LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

FACE IT, WE'RE ALL LAZY

I read Beth Negus Viveiros' “Oh Bother!” (Pushing the Envelope, August) while vigorously nodding my head in agreement. I thought my laziness was due to my exhaustive 20-hour days of running a business while juggling a household of three active boys, a self-employed husband and an insecure dog!

But I do know that most consumers (and those pesky “business” targets) are lazy, too. That's why we continue to see a steady uptick in business reply mail responses (and a downward spiral in response via phone and online). I used to chalk it up to passive-aggressive behavior (“I want to know more about your product or service, but I'll put the ball in your court to contact me”). But I think Beth is dead-on with the laziness theory. It's virtually effortless to tear off a laser-filled, postage-paid reply card and throw it in your “out” basket.

In fact, if I don't complete this e-mail and hit “send” before my phone rings again, my own laziness will take over and you'll never see this reply!
Carolyn Goodman
President/Managing Partner
Goodman Marketing Partners Inc.
San Anselmo, CA

DIGITAL PRINTING UPDATE

The true price? Here's the true story.

Mr. Neale's examples of “push” and “pull” models are interesting — however, somewhat dated (“The True Price,” Sept. 1). Using today's print-on-demand technology, we now call those models DPD (design-print-distribute) and DDP (design-distribute-print). It should be clear to Direct's readers that the latter offers clients tremendous literature management flexibility.

At Sir Speedy Printing, a franchise chain of over 1,000 small business printing centers around the world, we've been offering DDP for more than eight years through our proprietary Global Digital Network. We give business clients three solutions to choose from — each custom designed for the client's unique requirements.

• National account management

  This is the example Mr. Neale described. In our model, each Sir Speedy center around the world maintains a series of all the national-account print documents. They are updated just as Mr. Neale described. For example, a local sales rep of a national company visits a local Sir Speedy center, asks for 500 or 1,000 four-color sell sheets, brochures or catalogs, and within hours the order is printed, trimmed, bound and boxed. Most Sir Speedy [locations use their] own Xerox, Canon or Heidelberg digital press equipment for this type of work — high quality at very competitive prices.

• MyDocs regional account management

  This model works best when the client's corporate headquarters is within the Sir Speedy franchisee's territory and the field offices are within a one- or two-day UPS or DHL delivery zone. We build a Web site with thumbnails of all the corporate client's literature requirements. The field-office client clicks on what they require, completes the “shopping cart” and “submits” the order. Popular for corporate stationery, business cards, promotional materials…and, of course, marketing literature programs.

• DocMan national document management

  This final model is a combination of both previous models, but with an office document twist. The corporate-office client e-mails or sends hard copies of all their office documents (sales forms, vacation forms, credit apps, etc.) to their local Sir Speedy, which builds a Web site with all these forms in thumbnail view. Then the field-office clients can locate the thumbnail on the site using a built-in search engine. All forms are printed as PDFs to the field-office client's home or office printer. All forms can be updated daily, if necessary, by the corporate office. Therefore, the field-office clients always have the latest version of the form without keeping an inventory.

In my center, for example, in a very small business market with few sales representatives from larger companies, we offer MyDocs exclusively. We have more than 20 local clients that use this ordering method daily. Assisted-living facilities, regional restaurant chains, a travel association with thousands of members, a soft drink distributor, a regional pharmaceutical firm — the list goes on.

It's a darn shame that some print buyers still think of Sir Speedy as a black-and-white copy shop, where actually we do so much more.
Richard Goldberg
Sir Speedy Printing
Tequesta, FL

A VISUAL TAKE

I have to admit, I rarely do this kind of thing (respond to magazine columns). But I always have such a reaction to The Makeover Maven, and this time I am compelled to comment because I saw my boss reflected in some of Tom Collins' words and it made me laugh. The two ads in the August issue are a good visual of the two of us!

Tom's column, as I mentioned, always brings quite a reaction from me. I find a good bit of useful perspective and elements to consider from what he says — although I have a marked dislike of the actual makeovers! I'm young in the field and have a lot to learn, so I find it stimulating to see inside the mind of a veteran with whom I disagree. [It should be clear] from my comments that I am a very visual person (I have a graphic design background), so my opinions will reflect that bend in my thinking vs. the politics of direct/retail selling.

To my mind, the whole purpose of an ad is to capture attention and initiate a response. Based on that alone, I see the original Ace ad as effective in capturing attention, but weak in initiating a response. But in my opinion the remake is weak on both fronts. I can only speak for myself, but the cumbersome text and lack of visual stimulation cause me to ignore the ad and move on. I wouldn't remember seeing the information and have no motivation to do so.

Looking at both ads, I would do a makeover on both! I agree with Tom's opinion that the original ad has a weak headline (well, at least visually) and an amazing absence of a Web address. Correcting those two elements would nearly satisfy me. If the urge to include information just had to be acknowledged, I'd put a very (very) simple, clean list of what might be found online in the lower left corner so if people were inclined to spend the time to read, they could get the overview they need (enough to stimulate them to check the Web site).

I think the woman is an element that could be tweaked depending on the advertiser's purpose. Does Ace want to reach out to women? If so, I think the ad can be effective as is and smart to target women. I think it might be surprising to find out how much “hardware” business is directed by females — not to mention the amount of online information-gathering, surfing, and purchasing [they do]!

Does Ace want people to visit its site? Maybe the woman should be offering a laptop or some other computer-related reference to visually say the same things as the text (“Find expert Ace advice online!”).

Does Ace want to reach out to all customers? Maybe a male/ female duo would be good. However, I think the setting would be a little too feminine visually, even though it pictures gardening tools that both men and women use.

Is Ace targeting smart DIY design-oriented women? I think it works. It has a more “upscale” feel in the sense of also having a designer's appeal visually.

Overall view of the original? Strengthen the title, add the Website [address] (and maybe an 800 number)…BAM! It works.

That said, I turn my attention to Tom's makeover. As noble as his intent is to inform the reader and support local franchises, the whole effort is lost to poor design and overwhelming text. I'm tempted say how I would “make over the makeover” but I think I'd like to make an offer instead.

If it would be of interest to Tom and the editorial staff at Direct, I'd love to submit my makeover of both ads with a very simple commentary on design and purpose in advertising. If it's worthy of publication, all the better!

The submission may stimulate some interesting and informative banter from readers and maybe even a little bit of fun. I have ideas along these lines already. Maybe an online submission opportunity to “Remake the Makeover” for readers. (A list of benefits comes to mind: exposure for winning submissions; opportunities for sponsorship and prizes; another way to market to marketers; open a channel for interactivity; and the potential to see what “readers in the trenches” are thinking.)

Anyway, I should end this with a thank-you as well. I really do enjoy differing perspectives from seasoned professionals because they are far more valuable to me than the perspectives that do not challenge my thinking. I enjoy learning from Tom — and disagreeing with him every issue!
Ingrid Williams
Vice President, Marketing
SDS Southland
Distribution and Sales
Augusta, GA

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