Marketing Services - the Myth, the Reality and the Truth for Printers -Carl Gerhardt

By Carl Gerhardt

With all of the hype and talk in the industry, you would think that becoming a marketing communications or marketing services provider is akin to the Second Coming.

The Myth

If I become a marketing services provider and start acting like an ad agency, it will turn my business around overnight, and customers will flock to my doorstep and/or Website and flood me with business.

So, I guess I should change my name to something fancy, give new titles to my sales and customer service staff, revamp my signage and lobby, launch a new Website and start marketing to an entirely new prospect list. Cross-media campaigns, variable content, personalized URLs, QR codes, social media and almost anything that does not touch a sheet of paper with ink or toner on it will bring salvation to my business.

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Companies:
Allegra Network

Carl Gerhardt Author's page Carl Gerhardt is the chairman of Alliance Franchise Brands LLC, the parent company of Allegra Network LLC and Sign & Graphics Operations LCC, and a world leader in marketing, visual and graphics communications, linking more than 600 locations in the United States, Canada and United Kingdom. The company’s Marketing & Print Division, headquartered in Plymouth, MI, is comprised of Allegra, American Speedy Printing, Insty-Prints, Speedy Printing and Zippy Print brands of marketing, printing, mailing and Web services providers. Its Sign & Graphics Division, headquartered in Columbia, MD, is comprised of Image360, Signs By Tomorrow and Signs Now brands of sign and graphics communications providers.

Carl and his wife, Judy, owned and operated their own successful Allegra franchise for nearly 20 years before selling the $2.3 million operation in 2003. He is a PrintImage International/NAQP Honorary Lifetime Member and was inducted into NAPL’s prestigious Soderstrom Society in 2010 in recognition of his contribution to the industry.