What’s the Craic for Gemini Print? << Back
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Brighton Summit print sponsor Gemini Print tell us what they’ve been cracking on with in 2019.
In Scotland, the North of England or Ireland people uses the term ‘crack’ or ‘craic’ when referring to fun, humour and good times! In the South, most of us tend to use ‘crack on’ as an informal prompt to motivate getting on with doing something or completing the task in hand– especially more quickly or with more energy after a pause or delay! (Of course, “to be cracking up” means to laugh so this nicely links us back to the original ‘craic’!).
Managing Director Steve Cropper took the helm of Gemini Print in 2011 and certainly had to ‘crack on’ to progress the challenge of turning the company from simply being ‘the experienced commercial printing company ‘to a team that understood and focussed on what clients needed to achieve. These developments demanded massive commitment, dare to be different investment decisions, bringing in new levels of expertise, plus a lot of ‘listening and learning.’
So – How is Gemini Print getting a ‘crack on’ in 2019?
- Crack On: Results for Clients Focus
Even ‘good’ printers like Gemini Print have had ‘a kick up the posterior’ from the business world during the last ten years! In the ‘old days,’ most printers would tend to wait for the clients to specify in detail what was wanted. The printer would tell you all about the presses they had – and may show you lots of samples of what they had done for other people – you may have been left shouting to yourself “so dam what! It is me and what my business has to achieve that is important – I don’t actually care how you are going to do it!” (please note that this Blog has resisted any descriptions of the wonders of Heidelberg, Kodak and Hp Indigo, or mailing lines, or finishing equipment, or ………..)
The printer would dictate the ‘when and how’ – and then deliver. Clients would have to run from supplier to supplier to gain everything they needed – and meanwhile, the ‘old style’ printer probably never asked, e.g.:
. What output and ROI are important to you?
. How should the value of the project be enhanced?
. How can you stand out against your competition?
. How important are CSR and environmental values to you?
. How do we highlight what is special and unique about your product, service or message?
. How do you want your ‘reader’ or receiver to ‘feel’?
. What should ‘tone’ your brand present?
. How should/can people respond and engage?
. Is it volume or yield response that is most important to you?
. How can all your marketing and communications be effectively linked and integrated to improve value and results?
. What client service and contact level from Gemini Print is ideal?
Successful business people respect and understand the depth of relationship that is essential with, e.g. professional services. You build a trusted depth of contact with a solicitor or accountant as this is how they can provide you with the type of advice and service that can make or save your business a lot of money.
Since Gemini Print embraced ‘cracking on’ to build a new client services team, a new sales operation and specialist business sector consultancy the impact has been significant. The goal is simple – every client to be delighted enough with the quality, value, timing and communication to feel confident to describe Gemini Print as:
“my perfect print partner”
- Crack On with Environmental Care
The Gemini Print team understands it cannot sit back and relish achieving the ISO14001 Accreditation for Environmental Management – as with every business, large and small, consistently identifying how to improve is essential.
During 2019 examples of actions include: –
. Reduce transport miles by increasing ranges of in-house manufacturing service and ‘Total Service’ options.
. Increase home office-based consultants and client services across wide geography to reduce access times and distances to work face to face with clients.
. Invest in leading-edge technology to increase production efficiencies and reduce wastage
. Help people understand about the eco-benefits of paper, responsible forests management and the sustainability of good printing.
. Communicate with more clients about Gemini Print using vegan inks.
. The hard-working maintenance manager certainly had to ‘crack on’ when he had the task of changing 80,000 sq. Ft. of light bulbs to increase energy efficiency and eco standards!
. Improve despatch/transport efficiencies and fuel consumptions.
. Clients can now promote their businesses with the ‘Say NO to PLASTIC’ ranges of eco-friendly promotional products.
. Introducing new compostable magazine, annual report and newsletter wrapping/bagging alternatives to plastic.
- Crack On with ‘Multi-Channel’ Marketing Solutions
Business people now understand that ditching printed communication and marketing has a serious negative effect on success. Reliance on digital and online-only means you lose out on the trust, responsiveness and credibility of quality print and paper.
. Print can be ‘shown and shared.’
. Print is tactile and portable (with no battery demand!)
. Print can be truly personal, individual and special
. Print stands out in a time of online noise, excess screen time, fake news, spam, and scams.
. Print is enjoyed by people
. Print can entertain, inform and inspire
. Print empowers people to make choices to engage with you
Gemini Print does not ignore online. As a client; you are encouraged by the team to embrace a multi or omnichannel marketing and communications approach. Innovative ways to integrate your online and print (including marketing collateral, direct mail, packaging, large format, signage, clothing, POS, and promotional products) means you gain every opportunity for a prospect/customer to engage and respond to you.
A multi-channel approach also enhances immediate visibility of response tracking and conversion metrics.
You may want to encourage consumers to e.g.:
. Store your contact information
. Follow you on social media
. Gain a specific discount
. Go to your website
. Download your app
. Read up to the minute information about you
. Purchase products
. Make use of instructions and training
. Re-order
. Request a meeting
. Sign up to newsletters
. Provide feedback
. Watch your video
. Book your event
. View your image gallery
. Listen to colleagues present a personalised message
Augmented Reality
A popular cost-effective option for inviting your customers to engage with you is the Gemini Print AR (augmented reality.) service.
The totally immersive experience of VR (virtual reality) where you tend to see people wearing ‘strange devices’ (smart glasses and head mounted displays) that enable them to experience e.g. dodging wild animals in a jungle, playing a round of golf on a course thousands of miles away ……. or MR (mixed reality) is actively used by e.g. the games industry but is still seen by most people as a “sci-fi”!
In contrast, AR is quick to set up, easy for your customers to access from their mobile phones or tablet devices and can motivate the sort of responses and engagement choice that is important to people.
Gemini Print team can help you with AR ideas that are low set up cost, easy to use and enable you to keep all the information ‘up to minute’ without any expense or hassle.
A very simple example is the way AR is used on the Gemini Print business cards – ask to see an example or follow the steps below.
Step One:
Step Two:
Step three:
A discussion about the results you need/who you are aiming to gain a response from, will mean Gemini Print can advise whether a ‘basic off the shelf’ app (with a wide range of clever widgets such as auto contact, calendars, image galleries, social media links, website links, audio, info requests etc.) based approach will be an effective approach for you, or a more sophisticated bespoke solution is best. There is a myriad of options that can be tailored to your requirements (including chip embedded paper!)
QR Codes
For some clients a QR (Quick Response) code will be a very useful approach. The matrix (two dimensional) bar codes first designed in 1994 for the Japanese automotive industry have progressed a lot – as has consumer awareness, acceptance and enthusiasm.
More recent developments from static QR codes (fixed address pointing) to dynamic QR codes have meant you can change the ‘landing page’ without updating a new code – a significant improvement for many marketeers.
The success of QR and print or promotional products being integrated so easily has a lot to deal with the consistent growth in use of mobile telephone and tablets – the latest developments of Apple I-Phones and Android OS enable immediate and easy accessibility directly through the camera without any need for a specific QR reader. Marketing experts are calling 2019 ‘the year of the QR code’ as top brands such as Porsche, Instagram and L’Oréal have re-ignited major campaigns with QR.
‘Scanning’ is now an action that everyone understands. If your business is international QR codes are very important for you to consider– in China they are used for every kind of shopping and payment experience, and developments across the world shows that this usage level is spreading into key markets – talk to the marketing team at Gemini Print for any updates.
QR can also be used as a linking method to other engagement activity tools such as Geofencing – the ability to send your consumers useful information when they are near your business or service.
Enhancements mean that QR codes are now not limited to black and white – shapes (within the square), colours and branding of a QR code means they can ‘belong to you’ and appear as an integral element of your creative strategy, with ease. A QR code also needs some ‘calm space’ i.e. a white area around the code to ensure success. The design of your code should be considered against your background. The key to a good result is contrast!
QR Code Sizes
It is worth noting that a QR code cannot be read clearly if it is less than 1cm x 1cm (0.4 x 0.4 in) even for ‘close reading’ on e.g. a business card or small product packaging.
On e.g. larger packaging and all marketing literature the general view is not to have a QR code less than 2.5 cm x 2.5 cm (I x 1 in) or 115 x 115 pixels. While the cameras on smart phones are improving all the time you cannot risk excluding any response from people who may be using older or more basic mobile devices.
When using QR codes on billboards, signs, banners, event stands etc the size must increase to enable the realistic camera distance for scanning,
By considering the typical distance your customers would be using their mobiles to respond to your promotion will mean the Gemini Print team can calculate the most effective approach for you.
If the QR code will have a lot of data encoded the number of rows and columns required is another factor that will increase the size for effective scanning – and response!
www.gemini-print.co.uk
