Blog

Transformation…

25 July 2021 Stuart Nimmo

Easy to say but takes some planning and progression.

Some people say I am very demanding and my benchmark is high, or aspirational, but standing still and not aiming high does not get you anywhere. Even though we’ve reached a level that is now more comfortable than where we were 18 months ago, I am still keeping my eye on the ball, and looking to reach further.

One part of HAD-Print which has needed stretching is our bindery/print finishing capability. 2-3 years ago, we were most definitely at a point of hard graft over, working smarter. The last period has seen significant changes. The addition of a professional OPP laminator has added more scope to our final presentation of our jobs and projects.

One of the biggest changes has been the addition of a Duplo DC-445 creaser and inline F1 folder. To some, it might be a statement of really? Yes, the productivity gains have been exponentially significant. We’ve had creasing and folding machines previously, however, the inline nature of one action after another is a significant milestone jump. The fact we move seamlessly from one specification to another within minutes, from the heaviest cards through to lightweight leaflets. I know from when I started in the trade in the early 1990s this level of inline automation and handling the level of variances stocks would never have been dreamed of in this level of equipment.

Whilst this is a tangible investment, I will say a smart investment, as our capacity and ease of throughput, now meets some of our more demanding customers. Yes, we have found coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, fewer people have planned their actions, thus we are working more reactionary than ever before.

I know we have only just touched the surface of the potential we can achieve with this bit of equipment, as fold combinations and ultimately 7 months in, we are still on the learning curve. We’ve discovered ways and means of finishing materials from sizes we never thought we do before, like A4 6-page brochures, even stretching up to 8-page brochures (however this is out of specification for the machine!)

Interestingly this piece of equipment has allowed us to springboard the rest of our print finishing capability. This is essential to us preparing the covers for our recently added Duplo DB290 Perfect binder.

The level of pride of what we now deliver is so much higher, I look back from where I started in the trade, and what we achieve here at HAD-Print is impressive for a print business of our position. The variety of products is more than the B1 Litho house I worked in 20 years ago, and significantly more than at the start of my career. As I write this, we are implementing and learning the quirks and best options around our entry-level digital die-cutting table. Again the accessibility of what we can do, which was the preserve of larger print houses now is easily accessible.

I don’t knock the humble beginnings. I remember one print broker being highly dismissive of us at the beginning of 2017, however I know I’m not chasing him for work, as I believe in working with people who are on equally interesting journeys of progression. Our offering has evolved, progressed and is now able to deliver exceptional results.

What’s your journey? Are you ready to engage your customers with some different? Why not start a conversation with us, and let us help you add something tactile to your customer’s engagement with you?

Marketing – Back to basics

6 June 2021 Stuart Nimmo

Marketing is all about educating your customer about a product or service.

Ask any educational professional about key learning styles or methods and they will talk about Visual Auditory and Kinaesthetic (or VAK).

Over the last decade, we have seen a rush to engage digital technologies for the ease and convenience they bring. However, the rush has made us forget the key premise of how we learn. The engagement from touch, reality, which builds trust, through physically being there is missing.

The need throughout the COVID-19 pandemic to be still connected heightened the advancement of digital meetings, through zoom, teams and other platforms. We all read each other’s non-verbal language without even realising it, which has been devoid from digital platforms due to only seeing bust upwards of most participants. However, are we missing other communication receptors in this digital advancement? I know from people I have had conversations with, some have experienced zoom-burn-out, with back to back meetings, taxing the individual’s concentration to the max, through constantly staring at a small screen.

Working only with visual and auditory senses, it’s challenged us. When you think that sight is more than a small screen, hearing is more than the immediate speaker on a call. It leaves touch, which when we pick up something, a book, a pen or even a digital device, they are all crafted to evoke reactions. When we meet people we are aroused by the smell from perfume or aftershave or even fabric conditioner, the typical business meeting we’d meet for coffee or something else and we’d remember the taste and flavour of the coffee or the environment we were in. We build a picture of that moment and automatically attach it to the individual, this forming a mental picture and memories, whether favourable or not.

So are we missing a trick? Is now the time to return to being physical, leading the waive in positively creating memories? Of course, I am biased, I feed of tactile engagements, through my own experiences in print and design. Is it time to arouse the senses?

I am fortunate that I can do things differently, that I am accountable to myself. We have even before the pandemic did engagements via traditional mail, which evoked the senses. Our 2nd birthday being one example, where we partnered with CHIPP Coffee to deliver a cupping experience for our guests. The invitations featured physical real coffee beans inside a tactile (Linen textured board) gatefold (opening out from the centre) invitation. This raised a significant level of interest. Plus, once Royal Mail had processed the mail, they had also gently ground the beans to release some coffee aromas. Over the years we’ve inserted enveloped tea bags, chocolate bars and many other things to play on the wealth of sensory receptors of your audience.

The thinking overall is to think about the total experience, not just the design or the visual. In a world where marketing messages swamp us, the need to be different and pronounced and clear is paramount to achieving better results.

Cutting corners doesn’t pay…

18 April 2021 Stuart Nimmo

I know I’ve written blogs around the topics of design, useful tips and quality of reproduction before. But this seems to raise its head frequently and needless to say, things don’t change. The adage of what goes in is what comes out. Whether it be mail merge data, which hasn’t been prepared correctly, or the consistency is random; flyers that are produced without any thought to the target audience or how they will be engaged with are just a few of the many challenges to great results. The small nuances are the finer detail which is all part of what we do. Some might say it’s the 80/20 rule, but of course, it’s the last 20% that makes the difference.

So here are a few thoughts regardless of what your project is…

Planning

Failing to plan is planning to fail as the adage goes. Print is a pivotal point in a marketing cycle, being scattergun with it doesn’t help you. Having a production plan, including textual copy reviews, branding coherence, ensuring imagery is spot on, now’t worse than text saying one thing and your imagery speaking the opposite.

Know your audience

Absolutely critical, mapping this out will provide you with the key approaches to ensuring you successfully engage your decision-makers. This pen portrait will ensure you know who you are “talking to”

Use your budget wisely

This is where your 80/20 rule shows the most. Cutting corners can do more damage than the difference in the saving. Good design artwork doesn’t have to cost the earth. Good printers have experienced designers in-house. If part of something more critical, a graphic designer will add more flair to a larger project. Rule of thumb, design/artwork studio time within a print house will be £25-£35 p/hr whereas creative designers will be £40-£75 p/hr. Getting your design/artwork right will drive the results, so this is money well spent.

Ensure great reproduction

When a printer has been involved with a job from the start, if they have a good background with traditional “repro” as it was called, they will optimise images to ensure great reproduction. Or as one client called it “Sows Ear into Silk Purse”. See the blog on the Lost Art o f Repro

Print has never been as affordable

True fact, print comparatively is more affordable than it was 10-20 years ago. So don’t try haggling, you just rub the printer up the wrong way. The advent of digital print has reduced the cost of entry. However, set up fees; disk/file handling charges still apply, as it still requires someone to get your file ready for print. The downside of short-run print (small quantities) is that finishing set up costs for lamination, foiling, creasing, folding and other bindery work.

Working with a good print provider will help you to control your project costs, they will suggest ways to ensure you can measure the performance of your printed item. Printers are real-world people, with significant experience of working across media to ensure integration. Yes, you can ship your file to a big internet shed, have it squirted through a machine, and we know the chances of total satisfaction won’t be as high, a local printer does a lot more than you probably realise, above all they are human, and love engaging with people like you.

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