Cross-Media Services — Shops Sending Mixed Messages

WHAT DOES it take to be a cross-media company? Is it simply offering personalized URLs (pURLs) and e-mail messaging as an extension of variable data printing? By that definition, most digital printing operations would now qualify since those capabilities are all but standard.

The real point of distinction is when variable data marketing campaigns are no longer standalone efforts, as they have tended to be, but are tightly integrated with a client’s overall marketing program. As users have become more experienced with the capability, they’re seeing opportunities in doing variable data campaigns (print, Web and e-mail) that build on mass media messaging via television, radio and printed publications.

Extending the definition in this way raises the question, What is the role of a “printer”—cum cross-media service provider—in an integrated marketing scenario? Rather than there being a single answer, it’s a matter of at what level does a company want to compete.

• Realistically, a print provider doesn’t have to do much more than change its branding. It can ally itself with creative agencies that will take responsibility for developing the integrated marketing strategy and manage its execution by various service providers.

• The next step up would be for a company to assume some or all of the creative agency’s role by providing marketing expertise and design services for media beyond that which it can produce in-house, and subcontract the execution out to other companies as needed.

• Becoming a true one-stop shop by bringing all production in-house is the ultimate step. While still few and far between, there has already been the beginnings of an industry trend of print providers building in-house video production studios. Acquiring an existing firm would be another option.

About three years ago, the Dallas-based company formerly known as Pro Printing became Cross Media. It turned the phrase into a company name as part of a strategic plan to position the business as a marketing resource for clients, reports Jeff Bradford, president.

At the time, creative and design services were its expanded offerings beyond traditional printing. The addition of color digital printing (a Kodak NexPress), variable data, pURLs and e-mail messaging actually came along a little later.

“We needed to be perceived as more than just a printer, so we created a new company identity,” Bradford explains. “Our true north is removing headaches for marketing professionals who have an overall marketing budget of $1 million or more. We help them with lead generation services and the creation of automated marketing campaigns. We offer strategy and creative services, a technology platform (Web portal) and integrated manufacturing, so clients have a complete solution for any type of multi-channel marketing campaign or lead generation program.”

Printing continues to be a major direct marketing channel, but not the only one. Response rates go up exponentially when messaging is reinforced through the use of multiple media channels, he says.

In terms of its in-house capabilities, those channels are chiefly print, Websites and e-mail. The company also has produced some Podcasts and has worked with partner organizations on broader marketing campaigns that utilized electronic media (television and radio).

“We do work for their clients in the promotional printing area,” Bradford explains. “We make client calls together and work together on the creative. We are in those meetings because of our marketing strategy role and to facilitate getting the work done.”

While Cross Media currently focuses on the direct marketing channel, its president does see future growth opportunities in broadening the company’s marketing strategy and creative role. He’s not, as of yet, looking to add a video production studio or other capabilities, however.

Since Cross Media’s customer profile has trended toward larger companies in the high-tech sector, they typically have internal groups already set up to handle mass-media work, Bradford says. It did recently produce a lead generation program that dovetailed with one such client’s television and radio spots. “We took their mass-marketing campaign and did very specific and targeted messaging. The efforts are very synergistic,” he reports.

Total Job Control

Having in-house manufacturing that it can control gives Cross Media a competitive advantage against other direct marketing firms or agencies. “We can control the go-to-market time, the quality and the price. We can watch over a client’s project from a complete, integrated perspective. And they have one point of contact, so they feel much more secure working with us.”

Thorough tracking of results is a critical component of cross-media, Bradford adds, noting that his company ties all of the “touches” in a marketing campaign into its CRM (customer relationship management) system. Responses to printed pieces, Web microsites, e-mail messages, Google ads, etc., all get entered into that system, so the effectiveness of each piece and channel can be measured. Cross Media is even able to track call center activity, despite outsourcing the work, because of the partnerships it has with those firms.

The company opened a separate office and runs its printing and cross-media services operations as separate divisions. Each has its own sales staff, but they do work together when a client’s needs cross over.

In pursing the business opportunities in cross-media, Reynolds DeWalt, of New Bedford, MA, benefits from already having a name that doesn’t scream printing. Its definition of the term is “integrated (brand, graphics, message, etc.) and intelligent (built upon a database that is improved as a campaign moves along) communications across multiple media,” explains Scott Dubois, vice president of cross-media services and marketing.

The company’s current production capabilities include printing, Website creation/hosting, e-mail and SMS (mobile phone) messaging, Podcasts and blogging. It also sells itself as having expertise in video and radio, despite not actually producing the spots—yet. According to Dubois, there’s a plan already in place for adding a complete, in-house video production studio.

“It is the natural evolution of our business,” he says. “We are very much not just a ‘printer’ anymore, and our clients will be looking for an all-inclusive content production and delivery provider.”

The company is going to add a smaller studio on-site and rent larger production facilities on an as-needed basis. Dubois says it may seek an outside partner capable of producing all of the work, but Reynolds DeWalt wants to be a single source for clients and not be dependent upon a third party to meet deadline and quality demands.

Even given the flexibility of its name, Dubois says that marketing the company’s cross-media services requires a different branding process. Reynolds DeWalt registered the www.cross-media.com domain name in anticipation of the Internet being an important promotional vehicle for its expanded service offering. It has a major effort in the works on that front, he reveals.

Educating clients is going to require a team effort. Dubois sees potential opportunities in the activities of both the American Marketing Association (AMA) and The Direct Marketing Association (The DMA). Another measure Reynolds DeWalt has put in place is having different sales commission structures for cross-media (15 percent), digital printing (12 percent) and offset (8 percent).

Blending Print and Data

Blending printing with sophisticated data applications is how Dan Hirt, president and CEO of Primary Color in Costa Mesa, CA, defines his company’s cross-media services. “The net result is targeted, granular campaigns in which ROI is figured into every dollar of a print spend,” he says. “Cross-media is a communication strategy (typically with opt-in mechanisms). It drives bottom-line campaign results in ways traditional print cannot.”

Primary Color’s array of products and services includes Websites, e-mail blasts and SMS text messaging, along with print-related capabilities such as variable data/print-on-demand printing, Web-to-print portals, and ordering and fulfillment portals.

“We learned quite some time ago that print, as a medium, must exist in harmony with other forms of communication. Comprehensive campaigns—with multiple elements and using an assortment of media—drive marketing today,” Hirt contends. “Clearly, cross-media, variable data and other static print-centric applications complement their (messaging) counterparts in television, radio and the Internet. In order to increase one’s chances of connecting with a target client, a savvy marketing team must assemble a potent arsenal of communication tools.”

As a consequence, the continued relevance of a service provider will increasingly depend on its ability to deliver value across the entire media spectrum. Primary Color currently segments its business into four distinct categories: prepress services, print manufacturing, global graphics management (off-shore sourcing) and marketing automation/direct response services (including cross-media).

Success in cross-media and direct response services requires considerable investment in qualified staff, software and Web portal development, Hirt continues. Companies that enter the market must be prepared to deliver on their promises because they’ll likely only get one chance to prove to a client they can do more than print, he cautions. “If you’re not prepared to deliver the goods, my recommendation is to stick to your core competency.”

Partnering with another firm (creative agency) that has expertise in the cross-media category is the better option, if a printing company’s management is not sure about making the investment required or is concerned about its chances of success, he advises. Each party’s respective role must be clearly defined, he says, and “someone has to quarterback the opportunity.”

Hirt is frequently asked by peers if an existing printing sales force is able to sell cross-media services? “Some can, but clearly not all of them. Those (who can’t) require the assistance of our category experts.”

Hirt’s advice is to evaluate a person’s skill sets and propensity for solutions selling on an individual basis. The same goes for evaluating the cross-media business opportunity for printing organizations as a whole.

Not all may have what it takes, but those that do can be very successful. PI