Screen Printing - April/May 2016 - (Page 4)
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Can We Have a Word?
I
was walking the aisles of the Globalshop retail design expo in Las Vegas last
month when I decided to shoot a colleague a quick birthday greeting - in Spanish,
because she happens to be bilingual. Not an easy task for my sausage-shaped
fingers on the 4-inch screen of my smartphone, and virtually an impossible one with
Apple's wondrously unpredictable spell checker factored into the equation. So I
shouldn't have been surprised when I checked my sent items later and realized that
instead of wishing her feliz cumpelaƱos, I had offered this more perplexing thought:
"Felix Crumple Amps!"
On reflection, it was a timely snafu. I had spent that afternoon visiting the
printing companies exhibiting at the show, looking for new trends but being struck
instead by the vastly different approaches to copywriting in the booth graphics.
We're in the communications business, after all: Our job is to help clients deliver
messages to their customers. What do we want those print buyers to know about us?
I jotted down some of the more memorable phrases and my immediate reactions to them in my journal. I should probably mention that I have no idea which
ones may be trademarked, so pilfer them at your peril.
I saw a half-dozen booths that prominently featured word clouds, usually
under a sign saying "What We Do" with a few ideas like "Quality" or "Service"
fighting to emerge from the clutter. (I wonder if everyone else hates word clouds
as much as me.)
Other exhibitors took the mission-statement approach. "Technology Solutions. Creative and Structural. 8 Print Methods. Finishing." Followed by long paragraphs that looked as though they had been lifted from company brochures. (Who
in the world would take the time to read this?)
Then came the unique ones. "Have Questions About Our Products? Ask One
of Our Product Specialists Today." (OK. I'd ask more intelligent questions if I knew
what your company does and why it might matter enough for me to come into
your booth.)
"We're a Manufacturing Plant for P-O-P Displays." (In other words, "You want
signs? We got 'em.")
"Let's Talk About What's New in Retail Signage!" (You got my attention, but
then forced me to read a lot of text to learn about the new products you're promoting. You said you wanted to talk to me, so talk - don't lecture.)
"Design. Print. Display. Production." (Better - concise, yet comprehensive.
I know what you do. But what makes you different from the 30 other exhibitors
doing basically the same things?)
"Quality. Service. Always on Time." (Three things the customer definitely
cares about. But couldn't that phrase be used on any exhibitor's booth regardless
of what they manufacture?)
"We Create In-Store Experiences." (Now we're talking. Forget about the
product or how it's being manufactured. Concentrate on what it enables your
customers to do.)
"We Visualize Your Brand." (Bingo. Now you aren't selling me a product -
you're partnering with me and helping me succeed where it matters most.)
Remember, the first step to communicating with prospects is to do it in their language, not yours. Actually, that's
the second step, after you disable your spell checker.
EDITORIAL
Steve duccilli
Senior Vice President of Content
steve.duccilli@stmediagroup.com
robin donovan
Contributing Editor
robin.donovan@stmediagroup.com
adrienne Palmer
Contributing Editor
adrienne.palmer@stmediagroup.com
Kiersten Wones
Assistant Editor
kiersten.wones@stmediagroup.com
Kelly n. Kofron
Art Director
kelly.kofron@stmediagroup.com
Barbara Montgomery
Contributing Writer
Linda volz
Production Coordinator
linda.volz@stmediagroup.com
andy anderson, Jeff arbogast, albert
Basse III, reynold Bookman, Bob
Chambers, don Curtis, dean deMarco,
Michael emrich, Craig Furst, david
Gintzler, ryan Moor, Bob roberts,
Jon Weber, andy Wood
Editorial Advisory Board
SALES
Senior Vice President/Group Publisher
Murray Kasmenn
murray.kasmenn@stmediagroup.com
770-578-2577
Business Development Managers
Lou arneberg - east and Midwest US,
eastern Canada
lou.arneberg@stmediagroup.com
800-654-5169
Jim Karwowski - West and South US,
Western Canada, europe, asia
jim.karwowski@stmediagroup.com
312-286-4091
Karen Jones - nC, SC, Ga, Classifieds
karen.jones@stmediagroup.com
843-697-3802
Tedd Swormstedt
President
Christine Baloga
Audience Development Manager
Kari Freudenberger
Director of Online Media
Customer Services
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Screen Printing - April/May 2016
Screen Printing - April/May 2016
Contents
Editorial Insights
Pressing Issues
New Products
A 5-Minute Sales and Marketing Plan
The Top 5 Art Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
Stencilmaking in the Age of CTS
After the Print: Breaking the Logjam in Finishing
Distributor/Dealer Directory
Classifieds
Ad Index
It Looks Good on Paper
Screen Printing - April/May 2016
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