1 - Challenging Economic Conditions Continue to Reduce Mail Volume - As everyone prepares themselves for this challenging economic climate, the U.S. Postal Service announces it expects to end the current fiscal year with a volume decline of nine billion pieces.

2 - Environmental Friendly Technology Can Remove Ink Stains in Paper Recycling - Traditional de-inking processes are environmentally unfriendly, which lessens the positive effects of recycling. So universities worldwide are looking for new ways to remove ink, especially in office waste—which is the most difficult paper to recycle according to Universiti Malaysia Sarawak and Sarawak Forestry Corporation.

Find out what their collaborative efforts brought to light after comparing a new ink removal process, enzymatic de-inking, with traditional chemical-based de-inking.

3 - The Other Direct Mail - Sandra Zoratti, vice president of strategic development and transformation for InfoPrint, believes marketers who have been using inserts should try using onserts—her word for the increasingly popular transpromo technology.

Why make the switch to onserts? A survey of 1,000 consumers, conducted by Zoomerang for InfoPrint, found:

• Almost 90% of respondents never made a purchase based on seeing an ad or offer on an insert
• 40% noted that inserts are often irrelevant or impersonal
• 64% said that they would use personalized offers printed on their bills or statements:
• 95%-100% of consumers open and read their bills and account statements
• 57 percent of respondents still prefer mail to e-statements for must-read documents

Zoratti also notes the challenges companies need to overcome to achieve success with transpromo. Read on and start improving your response rates!

4 - Five Tips for improving direct mail ROI - Five industry experts share their insight on how you can optimize your next direct mail campaign to improve response rates and boost ROI.

5 - The Environmental Impact of Mail: A Baseline - Mailstream technology leader Pitney Bowes Inc. recently published a White Paper that addresses the environmental impact of mail. "The Environmental Impact of Mail: A Baseline ," discusses how the industry measures financial, social and environmental success, and aims to help the public better understand the effects of CO2 emissions generated by mail.

Key findings include:

• Mail is a small component of most consumers' carbon footprint.
• Running a single refrigerator for a year is roughly equivalent to the creation and delivery of 5,000 letters.
• Americans generate about 40% of the total U.S. CO2 emissions through power used to operate their homes and fuel for transportation activities
• Sustainable forests and their related products are increasing in developed countries, despite growth in population and economic activity.
• The industry has adopted many initiatives to reduce mail's carbon footprint—but it must further understand and expand sustainability.
• Direct mail accounts for about 2% of the total tonnage of the U.S. municipal waste stream.
• Almost 39% of direct mail in the U.S. was recycled in 2006.

I would like to start with an except from Seth Godin's book Permission Marketing: Turning Strangers Into Friends And Friends Into Customers:

"Almost no one goes home eagerly anticipating junk mail in their mailbox. Almost no one reads People magazine for the ads. Almost no one looks forward to three-minute commercial interruption on must see TV.

Advertising is not why we pay attention. Yet marketers must make us pay attention for the ads to work. If they don't interrupt our train of thought by planting some sort of seed in our conscious or subconscious the ads fail. Wasted money.  

The average person is confronted by about 3,000 marketing messages everyday-the average business person even more. Television, radio, Internet, telemarketers, print, mail, cell phones-the competition for a prospect's attention is fierce. More than ever, the tactile experience (opening, unfolding, touching) is the catalyst that actually causes the target to notice, pause, interact, and respond."
 

So what is a marketer to do to get THEIR marketing message noticed? Differentiate!

Image this...you arrive home after a long day at work, with your brain only functioning at half capacity, you check the mail and thumb though it mindlessly until you get to a piece that grabs your attention by the way it feels in your hand. You run your fingers over it for closer inspection and instantly your interest is piqued. Our sense of touch triggers an emotion you can't simulate with a visual alone and we begin to connect with the product on another level.  

We all know this tactile feel can be achieved with thermography or embossing but who has the time or money for that with this economy? What I bet you didn't know is this can all be achieved digitally, in-line with the KODAK NEXPRESS Production Color Presses and our Dimensional Clear Dry Ink.

Our NEW raised 3D printing effect expands your creative possibilities and  revenue opportunities by producing attention grabbing pieces like direct mail, greeting cards, invitations, business cards, photo, promotional and many other applications in a more cost efficient way.  Combine Dimensional Printing with Variable Data Printing (VDP) for marketing messages that win.

Don't believe me? Then check out how the University of Mississippi applied Dimensional Clear Dry Ink to add impact and presence to invitations, posters, admission tickets and booklet covers for the First Presidential Debate. Follow this link and click Success Story Video. How cool is that!

Still need more evidence? Here is what industry expert Henry B. Freedman, Editor of Technology Watch has to say: "with dimensional printing the Kodak NexPress Press significantly differentiates the communication of the electronically printed message in an entirely new way." 

We agree with Seth Godin the tactile experience is a way to get your target audience to notice and respond to a particular marketing message and now Kodak can help in an entirely unique way.

For more information on Kodak NexPress Intelligent Dimensional Coating Solution visit www.kodak.com/go/dimensional

Marketing can be a fun job, suited to creative people who enjoy the excitement of positioning new products and getting the upper hand on your competition.  It's a continual game of one-upmanship and counter-positioning. 

A good marketing campaign builds upon your core strengths, positioning them in a way that demonstrates unique value to your customers.  It's a magical thing when done well.

Over the last few years, the energy and focus going into environmental-based marketing has ramped up dramatically, which is a good thing if the products really benefit the environment.  I don't usually like to talk badly about our competitors (that's not my way of marketing), but recently they've gone just a step or two too far and I just have to call them out on it.

To compete with Kodak's Thermal Direct plate, Agfa has been touting their "Chemistry Free" messaging since the launch of Azura.  As absurd and deceptive as that message is (the plate system is neither free of chemistry, nor is the chemistry itself free), they're banking on the precarious argument of what exactly is "chemistry".  Sure, the chemicals might be different and more dilute, but they're still chemicals - especially if you consider the dissolved plate goop that builds up throughout the bath life: it has to be handled like chemistry - because it is chemistry. 

At IfraExpo a couple of weeks ago, Agfa defined Chemistry Free as "only use of non aggressive chemicals." Huh? In the same presentation, they say "Chemistry Free means 'No Developer/Replenisher.'" International Paper's Pocket Pal, arguably the industry standard for definitions of graphic arts terms, defines "developer" as "in lithographic platemaking, the material used to remove the unexposed coating." Agfa's marketing literature clearly says that the purpose of their clean out gum for Azura is to wash away the non-imaged areas of the plate. But it's not "developer?" If it quacks like a duck, it's probably a duck.  :)

Lately, Agfa has even extended their messaging to start calling Azura "Processless." So now they have a "Processless" and "Chemistry Free" plate that requires both a processor and chemistry... go figure.

It appears that redefining the words "chemistry" and "developer" (and even "free"!) are the only ways Agfa can find to position their plate against Thermal Direct.  Now although we call Thermal Direct a Non Process plate, we fully disclose that it's a "Develop On Press" plate.  The action of removing the unexposed coating still happens, but because it happens automatically and seamlessly as part of the normal make-ready process on the press, in effect there is no separate processing step or processing equipment required.  No matter what you call it in marketing-speak, the full value is clear:  total elimination of all processing chemistry and disposal, all processing equipment, all maintenance, and all developer-related variation in the system.  As Shakespeare said, "a rose by any other name would smell as sweet".  Or I guess in Azura's case - it would still smell like chemistry. 

Enough said.  We're ready for the next round... bring it on!

11-18 Update: this post has created a lively discussion on the PrintPlanet forum: http://printplanet.com/forums/computer-plate/16238-azura-plate-chemistry-free