CALIPER: The measurement of a single ply of paper typically given in Mils or Points, meaning a sheet that is .0041 of an inch thick is stated as a 4.1 mils thickness or 4.1 points. The thickness is checked using online equipment while the paper is being produced and then rechecked on precision thickness testing equipment that is typically certified by outside vendors (not to be confused with hand held micrometers). It is also important to note that the industry standard for caliper variation is +/- 5%, so if you see a 65# cover sheet and the advertised caliper is 9.0, the reality is that the actual paper caliper could be in a range of 8.55 to 9.45 mils. This is important for postal regulations where a minimum caliper is required. So, when in doubt use 80# cover for 9 point post cards or ask your supplier if the sheet is USPS guaranteed.

PPI: This is typically the estimated amount of Pages Per Inch, or more importantly, the estimated thickness of a project with a given amount of pages. This becomes critical when ordering covers for a perfect bound book but is also very important when ordering three ring binders. Ever try to get 1.5” of paper in a 1” binder? One of the most important things to remember is that PPI references pages, meaning two pages per single sheet of paper, so if you have a book with 500 pages, a printer needs to find out how many of these pages are simplex, duplex or blank. As a printer, I was more concerned with the much less used term of “Sheets Per Inch” which is a even simpler calculation of: “1000 / C (caliper in mils) = S.P.I.”  so a 4.0 mil sheet = 250 sheets per inch. (1000 / 4.0 = 250).  I typically was more concerned about how many sheets in a book compared to pages. To convert PPI to SPI simply divide PPI in two.

I highlighted the word estimated because, as you may have found out, not everything is perfect in the printing world. Although the paper may be exactly 4.0 mils (see caliper variation above), there are a couple other factors: nesting of the sheets (two rough surfaces intertwine a little), reducing the overall caliper (-2 to-10%) or as many of you have seen fluffy paper as it has come out of the printer which then increases the overall thickness (+5 to+10%). The PPI or SPI numbers are intended to give a general rule to follow, but the only real way of knowing for sure is to make up a dummy book once the actual paper has been received.

Let’s look at some of the energy stats from around the industry:

• The Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) reports that recycled pulp requires 64% less energy than virgin pulp.[1]
• Friends of the Earth puts this even higher, at up to 70% less energy than for virgin pulp.[2]
• The United States Energy Information Administration (EIA) reports that making a ton of paper from recycled paper saves up to 17 trees and uses 50% less water.[3]

Because recycled paper comes from fiber that has already gone through the bleaching process, it also requires fewer chemicals. (Although not all bleaching agents these days are toxic.)

Some marketers sniff at recycled paper, however, because it’s not quite as bright as virgin stock. Yet, one could make the argument that the positive social image associated with recycling can easily offset any loss in brightness, if that was ever really important at all.

If the points above aren’t enough to overcome the “brightness” appeal, here are just a few more reasons to favored recycled stock. This list is compliments of Barefoot Press of Raleigh, NC.

• Environmental Defense Fund, an advocacy group, calculates that one ton of virgin uncoated paper (which accounts for 90% of paper used in the U.S.) consumes three tons of wood, more than 19,075 gallons of water, and generates 2,278 pounds of solid waste.
• U.S. pulp mills consume 12,430 square miles of forests around the world each year, an area almost the size of the states of Massachusetts and Connecticut combined.
• Globally, according to the Environmental Paper Network, 70% of trees used for paper pulp comes from biodiverse forests as opposed to tree farms, much of it from endangered forests.
• Illegal logging has destroyed or degraded 80% of the world’s ancient forests. These forests create oxygen and hold massive amounts of carbon dioxide in the plant life. When the forest is cleared, that carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere, contributing to global warming. Scientists estimate that preserving the world’s forests and managing land use sustainably would reduce CO2 emissions by one-quarter. Deforestation accounts for about 30% of the global warming pollution released into the atmosphere each year. (www.sierraclub.org/trade)
• Irresponsible logging undermines the culture and economy of millions of indigenous and rural people who depend on forests for their livelihood. It also leads to erosion, flooding, and water pollution, and creates conditions that erupt in violence and human rights abuses. (www.greenpeace.org)

How important does that “super whiteness” look now?

You might be surprised. According to the USPS, advertising mail represented 63% of all mail received by households in 2008. Of that, 79% of households either read or scan advertising mail sent to their household and 11% respond and take action. Compare this to e-mail marketing: Mail Chimp’s research indicates the average open-rate for marketing e-mail is about 25% and the click-through/take-action rate is only 4.28%. I’m not a numbers person (is there a graphic designer who is?), but it’s pretty clear that direct mail is far from finished.

There are some things to keep in mind when designing direct mail to increase the chances of your potential customer following through:

1. Take advantage of variable data printing. When I started out, there was one main option for printing in color: offset printing. How times have changed. Not only is it affordable to digitally print short-runs of your printing projects, it’s possible to customize your projects using variable data printing (VDP). For example, say you’re designing for an organization’s annual fundraiser. If the organization has a database of past donors, including their names, and the years and amounts they’ve previously donated, it’s easy to print that information right in the body of your piece. It personalizes the experience and can make a call for cash less of an intrusion and more of an appeal.

2. Have a clear call to action. A few years ago, I got a letter asking me to support the Fourth of July fireworks display in my town. I take my kids to that event every year and was ready, pen in hand, to write a check. I scoured the letter only to find that there was no return address, no phone number and no way to easily send the money. Sure, I could have looked up the number and contacted them, but expecting your recipients to do that is expecting too much. I never sent the check.
   
   Make sure you provide a clear way to respond to your direct mail. Is there a number to call? A Web site to visit? Make it obvious.

3. Speaking of Web sites, use yours to track the results of your direct mail campaign. Personalized URLs or Web addresses that incorporate the recipient’s name are becoming more and more widely used. At the very least, each direct mail piece that goes out should have a dedicated phone extension or Web landing page, so that you can track your results.
4. Design something different. I often save a few weeks worth of direct mail I receive, so that I can have a base of real-world samples. I’ll spread them out on my desk to look at them. Then, I’ll design something that looks different. If I’m seeing a lot of close crops of faces, I’ll pick and image with a person far away, or, even more likely, avoid a picture of a face at all. Lots of primary colors? I’ll go for an off-shade of green. Not many large fields of color? Maybe, that would work for my design. You can’t steer clear of all existing designs, but you want to make your direct mailing stand out. The best way to get a feel for what’s out there is to look at some of it with a critical eye.

One of the best things about direct mail is that even on a smaller budget, you can get great results.

I encourage you to read each of their bios to learn more about their backgrounds, but perhaps it would help if I explained how we found these experts and why we asked them to participate in our community…

We knew from the start that if we had any hope of creating an online resource for all things digital print related, we’d have to call upon experts who could represent and/or speak to the many layers within the digital print market with authority and a non-commercial point of view.  That being said, we had to surround ourselves with a lot of smart people. 

From the print perspective, there were a couple of thought leaders that we have been following online for quite some time.  The first is industry analyst Heidi Tolliver-Nigro who is a frequent blogger on theDigitalNirvana.com.  The second is Mark Potter, publisher of CANVAS.  Mark realized there was a gap in trade coverage of the print market, so he created CANVAS as the first magazine for the print sales and marketing professional.  He categorizes his content as dealing with “the realities of today’s printing and communication industry.” Based on their backgrounds, Heidi and Mark were logical additions to the Digital Space.

In terms of the design perspective, it was a little more challenging to find bloggers for our site. As you know, while use of digital printing is growing among graphic designers, they/you still may only produce a fraction of their/your projects on a digital press.  Because of this, we realized we weren’t going to find a graphic designer who considers her/himself the number one authority on design for digital print.  But we decided that’s okay.  In fact, it might even be better that way.  We wanted to find graphic designers who could share occasional musings on digital printing, including new experiments with the print medium.  If, over time, we can get more graphic designers to share insights and talk about their experiences with digital print, then we’ve accomplished our goal.  So far, we’ve enlisted one brave graphic designer – Leslie Tane of Leslie Tane Design in Easthampton, Massachusetts.  Know of more designers who might want to share their digital perspective?  Let us know.

To round it out, we also have a few Wausau Paper experts blogging about digital print from the paper manufacturer’s perspective, including technical tips for achieving optimal paper performance on your digital press. 

We plan to add to our “guild” of bloggers along the way and we’d appreciate any suggestions you may have.  If you’re interested in contributing to the Digital Space blog or know of a thought leader who should join our blog community, please contact us. 

How did that happen?

Traditionally, Club ABC Tours, a membership-based travel club in the New York tri-state area, mailed static, undifferentiated catalogs to its membership base of 250,000. These catalogs ranged from 30 to 72 pages. With the average direct mail response rate averaging .5 to 1%, that’s 7.45 million to 17.8 million pages straight to the landfill.

Just imagine the environmental cost:

• Trees unnecessarily cut
• Fossil fuels and energy used to transport those trees to the paper mill and convert them into paper
• Fossil fuels used to transport the paper through the supply chain
• Energy used to convert that paper into printed products
• Fossil fuels used to transport those mailers to their destinations
• Environmental cost of landfilling 247,500 unread mailers

When Club ABC Tours decided to personalize its print marketing, it not only made its campaigns more effective, but it greened them, as well.

Working with Magjak Printing (Port Chester, NY), the travel club selected 20,000 high-value targets to which it mailed smaller, more targeted brochures. The club then customized and personalized the messaging and imagery based on customer status (active member, dormant member, prospect), as well as past purchase history.

To boost effectiveness, it used a series of personalized emails to prime the pump for the offer and nudge non-responders into action.

The results? The club got 150 new members (1% return on 250,000 mailers would have been only 25 responses!) and generated a return of more than 10 times its initial investment in just the first month’s sales.

Even with this higher level of effectiveness, the campaign had a carbon footprint less than 10% of its traditional campaigns (20,000 vs. 250,000). Plus, the personalized self-mailer boasted a lower cost per piece than that of Club ABC Tours’ typical catalog of trip options.

So, the campaign was more effective, less expensive per piece, and greener. Talk about getting a triple bang for your buck!

The economy offers us no excuses going forward.  Despite the need for dramatic cultural change, the printing and paper industry has avoided it like the plague.  With a heavy dose of tradition and only traces of youthful ideas, the print industry has been able to “survive” for centuries.  Countless craftsman, salespeople, and executives have clung to “what has always worked” with great stubbornness.  However, the new economy, albeit uneasy, is teaching some of us old dogs new tricks.

The idea that print is dead has grown in popularity with the advent of the internet.  However, if you take a closer look, you will see some things that will make you rethink print and its role.  The ever increasing capabilities of the mobile phone may actually rejuvenate print.  If you have not yet taken the time to educate yourself on things like QR codes and augmented reality, I suggest you get started.  This stuff will blow your mind.

At CANVAS, we preach that print is a cornerstone to integrated marketing.  More importantly, we believe that companies and their corresponding salespeople need to be defined by community rather than product.  In other words, when companies stand for a specific group of people, they may end up selling them all kinds of different things.  The traditions of print offer people a great conversation starter.

This economy has frazzled us all.  We are in the midst of a restructuring and print will not be immune to change this time around.  The good news is that if you are thoughtful and passionate and willing to define yourself by a certain group of customers, the answers will flow freely.  On the other hand, if you define yourself by print or any other product for that matter, you will be left with questions.

Marketing personalities will win in the new landscape.  People who have vision and who can truly understand their clients on a different level will lead the way.  Print will play a major role but it is people who will sculpt where and when it is used.  So, be excited, embrace the value of print, offset or digital, and lead the way.

Instead of mailing to everyone in your database, for example, you might select and target the top 25% of your customers. Or, instead of sending everyone the same 72-page catalog, you might create personalized four-page brochures that contain only information relevant to each person.

By taking this approach, you actually increase the effectiveness of your marketing while decreasing your carbon footprint.

Here are a few suggestions for “greening” your print marketing while decreasing your financial investment:

• Mail to a smaller, more targeted portion of your database each time.
• Eliminate unnecessary pages by personalizing communications with only the most relevant information.
• Cleanse and update your database on a regular basis so you are not printing and mailing to “undeliverable” addresses.
• Create a smart mix of media matched to the needs and preferences of your customer base. Don’t send a printed piece if your customers are more likely to respond to e-mail.
• Print on recycled paper. While recycled paper used to cost more than virgin, this is no longer true. Many recycled stocks are now competitive, if not lower in cost, than recycled paper. Plus, recycled paper uses significantly less energy to produce, reducing its negative environmental impact. 

It’s not often you find a marketing strategy that provides you both bottom-line and environmental benefits. Done right, green marketing is one of them.