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JDF: Where are we now? p.9     July 2010



                                  WWW.AMERICANPRINTER.COM




Serving Senior Executives in Commercial Printing Since 1883




                      QR codes
             What every printer should know p.12
A PENTON MEDIA PUBLICATION




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                                                                 Circle 101 or visit www.freeproductinfo.net/ap
12                                                                                            Tableof Contents



             On the cover                                           July 2010 | www.americanprinter.com
      QR Codes are easy to use—provided
          you follow a few basic steps:
                                                                    FEATURES
                               1
                                                                             TECH UPDATE | Quick response
                  Get a smartphone.                            12            The road ahead for QR codes
                                                                             By John Parsons
                               2
                                                               16 AMERICAN QUICK PRINTER | Customer connection
      Install a QR Code reader app from the                         Building business through social media
      site of your choice (examples include                         By Denise Kapel
               www.beetagg.com or
           www.qreateandtrack.com).                            20 POSTPRESS | PUR success
                                                                    Important considerations
                                                                    By Nsenga Thompson

                                                                    COLUMNS
                               3
                                                                4 EDITOR’S DESK | Are you ready for some viral marketing?
       Use the phone to capture the code                            By Katherine O’Brien
      image. (You can’t just take a picture
        of the code, you need the app.)                         9 SURVEY SAYS | Automated customer feedback uncovers new business
                                                                    By Michael Casey
                               4
                                                               10 MANAGEMENT | Industry? What industry?
           Allow app to direct you.*                                By Dick Gorelick
      QR Codes can incorporate URLs, text,
       phone numbers and even videos.                          11 JOHNSON’S WORLD | Make your printing clickable
   *Internet connection is required.                                By Steve Johnson

    Generate your own QR Code                                  15 TECH THOUGHT | Press testing: It’s all good
    The open-source code is readily                                 By Raymond J. Prince
    available. When evaluating your options,
    consider your goals. How will you                          40 EDUCATION IN ACTION | Training vs. education
    measure response? For more tips, see                            By Dan Wilson
    AMERICAN PRINTER’s QR Code landing
    page: www.americanprinter.com/                                  DEPARTMENTS
    qr-cover-072010.
                                                                2 AP, ETC. | This month at AMERICAN PRINTER
  Subscriptions                                                 3 INDUSTRY EVENTS | Shows and seminars you should know about
  Queries, changes or corrections?
  Visit: http://subscribe.americanprinter.com;                  6 INDUSTRY NEWS | Hot topics, management tips and newsmakers
  call (866) 505-7173 (U.S.) or (847) 763-9504
  (international); fax (847) 763-9682; or e-mail:              22 NEW PRODUCTS | Ipex 2010 introductions
  americanprinter@pbinews.com.
AMERICAN PRINTER, Vol. 127 No. 7, (ISSN 0744-6616) is
published monthly by Penton Media, Inc., 9800 Metcalf                                                 N Stay up to date!
Ave., Overland Park, KS 66212-2212 (www.penton.com).                                                  N Weekly broadcast
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POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to AMERICAN                                                       tv/viewing.
PRINTER, P.O. Box 2100, Skokie, IL, 60076-7800 USA.

                                                                                                              J ULY 2010 | WWW. A M ERIC A NP RINTER . C O M |   1
APEtc.                                            E-mail us at: APeditor@americanprinter.com


                   Why do YOU read American Printer?

                                         “                              ”
                                                                                                                       A Penton Media Publication, www.americanprinter.com
                                               Interesting articles.
                                                                                                                                 AMERICAN PRINTER Headquarters
                                                                                                                       330 N. Wabash Dr., Suite 2300, Chicago, IL 60611
                                   —Marty Anson, Bindagraphics                                                             phone: (312) 595-1080, fax: (913) 514-3924
                                                                                                                  Editor in Chief: Katherine O’Brien, KOB@americanprinter.com
                                                                                                                   Managing Editor: Denise Kapel, dkapel@americanprinter.com
                                                                                                                               Associate Editor/Marketing Manager:
                                                                                                                         Nsenga Thompson, nsenga.thompson@penton.com
                                                                                                                  Senior Art Director: Michael P. Koch, michael.koch@penton.com
                                                                                                                Senior Vice President: Bob MacArthur, bob.macarthur@penton.com
                                                                                                                      Group Publisher: Scott J. Bieda, scott.bieda@penton.com
                                                                                                                                     Assistant to the Publisher:
                                                                                                                  Cheryl Mangano, (312) 840-8477, cheryl.mangano@penton.com
Social media stats                                                                                         Sales Assistant: Connie Fonseca, (312) 840-8414, connie.fonseca@penton.com
                                                                                                                                    Group Advertising Director:
Erik Qualman, author of                                                                                          Deirdre D’Aniello, (312) 840-8421, deirdre.d’aniello@penton.com
Socialnomics, has compiled a video                                                                          Eastern Sales Manager: David Fay, (978) 356-6220, david.fay@penton.com
                                                                                                             Western Sales: John Clemens, (480) 538-5021, jclemens@cwpubreps.com
that includes these intriguing statistics:                                                                     Europe/United Kingdom: Julian Maddocks-Born, +44 1442-230033
                                                                                                                                    National Classified Manager:
N Facebook tops Google for weekly                                                                                       Tim Janes, (303) 674-0577, tim.janes@penton.com

      traffic in the United States.                           Happy Birthday                                                    Online Sales Development Director:
                                                                                                                   Christian Webb, (216) 931-9501, christian.webb@penton.com
                                                                                                                                             List Rental:
N Social media has overtaken porn as                          from the bindery                                      Marie Briganti, (877) 796-6947 mbriganti@meritdirect.com
                                                                                                             Group Production Manager: Jocelyn Hartzog, jocelyn.hartzog@penton.com
      the No. 1 activity on the Internet.                     Werner Rebsamen, RIT professor                Ad Production Coordinator: Heather Jennings, heather.jennings@penton.com
                                                              emeritus and longtime AMERICAN                                     Classified Production Coordinator:

N One in eight couples married                                PRINTER contributor, recently
                                                                                                                              Linda Sargent, linda.sargent@penton.com
                                                                                                                           Circulation / Audience Development Director:
      in the United States last year                          celebrated his 75th birthday. Bridge                             Jim Cowart, james.cowart@penton.com
      met via social media.                                   Publications (Los Angeles) sent these
                                                              creative greetings.
N 80% of companies use social media for                          In 2006, Bridge was experiencing
                                                                                                                                         Penton Media, Inc.
      recruitment; 95% of these use LinkedIn.                 some board warpage problems. An Inter-          Chief Executive Officer: Sharon Rowlands, sharon.rowlands@penton.com
                                                              net search led them to Rebsamen’s articles                Chief Financial Officer/Excecutive Vice President:
N Ashton Kutcher and Ellen Degeneres                          and launched an ongoing consultation.                            Jean Clifton, jean.clifton@penton.com

      (combined) have more Twitter                               Bridge postpress crews have now           Subscriptions: U.S. and territories, one year $59, two years $99; Canada,
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      http://twitter.com/AMPRINTMAG                           covers. All tasks are done mechanically      Reprints: To purchase quality custom reprints or e-prints of articles
              http://blog.americanprinter.com/kob             on Muller Martini equipment.                 appearing in this publication, call (888) 858-8851, e-mail reprints@
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              Inkjet vs. toner                                                                             Photocopies: Authorization to photocopy articles for internal
Excerpt | I remember an HP executive being quoted about                                                    corporate, personal or instructional use may be obtained from
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                                                    Next month in AP                                                     Copyright 2010 Penton Media, Inc. All rights reserved.
                                               PREPRESS | G7 case study                                                                      PRINTED IN THE USA

                             PRESS | Wide-format digital in offset operations
                                        POSTPRESS | Fancy folds
                                      PAPER | Coated paper trends

2   | W W W .A M ER I CANPR I NTER .C OM | J ULY 2010
Send event information to APeditor@americanprinter.com                                     IndustryEvents
August                                                 3 months ’til
19     Graph Expo 2010: A virtual
       preview (online), Sponsored
    by AMERICAN PRINTER
                                                       Graph Expo
                                                     “The Next Generation of Print,” Graph
    (www.americanprinter.com) and                Expo’s 2010 theme, offers the latest graphic
    hosted by the Graphic Arts Show Co.          communication technology demonstrations across the show floor, including seven
    www.graphexpo.com                            specialized areas. These include News Print (new this year), PackPrint, Future Print

25-27          Lithographic
               Relationships & Variables,
    RIT, Rochester, NY, (800) 724-2536
                                                 (printed electronics and RFID), the Mailing & Fulfillment Center, Prepress/Software-Design,
                                                 Press/Finishing and the second annual GREENspace. For more information about the show
                                                 and educational seminars, see www.graphexpo.com.
    ext. 815, www.seminars.cias.rit.edu

September
21-23        Introduction to the
             Litho-graphic Process,
    Clemson University (Clemson, SC),
    www.graphics.clemson.edu

27-1       Orientation to the Graphic
           Arts, RIT, (800) 724-2536 ext.
    815, www.seminars.cias.rit.edu

October
2    Executive Outlook conference,
     Graphic Arts Show Co. (GASC),
    McCormick Place, Chicago,
    www.gasc.org

3-6      Graph Expo 2010, GASC,
         McCormick Place, Chicago,
    www.gasc.org

13-15          SGIA 2010, Specialty
               Graphics & Imaging Assn.,
    Las Vegas, www.sgia.org


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                                                                                Circle 102 or visit www.freeproductinfo.net/ap


                                                                                                             J ULY 2010 | WWW. A M ERIC A NP RINTER . C O M |   3
Editor’sDesk                                                  By Katherine O’Brien




                                                 Are you ready for some viral marketing?
                                                 I  realize the baseball season has barely
                                                    started. It might seem a bit premature to
                                                 start discussing football. As a Chicagoan,
                                                                                                         Resco originally intended to produce a
                                                                                                     video holiday card. But the November 1,
                                                                                                     2009, Packer-Viking game was too good to
                                                 I’m not getting my hopes up. In fairness,           pass up. “Since our business is located on
                                                 the Sox did win the World Series in 2005.           the border of Wisconsin and Minnesota,
                                                 On the north side, the Cubs won their last          as you might imagine the allegiance is split
                                                 pennant during the Roosevelt (Theodore)             about 50/50 for the Packers and the Vi-
                                                 administration.                                     kings, which can make it fun … tense and
                                                     On to football. As Dennis Green re-             annoying at times when the winners gloat
                                                 minded us in 2006, “The Bears are who we            and the losers cry,” explains Knutson. “But
                                                 thought they were.” That was pretty much            generally it’s fun.”
                                                 true of the Bears teams of my childhood, too.           Preparations began on October 20. One day
                                                     “The Bears were pretty bad in the late          later, the script was finalized and a shooting
                                                 1960s and early 1970s and after Gale Sayers         schedule was drafted. Using a Canon Vixia 30,
                                                 retired and before Walter Payton arrived,”          Jeff Rybacki, web director, and Todd Giefer,
                                                 concurs sportswriter Mark Potash. “All we           art director, filmed the video on October 22. A
                                                 had to root for in 1972 was Dick Butkus             rough draft was ready to go by Friday, October
                                                 demolishing some poor running back and              23. After a few more tweaks, the video was up-
                                                 Bobby Douglass trying to become the first           loaded on Monday, October 26. That first day,
                                                 quarterback in NFL history to rush for              the Resco rivalry video drew 1,861 views. By
                                                 1,000 yards.”                                       mid-January, the video tallied 30,463 hits.
                                                                                                         Resco reports:
                                                 They know their football in Hudson, WI              N a 274% increase in traffic to
                                                 As a kid I turned to “Instant Replay: The               the company website.
                                                 Green Bay Diary of Jerry Kramer.” Jerry             N 23,870 visitors to its YouTube page.
                                                 Kramer played left guard, generally an              N Hundreds of e-mails from
                                                 anonymous position. Quarterbacks, run-                  clients and friends.
                                                 ning backs, defensive backs safeties and                Local CBS, NBC and Fox affiliates picked
                                                 even the referees enjoy more name recogni-          up the story. MSNBC put the video on its site
                                                 tion than the average offensive lineman.            as its “Sports Video of the Day.” While the na-
                                                 Kramer (with some help from co-author               tionwide publicity was exciting, Knutson says
                                                 Dick Schaap) provided an account of the             it didn’t compare to what was going on in the
                                                 Packers 1966-67 season. As time ran down,           plant. The video was a real morale booster. “The
                                                 Kramer threw the block that carried the             employees thought it was fun to produce the
                                                 Packers to victory over the Cowboys in the          video,” says Knutson. “They had even more fun
                                                 Ice Bowl of 1967. Instant replay had just           dealing with the media and [resultant notoriety].
                                                 been invented—Kramer’s block was shown              We received many e-mails and YouTube com-
                                                 over and over again. I didn’t know as much          ments [to the effect]: ‘The video was awesome,
                                                 about the Vikings, but I did see a lot of           you guys know how to have fun, I wish I worked
                                                 Fran Tarkenton’s highlights.                        for a company like that.’”
                                                    I was therefore intrigued to learn of a viral
                                                 marketing case study involving both teams and       Wanted: John Facenda type
                                                 their respective fans at a Wisconsin printer. You   to do video voiceover
                                                 can find the “Resco Packer-Viking Rivalry in        Stay tuned, sports fans, because a sequel is in
                                                 the Workplace Video” at www.youtube.com/            the works. “We had great fun putting this first
                                                 user/rescocompany.                                  viral marketing effort together and are working
                                                    “We were overwhelmed with the re-                on [another] because of the number of requests
                                                 sponse we received on our first effort,”            we’ve had from viewers of the first piece,” says
                                                 reports John Knutson, president of the              Knutson, “This includes the television stations,
You can follow us                                Hudson, WI, printer. “It’s a compelling             which are anticipating and requesting a second
on Twitter at http://                            story—maybe this type of marketing could            effort from us. The YouTube hits are now over
twitter.com/AMPRINTMAG                           help others who are not only looking to             31,000 and continue to climb.”
as well as on my new                             grow their business but also to have some
          KOB on Commer-                         fun with their employees. Our efforts have
cial Printing at http://blog                     added to our bottom line with several cli-
.americanprinter.com/kob.                        ents who called us specifically after seeing
                                                 the video.”                                                     KOB@americanprinter.com

4   | W W W .A M ER I CANPR I NTER .C OM | J ULY 2010
stopthepresses-km.com/amprint




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KONICA MINOLTA HOLDINGS, INC. bizhub is a registered trademark of KONICA MINOLTA BUSINESS TECHNOLOGIES, INC.

                                                 Circle 103 or visit www.freeproductinfo.net/ap
IndustryNews                                               Hot Topics, Management Tips and Newsmakers


Installations                                             Canon digital presses open new
> Mattoon, IL printer United Graphics has added
a Nordson Corp. (www.nordson.com) spine and
                                                          markets for Ambit Press
side glue system to enhance the production effi-          As the owner of Ambit Press / Minuteman Press (MMP)
ciency of its Muller Martini Acoro Perfect Binder.        of Cambridge, MA, Peter Reed started a quick print shop
> Victor Lundeen in Fergus Falls, MN, recently            nearly 20 years ago that has grown into a multi-location,
installed a Champion 990 score/perf/slitting sys-         full-service design and print provider. In 2009, the com-
tem from Rollem (www.rollemusa.com); Artistic             pany moved production to a 16,000-sq.-ft. facility in
Printing in Salt Lake City, UT, recently installed Rol-   Brighton, MA, and upgraded its digital pressroom with
lem’s Double Head TR Rollaway bidirectional slit/         Canon’s imagePRESS C6000 and C6000VP          .
score/perfing system; M-13 Graphics in Schaum-                Reed says, “The new [Canon] imagePRESS prod-
burg, IL, installed a Rollem BCS machine for slitting     ucts deliver a lower cost point with direct costs down
and trimming business cards.                              significantly by 10 to 15%. The imagePRESS units
> IL mailing and printing company Johnson &               are more efficient with the C6000VP unit running
Quin has installed EFI (www.efi.com) Monarch              at the same speed regardless of the media type being
to streamline its operations and centralize data.         processed. And they do not require fuser oil, which
> Leatherback Printing in Kirkland, WA, has in-           can sometimes lead to streaking and result in downtime for technical servicing of the
stalled its first digtital press, an HP Indigo 7000;      units. Our floor manager is a big fan of these features because he only has to calculate
San Diego-based Quantum Digital Imaging has               one run speed, which makes planning much quicker and easier.”
installed a 60-inch HP Designjet L25500 printer;              The 1,200 x 1,200-dpi output has opened doors for Reed, and he uses the digital
Utah’s Alexander’s Print Advantage has re-                presses to deliver better price points and quality on hybrid offset/digital jobs. Look-
placed its 5-color offset press with an HP Indigo         ing to the future, Reed anticipates using the imagePRESS C6000 and C6000VP for
7000 digital press. See www.hp.com/go/gsb.                more of the company’s high-end presentation work. Coupled with more web-to-print
> NY-based folding carton converter The Stan-             applications, Reed says the imagePRESS units will help him build business.
dard Group outfitted its Louisville, KY, plant’s new          Read more about Ambit in our April 2010 feature, “Big impact: Green strategies for
8-color Mitsubishi Diamond V3000LX sheetfed               smaller printers,” at www.americanprinter.com/environment.
press with the Hi-Cure ultraviolet (UV) system
from Grafix USA (www.grafix-online.de/english).
> King Printing (Lowell, MA) will install a new
Kodak (www.kodak.com) Prosper 1000 press                  People
in August 2010 and plans to upgrade to a Kodak            N Philadelphia printer Bartash
Prosper 5000XL in early 2011.                               Inc. (www.bartash.com) has
> Nashville printer Fidelity Offset has been suc-           hired 25-year industry veteran
cessful with its installation of CUSTOMER+, an              Bob Senske as sales executive.
online marketing resource center from Respon-             N The Ipex (www.ipex.org) organizers
sive Solutions (www.responsivesolutions.com).               have appointed Canon Europe
                                                            exec David Preskett to serve
                                                            as president of Ipex 2014.             Bob Senske            David Preskett
                                                          N Pre-owned printing equipment
Global Graphics sues                                        supplier PressAccess (www.pressaccess.net) has hired former Heidelberg executives
competitor for brand misuse                                 Walter Langley as bindery manager and Brausse specialist, Mike Morgan as
Harlequin RIP developer Global                              Southwest sales representative and Tom Wilson as Southeast sales representative.
Graphics (Acton, MA) has, through                         N Triangle Printers Inc. (www.triangleprinters.com) has hired Steve McAuliff
its lawyers, called upon HighWater                          to head its new large-format digital printing department.
CTP Ltd. to immediately cease using
the Torrent brand as Global Graphics
believes this creates a false association
between HighWater CTP’s Studio RIP
                                                                      100 Words or Less:
and the Harlequin RIP. The Torrent                                Connect with chief marketers
RIP has been associated with the                             “Printers might hold the Holy Grail for marketing
Harlequin RIP since 1996, when it                            executives, but fall flat when ask to articulate their value.
was introduced by HighWater Designs                          To avoid the commodity trap, the first step to success is
Ltd., then a Global Graphics’ customer.                      to speak the marketer’s language. A perfect example is the
Recently, HighWater Designs went                             term ‘digital.’ Printers use digital to talk about high-speed
into administration and its assets were                      color inkjet. Marketers refer to digital as anything on the
purchased by a third party.                                  Internet. This can be a costly miscommunication. My
    Global Graphics operations director                      advice is simple: Get educated. Sites such as the CMOCouncil.org provide
Neil Wylie says, “Global Graphics wishes                     great platforms to learn. To reap the benefits of providing the Holy Grail today,
to point out that, quite simply, there is                    start speaking your customer’s language!”—Lee Gallagher, director of precision
no connection between Studio RIP and                         marketing solutions, InfoPrint Solutions Co. (www.infoprint.com)
Harlequin.” See www.globalgraphics.com.

6   | W W W .A M ER I CANPR I NTER .C OM | J ULY 2010
IT TAKES A PRO.




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                                                                                                      Pre-Saturated Automatic
                                                                                                      Blanket Cleaning Rolls




                           THE P RODUC T IVIT Y EX PERTS.
                           PREPRESS | PRESSROOM | SHEE T-FED | WEB


Circle 104 or visit www.freeproductinfo.net/ap                            © 2010 Fiberweb Inc. Elixir® is a registered trademark of Fiberweb, Inc.
IndustryNews




                                                                      V
Ink prices are going up




                                                                   PT
                                                                 nA
Sun Chemical (www.sunchemical




                                                              do
.com) has implemented a 6% price in-




                                                            re
                                                            tu
crease for heatset and directory inks in




                                                        fea
North America effective July 1, 2010.




                                                       As
    Prices will increase for all Sun
Chemical Rycoline blanket and
roller washes, specialty solvents, iso-
propyl alcohol, alcohol replacement
and aqueous coatings. The price of
solvent-based washes will increase
by $0.50 per gallon and aqueous
coatings by $0.05 per pound.
    The increasing costs of distillates,
solvents, resins, and pigment raw
materials are key factors contribut-
ing to the price increase.
    Flint Group (www.flintgrp.com)
also has raised heatset and directory
ink prices.
                                                       CGX roadmap to future emerges
    “The situation with the major                      By Denise Kapel
raw materials for solvent-based
inks is worrying as solvents have                      Consolidated Graphics Inc. (CGX) (Houston, TX) recently hosted its annual “emerge” conference in
also recently started to come under                    San Antonio, TX. The more than 750 attendees included CGX printing companies, their customers,
significant price pressure,” notes                     and CGX partners and suppliers. The event featured keynotes on personalization and marketing
Jens Zimmermann, director, global                      communications, the changing media mix and the value of developing a strong brand. Thirty
marketing, Flint Group Packaging                       suppliers presented their latest wares in an expo adjoining the conference, including an interactive
& Narrow Web. “It is very clear that                   web-to-print demonstration. Conference sessions on 45 educational topics were geared toward
most pigment intermediates will also                   printers and their customers, covering the business of print as well as applications.
see increased pricing, particularly                        CGX boasts an output of more than 30,000,000 digital 4-color pages per day and its executives
blue and red while, materials like                     predict that by 2020, 40% of industry sales will be digital (vs. 10% in 2010). CGX is fueling growth
TiO2 and many specialty chemicals                      through faster time to market, flexible infrastructure, global expansion and information lifecycle
will also follow the same trend.”                      management, among other efficiency and infrastructure measures.
                                                           The company has 70 printing businesses strategically located across 27 states, Toronto and
                                                       Prague, offering sheetfed and web printing complemented by “the world’s largest integrated digital
                                                       footprint.” Late last year, CGX announced plans to install the Kodak Prosper 5000XL inkjet press at
                                                       Automated Graphic Systems (AGS) in White Plains, MD.

                                                       The CGX experience
                                                       The companies that make up Consolidated Graphics retain their branding and management teams.
Sneak peek of Graph Expo 2010                          Comments at emerge ranged from the benefits of paper purchasing power through CGX to the
The Graphic Arts Show Co. (GASC) will host             advantage of a large human resources pool among member companies.
a special online preview of Graph Expo,                   CGX customer and conference session presenter Micki Maynard, a project manager with Legrand
sponsored by AMERICAN PRINTER, August                  (West Hartford, CT), shared her experience: “There are seven companies that make up Legrand, and
19, 2010.                                              we have a CGX site for each of them.” When Legrand’s corporate brand color, a PMS shade of red,
     “Graph Expo 2010: A Virtual Preview,”             wasn’t matching up to the materials from the parent company in France, CGX came up with a solution.
accessible through any computer’s web                  “They created a shade and called it ‘Legrand red’ just for us, and standardized profiles across all of
browser, will feature:                                                                         our CGX printing companies to ensure it always matched.”
N An interactive tour of new                                                                       CGX customers learned about the integrated companies’
     equipment and products.                                                                   capabilities, while CGX member printers shared ideas about
N A list of exhibitors.                                                                        everything from sales to website strategy to technical mat-
N Live chat and networking.                                                                    ters including the latest suite of products from Adobe.
N Educational webinars.                                                                            See www.cgx.com.
N A preview of “Must See ‘Ems” candidates
     and the Executive Outlook conference.                                                    Denise Kapel is managing editor for AMERICAN PRINTER.
N A preview of companies and                                                                  Contact her at denise.kapel@penton.com.
     organizations being considered for
     “Positively Print” recognition.                                                          Noha Edell, Adobe’s business development
N A webcast on how to maximize your                                                           manager for cross-media publishing solutions,
     time at the show in October.                                                             demonstrates Creative Suite 5, “The complete
All content will be available until the start of                                              digital content and marketing campaign solution.”
Graph Expo 2010. See www.graphexpo.com.                                                       Read all about Adobe CS5 in our next issue.

8   | W W W .A M ER I CANPR I NTER .C OM | JULY 2010
IndustryNews
                                                  JDF. Similarly a JDF-enabled management           customers are actively pushing their suppliers
Steady on                                         information system (MIS) might create
                                                  the prepress job. At the very highest level,
                                                                                                    to integrate existing systems, and if this is
                                                                                                    not possible, replace them with JDF-capable
By Mark Gallucci                                  and available today if both the MIS and           alternatives. As the economy recovers and the
                                                  prepress fully implement JDF 1.3 and JMF          nature of our business extends beyond printing
It has been almost a decade since the Job         (Job Messaging Format, the “command               to multimedia content delivery, so will JDF
Definition Format was first drafted in an         and control” aspect of JDF): automated job        continue to change and evolve. CIP4 continues
effort to create a job ticket format that would   creation, including process parameters;           to develop the specification, the vendors
encompass the entire lifecycle of a print job.    and content delivery to prepress, automated       continue to implement it, and the end users
The CIP4 (www.cip4.org) Interoperability Matrix   layout, proofing, platemaking                                                tell us what works and
currently lists well over 500 tested “pairings”   and—most significantly—“live”                                                what needs to be added
of applications that can be connected via JDF.    feedback from prepress to the                                                or changed. Ongoing
                                                                                                                 UPDATE
These span a wide range of functionality, from    MIS regarding device and job                                                 development of tools
order management to binding and delivery.         status, proof approvals and                                                  for Extensible Markup
Nearly every prepress workflow system from        consumable usage.                                                            Language (XML), the
the major suppliers is JDF capable.                   Additionally, some prepress                                              underlying language of
                                                  systems are able to act as JDF controllers. A     JDF, provide challenges and opportunity as well.
Current capabilities                              sophisticated example is the delivery of PDF          Ultimately, it is all about profitability, and
At the simplest level, JDF from a desktop         content, printing and finishing instructions      the process automation and information flow
application can deliver product intent (number    to a digital press through a JDF-enabled          facilitated by JDF is helping users to realize
of pages, size, inks, customer information, job   controller, and JMF feedback from that press      profit through process automation, reduced
parts) and PDF content to prepress. Desktop       back to the prepress system. It is in these       touchpoints, better cost accounting and more.
imposition software can create JDF for            scenarios where we begin to realize the           While evolutionary, rather than revolutionary, the
automated layout.                                 vision of the automated “smart factory.”          prospects for JDF appear brighter than ever.
    At a higher level, an Internet-based
storefront might deliver product intent and       Industry evolution                                Mark Gallucci is manager of technology
customized PDF content to prepress via            JDF adoption is incremental: Increasingly,        marketing for Agfa Graphics (www.agfa.com).




                                                                                                                                            ST
   >> Automated customer feedback uncovers new business



                                                                                                                                              AY
                                                                                                                                                    IN
                                                                                                                                                       TO
                                                                                                                                                           U
   T


                                                                                                                                                                C
        he Print Shop (Wisconsin Rapids, WI) competes with                   keep communication lines open in a proactive way while not




                                                                                                                                                                H
        12 other area printers. The region was hit hard in 2008              adding another responsibility to Miller’s team.
   when the two local paper companies were sold, resulting in                    The solution: The Print Shop automates customer feedback
                           the closure of one mill and downsizing            and lead generation by leveraging Printers Software, its busi-
                           of the other, and the loss of more than           ness management software. All order information, including
                           1,000 jobs. One of those companies                the buyer’s e-mail address, is in the software’s database. An
                           was The Print Shop’s largest customer.            automated shipment reporting process takes less than 3 min./
                               In 2008, owner Warren Miller tried            month to run. The survey process includes alerting Miller if a
                           competing with online printers, but he            customer’s loyalty is slipping and delivering leads by uncover-
                           concluded, “Going head-to-head with               ing printing services bought from competitors. In addition, to
                           online printers was impossible with our           address survey burn-out, the process is set up so that no cus-
                           business model. The prices were rock              tomer is surveyed more often than every 90 days.
                           bottom.” He learned from the experi-                  The results: The feedback reveals strong loyalty and opportuni-
                           ence and the firm is adapting. “Digital           ties to close new business. Two referrals turned into new accounts.
   is here to stay and we are embracing digital printing to service              Leverage your estimating and production system to imple-
   the local area and provide value-added services,” he says. The            ment an effective feedback process. You probably already
   Print Shop also expanded into graphic design as a growth                  have the tools in-house to automate the process, and a well
   area that complemented print.                                             designed survey process yields selling opportunities with ex-
       While it was inevitable that volumes would go down dur-               isting customers and complements selling efforts.
   ing the recession, Miller wanted to leverage technology to
   benchmark performance, stay close to his customers, and                   Michael Casey is president and founder of Survey Advantage
   make sure he optimizes opportunities with existing custom-                (www.printers.surveyadvantage.com). He is a strategic partner with
   ers. With hundreds of customers, it is hard to stay connected.            NAPL supporting its consulting and research practices, he integrates
       In April 2009, Miller brought in Howie Fenton, NAPL’s                 project surveying with MIS systems and he is an approved supplier for
   senior print consultant, to help him adapt the business for the           several franchise networks.
   future. Fenton recommended setting up a continuous customer
   feedback process to ensure a strong foundation for retaining
   customers and preserving revenues as competition scrambled to
   address the weak economy. An ongoing survey solution would

                                                                                                             J ULY 2010 | WWW. A M ERIC A NP RINTER . C O M |   9
Gorelick’sManagement                                                                  By Dick Gorelick




                                                Industry? What industry?
                                                W         hen someone asks about the state of our
                                                          industry, I ask for his or her definition of it.
                                                In recent years, our industry has resorted to myriad
                                                                                                             becoming increasingly difficult to attain. The
                                                                                                             challenge is to meaningfully, credibly distinguish
                                                                                                             an organization from competitors—in every
                                                terms and euphemisms. Companies are increas-                 vertical market—not to simply duplicate or
                                                ingly uncomfortable referring to themselves as               emulate norms, standards and ratios.
                                                “printers.” There is no easy or universal synonym.                The most successful graphic arts companies
                                                Even industry trade associations have fled from a            can provide for their prospects a proposal tailored
                                                reference to “printing” or “printers” in recent years.       to the needs, perceptions, challenges and objec-
                                                    The notion of a coherent, easily definable               tives of the particular buying organization. And
                                                industry can be described as something between               it’s rare that the response is expressed in terms of
                                                “disappearing” or “recently disappeared.” We have            the manufactured product. Successful companies
                                                resorted to such terms as “graphic arts,” “Printing          also avoid platitudes about customer service and
                                                and imaging,” “imaged information,” and “print               delivering on promises.
                                                service providers.” Some companies simply change                  Melodramatic as it may sound, I believe that
                                                their corporate names to letters.                            in 2019 or so, we’re likely to look back on the
                                                    I don’t make a value judgment on this scenario.          previous year as the beginning of the end of
                                                On the one hand, it can be difficult to carry on a           traditional industry terminology, definitions,
                                                conversation about the industry with an outsider.            organizations and structures. Suppliers of print
                                                On the other hand, and perhaps most important,               manufacturing, distribution, education, and
                                                the relative lack of coherence and universality              other related services will engage in “joined at
                                                among commercial printers demonstrates that an               the hip” relationships with customers that would
                                                increasing number of firms have internalized the             have been rare in the 20th century. The per-
                                                critical importance of competitive differentiation.          ceived risk to a buying organization of placing
                                                                                                             all or most of its proverbial eggs in a single sup-
“Successful companies avoid platitudes about                                                                 plier’s basket will be largely overcome by the reli-
                                                                                                             ability, speed and predictability of technology.

customer service and delivering on promises.”                                                                No all-purpose answers
                                                                                                             This industry has embarked on a journey. In the
                                                    I suspect that both print-buying organizations           months and years ahead, companies will increas-
                                                and print companies themselves are responsible for           ingly define and differentiate themselves in terms
                                                the relatively recent understanding, adoption and            of customized products, services, processes and re-
                                                promotion of a differentiated strategy. Organiza-            lationships created in response to the demands and
                                                tions that have failed to address or even understand         requests of their accounts—rather than simply the
                                                this fundamental issue are, in many cases, the com-          products, services and processes “we do best.”
                                                panies that no longer exist. Here again, our nomen-              Within any vertical market, strategic hetero-
                                                clature is imprecise and frequently misleading.              geneity will increase. Generalizations, trends, and
                                                                                                             economists’ reports of trends will become less rel-
                                                The customer is king                                         evant. In this environment, owners and managers
                                                Some consultants and economists choose to                    of graphic arts companies looking for all-purpose
                                                debate whether our industry is, indeed, com-                 answers are doomed to difficulty. It is virtually
                                                moditized. That’s a moot point as long as cus-               impossible to carefully draft a clever mission state-
                                                tomers believe they have many choices among                  ment or strategy, then attempt to create reality by
                                                competent print manufacturers. You and I                     enforcing it on an organization. An organization
                                                aren’t in a position to define our business. That            has a culture, history and relationships that can-
                                                is accomplished by the marketplace.                          not easily be changed. Perhaps the most difficult
                                                    Let’s expand the discussion to the business              and daunting challenge of senior management
                                                world at large. Our industry is not unique. There            is the management of orderly, positive change
                                                are consequences for account development. The                in organizational culture and mindset without
                                                day is fast approaching when prospecting by SIC              jeopardizing the most productive aspects of staff
                                                code, NAICS code or any other vertical market                talents and account relationships.
                                                categorization is rapidly losing its effectiveness.              As we look forward, it’s easy to conclude that
                                                    Every well-run company in every vertical                 all generalizations are false—including this one.
                                                market is faced with the competitive differ-
                                                entiation challenge. Customers have choices.                 Dick Gorelick is president of Gorelick & Associates and
                                                Technology has leveled the playing field in most             the Graphic Arts Sales Foundation. He can be reached
                                                businesses, and product-based differentiation is             at dickgorelick@gorelickandassociates.com.

 10   | W W W .A MER I CANPR I NTER .C OM | J ULY 2010
By Steve Johnson                                Johnson’sWorld

Make your printing clickable
H      ave you seen Playboy’s June issue, featur-
       ing “Miss Playmate of the Year” in 3D?
Put on your special glasses and voila. Who says
                                                        Just recently, PURLs were going to save
                                                     print. They haven’t. I wrote a long treatise two
                                                     years ago on this subject called “PURLs of
printing is old school technology?                   wisdom” and “More PURLs before swine” in
   “It’s kind of like it says on the rearview mir-   January and February 2008 (see http://
ror,” jokes Hope Dworaczyk, the subject of the       americanprinter.com/johnsonsworld). Those
photo spread. “Things may appear larger.”            old “Johnson’s Worlds” are still right on target.
   Not everyone is excited about 3D in print.        You would do well to reread them, to help put
“This particular picture is one example of how       this month’s topic in context.
books and magazines are different (than com-            Recently, 2D barcodes are hailed by pundits
puter images),” the Associated Press quoted          desperate for something to write about as the
editor Hugh Hefner as saying. “You can hold it       newest salvation of print. There is one dif-
in your hands, save them, and as Dad used to,        ference this time: Those pundits, in spite of
put them under the mattress.”                        themselves and without knowing why, might
   Lets hear it for the value of print!              actually be right.
   “I’m not a huge enthusiast of 3D,” contin-
ued Hefner. “I leave real life to go to the movies   A win-win combination
and 2D is fine with me.”                             I’ve said many times that the digital revolution
   I’m glad you brought that up, Hugh, be-           (which includes both the Internet and digital
cause I wholeheartedly agree. Not just about         printing) is really an evolution. Digital printing
the unique value of print, but also that print’s     enabled the use of variable data, which in turn
future may very well lie more with 2D than           allowed the creation of the personalized URL,
with 3D.                                             or PURL.
                                                         A PURL allows sophisticated tracking and
The next ‘big thing’                                 response, just as is possible with today’s sophis-
2D barcodes are the generic name for an in-          ticated e-mail and web communications. The
teresting glyph more commonly known as QR            only thing the Internet has over print is click-
Codes, which is a trademarked name. The way          ability. One mouse click on a link is something
they work is simple, simple enough to catch on       people have accepted. People are much more
easily with the general population.                  reluctant to type a 40 character URL that must
    The first step is downloading and installing     be typed and entered perfectly to work.
reader software on a smartphone. The software            2D barcodes bring one-click functionality
is free and available from several sources on the    to print. One click, that is, of the “shutter”
Internet, dependent upon the brand of phone.         on your prospect’s smartphone. Fact is, that
    Once the software is installed, you may          printed QR Code leapfrogs over Internet hy-
use the camera on your smartphone to take a          perlinks, because it works anywhere, anytime.
picture of any 2D barcode you run across. The        All you need is to have your smartphone with
software recognizes the glyph as a 2D barcode,       you, which today’s target audience does.
interprets it, and takes whatever action the bar-        A 2D code works from a direct mail letter,
code has been created for.                           to be sure, but it also works on a sign, within a
    Right now the most common use of 2D bar-         catalog or emblazoned on an article of clothing.
codes is to take the user to a website. This means       Old fashioned? Don’t carry a blackberry? You
that after you photograph the barcode, your          can read a QR Code with the camera built into
smartphone will open its web browser to display      your desktop or laptop PC, the same camera you
the URL specified by the barcode creator.            use for conference calls and video recordings.
    Much has been written about QR, or 2D                2D barcodes are a natural to combine with
barcodes. Almost too much. I’m already bored         PURLs, but they also can direct people to a static
with reading about them. Bored yes, but only         website or be used to populate an online shopping
because most of what has been written so far         cart. They can even dial a phone number.
has featured style over substance.                       Start by reading all the “introductory” articles
    “2D barcodes will be the salvation of print,     to learn the basics of 2D. Next, stop and think.
blah, blah, blah.” We’ve been hearing this theo-         How can you use these barcodes to make
retical junk for decades.                            your customers’ print clickable?
    First, digital printing was going to save                                                                             Read more about QR Codes
print. It hasn’t yet.                                Steve Johnson is president of Copresco (Carol Stream,                in this month’s cover
    Next, variable data was going to save print.     IL), a pioneer in digital printing technology and print on           story, page 12.
It hasn’t yet.                                       demand. Contact him via www.copresco.com.

                                                                                                          J ULY 2010 | WWW. A M ERIC A NP RINTER . C O M |   11
TechUpdate                                                By John Parsons

QR Code
rules of thumb
Whether printers use their
own integrated media system
to generate QR Codes or
partner with a service that
does so, here are some basic
rules of thumb:
N Always start with the
    simplest possible original
    data, including shortened




                                                                       Quick
    URLs (or PURLs). The more
    data, the larger the image.
N Do not make the QR Code
    image too small. About 3/4




                                                                      Response
    inch is the smallest size most
    phone cameras can capture
    today, although future phones
    will be able to capture data
    from smaller images.
N Beware of using QR Codes
    where you know the
    print viewing conditions                                              The road ahead for QR codes
    will be problematic. Low
    light environments, non-
    perpendicular viewing
    angles and reflective
    surfaces (e.g., signs behind
    glass windows) might
    require larger QR Codes
    or might not work at all.
N Provide a straightforward
    means, such as short
    message service (SMS),
    for users to download
    the right QR Code reader
    to their mobile phone.
    Someday, the majority
    of phones will come with
    readers. Until then, always
                                                 R     emember the CueCat phenomenon of the
                                                       late 1990s? The feline-shaped scanner was
                                                 introduced by Digital Convergence as a means
                                                                                                   and JagTag, which have not achieved the same
                                                                                                   popularity as QR Code, according to inter-
                                                                                                   linkONE (www.interlinkone.com) product
    print simple instructions.                   of facilitating website access via printed bar-   manager Jason Pinto. Each format requires its
N Always include a                               codes. For reasons too numerous to mention,       own reader application, which means, in all
    compelling, exclusive                        consumers, advertisers and print publishers       probability, only one format will emerge as the
    offer as an incentive to                     rejected the tethered device and its slanted,     de facto standard. QR Code seems to be the
    scan the QR Code.                            proprietary barcodes. The core idea still sur-    likeliest contender.
N Always make the results of a                   vives, however, as mobile scanning devices and        Like all data workflows, QR Codes are easy
    QR Code scan a meaningful                    various flavors of data barcodes proliferate.     to understand in theory but hard to implement
    mobile experience.                               For printers, one particular two-dimen-       in practice. The code itself was developed by
    Just sending users to a                      sional code—the Quick Response or QR Code         Japanese auto parts manufacturer Denso-Wave,
    regular Web page is not                      format—has gained a lot of attention. What        which retains the patent but allows anyone to
    enough—especially if                         is less clear is the timeline for QR Code usage   use the code license-free. It is now a published
    the page is not optimized                    to reach the tipping point for North American     ISO standard that any company may use to en-
    for mobile browsers.                         consumers, and what print service providers       code text data, including URLs, into a scannable
N Be aware that public                           need to know before embracing this technol-       image. Before the advent of smartphones, this
    acceptance of QR Codes—                      ogy. There are plenty of obstacles to consider    usually required a dedicated handheld scanner
    and the state of mobile                      but, in the long term, QR Codes also provide      and single-purpose software. The latest genera-
    software and hardware—                       potential benefits to a print campaign.           tion of mobile devices has changed all that.
    are moving targets. A                                                                              Digital cameras have been standard equipment
    print/mobile campaign                        The basics                                        on most mobile phones for years—as has some
    that is risky today might                    The QR Code is only one of many 2D code           form of Internet access. However, as smartphones
    be essential tomorrow.                       formats. Others include Microsoft Tag, EZCode     have become increasingly sophisticated, marketers

   12   | W W W .A MER I CANPR I NTER.C OM | J ULY 2010
TechUpdate
are considering their value as personal QR Code         data for each campaign. The company pro-
readers and as sophisticated tools for extending        vides guidance on phones, reader software and
their company’s reach.                                  implementation.
    In Japan, mobile phone scanning of printed              GossRSVP director Roger Belanger described
QR Codes is much more common than else-                 the chicken-and-egg dilemma facing those
where, but like many mobile trends it is expected       working with QR Codes. On the hardware side,
to gain traction worldwide. There are still signifi-    people can be reluctant to use their phones’
cant barriers to widespread adoption, such as the       limited CCD cameras to scan QR Codes, while
lack of auto-focus and other QR Code friendly           phone manufacturers are slow to make their
hardware features on most camera phones. Also,          cameras better “light-assisted scanners” because
until recently, third-party QR Code reading             QR Code use is not yet widespread.
software had to be downloaded for each                         The software picture is improving, with
handset—illustrating an indifference                           a QR Code reader being included in
to the technology by many mobile                                  an upcoming iPhone OS release—
hardware manufacturers, including                                     possibly followed by a similar move              < Print designers are
Apple. But the latest versions of                                        by RIM for Blackberry devices.                combating the perception that
Google’s Android and Nokia’s                                                 Notwithstanding, Belanger                 QR Codes have to be utilitarian
Symbian mobile operating                                                       maintains that the core                 and unattractive, as shown by
systems now include QR                                                         problem is the hardware                 Warbasse Design’s recent—
Code reading ability, which                                                  situation, which might take               and fully functional—QR Code
might be a sign of things to come.                                       3 or 4 years to change. Carriers              for posters advertising the
                                                                      like AT&T might push the handset                 HBO series “True Blood.”
Early adopters                                                    manufacturers to do so sooner, espe-
Some marketing companies and their                            cially if some of the increased ad revenue
printing partners are not waiting for the                   comes their way. (Carriers also should be
technologies to become fully mature. Goss                 motivated by QR Code usage’s potential to
Intl. subsidiary GossRSVP (www.gossrsvp.                  increase the use of monthly data plans.)
com) has recently switched from its propri-                  Despite these barriers, Belanger believes that
etary 2D code to the open platform QR Code,             printers should be actively pursuing print/mobile
as part of its media-to-mobile service for print        integration now, using text messaging and URLs
advertisers. Clients use the hosted GossRSVP            or PURLs to mobile-optimized sites. With such
platform to create campaigns with SMS or                systems in place, printers and their marketing part-
HTTP printable, auto-generated QR Codes;                ners will be able to easily transition from text-based
manage their interactive promotions via mo-             codes to 2D barcodes. Even with the technology in
bile text messaging, media links and text alert         the early adopter stage, he maintains that the busi-
subscription management; and collect response           ness opportunity for mobile-enabled print is clear.


A typical QR Code workflow
begins with a marketing or
content management system,
which handles customer and/
or promotional information. The      Generates QR Codes
QR Codes themselves are simple        (PNG or GIF files)
bitmap graphic images, usually
with complex metadata that               Content or                                          DAM
a digital asset management               marketing                                          system
(DAM) system would use to               management             QR
facilitate static or variable-data        system
printing. When captured by the
                                                              Code
smartphone’s camera—and                                      workflow
its own software—the printed                                                              Digital (VD)
code’s underlying data                                                                   print system
                                       Feedback and
connects the user with the            web interaction
originating company’s online
services. Applications could
include direct mail responses                                                              Printe
and tracking, promotional                                                                 piece d
discount offers, loyalty program
points, direct e-commerce
sales or just about anything
a mobile app can facilitate.

                                                                                                         J ULY 2010 | WWW. A M ERIC A NP RINTER . C O M |   13
TechUpdate
                                                                                                       QR Codes will be standard print offerings at
(Data) Size matters                                                                                    places like FedEx Kinko’s within two years’ time.
QR Codes can represent up to 4,296                                                                          QR Code proponent interlinkONE has
alphanumeric characters. However,                                                                      developed an integrated marketing system, in-
large amounts of data—plus higher                                                                      cluding web-to-print storefronts, multichannel
levels of error correction capacity—                                                                   communications, personalized URLs (PURLs)
will result in larger image files.                                                                     and more. Its customers include printers and
                                                                                                       other service providers as well as marketing
                                                                                                       agencies and larger enterprises. The company’s
                                                                                                       “QReate & Track” website (http://qreatean-
                                                                                                       dtrack.com) offers several levels of QR Code
                                                                                                       creation and tracking—including a free trial—
                                                                                                       as well as useful tutorials on QR Code issues.
                                                                                                            Getting the right QR Code reader to the user’s
                                                                                                       phone has been an interesting challenge, according
                   Author’s E-mail                            Author’s Business card                   to Pinto. “Seeing the QR Code might cause some-
                                                                                                       one to pause and give it attention,” he says. “But
                                                                                                       it also might be worth your while to add a couple
                                                 Pushing the envelope                                  of lines of text to the printed piece that explain
                                                 Developer and art director Philip Warbasse of         how people can read the code. You might want to
                                                 Warbasse Design (www.warbassedesign.com)              direct them to a special landing page where they
                                                 and Plush Mobile Servers (www.plushms.mobi)           can download popular QR Code readers for their
                                                 believes the adoption timeline is much shorter.       specific phone. As people become more familiar
                                                 Although it is a novelty now—with significant         with QR Codes, those types of instructions might
                                                 publicity value—QR Codes in print will be             become unnecessary. But right now, they help in-
                                                 normal within a year’s time, he maintains. Print-     crease the success of your QR Code campaigns.”
                                                 ers need to embrace integrated media now—on                Another barrier to QR Code use is the prob-
                                                 their own or in tandem with strategic partners—       lem of data density. The more data and error
                                                 and be capable of incorporating tools like QR         correction used, the larger the resulting QR Code
                                                 Codes as soon as possible.                            will be. By starting with a simple data set—like
                                                     Warbasse’s QR campaigns for print always          a shortened URL or PURL—the resulting code
                                                 include a means to download the appropriate           will be smaller, less competitive with the rest of
                                                 reader, as well as an exclusive offer or incentive.   the piece, and more likely to be read correctly.
                                                 Above all, the user experience when scanning the           One interlinkONE customer, A&M Label,
                                                 QR Code must be a distinctive and compelling          has had encouraging initial results with QR Code
                                                 mobile-optimized Web experience, which War-           use on consumer product labels. Technical ser-
                                                 basse Design develops for its clients. Ordinary       vices specialist David Platz describes one example,
                                                 websites—especially those with features not sup-      a honey product manufacturer with a new and
                                                 ported by mobile browsers—are inappropriate           relatively obscure product: agave nectar. Because
                                                 targets for QR Code campaigns, he says.               most shoppers have no idea what that is or how it
                                                     One barrier to QR Code adoption is the            may be used, A&M Label added a QR Code to
                                                 perception that they are ugly and intrusive visual    the label, with the words “Smartphone users, scan
                                                 elements—especially when they need to be large        this code to find out more about agave nectar.”
                                                 enough for today’s camera phones. Warbasse has        Those who did were directed to a custom, mobile
                                                 responded with some innovative designs, such as       optimized URL containing information and reci-
                                                 stylized codes for the movie “Iron Man 2” and         pes. interlinkONE reported over 50 hits on the
                                                 the HBO series “True Blood.” The company              first day. Platz said the customer was very pleased
                                                 does extensive testing on all such designs—as         and plans to expand QR Code usage on its honey
                                                 well as providing much of the mobile-optimized        labels—including a cross-promotional campaign
                                                 experience for users who scan the codes.              for an upcoming animated feature film.
                                                     Warbasse is testing its integrated media pro-          A&M Label is no stranger to barcode work-
                                                 gram for printers now and will make it available      flows, having managed UPC codes for in-store
                                                 to printers across North America in June. The         scanner use. QR Codes for consumers with
                                                 entertainment industry is the most proactive          smartphones is a very logical step. Platz outlined
                                                 adopter, he says, while typical blue chip brands      some of the company’s plans, which include wine
                                                 have shown reluctance to try the new approach.        and beer labels—whose QR Codes will take the
                                                 Fashion and clothing manufacturers are starting       user to a unique “story” (video and/or website)
                                                 to show real interest, however, along with TV         about the winery or brewery and its products and
                                                 and network clients and magazine publishers.          recipes. A&M Label uses Microsoft Tag as well
                                                 Printers with existing direct mail systems are        as QR Code, and is planning to do print/mobile
                                                 actively exploring QR Codes as a differentiator.      campaigns for DVD movie labels—allowing
                                                 As public awareness grows, Warbasse maintains,        shoppers to see movie previews on their phones.

  14   | W W W .A MER I CANPR I NTER .C OM | J ULY 2010
American Printer July 2010
American Printer July 2010
American Printer July 2010
American Printer July 2010
American Printer July 2010
American Printer July 2010
American Printer July 2010
American Printer July 2010
American Printer July 2010
American Printer July 2010
American Printer July 2010
American Printer July 2010
American Printer July 2010
American Printer July 2010
American Printer July 2010
American Printer July 2010
American Printer July 2010
American Printer July 2010
American Printer July 2010
American Printer July 2010
American Printer July 2010
American Printer July 2010
American Printer July 2010
American Printer July 2010
American Printer July 2010
American Printer July 2010
American Printer July 2010
American Printer July 2010

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American Printer July 2010

  • 1. JDF: Where are we now? p.9 July 2010 WWW.AMERICANPRINTER.COM Serving Senior Executives in Commercial Printing Since 1883 QR codes What every printer should know p.12 A PENTON MEDIA PUBLICATION APTV is online! See americanprinter.com/tv/viewing
  • 2. ILUMINA DIGITAL PRODUCTION PRESS GS ILUMINA DIGITAL ENVELOPE PRESS GS Includes iQueue Pro Over-sized sheets Color Smart Workflow up to 13" x 47" Variable data at full speed Card stocks up to 26pt Now you can afford to go digital and meet the demand for high volume full color printing. The ILUMINA Digital Envelope Press GS delivers fast full color envelopes (60 #10 envelopes per minute for only 2¢ each*), sheets and cards (up to 13” x 22”). The ILUMINA Digital Production Press GS provides full color printing on a wide variety of media. Text weight to heavy cover stocks (up to 26pt), coated, uncoated, textured, metallic, label stocks and much more. It also prints in a wide range of sizes (from 3.875" x 5.125" up to 13" x 47"). See them in action! Request a live web demo. US: 1.800.926.8839 / 251.473.6502 s EU: +31 (0) 26.319.3210 s xante.com ©2010 Xanté Corporation. Xanté, the Xanté logo and iQueue are registered trademarks of Xanté Corporation. Adobe and PostScript are registered trademarks of Adobe Systems, Inc. PANTONE ® and all other PANTONE, Inc. trademarks are the property of PANTONE, Inc. *2¢ is the average comsumables cost to print a full color #10 envelope. Circle 101 or visit www.freeproductinfo.net/ap
  • 3. 12 Tableof Contents On the cover July 2010 | www.americanprinter.com QR Codes are easy to use—provided you follow a few basic steps: FEATURES 1 TECH UPDATE | Quick response Get a smartphone. 12 The road ahead for QR codes By John Parsons 2 16 AMERICAN QUICK PRINTER | Customer connection Install a QR Code reader app from the Building business through social media site of your choice (examples include By Denise Kapel www.beetagg.com or www.qreateandtrack.com). 20 POSTPRESS | PUR success Important considerations By Nsenga Thompson COLUMNS 3 4 EDITOR’S DESK | Are you ready for some viral marketing? Use the phone to capture the code By Katherine O’Brien image. (You can’t just take a picture of the code, you need the app.) 9 SURVEY SAYS | Automated customer feedback uncovers new business By Michael Casey 4 10 MANAGEMENT | Industry? What industry? Allow app to direct you.* By Dick Gorelick QR Codes can incorporate URLs, text, phone numbers and even videos. 11 JOHNSON’S WORLD | Make your printing clickable *Internet connection is required. By Steve Johnson Generate your own QR Code 15 TECH THOUGHT | Press testing: It’s all good The open-source code is readily By Raymond J. Prince available. When evaluating your options, consider your goals. How will you 40 EDUCATION IN ACTION | Training vs. education measure response? For more tips, see By Dan Wilson AMERICAN PRINTER’s QR Code landing page: www.americanprinter.com/ DEPARTMENTS qr-cover-072010. 2 AP, ETC. | This month at AMERICAN PRINTER Subscriptions 3 INDUSTRY EVENTS | Shows and seminars you should know about Queries, changes or corrections? Visit: http://subscribe.americanprinter.com; 6 INDUSTRY NEWS | Hot topics, management tips and newsmakers call (866) 505-7173 (U.S.) or (847) 763-9504 (international); fax (847) 763-9682; or e-mail: 22 NEW PRODUCTS | Ipex 2010 introductions americanprinter@pbinews.com. AMERICAN PRINTER, Vol. 127 No. 7, (ISSN 0744-6616) is published monthly by Penton Media, Inc., 9800 Metcalf N Stay up to date! Ave., Overland Park, KS 66212-2212 (www.penton.com). N Weekly broadcast POSTAGE: Periodicals postage paid at Shawnee Mission, KS, and additional mailing offices. Canadian Post Publications N Downloadable mp4 for your Mail Agreement No. 40612608. Canada return address: Bleuchip Intl., P.O. Box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2. Current and back mobile device or computer issues, and additional resources including subscription N Available on YouTube, iTunes request forms and an editorial calendar are available Watch it online now at on the World Wide Web at www.americanprinter.com. americanprinter.com and at americanprinter.com/ POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to AMERICAN tv/viewing. PRINTER, P.O. Box 2100, Skokie, IL, 60076-7800 USA. J ULY 2010 | WWW. A M ERIC A NP RINTER . C O M | 1
  • 4. APEtc. E-mail us at: APeditor@americanprinter.com Why do YOU read American Printer? “ ” A Penton Media Publication, www.americanprinter.com Interesting articles. AMERICAN PRINTER Headquarters 330 N. Wabash Dr., Suite 2300, Chicago, IL 60611 —Marty Anson, Bindagraphics phone: (312) 595-1080, fax: (913) 514-3924 Editor in Chief: Katherine O’Brien, KOB@americanprinter.com Managing Editor: Denise Kapel, dkapel@americanprinter.com Associate Editor/Marketing Manager: Nsenga Thompson, nsenga.thompson@penton.com Senior Art Director: Michael P. Koch, michael.koch@penton.com Senior Vice President: Bob MacArthur, bob.macarthur@penton.com Group Publisher: Scott J. Bieda, scott.bieda@penton.com Assistant to the Publisher: Cheryl Mangano, (312) 840-8477, cheryl.mangano@penton.com Social media stats Sales Assistant: Connie Fonseca, (312) 840-8414, connie.fonseca@penton.com Group Advertising Director: Erik Qualman, author of Deirdre D’Aniello, (312) 840-8421, deirdre.d’aniello@penton.com Socialnomics, has compiled a video Eastern Sales Manager: David Fay, (978) 356-6220, david.fay@penton.com Western Sales: John Clemens, (480) 538-5021, jclemens@cwpubreps.com that includes these intriguing statistics: Europe/United Kingdom: Julian Maddocks-Born, +44 1442-230033 National Classified Manager: N Facebook tops Google for weekly Tim Janes, (303) 674-0577, tim.janes@penton.com traffic in the United States. Happy Birthday Online Sales Development Director: Christian Webb, (216) 931-9501, christian.webb@penton.com List Rental: N Social media has overtaken porn as from the bindery Marie Briganti, (877) 796-6947 mbriganti@meritdirect.com Group Production Manager: Jocelyn Hartzog, jocelyn.hartzog@penton.com the No. 1 activity on the Internet. Werner Rebsamen, RIT professor Ad Production Coordinator: Heather Jennings, heather.jennings@penton.com emeritus and longtime AMERICAN Classified Production Coordinator: N One in eight couples married PRINTER contributor, recently Linda Sargent, linda.sargent@penton.com Circulation / Audience Development Director: in the United States last year celebrated his 75th birthday. Bridge Jim Cowart, james.cowart@penton.com met via social media. Publications (Los Angeles) sent these creative greetings. N 80% of companies use social media for In 2006, Bridge was experiencing Penton Media, Inc. recruitment; 95% of these use LinkedIn. some board warpage problems. An Inter- Chief Executive Officer: Sharon Rowlands, sharon.rowlands@penton.com net search led them to Rebsamen’s articles Chief Financial Officer/Excecutive Vice President: N Ashton Kutcher and Ellen Degeneres and launched an ongoing consultation. Jean Clifton, jean.clifton@penton.com (combined) have more Twitter Bridge postpress crews have now Subscriptions: U.S. and territories, one year $59, two years $99; Canada, followers than the populations of mastered advanced hardcover bind- one year $69, two years $109; all other foreign, one year $99, two years $159 (surface). Prices subject to change. To order single copies, call (866) Ireland, Norway or Panama. See ing skills, producing sewn books with 505-7173 (U.S.) or (847) 763-9504 (outside U.S.). For subscriber services, http://socialnomics.net/video. gilded edges, inserted ribbons and write to Penton Media Customer Service, AMERICAN PRINTER, P.O. bound into embossed, exotic leather Box 2100, Skokie, IL 60076-7800 USA; call (866) 505-7173 (U.S.) or (847) 763-9504 (outside the U.S.); or visit www.americanprinter.com. http://twitter.com/AMPRINTMAG covers. All tasks are done mechanically Reprints: To purchase quality custom reprints or e-prints of articles http://blog.americanprinter.com/kob on Muller Martini equipment. appearing in this publication, call (888) 858-8851, e-mail reprints@ pentonreprints.com or visit www.pentonreprints.com. Instant reprints and permissions may be purchased directly from our Web site: Look for the iCopyright tag appended to the end of each article. List Rental: For list rental information, visit www.meritdirect.com/penton. For postal and telemarketing lists: Marie Briganti, (877) 796-6947 mbriganti@meritdirect.com. 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Mailing Lists: Penton Media, Inc. makes portions of our magazine subscriber mean that ultimately ink, which is cheaper than toner, will lists available to carefully screened companies that offer products and services help sell printers and printing.—Jim Lyons, printing/imaging directly related to the industries we cover. Subscribers who do not want to expert and Hard Copy Observer columnist for Lyra Research receive such mailings should contact the Penton Media, Inc. subscriber services N See http://blog.americanprinter.com/in-focus department at (866) 505-7173 (U.S.), or (847) 763-9504 (outside U.S.). Privacy Policy: Your privacy is a priority to us. For a detailed policy statement about privacy and information dissemination practices related to Penton Media, Inc. products, please visit our Web site at www.penton.com. Corporate Office: Penton Media, Inc., 249 West 17th St., New York, NY 10011, www.penton.com. Next month in AP Copyright 2010 Penton Media, Inc. All rights reserved. PREPRESS | G7 case study PRINTED IN THE USA PRESS | Wide-format digital in offset operations POSTPRESS | Fancy folds PAPER | Coated paper trends 2 | W W W .A M ER I CANPR I NTER .C OM | J ULY 2010
  • 5. Send event information to APeditor@americanprinter.com IndustryEvents August 3 months ’til 19 Graph Expo 2010: A virtual preview (online), Sponsored by AMERICAN PRINTER Graph Expo “The Next Generation of Print,” Graph (www.americanprinter.com) and Expo’s 2010 theme, offers the latest graphic hosted by the Graphic Arts Show Co. communication technology demonstrations across the show floor, including seven www.graphexpo.com specialized areas. These include News Print (new this year), PackPrint, Future Print 25-27 Lithographic Relationships & Variables, RIT, Rochester, NY, (800) 724-2536 (printed electronics and RFID), the Mailing & Fulfillment Center, Prepress/Software-Design, Press/Finishing and the second annual GREENspace. For more information about the show and educational seminars, see www.graphexpo.com. ext. 815, www.seminars.cias.rit.edu September 21-23 Introduction to the Litho-graphic Process, Clemson University (Clemson, SC), www.graphics.clemson.edu 27-1 Orientation to the Graphic Arts, RIT, (800) 724-2536 ext. 815, www.seminars.cias.rit.edu October 2 Executive Outlook conference, Graphic Arts Show Co. (GASC), McCormick Place, Chicago, www.gasc.org 3-6 Graph Expo 2010, GASC, McCormick Place, Chicago, www.gasc.org 13-15 SGIA 2010, Specialty Graphics & Imaging Assn., Las Vegas, www.sgia.org Send in those CIPPI Bookbinding PURfection Award nominations PUR binding is easy for digital or CIP4, The Intl. Cooperation for the Integration of Processes in Prepress, commercial printing projects. Press, and Postpress Organization, is As an industry pioneer in PUR extrusion technology, Nordson’s Betterbook™ accepting entries in the solutions give you consistent, high-quality perfect bound books. You achieve global 2010 CIPPI Awards a thinner, cleaner adhesive bond so your customer gets a book that lies flatter, program. The CIPPI Award lasts longer and looks better. recognizes printers, prepress services You get a satisfied customer and: and publishers for N greater consistency N lower costs innovative implementations N increased productivity N more flexibility of process automation in the printing industry in Nordson’s broad product line of adhesive premelting, extrusion and nine different categories. verification equipment helps us create a system to meet your specific needs. Applications are due Monday, Call Nordson today or visit our website to see how our systems for single or August 16, 2010, and the awards multi-clamp binders can help you achieve PURfection. will be presented to winners at Printing Industries of America’s www.nordson.com/betterbook I toll-free (800) 683-2314 (www.printing.org) Converge Conference, November 7-9, 2010, at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis, TN. For CIPPI ©2010 Nordson Corporation Award program info and application forms, see www.cip4.org/cippi/index.html. Circle 102 or visit www.freeproductinfo.net/ap J ULY 2010 | WWW. A M ERIC A NP RINTER . C O M | 3
  • 6. Editor’sDesk By Katherine O’Brien Are you ready for some viral marketing? I realize the baseball season has barely started. It might seem a bit premature to start discussing football. As a Chicagoan, Resco originally intended to produce a video holiday card. But the November 1, 2009, Packer-Viking game was too good to I’m not getting my hopes up. In fairness, pass up. “Since our business is located on the Sox did win the World Series in 2005. the border of Wisconsin and Minnesota, On the north side, the Cubs won their last as you might imagine the allegiance is split pennant during the Roosevelt (Theodore) about 50/50 for the Packers and the Vi- administration. kings, which can make it fun … tense and On to football. As Dennis Green re- annoying at times when the winners gloat minded us in 2006, “The Bears are who we and the losers cry,” explains Knutson. “But thought they were.” That was pretty much generally it’s fun.” true of the Bears teams of my childhood, too. Preparations began on October 20. One day “The Bears were pretty bad in the late later, the script was finalized and a shooting 1960s and early 1970s and after Gale Sayers schedule was drafted. Using a Canon Vixia 30, retired and before Walter Payton arrived,” Jeff Rybacki, web director, and Todd Giefer, concurs sportswriter Mark Potash. “All we art director, filmed the video on October 22. A had to root for in 1972 was Dick Butkus rough draft was ready to go by Friday, October demolishing some poor running back and 23. After a few more tweaks, the video was up- Bobby Douglass trying to become the first loaded on Monday, October 26. That first day, quarterback in NFL history to rush for the Resco rivalry video drew 1,861 views. By 1,000 yards.” mid-January, the video tallied 30,463 hits. Resco reports: They know their football in Hudson, WI N a 274% increase in traffic to As a kid I turned to “Instant Replay: The the company website. Green Bay Diary of Jerry Kramer.” Jerry N 23,870 visitors to its YouTube page. Kramer played left guard, generally an N Hundreds of e-mails from anonymous position. Quarterbacks, run- clients and friends. ning backs, defensive backs safeties and Local CBS, NBC and Fox affiliates picked even the referees enjoy more name recogni- up the story. MSNBC put the video on its site tion than the average offensive lineman. as its “Sports Video of the Day.” While the na- Kramer (with some help from co-author tionwide publicity was exciting, Knutson says Dick Schaap) provided an account of the it didn’t compare to what was going on in the Packers 1966-67 season. As time ran down, plant. The video was a real morale booster. “The Kramer threw the block that carried the employees thought it was fun to produce the Packers to victory over the Cowboys in the video,” says Knutson. “They had even more fun Ice Bowl of 1967. Instant replay had just dealing with the media and [resultant notoriety]. been invented—Kramer’s block was shown We received many e-mails and YouTube com- over and over again. I didn’t know as much ments [to the effect]: ‘The video was awesome, about the Vikings, but I did see a lot of you guys know how to have fun, I wish I worked Fran Tarkenton’s highlights. for a company like that.’” I was therefore intrigued to learn of a viral marketing case study involving both teams and Wanted: John Facenda type their respective fans at a Wisconsin printer. You to do video voiceover can find the “Resco Packer-Viking Rivalry in Stay tuned, sports fans, because a sequel is in the Workplace Video” at www.youtube.com/ the works. “We had great fun putting this first user/rescocompany. viral marketing effort together and are working “We were overwhelmed with the re- on [another] because of the number of requests sponse we received on our first effort,” we’ve had from viewers of the first piece,” says reports John Knutson, president of the Knutson, “This includes the television stations, You can follow us Hudson, WI, printer. “It’s a compelling which are anticipating and requesting a second on Twitter at http:// story—maybe this type of marketing could effort from us. The YouTube hits are now over twitter.com/AMPRINTMAG help others who are not only looking to 31,000 and continue to climb.” as well as on my new grow their business but also to have some KOB on Commer- fun with their employees. Our efforts have cial Printing at http://blog added to our bottom line with several cli- .americanprinter.com/kob. ents who called us specifically after seeing the video.” KOB@americanprinter.com 4 | W W W .A M ER I CANPR I NTER .C OM | J ULY 2010
  • 7. stopthepresses-km.com/amprint OFFSET QUALITY AND HEAVYWEIGHT PERFORMANCE ON DEMAND? STOP THE PR E S S E S. Meet the bizhub® PRESS C8000 from Konica Minolta. The digital press that truly compares with offset. Where do we begin, with all the breakthroughs? You get superior color accuracy and management. Consistent color, from the first sheet to the 10,000th. Lightning speed and turnaround to meet the tightest deadlines. Support for a broad range of media, including heavy stock, oversized and coated papers. Advanced, in-line finishing that saves time and labor. With maximum uptime and reliability. It’s the perfect complement to any workflow, offset or digital. Learn more at stopthepresses-km.com/amprint. ©2010 KONICA MINOLTA BUSINESS SOLUTIONS, U.S.A., INC. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. Konica Minolta is a trademark of KONICA MINOLTA HOLDINGS, INC. bizhub is a registered trademark of KONICA MINOLTA BUSINESS TECHNOLOGIES, INC. Circle 103 or visit www.freeproductinfo.net/ap
  • 8. IndustryNews Hot Topics, Management Tips and Newsmakers Installations Canon digital presses open new > Mattoon, IL printer United Graphics has added a Nordson Corp. (www.nordson.com) spine and markets for Ambit Press side glue system to enhance the production effi- As the owner of Ambit Press / Minuteman Press (MMP) ciency of its Muller Martini Acoro Perfect Binder. of Cambridge, MA, Peter Reed started a quick print shop > Victor Lundeen in Fergus Falls, MN, recently nearly 20 years ago that has grown into a multi-location, installed a Champion 990 score/perf/slitting sys- full-service design and print provider. In 2009, the com- tem from Rollem (www.rollemusa.com); Artistic pany moved production to a 16,000-sq.-ft. facility in Printing in Salt Lake City, UT, recently installed Rol- Brighton, MA, and upgraded its digital pressroom with lem’s Double Head TR Rollaway bidirectional slit/ Canon’s imagePRESS C6000 and C6000VP . score/perfing system; M-13 Graphics in Schaum- Reed says, “The new [Canon] imagePRESS prod- burg, IL, installed a Rollem BCS machine for slitting ucts deliver a lower cost point with direct costs down and trimming business cards. significantly by 10 to 15%. The imagePRESS units > IL mailing and printing company Johnson & are more efficient with the C6000VP unit running Quin has installed EFI (www.efi.com) Monarch at the same speed regardless of the media type being to streamline its operations and centralize data. processed. And they do not require fuser oil, which > Leatherback Printing in Kirkland, WA, has in- can sometimes lead to streaking and result in downtime for technical servicing of the stalled its first digtital press, an HP Indigo 7000; units. Our floor manager is a big fan of these features because he only has to calculate San Diego-based Quantum Digital Imaging has one run speed, which makes planning much quicker and easier.” installed a 60-inch HP Designjet L25500 printer; The 1,200 x 1,200-dpi output has opened doors for Reed, and he uses the digital Utah’s Alexander’s Print Advantage has re- presses to deliver better price points and quality on hybrid offset/digital jobs. Look- placed its 5-color offset press with an HP Indigo ing to the future, Reed anticipates using the imagePRESS C6000 and C6000VP for 7000 digital press. See www.hp.com/go/gsb. more of the company’s high-end presentation work. Coupled with more web-to-print > NY-based folding carton converter The Stan- applications, Reed says the imagePRESS units will help him build business. dard Group outfitted its Louisville, KY, plant’s new Read more about Ambit in our April 2010 feature, “Big impact: Green strategies for 8-color Mitsubishi Diamond V3000LX sheetfed smaller printers,” at www.americanprinter.com/environment. press with the Hi-Cure ultraviolet (UV) system from Grafix USA (www.grafix-online.de/english). > King Printing (Lowell, MA) will install a new Kodak (www.kodak.com) Prosper 1000 press People in August 2010 and plans to upgrade to a Kodak N Philadelphia printer Bartash Prosper 5000XL in early 2011. Inc. (www.bartash.com) has > Nashville printer Fidelity Offset has been suc- hired 25-year industry veteran cessful with its installation of CUSTOMER+, an Bob Senske as sales executive. online marketing resource center from Respon- N The Ipex (www.ipex.org) organizers sive Solutions (www.responsivesolutions.com). have appointed Canon Europe exec David Preskett to serve as president of Ipex 2014. Bob Senske David Preskett N Pre-owned printing equipment Global Graphics sues supplier PressAccess (www.pressaccess.net) has hired former Heidelberg executives competitor for brand misuse Walter Langley as bindery manager and Brausse specialist, Mike Morgan as Harlequin RIP developer Global Southwest sales representative and Tom Wilson as Southeast sales representative. Graphics (Acton, MA) has, through N Triangle Printers Inc. (www.triangleprinters.com) has hired Steve McAuliff its lawyers, called upon HighWater to head its new large-format digital printing department. CTP Ltd. to immediately cease using the Torrent brand as Global Graphics believes this creates a false association between HighWater CTP’s Studio RIP 100 Words or Less: and the Harlequin RIP. The Torrent Connect with chief marketers RIP has been associated with the “Printers might hold the Holy Grail for marketing Harlequin RIP since 1996, when it executives, but fall flat when ask to articulate their value. was introduced by HighWater Designs To avoid the commodity trap, the first step to success is Ltd., then a Global Graphics’ customer. to speak the marketer’s language. A perfect example is the Recently, HighWater Designs went term ‘digital.’ Printers use digital to talk about high-speed into administration and its assets were color inkjet. Marketers refer to digital as anything on the purchased by a third party. Internet. This can be a costly miscommunication. My Global Graphics operations director advice is simple: Get educated. Sites such as the CMOCouncil.org provide Neil Wylie says, “Global Graphics wishes great platforms to learn. To reap the benefits of providing the Holy Grail today, to point out that, quite simply, there is start speaking your customer’s language!”—Lee Gallagher, director of precision no connection between Studio RIP and marketing solutions, InfoPrint Solutions Co. (www.infoprint.com) Harlequin.” See www.globalgraphics.com. 6 | W W W .A M ER I CANPR I NTER .C OM | J ULY 2010
  • 9. IT TAKES A PRO. CLEANER RUNS. INCREASED PRODUCTIVITY. GREATER PROFITABILITY EASY AS . ABC. With longer rolls and low VOCs, Elixir®Automatic Blanket Cleaning Rolls consistently deliver fast, clean runs. Good for your shop and your bottom line. 800.338.7954 | fiberwebgraphics.com Pre-Saturated Automatic Blanket Cleaning Rolls THE P RODUC T IVIT Y EX PERTS. PREPRESS | PRESSROOM | SHEE T-FED | WEB Circle 104 or visit www.freeproductinfo.net/ap © 2010 Fiberweb Inc. Elixir® is a registered trademark of Fiberweb, Inc.
  • 10. IndustryNews V Ink prices are going up PT nA Sun Chemical (www.sunchemical do .com) has implemented a 6% price in- re tu crease for heatset and directory inks in fea North America effective July 1, 2010. As Prices will increase for all Sun Chemical Rycoline blanket and roller washes, specialty solvents, iso- propyl alcohol, alcohol replacement and aqueous coatings. The price of solvent-based washes will increase by $0.50 per gallon and aqueous coatings by $0.05 per pound. The increasing costs of distillates, solvents, resins, and pigment raw materials are key factors contribut- ing to the price increase. Flint Group (www.flintgrp.com) also has raised heatset and directory ink prices. CGX roadmap to future emerges “The situation with the major By Denise Kapel raw materials for solvent-based inks is worrying as solvents have Consolidated Graphics Inc. (CGX) (Houston, TX) recently hosted its annual “emerge” conference in also recently started to come under San Antonio, TX. The more than 750 attendees included CGX printing companies, their customers, significant price pressure,” notes and CGX partners and suppliers. The event featured keynotes on personalization and marketing Jens Zimmermann, director, global communications, the changing media mix and the value of developing a strong brand. Thirty marketing, Flint Group Packaging suppliers presented their latest wares in an expo adjoining the conference, including an interactive & Narrow Web. “It is very clear that web-to-print demonstration. Conference sessions on 45 educational topics were geared toward most pigment intermediates will also printers and their customers, covering the business of print as well as applications. see increased pricing, particularly CGX boasts an output of more than 30,000,000 digital 4-color pages per day and its executives blue and red while, materials like predict that by 2020, 40% of industry sales will be digital (vs. 10% in 2010). CGX is fueling growth TiO2 and many specialty chemicals through faster time to market, flexible infrastructure, global expansion and information lifecycle will also follow the same trend.” management, among other efficiency and infrastructure measures. The company has 70 printing businesses strategically located across 27 states, Toronto and Prague, offering sheetfed and web printing complemented by “the world’s largest integrated digital footprint.” Late last year, CGX announced plans to install the Kodak Prosper 5000XL inkjet press at Automated Graphic Systems (AGS) in White Plains, MD. The CGX experience The companies that make up Consolidated Graphics retain their branding and management teams. Sneak peek of Graph Expo 2010 Comments at emerge ranged from the benefits of paper purchasing power through CGX to the The Graphic Arts Show Co. (GASC) will host advantage of a large human resources pool among member companies. a special online preview of Graph Expo, CGX customer and conference session presenter Micki Maynard, a project manager with Legrand sponsored by AMERICAN PRINTER, August (West Hartford, CT), shared her experience: “There are seven companies that make up Legrand, and 19, 2010. we have a CGX site for each of them.” When Legrand’s corporate brand color, a PMS shade of red, “Graph Expo 2010: A Virtual Preview,” wasn’t matching up to the materials from the parent company in France, CGX came up with a solution. accessible through any computer’s web “They created a shade and called it ‘Legrand red’ just for us, and standardized profiles across all of browser, will feature: our CGX printing companies to ensure it always matched.” N An interactive tour of new CGX customers learned about the integrated companies’ equipment and products. capabilities, while CGX member printers shared ideas about N A list of exhibitors. everything from sales to website strategy to technical mat- N Live chat and networking. ters including the latest suite of products from Adobe. N Educational webinars. See www.cgx.com. N A preview of “Must See ‘Ems” candidates and the Executive Outlook conference. Denise Kapel is managing editor for AMERICAN PRINTER. N A preview of companies and Contact her at denise.kapel@penton.com. organizations being considered for “Positively Print” recognition. Noha Edell, Adobe’s business development N A webcast on how to maximize your manager for cross-media publishing solutions, time at the show in October. demonstrates Creative Suite 5, “The complete All content will be available until the start of digital content and marketing campaign solution.” Graph Expo 2010. See www.graphexpo.com. Read all about Adobe CS5 in our next issue. 8 | W W W .A M ER I CANPR I NTER .C OM | JULY 2010
  • 11. IndustryNews JDF. Similarly a JDF-enabled management customers are actively pushing their suppliers Steady on information system (MIS) might create the prepress job. At the very highest level, to integrate existing systems, and if this is not possible, replace them with JDF-capable By Mark Gallucci and available today if both the MIS and alternatives. As the economy recovers and the prepress fully implement JDF 1.3 and JMF nature of our business extends beyond printing It has been almost a decade since the Job (Job Messaging Format, the “command to multimedia content delivery, so will JDF Definition Format was first drafted in an and control” aspect of JDF): automated job continue to change and evolve. CIP4 continues effort to create a job ticket format that would creation, including process parameters; to develop the specification, the vendors encompass the entire lifecycle of a print job. and content delivery to prepress, automated continue to implement it, and the end users The CIP4 (www.cip4.org) Interoperability Matrix layout, proofing, platemaking tell us what works and currently lists well over 500 tested “pairings” and—most significantly—“live” what needs to be added of applications that can be connected via JDF. feedback from prepress to the or changed. Ongoing UPDATE These span a wide range of functionality, from MIS regarding device and job development of tools order management to binding and delivery. status, proof approvals and for Extensible Markup Nearly every prepress workflow system from consumable usage. Language (XML), the the major suppliers is JDF capable. Additionally, some prepress underlying language of systems are able to act as JDF controllers. A JDF, provide challenges and opportunity as well. Current capabilities sophisticated example is the delivery of PDF Ultimately, it is all about profitability, and At the simplest level, JDF from a desktop content, printing and finishing instructions the process automation and information flow application can deliver product intent (number to a digital press through a JDF-enabled facilitated by JDF is helping users to realize of pages, size, inks, customer information, job controller, and JMF feedback from that press profit through process automation, reduced parts) and PDF content to prepress. Desktop back to the prepress system. It is in these touchpoints, better cost accounting and more. imposition software can create JDF for scenarios where we begin to realize the While evolutionary, rather than revolutionary, the automated layout. vision of the automated “smart factory.” prospects for JDF appear brighter than ever. At a higher level, an Internet-based storefront might deliver product intent and Industry evolution Mark Gallucci is manager of technology customized PDF content to prepress via JDF adoption is incremental: Increasingly, marketing for Agfa Graphics (www.agfa.com). ST >> Automated customer feedback uncovers new business AY IN TO U T C he Print Shop (Wisconsin Rapids, WI) competes with keep communication lines open in a proactive way while not H 12 other area printers. The region was hit hard in 2008 adding another responsibility to Miller’s team. when the two local paper companies were sold, resulting in The solution: The Print Shop automates customer feedback the closure of one mill and downsizing and lead generation by leveraging Printers Software, its busi- of the other, and the loss of more than ness management software. All order information, including 1,000 jobs. One of those companies the buyer’s e-mail address, is in the software’s database. An was The Print Shop’s largest customer. automated shipment reporting process takes less than 3 min./ In 2008, owner Warren Miller tried month to run. The survey process includes alerting Miller if a competing with online printers, but he customer’s loyalty is slipping and delivering leads by uncover- concluded, “Going head-to-head with ing printing services bought from competitors. In addition, to online printers was impossible with our address survey burn-out, the process is set up so that no cus- business model. The prices were rock tomer is surveyed more often than every 90 days. bottom.” He learned from the experi- The results: The feedback reveals strong loyalty and opportuni- ence and the firm is adapting. “Digital ties to close new business. Two referrals turned into new accounts. is here to stay and we are embracing digital printing to service Leverage your estimating and production system to imple- the local area and provide value-added services,” he says. The ment an effective feedback process. You probably already Print Shop also expanded into graphic design as a growth have the tools in-house to automate the process, and a well area that complemented print. designed survey process yields selling opportunities with ex- While it was inevitable that volumes would go down dur- isting customers and complements selling efforts. ing the recession, Miller wanted to leverage technology to benchmark performance, stay close to his customers, and Michael Casey is president and founder of Survey Advantage make sure he optimizes opportunities with existing custom- (www.printers.surveyadvantage.com). He is a strategic partner with ers. With hundreds of customers, it is hard to stay connected. NAPL supporting its consulting and research practices, he integrates In April 2009, Miller brought in Howie Fenton, NAPL’s project surveying with MIS systems and he is an approved supplier for senior print consultant, to help him adapt the business for the several franchise networks. future. Fenton recommended setting up a continuous customer feedback process to ensure a strong foundation for retaining customers and preserving revenues as competition scrambled to address the weak economy. An ongoing survey solution would J ULY 2010 | WWW. A M ERIC A NP RINTER . C O M | 9
  • 12. Gorelick’sManagement By Dick Gorelick Industry? What industry? W hen someone asks about the state of our industry, I ask for his or her definition of it. In recent years, our industry has resorted to myriad becoming increasingly difficult to attain. The challenge is to meaningfully, credibly distinguish an organization from competitors—in every terms and euphemisms. Companies are increas- vertical market—not to simply duplicate or ingly uncomfortable referring to themselves as emulate norms, standards and ratios. “printers.” There is no easy or universal synonym. The most successful graphic arts companies Even industry trade associations have fled from a can provide for their prospects a proposal tailored reference to “printing” or “printers” in recent years. to the needs, perceptions, challenges and objec- The notion of a coherent, easily definable tives of the particular buying organization. And industry can be described as something between it’s rare that the response is expressed in terms of “disappearing” or “recently disappeared.” We have the manufactured product. Successful companies resorted to such terms as “graphic arts,” “Printing also avoid platitudes about customer service and and imaging,” “imaged information,” and “print delivering on promises. service providers.” Some companies simply change Melodramatic as it may sound, I believe that their corporate names to letters. in 2019 or so, we’re likely to look back on the I don’t make a value judgment on this scenario. previous year as the beginning of the end of On the one hand, it can be difficult to carry on a traditional industry terminology, definitions, conversation about the industry with an outsider. organizations and structures. Suppliers of print On the other hand, and perhaps most important, manufacturing, distribution, education, and the relative lack of coherence and universality other related services will engage in “joined at among commercial printers demonstrates that an the hip” relationships with customers that would increasing number of firms have internalized the have been rare in the 20th century. The per- critical importance of competitive differentiation. ceived risk to a buying organization of placing all or most of its proverbial eggs in a single sup- “Successful companies avoid platitudes about plier’s basket will be largely overcome by the reli- ability, speed and predictability of technology. customer service and delivering on promises.” No all-purpose answers This industry has embarked on a journey. In the I suspect that both print-buying organizations months and years ahead, companies will increas- and print companies themselves are responsible for ingly define and differentiate themselves in terms the relatively recent understanding, adoption and of customized products, services, processes and re- promotion of a differentiated strategy. Organiza- lationships created in response to the demands and tions that have failed to address or even understand requests of their accounts—rather than simply the this fundamental issue are, in many cases, the com- products, services and processes “we do best.” panies that no longer exist. Here again, our nomen- Within any vertical market, strategic hetero- clature is imprecise and frequently misleading. geneity will increase. Generalizations, trends, and economists’ reports of trends will become less rel- The customer is king evant. In this environment, owners and managers Some consultants and economists choose to of graphic arts companies looking for all-purpose debate whether our industry is, indeed, com- answers are doomed to difficulty. It is virtually moditized. That’s a moot point as long as cus- impossible to carefully draft a clever mission state- tomers believe they have many choices among ment or strategy, then attempt to create reality by competent print manufacturers. You and I enforcing it on an organization. An organization aren’t in a position to define our business. That has a culture, history and relationships that can- is accomplished by the marketplace. not easily be changed. Perhaps the most difficult Let’s expand the discussion to the business and daunting challenge of senior management world at large. Our industry is not unique. There is the management of orderly, positive change are consequences for account development. The in organizational culture and mindset without day is fast approaching when prospecting by SIC jeopardizing the most productive aspects of staff code, NAICS code or any other vertical market talents and account relationships. categorization is rapidly losing its effectiveness. As we look forward, it’s easy to conclude that Every well-run company in every vertical all generalizations are false—including this one. market is faced with the competitive differ- entiation challenge. Customers have choices. Dick Gorelick is president of Gorelick & Associates and Technology has leveled the playing field in most the Graphic Arts Sales Foundation. He can be reached businesses, and product-based differentiation is at dickgorelick@gorelickandassociates.com. 10 | W W W .A MER I CANPR I NTER .C OM | J ULY 2010
  • 13. By Steve Johnson Johnson’sWorld Make your printing clickable H ave you seen Playboy’s June issue, featur- ing “Miss Playmate of the Year” in 3D? Put on your special glasses and voila. Who says Just recently, PURLs were going to save print. They haven’t. I wrote a long treatise two years ago on this subject called “PURLs of printing is old school technology? wisdom” and “More PURLs before swine” in “It’s kind of like it says on the rearview mir- January and February 2008 (see http:// ror,” jokes Hope Dworaczyk, the subject of the americanprinter.com/johnsonsworld). Those photo spread. “Things may appear larger.” old “Johnson’s Worlds” are still right on target. Not everyone is excited about 3D in print. You would do well to reread them, to help put “This particular picture is one example of how this month’s topic in context. books and magazines are different (than com- Recently, 2D barcodes are hailed by pundits puter images),” the Associated Press quoted desperate for something to write about as the editor Hugh Hefner as saying. “You can hold it newest salvation of print. There is one dif- in your hands, save them, and as Dad used to, ference this time: Those pundits, in spite of put them under the mattress.” themselves and without knowing why, might Lets hear it for the value of print! actually be right. “I’m not a huge enthusiast of 3D,” contin- ued Hefner. “I leave real life to go to the movies A win-win combination and 2D is fine with me.” I’ve said many times that the digital revolution I’m glad you brought that up, Hugh, be- (which includes both the Internet and digital cause I wholeheartedly agree. Not just about printing) is really an evolution. Digital printing the unique value of print, but also that print’s enabled the use of variable data, which in turn future may very well lie more with 2D than allowed the creation of the personalized URL, with 3D. or PURL. A PURL allows sophisticated tracking and The next ‘big thing’ response, just as is possible with today’s sophis- 2D barcodes are the generic name for an in- ticated e-mail and web communications. The teresting glyph more commonly known as QR only thing the Internet has over print is click- Codes, which is a trademarked name. The way ability. One mouse click on a link is something they work is simple, simple enough to catch on people have accepted. People are much more easily with the general population. reluctant to type a 40 character URL that must The first step is downloading and installing be typed and entered perfectly to work. reader software on a smartphone. The software 2D barcodes bring one-click functionality is free and available from several sources on the to print. One click, that is, of the “shutter” Internet, dependent upon the brand of phone. on your prospect’s smartphone. Fact is, that Once the software is installed, you may printed QR Code leapfrogs over Internet hy- use the camera on your smartphone to take a perlinks, because it works anywhere, anytime. picture of any 2D barcode you run across. The All you need is to have your smartphone with software recognizes the glyph as a 2D barcode, you, which today’s target audience does. interprets it, and takes whatever action the bar- A 2D code works from a direct mail letter, code has been created for. to be sure, but it also works on a sign, within a Right now the most common use of 2D bar- catalog or emblazoned on an article of clothing. codes is to take the user to a website. This means Old fashioned? Don’t carry a blackberry? You that after you photograph the barcode, your can read a QR Code with the camera built into smartphone will open its web browser to display your desktop or laptop PC, the same camera you the URL specified by the barcode creator. use for conference calls and video recordings. Much has been written about QR, or 2D 2D barcodes are a natural to combine with barcodes. Almost too much. I’m already bored PURLs, but they also can direct people to a static with reading about them. Bored yes, but only website or be used to populate an online shopping because most of what has been written so far cart. They can even dial a phone number. has featured style over substance. Start by reading all the “introductory” articles “2D barcodes will be the salvation of print, to learn the basics of 2D. Next, stop and think. blah, blah, blah.” We’ve been hearing this theo- How can you use these barcodes to make retical junk for decades. your customers’ print clickable? First, digital printing was going to save Read more about QR Codes print. It hasn’t yet. Steve Johnson is president of Copresco (Carol Stream, in this month’s cover Next, variable data was going to save print. IL), a pioneer in digital printing technology and print on story, page 12. It hasn’t yet. demand. Contact him via www.copresco.com. J ULY 2010 | WWW. A M ERIC A NP RINTER . C O M | 11
  • 14. TechUpdate By John Parsons QR Code rules of thumb Whether printers use their own integrated media system to generate QR Codes or partner with a service that does so, here are some basic rules of thumb: N Always start with the simplest possible original data, including shortened Quick URLs (or PURLs). The more data, the larger the image. N Do not make the QR Code image too small. About 3/4 Response inch is the smallest size most phone cameras can capture today, although future phones will be able to capture data from smaller images. N Beware of using QR Codes where you know the print viewing conditions The road ahead for QR codes will be problematic. Low light environments, non- perpendicular viewing angles and reflective surfaces (e.g., signs behind glass windows) might require larger QR Codes or might not work at all. N Provide a straightforward means, such as short message service (SMS), for users to download the right QR Code reader to their mobile phone. Someday, the majority of phones will come with readers. Until then, always R emember the CueCat phenomenon of the late 1990s? The feline-shaped scanner was introduced by Digital Convergence as a means and JagTag, which have not achieved the same popularity as QR Code, according to inter- linkONE (www.interlinkone.com) product print simple instructions. of facilitating website access via printed bar- manager Jason Pinto. Each format requires its N Always include a codes. For reasons too numerous to mention, own reader application, which means, in all compelling, exclusive consumers, advertisers and print publishers probability, only one format will emerge as the offer as an incentive to rejected the tethered device and its slanted, de facto standard. QR Code seems to be the scan the QR Code. proprietary barcodes. The core idea still sur- likeliest contender. N Always make the results of a vives, however, as mobile scanning devices and Like all data workflows, QR Codes are easy QR Code scan a meaningful various flavors of data barcodes proliferate. to understand in theory but hard to implement mobile experience. For printers, one particular two-dimen- in practice. The code itself was developed by Just sending users to a sional code—the Quick Response or QR Code Japanese auto parts manufacturer Denso-Wave, regular Web page is not format—has gained a lot of attention. What which retains the patent but allows anyone to enough—especially if is less clear is the timeline for QR Code usage use the code license-free. It is now a published the page is not optimized to reach the tipping point for North American ISO standard that any company may use to en- for mobile browsers. consumers, and what print service providers code text data, including URLs, into a scannable N Be aware that public need to know before embracing this technol- image. Before the advent of smartphones, this acceptance of QR Codes— ogy. There are plenty of obstacles to consider usually required a dedicated handheld scanner and the state of mobile but, in the long term, QR Codes also provide and single-purpose software. The latest genera- software and hardware— potential benefits to a print campaign. tion of mobile devices has changed all that. are moving targets. A Digital cameras have been standard equipment print/mobile campaign The basics on most mobile phones for years—as has some that is risky today might The QR Code is only one of many 2D code form of Internet access. However, as smartphones be essential tomorrow. formats. Others include Microsoft Tag, EZCode have become increasingly sophisticated, marketers 12 | W W W .A MER I CANPR I NTER.C OM | J ULY 2010
  • 15. TechUpdate are considering their value as personal QR Code data for each campaign. The company pro- readers and as sophisticated tools for extending vides guidance on phones, reader software and their company’s reach. implementation. In Japan, mobile phone scanning of printed GossRSVP director Roger Belanger described QR Codes is much more common than else- the chicken-and-egg dilemma facing those where, but like many mobile trends it is expected working with QR Codes. On the hardware side, to gain traction worldwide. There are still signifi- people can be reluctant to use their phones’ cant barriers to widespread adoption, such as the limited CCD cameras to scan QR Codes, while lack of auto-focus and other QR Code friendly phone manufacturers are slow to make their hardware features on most camera phones. Also, cameras better “light-assisted scanners” because until recently, third-party QR Code reading QR Code use is not yet widespread. software had to be downloaded for each The software picture is improving, with handset—illustrating an indifference a QR Code reader being included in to the technology by many mobile an upcoming iPhone OS release— hardware manufacturers, including possibly followed by a similar move < Print designers are Apple. But the latest versions of by RIM for Blackberry devices. combating the perception that Google’s Android and Nokia’s Notwithstanding, Belanger QR Codes have to be utilitarian Symbian mobile operating maintains that the core and unattractive, as shown by systems now include QR problem is the hardware Warbasse Design’s recent— Code reading ability, which situation, which might take and fully functional—QR Code might be a sign of things to come. 3 or 4 years to change. Carriers for posters advertising the like AT&T might push the handset HBO series “True Blood.” Early adopters manufacturers to do so sooner, espe- Some marketing companies and their cially if some of the increased ad revenue printing partners are not waiting for the comes their way. (Carriers also should be technologies to become fully mature. Goss motivated by QR Code usage’s potential to Intl. subsidiary GossRSVP (www.gossrsvp. increase the use of monthly data plans.) com) has recently switched from its propri- Despite these barriers, Belanger believes that etary 2D code to the open platform QR Code, printers should be actively pursuing print/mobile as part of its media-to-mobile service for print integration now, using text messaging and URLs advertisers. Clients use the hosted GossRSVP or PURLs to mobile-optimized sites. With such platform to create campaigns with SMS or systems in place, printers and their marketing part- HTTP printable, auto-generated QR Codes; ners will be able to easily transition from text-based manage their interactive promotions via mo- codes to 2D barcodes. Even with the technology in bile text messaging, media links and text alert the early adopter stage, he maintains that the busi- subscription management; and collect response ness opportunity for mobile-enabled print is clear. A typical QR Code workflow begins with a marketing or content management system, which handles customer and/ or promotional information. The Generates QR Codes QR Codes themselves are simple (PNG or GIF files) bitmap graphic images, usually with complex metadata that Content or DAM a digital asset management marketing system (DAM) system would use to management QR facilitate static or variable-data system printing. When captured by the Code smartphone’s camera—and workflow its own software—the printed Digital (VD) code’s underlying data print system Feedback and connects the user with the web interaction originating company’s online services. Applications could include direct mail responses Printe and tracking, promotional piece d discount offers, loyalty program points, direct e-commerce sales or just about anything a mobile app can facilitate. J ULY 2010 | WWW. A M ERIC A NP RINTER . C O M | 13
  • 16. TechUpdate QR Codes will be standard print offerings at (Data) Size matters places like FedEx Kinko’s within two years’ time. QR Codes can represent up to 4,296 QR Code proponent interlinkONE has alphanumeric characters. However, developed an integrated marketing system, in- large amounts of data—plus higher cluding web-to-print storefronts, multichannel levels of error correction capacity— communications, personalized URLs (PURLs) will result in larger image files. and more. Its customers include printers and other service providers as well as marketing agencies and larger enterprises. The company’s “QReate & Track” website (http://qreatean- dtrack.com) offers several levels of QR Code creation and tracking—including a free trial— as well as useful tutorials on QR Code issues. Getting the right QR Code reader to the user’s phone has been an interesting challenge, according Author’s E-mail Author’s Business card to Pinto. “Seeing the QR Code might cause some- one to pause and give it attention,” he says. “But it also might be worth your while to add a couple Pushing the envelope of lines of text to the printed piece that explain Developer and art director Philip Warbasse of how people can read the code. You might want to Warbasse Design (www.warbassedesign.com) direct them to a special landing page where they and Plush Mobile Servers (www.plushms.mobi) can download popular QR Code readers for their believes the adoption timeline is much shorter. specific phone. As people become more familiar Although it is a novelty now—with significant with QR Codes, those types of instructions might publicity value—QR Codes in print will be become unnecessary. But right now, they help in- normal within a year’s time, he maintains. Print- crease the success of your QR Code campaigns.” ers need to embrace integrated media now—on Another barrier to QR Code use is the prob- their own or in tandem with strategic partners— lem of data density. The more data and error and be capable of incorporating tools like QR correction used, the larger the resulting QR Code Codes as soon as possible. will be. By starting with a simple data set—like Warbasse’s QR campaigns for print always a shortened URL or PURL—the resulting code include a means to download the appropriate will be smaller, less competitive with the rest of reader, as well as an exclusive offer or incentive. the piece, and more likely to be read correctly. Above all, the user experience when scanning the One interlinkONE customer, A&M Label, QR Code must be a distinctive and compelling has had encouraging initial results with QR Code mobile-optimized Web experience, which War- use on consumer product labels. Technical ser- basse Design develops for its clients. Ordinary vices specialist David Platz describes one example, websites—especially those with features not sup- a honey product manufacturer with a new and ported by mobile browsers—are inappropriate relatively obscure product: agave nectar. Because targets for QR Code campaigns, he says. most shoppers have no idea what that is or how it One barrier to QR Code adoption is the may be used, A&M Label added a QR Code to perception that they are ugly and intrusive visual the label, with the words “Smartphone users, scan elements—especially when they need to be large this code to find out more about agave nectar.” enough for today’s camera phones. Warbasse has Those who did were directed to a custom, mobile responded with some innovative designs, such as optimized URL containing information and reci- stylized codes for the movie “Iron Man 2” and pes. interlinkONE reported over 50 hits on the the HBO series “True Blood.” The company first day. Platz said the customer was very pleased does extensive testing on all such designs—as and plans to expand QR Code usage on its honey well as providing much of the mobile-optimized labels—including a cross-promotional campaign experience for users who scan the codes. for an upcoming animated feature film. Warbasse is testing its integrated media pro- A&M Label is no stranger to barcode work- gram for printers now and will make it available flows, having managed UPC codes for in-store to printers across North America in June. The scanner use. QR Codes for consumers with entertainment industry is the most proactive smartphones is a very logical step. Platz outlined adopter, he says, while typical blue chip brands some of the company’s plans, which include wine have shown reluctance to try the new approach. and beer labels—whose QR Codes will take the Fashion and clothing manufacturers are starting user to a unique “story” (video and/or website) to show real interest, however, along with TV about the winery or brewery and its products and and network clients and magazine publishers. recipes. A&M Label uses Microsoft Tag as well Printers with existing direct mail systems are as QR Code, and is planning to do print/mobile actively exploring QR Codes as a differentiator. campaigns for DVD movie labels—allowing As public awareness grows, Warbasse maintains, shoppers to see movie previews on their phones. 14 | W W W .A MER I CANPR I NTER .C OM | J ULY 2010