What a Difference a Sense Makes

Original post found on the Printing Impressions Blog site – Printblogalooza

 

I was born and raised in a family printing business. The experience gave me a vast love of the industry and I credit it for my work ethic and many of my views on honor and integrity. I am also very much interested and active in Social Media and Virtual Worlds. That all said, I would like to start off my blog series with Printing Impressions looking at an area where print has an advantage over the Internet.

Please note I am not addressing other elements of print where it is integrated with Social Media and Internet marketing. There are many valid reasons why it makes sense to work in both mediums. In this particular blog post I am beginning to look at the differences of the two based on the five human senses.

Let’s face some facts. In regards to the dissemination of immediate information, digging into topics and engaging and continuing discussions the Internet is the better venue. Business and people in general will always go the direction that is faster, cheaper and improved. The Internet is the better choice here. If you have never searched out a topic on Wikipedia and clicked on the various hyperlinks found within any topic, I suggest you do so to understand how it all works.

When looking at the five human senses, one must respect that the Internet has just two of them covered, sight and sound. Printing, takes the lead with the ability to interact with all five senses. This is a major advantage in a myriad of areas, some of which we will touch upon here, but the majority can be left to our creative resources.

Let’s start with the sense of smell. I commute to work via public transportation a vast majority of the time. There is a popcorn vendor at the North Station (Boston) MBTA. The smell of that popcorn is one of most amazing smells I encounter on a daily basis. Each and every time I smell it, I am hard pressed to avoid immediately buying that popcorn. If I were in the popcorn business and was looking at advertising, I would rely heavily on that smell. Smell entices humans and causes a physical reaction within them. This is a quick link to some information that will help you start your learning journey on this subject.

Recently PIAG (Printing and Imaging Association of Georgia) sent out their monthly magazine Georgia Printer with a bubble gum smell on the cover. Like popcorn, bubblegum has a very enticing smell to many people. All of my staff, including myself, smelled the cover and had a strong urge to buy bubble gum. Interestingly enough, when I looked at the PDF of the magazine, I saw the picture of the bubblegum, but without the smell it had next to no impact on me. What a difference a print makes.

I spoke to Peter Cook from Concord Litho at a recent PINE (Printing Industries of New England) awards gala. Concord Litho has been adding scented varnishes to various printed pieces for over five years. They were the first official sheetfed and web printing test site for the application ofmicroencapsulated Scentisphere^TM scented varnishes.

While sharing my North Station popcorn experience, Peter quickly completed my thought and added, “If you have a client such as cable provider and they are debuting a new movie on their on-demand network, take the popcorn smell, add it to a printed piece announcing the new movie availability date.” Made perfect sense … or should I say “scents” … to me.

Going from the printer to the producer of the scents lead me to James Berard from Scentisphere. He had a tremendous amount of information on the subject. Most often we think of scented pieces attached to fragrance companies. I suspected, and now James has confirmed, that it goes well beyond that. In fact, some companies are looking at something called a Corporate Scent. The idea is to select and market a scent that makes one think of a specific firm when ever they … “catch wind” … of it. Could we see a day when a company’s scent is every bit as important as its logo?

Adding scent to printed pieces using a varnish is not as expensive as older methods. In fact, adding varnish is very easy and part of the printing process if you have the right equipment. This makes it cost effective for your clients and for a printer to add as an option to their product mix. However, the most important question to have a solid answer for is and always will be, “What is the ROI?” Doing something because it is cool or neat doesn’t always generate a result. For companies whose products are based on fragrance it is a no brainer to use those scents on their print marketing pieces. Adding scent to pieces for companies that don’t have scent in their products will take some creativity, much like Peter Cook’s example above with an on-demand movie and the scent of popcorn.

I will go into the other senses in future blog posts. I hope by now your mind is working on how much impact print can have. While the Internet is quickly replacing some of the past uses of printing materials, there are still some real strategic advantages that print has in the marketplace. Creativity and thinking anywhere but in the box can help you take advantage of things like we discussed here.

In the mean time…

• What scents stimulate you?

• How could they be used to sell a product?

Job satisfaction – Your attitude is a big part of it.

Thanksgiving is a time to give thanks with family, friends and loved ones. This year, what are you giving thanks for at work?

If all you are thankful for is 5 Pm on Friday and your paycheck, you are not alone. 19.5 % of food workers are somewhat or very dissatisfied at work. When looking at all industries, the number jumps to 35% according to a Salary.com survey.

Before you consider making a move, make sure you don’t have “the grass is greener” syndrome. For example, benefits won’t always be better elsewhere. Consider this: only 15 of Fortune’s top 100 employers pay 100% of their employees’ health-care premiums.  Think you have the lowest salary? Check Department of Labor for median salaries in your industry. Even industries popularly seen as highly compensated aren’t necessarily better paid than your current position. Look at the banking and legal industries: The median income for a job in a law firm is $49,940 and banking is $50,150.  When you think about your income in your current position consider your total package: benefits plus pay plus commissions, rewards and bonuses.  The value of your benefits package added to your salary makes the picture a little brighter. The average employer-sponsored premium for a family of four costs close to $13,400 a year. http://www.nchc.org/facts/cost.shtml. Check with your HR department they may be able to create a report showing the total value of your salary and benefits package.

If you still want out, look at improving your current situation before making a rash decision. Beat a long commute by looking for ways to make it bearable. Classes, lectures and audio books can be downloaded to play on a long drive. Remember though- safety first. Texting is NOT a good way to pass the time if you drive. If it’s the stress that’s getting to you, take time out every day for a break even if you don’t have time. Close your eyes and breathe. Five minutes of deep breathing will make you more relaxed and more productive. The voicemails will be there when you open your eyes. Ask yourself how you can work with management to make your 9-5 bearable. If it is an individual you loathe, how do you get along? If you can’t solve the problem on your own, ask HR to help you with team building or mediating activities.

 

A Boston area HR consulting firm considers attitude as the # 1 factor affecting success or failure of an employee. Your attitude is often the worst part of your job. Listen to what you say to yourself about your position. If you tell yourself it is the worst job ever then that’s how you will feel. Change your attitude, change your workday.

 

If you need motivation to change your attitude toward your current position, look at the labor market. New labor statistics are showing that it is more difficult to get a job that into get in to Harvard. CNN’s Tim Foreman estimates there are 16 million unemployed, including those who have given up their job searches.

Rather than join the ranks of the unemployed, join the 65% of employees who admit to passive job searching. Passive job search activities include surfing jobs lists (63%), updating resumes (47%), networking with friends (40%) and posting resumes (33%).

So what does make people happy at work? Women and workers younger than 35 report work/life balance as the most important component to their overall job satisfaction. Fortune defines work/life balance as companies where employees feel “encouraged to balance their work and personal life.” Perks to achieve this balance include Job sharing program, Compressed workweek & Telecommuting.

As anyone can imagine, compensation and benefits are important to employee job satisfaction in all age groups. It is interesting to note, however, the discrepancy between the reality of what makes employees happy and the employees’ perceptions. Many cite bad relationships as reason for leaving yet on a SHRM survey, employees don’t list relationships with supervisors or co-workers as very important aspects of job satisfaction.

Remember- your attitude and perceptions are everything. Create a positive attitude this Thanksgiving. Appreciate what you do have at work, including the intangibles, such as you relationships with co-workers. Your success depends on your attitude!

PIA and NAPL work towards a closer relationship

Looks like PIA and NAPL have heard the opinions expressed from their members and the printing community and have acted. This is a good move on their part and one that will hopefully lead to a combined entity. For now this step does a lot in the sense of uncovering how they can work together, assessing each groups leaderships styles when working on joint programs and eventually how one organization can run.

I certainly think it a good first step.

The below is the release we received today.

NAPL and Printing Industries of America, the two largest graphic arts trade associations in the country, are pleased to announce a formal plan to collaborate on a number of projects going forward.

The leadership of the two organizations met earlier this month in Charlotte to explore where collaboration made sense for the benefit of their collective memberships. Both associations were represented by their respective Chief Executive Officers, as well as their current and immediate past Chairmen (Michael Makin, Bill Gibson, and Ken Kaufman for Printing Industries of America, and Joseph Truncale, Keith Kemp, and Steve Johnson for NAPL).

“We are pleased with the progress we made during these discussions,” said Joseph P. Truncale, President and Chief Executive Officer of NAPL. “We were able to identify opportunities to bring greater value to our members and to the industry at large.”

“In the current economic environment, it is critical that we explore how we can work together,” added Michael Makin, President and CEO of Printing Industries of America.

Two immediate projects were identified and agreed upon.

1.) Both associations have agreed to work with their Graphic Arts Show Company partner, NPES, to develop a spring management conference beginning in 2011. This industry-wide event will combine the Printing Industries of America President’s Conference, NAPL Top Management Conference, and NPES Annual Spring Meeting into one comprehensive event that will bring together the best that each meeting has to offer. Oversight and management of the event will be shared among all three organizations through the GASC structure.

Planning for this event will commence early in 2010 and benefit from the combined efforts of each association’s professional staff and volunteer leadership. A conference steering committee will be formed to provide direction and oversight to the program planning and promotion.

“We are very excited to see this consolidation of events so that industry leaders no longer have to choose a top leadership program each year,” said Makin.

“We believe this event will be a ‘must-attend’ for all industry executives,” said Truncale.

2.) The organizations have agreed to collaborate on major issues facing the printing and graphic communications industry today, including the need to craft and communicate a positive message about print to media specifiers, educators, and legislative and regulatory bodies. While acknowledging the efforts currently being made in these areas, both organizations believe the added strength from the combined efforts of Printing Industries of America and NAPL can generate even greater results that will benefit all industry stakeholders.

The organizations will meet again in early 2010 to monitor progress on these initiatives and assess continuing discussions.

 

My bosses can’t tell me how to live… Can they?

The economic outlook remains gloomy. Many employers are still laying off. The staff who is left is working, work longer hours than ever before. More work = less personal time. While personal time diminishes, is personal choice also diminishing? Workplace rules & laws are getting stricter all the time. They are covering more and more of what used to be looked at as personal choices.

These factors contribute to the blurring lines between work life and personal life.

Lets look at some numbers:

Nearly all companies have an IT policy preventing employees from using the companies’ resources for personal online use. In spite of these bans a study released October 14th of this year, shows that 50% of workers say they will shop while at work this holiday season. 10% of these workers will spend at least 30 hours shopping online. Company policies vary, but consequences for violations can be harsh.

Concerned about your rights to privacy in your company computer? Your safest bet is to assume you don’t have any and don’t look for federal government protection. Federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) states an employer-provided computer system is the property of the employer. California allows for some minor adjustments. In general employees can expect very little electronic privacy on company owned computer equipment. Don’t risk termination or disciplinary action; limit your personal computer use to your personal time. Make sure you are familiar with your company’s IT policy. Ask you HR department to provide you with your company’s policy if you are unsure.

Employers don’t stop with company owned computer equipment. Some employers are now attempting to ban obesity in the workplace.  The numbers behind this decision are staggering. Employers with a BMI greater then 40 (18.5 to 24.9 BMI is normal) had 11.7 workers comp claims per 100 workers, compared to 5.8 claims per 100 for normal BMI employees.

Injuries aren’t the only costs. Health benefit costs to employers has SKYROCKETED due to employees with obesity related conditions. The average health spending for the 15 most expensive obesity -related condition climbed 55 percent form 97-05.

Think you are protected against your employer’s decisions regarding obesity? Think again. Discrimination laws very narrowly define protected classes of workers. Only Michigan and DC protect overweight workers. To many employers’ credit, they are working with health care companies to design programs to help employees lose weight. Initiatives include gym memberships, discounted weight loss programs and more mundane solutions such as serving fruit at morning meeting rather than pastries.

Employers aren’t the only ones pushing change in personal choices at work. Many states & localities have a ban on smoking in the workplace. American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation says that currently 71% of the US population lives under a smoking ban of some kind. Many of these bans are administered by OSHA. Employers: ignore enforcement at your own peril.

Are the positions these employers and enforcement agencies taking too paternalistic? These statutes that have been challenged in court, and the courts are upholding the employers decisions. Whatever your personal opinion of these “intrusive” rulings, your employer is still within his/her rights to make these personal choices for you.

Q3 Questionnaire Analysis – Oct 2009

To more accurately reflect this informal review we have decided to rename it a Questionnaire.

Another quarter, a drop in respondents indicating profitability showing the ups and downs of the recovery.  The quarter started weak but July and August showed increasing strength in most areas. The stimulus seemed to have had an impact but the responses seem to indicate that September ended on a decidedly weaker note. It was nice to see a positive GDP number come from this past quarter but we suspect a downward revision and are increasingly concerned for the last quarter. I know that the reported GDP strength was not uniform countrywide with the Northeast showing another 1.1% decline.

Lets get into the numbers-

Profitability: 46% profitable 54% unprofitable clearly a down quarter overall. The question relating to business over the last 2 weeks showed the concern we mentioned above. Things seem to be softening demand wise with less reporting a pick up or decrease and staying the same winning the majority. The question addressing how you felt about the next quarter highlights the feeling that things are not rebounding in a strong V shape but rather very up and down as sales expectations showed a decidedly average leaning.

There was mention on Bloomberg News that the American Staffing Association had indicated that the use of flex staffing was up in September for the first time since the downturn started. They mentioned an inflection point had been hit, signaling that within three to six months we will start to see a rebound in hiring full time people. The rule of thumb is flex staffing recovers a quarter ahead of the economy in general since most companies will use flex labor when they start to get busy rather then hire directly. Sensibly, since they are unsure if the recovery is sustainable. The question focused on hiring indicates companies are trying to stay the same at this point trying to get a hard feel if this recovery has any legs.

With the huge debates on healthcare nationally and locally, the question addressing highest labor costs focuses again on healthcare concerns with a full 70% indicating being concerned. When we asked what area of revenue was under the most pressure Offset still takes a high 46% of the total. Seems that for the last five quarters this area has been under significant duress pricing wise.

The last area I would bring up from the questionnaire regards the concerns area. I took a look at “other,” the largest category, representing 30% of the responses. An interesting component of the responses addresses the lack of demand in general. For example “Lack of qualified buyers,”  ”Sales” or “printing budgets have not yet recovered from the economic downturn.”  Clearly the fear is that budgets will never return and normal demand will not either. As this wise person states “A changing marketplace is requiring us to either broaden our product line to meet new media needs, or commoditize our product by cutting prices to the bone” there are things we can do to survive and create demand. I do believe that even with demand changing, the drop in current demand in printing and in almost every other industry is so severe that the issue is less about printing and more about the wider economy.

We have enclosed the entire Questionnaire results below; if you have questions or would like to see additional areas explored please let me know. If you wish to be added to the survey please email us daver@semperllc.com

Semper

Click here to view the Survey, PDF Format