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Innovation During Tough Times
Prologue
When Cheech and Chong made the movie “Things Are Tough All Over” in the 80’s, I don’t think they were making a social commentary on today’s economic and business climate. The
muse1 and moral of that film gem is, of course, a discussion for another forum. This article is about innovating when
things are tough all over and what that means to us at Grafika.
Muse (for innovation)
Muse: the goddess or the power regarded as inspiring a poet, artist, thinker, or the like2. At Grafika, we
pride ourselves on being a little bit of all of those; except for a goddess. We used the slow economy and creative ideas of our customers as our muse for innovating and developing new
printing techniques and products as a means to bring new and interesting products to market. Through the development of synergistic and trusting relationships with our customers
we have been able to help them, and us, to introduce products to their markets that do not yet exist. The interplay of creative and driven-to-succeed entities led us down the path
of discovering new product/sales opportunities and new production techniques to the benefit of all involved3.
OK, enough of the flowery talk, we are all in business. And a business exists to make money. “Necessity, who is the mother of invention”
4 is also a powerful muse. When our normal revenue streams slow we need to find ways to replace those lost or stagnant sales.
Moral (of innovation)
There is opportunity in almost any down market and success can be realized by those who look for, identify and exploit those opportunities. Innovative thinking and products are ways
to create or find new business and sales when times are tough.
Epilogue
While we cannot discuss the particular details of these new products recently developed and coming to market (because they’re just too exciting for most people to handle), they
are illustrations of the collaborative and innovative service we provide to our customers and that which keeps us excited and inspired to be part of the continually evolving
printing industry.
1 really good rock band (http://muse.mu/)
2 dictionary.com
3 maybe even the world, but that’s for posterity to decide
4 Plato, The Republic (always wanted to quote him)
Grafika Toys for Tots Campaign 2009
This year Grafika stepped up our efforts to gather toys for the Toys for Tots campaign. With the help of our Sales department and Sales management, we issued a “toy challenge match”
to all of the employees of Grafika. The challenge was simply for every toy donated by an employee, the Sales team would match that donation with another toy. Our goal was to end
up with a collective total of at least 100 toys. We are extremely pleased to report that as of 12/10/09, we ended up with a total of 170 toys to turn over the Marines! Great job
to everybody that participated in this years efforts! And a special thank you to the Grafika sales group for taking part and coming through with the matching toys!
(L-R) Bernie Elzer, III (President), toys!)
Marketing Grafika - A Winner's Tale
The Pitch…
Grafika’s summer marketing campaign has come to its fruition – both for the great new friends we’ve made, and for one lucky winner of the iPod® Touch we were giving away.
Because Grafika has so much capability under one roof, it’s easy for some aspects of what we’re able to produce to get lost in the memories of our buyers. It’s easy for us to
remember that we do everything from static cling to folding cartons, from wall décor appliqués, borders and custom cut vinyl to promotional items such as temporary skin tattoos; from
glow-in-the-dark, glitter, and specialty inks to pressure sensitive roll labels – because we’re around it every day. But we have visited purchasing agents
(and frankly, have seen some of your offices) and understand that while we hope to always be on the tip of your tongue when you are placing your
orders, or when something new arrives, you always have a lot going on and that is not always the case.
So our latest campaign was simply to highlight one major area of our production capability – namely sheet-fed offset and packaging. With up to 8-color printing, both UV and conventional
offset, and a full stable of die-cutting and finishing equipment to back it up, we are fortunate to be able to compete with nearly anyone in this market. And for those of you who recall
our folding mailers, they were a prime example.
So whether this product offering from our company fits your needs or not, we just wanted to provide a reminder of just how well rounded we are. Combined with our “Beyond Ink on Paper”
value-added approach, it is another aspect of Grafika that makes us feel proud.
…the batter swings and it’s a hit…
We were overwhelmed with the response that we received. Thank you to everyone who took the time to register. Whether you are able to use our services or not, we hope that you will
remember Grafika’s name, our services, and come back and visit our website frequently. On top of all the fun we had with the giveaway, we got to meet some great folks and actually
matched up immediately with a handful of companies that were in need of a company like ours, but simply didn’t know we existed. Those instances are win-win situations and a good
reminder of just how important it is to get one’s name out there.
…the runner crosses home plate…
(L-R) Erik Stothart ( Grafika Sales Rep), Darryl Norsen ( Winner!)
Above all, we were thrilled to find that most everybody that responded were just plain old good people -- the type of people that we’d like to know and develop partnerships with where
applicable. Case in point – the winner of the iPod® Touch, Darryl Norsen of Saucony. Darryl is a Graphic Designer with the company and responsible for much of the design and marketing
of the brand. Saucony, as you no doubt are aware, is an internationally renowned manufacturer of running shoes and apparel. But they go beyond that. As their Manifesto says, “we exist
for runners.” And it’s very clear from the culture that is palpable around their company and that it is not just a saying: many employees go running over lunch, they have a fitness
center in their building, there is a company-wide “Fitness Challenge” taking place over the fall, and more. It’s a brand that had clearly identified its market and has become the premier
name within that market. That doesn’t happen by accident, and people like Darryl play a huge role in that process. And as I mentioned above, it was exciting to see that Darryl is a great
guy as well. We were fortunate to meet him and some of his coworkers and experience the culture for ourselves. But the best moment of the trip was when we handed over the iPod® Touch.
Congratulations to Darryl once again on being the big winner!
…it’s a home run!
We just want to take this opportunity to sincerely thank all of you who know Grafika and work with us as well as those of you who took the time to respond to our mailer. We hope that
we can get to know you better in the future. We are a printing company with a lot of firepower and a lot of good people ready to lend a hand. We are built to accommodate your basic
printing services and we thrive on the chance to apply our capabilities in new and creative ways. Much like Saucony exists to serve their market, Grafika exists for you. Thanks for
keeping us in mind for your next print purchases or creative ideas to help you grow into the premier name in your market.
Grafika’s Home-Grown Packaging Printing Campaign
.jpg) Grafika recently wrapped up a marketing mailer campaign focused on promoting Grafika as a domestic, medium to shorter-run packaging
print provider for companies located the Mid-Atlantic region. The hook being that Grafika offers the following benefits over overseas or large print-conglomerate printers:
- a close, regional location;
- offset printing expertise and short-run capabilities;
- reduced shipping costs;
- reduced total product turn time;
- improved quality;
- reduce or eliminate minimum order quantities;
- reduce or eliminate finished goods inventories;
- reduced total product/project costs.
Our message hit home with many small, mid to large-sized companies experiencing frustration in dealing with:
- minimum order quantities that exceed their needs;
- overseas printers;
- long lead times,
- shipping/handling charges,
- sub-par quality,
- no direct vendor contact or customer service,
- managing multiple print vendors;
- lack of knowledgeable customer service;
- want assistance in product/project planning.
While many of our customers, competitors and print buyers know Grafika for our specialty and pressure-sensitive products we wanted to get the word out that we have been in the offset
printing business for over 40 years producing products that range from commercial and packaging to wall and window décor. These capabilities have been an important part of being a
one-stop, cost-effective and easy to manage solution for many of our customers.
If you are coping with any of the above-mentioned aggravations, feel free to give us a call at 610-678-8630 or e-mail us at sales@grafikaprint.com and see how we can help.
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