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  • Get a Life!
    By Bob Hall - Friday January 18, 2008
    An outfit called Vertis Communications is touting its "Decade of Data," which is supposed to be a tool marketers can use "for integrating trusted print media into their multi-channel marketing campaigns." Naturally, I'm all for that. The mention of multi-channel marketing reminded me of an after-hours trade show event last year in which a major vendor of digital printing equipment was touting the virtual experience of Second Life. I couldn't quite figure out why a print vendor would be doing such a thing but that's their business. As I understand it, Second Life gives participants the chance to construct a new reality in which to hang out. Meeting avatar-to-avatar instead of face-to-face probably is more sanitary but not as much fun...

  • The Numbers Tell the Story
    By Bob Hall - Wednesday November 7, 2007
    IN THE NOVEMBER Quick Printing Update I mentioned the results of the 2007 Print Design Survey sponsored by MAN Roland. In brief, 92% of designers work in print and spend 70% of their time doing so. Print buying is growing for 23% and staying steady for 64%. Oh, and 88% do the print buying themselves. Now for the bad news – price remains the number one consideration in selecting a printer – followed by quality and service. Trust comes next followed by digital short-run capabilities and then environmentally friendly practices. To me the fact that price is by far the number one consideration for print buyers means that many printers are failing to differentiate themselves from their competitors. If that sounds a...

  • Fly Away Home
    By Bob Hall - Thursday September 20, 2007
    Well, 50,000 air miles later the 2007 high travel season has come to a close. Trade shows, franchise conferences, association events, vendor briefings, etc. have mostly come and gone. That is a good thing because now my weekends can be used for the really important stuff -- like football games. Herwith a couple of general observations. The industry seems to be of good cheer and optimistic about the near future. Owners who have figured out that they are business people rather than printers are doing the best. Green is the color of the year, but as Kermit noted: "It ain't easy being green."Printers and vendors are just now trying to figure out how and how far they need to go to meet the slowly growing customer demand for...

  • Flap, Flap, Flap
    By Bob Hall - Tuesday July 17, 2007
    Ah, what's life without an adventure? Adobe puts a FedEx Kinko's click-through button on the newest versions of Acrobat and Reader and the printing world goes bozo. Millions of Adobe users now have a straight shot to Kinko's. Unfair competition? Well, maybe – if you are a printer who considers Kinko's to be a major competitor. Maybe not if you routinely send nickel-and-dime, pain-in-the-neck customers to Kinko's to get them out of your hair. The real issue here is Adobe's short-sightedness. The company should have realized that this would cause an outcry from an industry it has constantly courted. Its Adobe Solutions Network program has been a good marketing tool for printers over the years and gives them $2,400 in...

  • Disgruntled Customers
    By Bob Hall - Tuesday December 19, 2006
    Some companies are better at resolving customer complaints than others. I once sent a letter to Stouffer’s complaining about the quality of one of their frozen entrees. They sent me back a letter saying they were sorry I wasn’t happy. It included coupons for more of the exact same frozen entrée I was complaining about. On another occasion, Karen and I were offended and annoyed by the volume and content of the music being played at the local outlet of a national sandwich chain. We contacted the chain headquarters and asked if this sort of music met company policy. They said that it did not and that the local store would be contacted. They also sent some free sandwich coupons, which we used a week or so later – to...

  • New Guru?
    By Bob Hall - Thursday October 26, 2006
    Not that long ago, trendy and hip business practices were based on Sun Tzu's The Art of War. Victory should be the objective and harsh discipline the norm. The latest BusinessWeek magazine outlines some basic principles from Sun Tzu: Greed is good. Be tough. Attack only when victory is likely. Beat the enemy. Winning is essential and requires clever tactics and, sometimes, deception. Ah, but that may be changing. According to the BusinessWeek article, the latest business fad is based on the Bhagavad Gita, the Hindu text based on the wisdom of Lord Krishna. Here it is important to focus on your thoughts and actions rather than the outcome. Greed is bad. Be fair. Act rather than react. Seek higher consciousness and be sensitive to...

  • Banned Books
    By Bob Hall - Friday October 6, 2006
    Last week was the 25th Annual Banned Books Week sponsored by the American Library Association and several other book selling and publishing associations. If you are thinking "so what?" then you might want to heed the words of U.S. Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas: "Restriction of free thought and free speech is the most dangerous of all subversions. It is the one un-American act that could most easily defeat us." In case you think these challenges arise from one particular segment of the political spectrum, think again. Challenges are just as likely to come from the liberal left as they are from the conservative right. As author Nat Hentoff writes: "the lust to suppress comes from any direction." Granted, there are some tomes I...

  • Serving Suggestion
    By Bob Hall - Tuesday September 19, 2006
    I hesitate to mention fast food again, but I’m going to anyway. This is prompted by one of my rare visits to the golden arches where I was presented with a Big Mac constructed with all the loving care of dirt being flung. Buns askew, cheese lopping down the side and meat patties half exposed. It didn’t look anything like the picture behind the counter. It’s not just Mickey D’s, of course. Ask yourself when you have ever gotten a fast food sandwich that looked like the picture on the wall or the sandwich on television. Now, let’s carry this on a step further and spare the fast food industry for a minute. Let’s look at frozen food. On the boxes of frozen entrees there are always pictures of...

  • Warm Bodies
    By Bob Hall - Wednesday August 16, 2006
    The fast food joints here are offering cash rewards for new employees. The bounty at one place is $200. Judging from the encounters I have had with both new and long-time (usually four weeks or so) employees, respiration seems to be the only absolute requirement for hiring.A lot of us have worked at fast food or other menial jobs early in life. As I recall, my friends and I were able to count change, handle requests for no mustard, and smile while doing it. Nowadays, you seldom even get eye contact because the clerk is busy studying the cash register buttons looking for the proper picture icon. Last week I tried to order a Wendy\'s Frescata sandwich and I thought the poor kid would have a nervous breakdown looking for \"Fresca\" on the key...

  • The Pros and Cons of the Internet
    By Bob Hall - Monday July 31, 2006
    The Internet can be a wonderful tool, but it has its dark sides.It can be a colossal time waster. I wonder how many printers spend precious hours surfing the Internet and sending e-mail messages back and forth rather than going out the door and selling something to somebody. Quite a few, I\'d wager. The Internet encourages bad manners. People can say mean, untrue, hurtful, and ignorant things in e-mails and on list-serves and blogs without the risk of having to deal face to face with those the comment\'s effect. I remember one particular reader who had become so incensed by something I wrote in my editorial that he bombarded me with hate e-mail that culminated in a message alleging that I had a \"comb-over.\" Heck, I don\'t have enough...

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