creating integrated products on the ModuForm equipment. “This new capacity combined with the wider parent roll configuration will allow us to become more efficient, enter new markets and service clients more effectively,” says Yeager.

The seminar was coordinated by Roger Buck, CDC, President of Emerging Solutions Now and North American distributor for GIC equipment. “We wanted to take advantage of Pierre’s visit to the USA by hosting an educational seminar for printers in the Chicago area. Having the meeting at StrataTac’s new location helped us explain more of the process involved in creating integrated products.”

StrataTac (www.stratatac.com) is a leading manufacturer of adhesive coated, top coated and laminated products. They supply the label converting and business forms markets with the most unique and innovative products available specializing in multi layer constructions, utilizing their latest break-through technology. For more information contact StrataTac at 800-884-9388.

ESN (www.emergingsolutionsnow.com) supplies innovative value add solutions to the digital and commercial print markets including the Moduform (GIC), EasyMailer (Kern), Alpha and Lambda (Edale) equipment. They also provide marketing and business development consulting to clients both in and outside of the print marketplace. For more information contact ESN at 620.308.6775 or email at roger.buck@emergingsolutionsnow.com.





Left to right Pierre Perdriaud, GIC, Eric Roberts, StrataTac,
Ron Garrison, RR Donnelly and Jeff Graham, StrataTac.








Left to right Bruce Treudt, West Chicago Printing and Roger Buck, ESN

ModuForm presentation in Chicago!

Feeling competition in the commercial and digital color market?

As more digital color boxes hit pressroom floors around the country printers are finding they must be able to add more value to their full color offering. But how?

If during a post press converting process you could create integrated magnets within a printed sheet could you find new markets in the promotional mail arena?

If you could create ID cards from digitally printed sheets could you open new sales in membership, insurance and other organizations where ID cards are prevalent?

If during an offline process you created an integrated label within a digitally or commercially printed sheet could you find new markets and sales opportunities?

StrataTac and Emerging Solutions Now would like to invite you to a special presentation by Pierre Perdriaud, International Business Development for GIC-Omegher, France, and Roger Buck, CEO of Emerging Solutions Now on the markets, applications and features of the ModuForm. Following the presentation there will be a tour of the new StrataTac facility with Tom Yeager, VP of Sales, StrataTac.

Date: February 26th Time: 9:00-11:00 AM

Location: StrataTac, Corporate office, 3980 Swenson Ave, St. Charles, IL 60174 (630-879-9388)

RSVP to roger.buck@emergingsolutionsnow.com
Please include your name, company and number of attendees.

Questions: Call Emerging Solutions Now at 620.308.6775


The GIC-Omegher ModuForm