Anaheim, CA-Sept 18, 2012

Orange County-based direct marketing firm Advantage Inc <advantageinc.com> today received the coveted Crystal Eagle Award for Excellence and Service from the United States Postal Service (USPS) Postal Customer Council.  It is the third time Advantage has been so recognized by the USPS for this prestigious award, a record achievement in the Santa Ana District of the USPS.

The awards ceremony took place at the Phoenix Club in Anaheim as part of the National PCC Day and included a video presentation from US Postmaster General Pat Donahoe.

Advantage was presented the striking award by Melissa Rubio, USPS Customer Relationship Specialist for the Santa Ana District.

Tom Ling, Advantage President and CEO, was both honored and surprised at being given the unexpected third award. 

“Our entire Advantage family is humbled by this Crystal Eagle Award.  To win the award once is a dream, twice a shock.  To receive the honor three years in a row is simply unbelievable for us!”

Ling went on to say that…”our relationship with the United States Postal Service is very special and is crucial to our ability to provide superior direct marketing services to over a thousand customers.”

According to Ling, the honor further cements the mutual commitment Advantage has developed with the USPS over the last eighteen years Advantage has been providing print, mail and marketing services to their national client base. 

The three Crystal Eagle Awards are currently on display at the Advantage Corporate Headquarters in Anaheim, “proudly displayed for all of our visitors to see!” said Ling.

Asheville, NC –

At the recent Annual Conference of the Mailing & Fulfillment Service Association in Asheville, North Carolina, Advantage Sales & Marketing Director Tom Duchene had a chance to share dinner with United States Postmaster General Pat Donahoe and discuss USPS issues both local and national.  Duchene serves as Treasurer of MFSA, the largest trade association in the mail marketing industry, representing over six hundred print, mail and marketing firms in North America.

“The Postmaster is a pretty regular guy,” Duchene opined, “who really knows how to relate to real people, not just Washington bureaucrats.”  The meeting was in advance of the PMG’s important policy address to the MFSA general membership at their Annual Meeting and Expo.

Advantage not only provides top notch production and marketing services, but we also stay on top of USPS issues that can have a significant impact on our clients.
As an active member of the Santa Ana District Postal Customer Council (PCC), Advantage is typically among the first to know of impending postal decisions affecting all direct marketers.
And by being deeply involved in national organizations such as MFSA, Advantage can often impact the way that the USPS decision-makers craft policy.

Advantage, the USPS and our Customers…Partners Moving Forward!

If direct mail was dying, why would marketers have spent nearly $50 billion in 2011 on marketing efforts delivered through the US mail?  Even a better question for the internet generation is if print and mail are really dead  why does Google use direct mail to advertise its services to advertisers, business and consumer users?

There will always be a need for traditional printing and mailing.  However, these communication channels must be integrated with the various electronic media to become even more valuable.  Integrated Marketing was predicted to be a big trend in 2011 and it certainly held up to its expectation.  For marketing success, a consistent and integrated message across several types of media from email, websites, TV and radio is mandatory, with direct mail leading the way as an integral part of communicating to your customers.

Diane Denish
Sales Executive

Today’s younger print and graphic buyers are much more computer-literate and price-savvy in their approaches, but often overlook the technical issues and limitations presented by the equipment used to manufacture their projects. In some cases, what they are looking for is beyond a simple press run, and requires a collaborative effort on the part of the client and sales representative to focus on ways to turn vision into reality.

Although the standard lithographic processes still include challenges; due to chemistry, ink and water, and paper (substrate) all working together to reproduce a given vision, the process still requires an expert eye for color, competent pressmen, and an understanding of the equipment’s limitations to deliver the best printed product possible.

Today, one of the most effective ways for a company to provide print services is to market itself and its company as a consultant. And through the collective effort among the creative team, production manager, and printer, a company’s dream will undoubtedly transform into reality.

Rick Rainey
Account Executive National Accounts

How Relevant is your Marketing Message?

A while back, I read an article in the Wall Street Journal that mentioned several success stories of companies utilizing different forms of targeting in their advertising. In the past, companies relied on focus groups and sometimes outdated customer surveys to provide information for their ads. Now, with the plethora of online tools, whether it’s Facebook, Twitter, blogs, website comments, etc., companies have current information to be able to tailor their messages and increase their response rates. By utilizing this technology, companies can design their direct mail piece, online ads, magazine insert or emails to be more relevant to what their customers are looking for.
Technology now exists to scan various sites where your customers are browsing and commenting, and extract that info, so to speak, and have companies like Advantage / MOV Digital Media create the cross-media campaign to target the customer’s wants and needs.
The article went on to describe Harrah’s Entertainment (now Caesars Entertainment) garnering feedback from consumer reviews on travel site TripAdvisor.com. They also began scanning reviews and comments on social media sites to get a better understanding of their guests’ opinion of their properties and the offerings at each property. Harrah’s was then able to change pictures on their website to reflect a view that was more important to their guests. They also discovered that their guests had interests in hotel offerings such as spas, restaurants, etc. They changed their marketing messages to reflect their gain in knowledge. As a result, there was a double digit percentage increase in their online bookings.
The important takeaway here is Marketing Relevancy. The more relevant your message is to your customer, the better response your marketing piece will garner. Marketing is moving in many different directions. It is important to keep up with everything and be able to apply it to your customer base, without alienating the percentage of the population that is still used to traditional means of marketing and advertising. Therefore, a mix of modern technology utilizing social media and networking, and closing the loop with traditional print and direct mail will provide you with a cross section of the population as well as an increase in your responses. With an increase in response rates, we can only hope that that translates into a higher conversion rate and a lower cost per acquisition.

Cara Cohan
Vice President, Strategic Sales

With the technical advances in today’s modern digital presses, the answer is a resounding…Yes!  Xerox Igen, HP Indigo and even Xeikon color digital print systems offer quality images that can meet…and often beat the best that traditional litho offset can produce.  And with the ability to integrate variable data and images into the static print process, digital print solutions become powerful marketing tools.  In addition, digital is FAST… because there are less mechanical steps in preparation of digital printing, we can take a high resolution PDF into four color (or more) process production in a matter of minutes.

For longer color runs, litho is still the most cost effective print option.  But for short to medium size runs (and that number is getting larger every day), high resolution digital print offers just as many, if not more substrate options than litho and almost eliminates set up costs, providing a cost model that’s hard to beat.

It is important to work with a print production resource that can provide both litho and digital print technology so that quality and color match integrity can be managed throughout the print process.  In the last 15 years, I’ve seen amazing advances in all areas of print.  It will be exciting to see how the next round of technology improvement will change our industry, both litho and digital.

Stacie Yamasaki
Data Processing and Letter Art Manager

A strong statement, but we stand behind it with the most experienced workforce in the industry managing the largest digital and litho print commercial operation in the country. Combined with state-of-the-art high speed mailing equipment and an array of specialty finishing simply not seen anywhere else,

Advantage can handle virtually any project you can throw at us… with great service and pleasure!

With the largest direct mail plant in the West, Advantage is truly your Direct Mail expert.

Advantage Printing service becomes an extension of your office in many respects. The staff always goes the extra mile to ensure we meet your deadlines. Always know that your print projects will be the best quality and delivered promptly.