Xerox and WIRED Magazine joined forces to print custom covers for the magazine – featuring the photo of each subscriber who sent in a picture. A surprise to printers? Not really. On-demand, one-to-one printing has been here for a while. A surprise to the digirati? Not really. They’ve known about the power of digital communication for some time. So who’s getting the wakeup call here? Advertisers. And trust me, they’re listening.

“In five years, every advertiser will own their own network.” That’s the prediction of media guru Gene DeWitt; and the only inaccuracy is that he might be off by three years. He’s not talking “network” in the traditional sense. He’s talking “network” as in the extraordinary digital world the younger generations have fully embraced. Podcasting. V-Casting. Webcasting. IM-ing. Communities. On-demand printing. Smart advertisers will be out there building new relationships with their customers—and doing it without the help of traditional media companies.

In this age of fragmented audiences and the broad array of free media alternatives and community sites, owning and controlling the content is more important than ever. Advertisers won’t sit still while audiences disappear from traditional media. Is it the death of television? Not really. No more than television was the death of radio. But talk to any consumer under the age of 21 and you’ll understand that television will no longer be the dominant player it was for the last half of the 20th century.

So what does it mean for you and your company? It means that you’ve got to be prepared to service clients with new tools, new skills and a new approach: the same approach you should be using to market yourself as well.
• Is your sales pitch up on the Web? You should be converting from a text-based Web site to an A/V based site.
• Are video clips of your demo on the site so people can see what you do and how it’s done? Your site should be selling for you 24/7 with the best possible pitch you can make.
• Do you have an RSS Feed of weekly marketing tips on your site? The new clients (and consumers) like to download useful information and listen to it on their iPods on the way to work.
• Are you “giving it away” in order to get it back? The old model was “horde the intellectual property.” The new model is “share your expertise with the widest possible audience.”
• Are you outsourcing as much as you can? One way to keep your technology up and your costs down is to do the same thing your customers are doing: Outsource whenever possible.
• Are you staying current on the new technology and new sites? My partners and I spend upwards of two hours a day just exploring new Web sites we’ve heard about or friends have told us about – and don’t smirk; that doesn’t even include the X-Rated ones.

The global economy and the new advertising models are all inclusive, so you have two choices: A) you can bury your head in the sand and hope someone will buy you out for a decent price, or B) you can embrace this brave, new world and become a leader yourself. We recommend Plan B.

Steve Lance
Co-author of “The Little Blue Book of Advertising”

Posted by In The Balance at 01:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Last week I posted about my tour of the iGen over on the Big I little t blog.

I’ve always wondered what happens outside my HR walls. I know what we do, but what do we really do again? We provide machines and service awesomeness but I guess I’m one of those people that like to experience things first hand. And then. I saw it.

The IGEN. Ryan (one of our manufacturing engineers) from my Lean Six Sigma greenbelt training class offered to take some of us on a plant tour a couple months back. He made good on his offer and I took Becky (she maintains this site) with me.

[We did put on protective eyewear like we were supposed to and we all laughed awkwardly because we knew how ridiculous we looked…so I digress.]

The IGEN is pretty impressive in that the colors are amazing. They’re as bright as my highlighters, as sharp as the HD TV at Best Buy (I can see the pores on some of the models in the posters), and as clean as the white glove test (all the “dots” are in the right place, and there were nothing “outside the lines”).

[I was one of those kids in school that colored in the lines. That point was important to me.]

I was also impressed by the fact that the people who work on the IGEN, chose to work on the IGEN. After voicing their desire to work on the machines, employees were then tested to qualify. So to me, the desire + skill = medium rare Kobe beef?

It’s like going to a good steak restaurant. The chef may have the love for cooking but didn’t source the right cut from the right vendor because of his lack of discernment; or the chef has no love for the tender cut of meat and either overcooks it or undercook it. (Ah! The agony!) I like mines from an accredited vendor cooked medium rare please.

Wouldn’t it be nice too to have immaculate prints in its entire pore revealing glory?

Stat geeks unite!
Did you know the iGen has...
o Approx. 3.5 miles of wire
o 170 different suppliers; 2400 Purchased Parts
o 85% of suppliers within 500 miles
o A total weight of 8000 lbs
o 118 motors
o 70 printed wiring boards
o 27 power supplies
o The processing power of about 100 PCs

What’s in your printing press?

Mazie Ng
Human Resources
Xerox

Posted by In The Balance at 11:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

You know how it starts. An overwhelmed parent flushes a pet alligator down the toilet in Brooklyn, and it finds a way to survive and multiply in the sewer. Now the City sewer is thick with gators.

While that scenario may seem plausible, in fact, there’s no evidence that alligators actually live in the New York sewer system. Nonetheless doubts linger for what has become known as an urban legend — a story about modern life that many believe as fact even though it has no basis in reality. It’s somewhat understandable. After all, in today’s fast-paced society, who has time to fact check every news item that flashes by from day to day and moment to moment?

In the world of digital printing, many misconceptions exist, as well. A few years ago, we started calling them the urban legends of digital printing. It’s proven to be an effective device for educating industry professionals about how far digital printing has come. Now, many of our digital printing customers have adopted the approach in marketing to their customers, too.

Do you also interact with people who believe that with digital color printing:

• The image quality isn’t good enough.
• The costs are too high.
• Substrate selection is too limited.
• And data for variable information printing is too difficult to source.

Do you find that these urban legends persist? Or are more industry professionals recognizing the full capabilities of digital printing? Are other urban legends emerging?

Have alligators taken over customer service?

What’s your experience?

Bob Wagner
Vice President, Creative Services Business and Premier Partners Program
Xerox Corporation
robert.wagner@xerox.com

Posted by In The Balance at 07:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Like Bob Wagner said in his latest post, since “The Little Blue Book of Advertising” came out last summer, we’ve been getting calls requesting our most popular talk: Creatives Are From Venus, Marketers Are From Mars and How To Solve Your Earthly Problems.” That’s because it’s an issue everyone in our business – in every area of our business – recognizes as the #1 problem in getting work out the door. I thought I’d share more of the thinking behind what I presented at Xerox.

In 1992, John Gray wrote an insightful book pointing out the differing thought processes between men and women. In advertising and marketing, these differences seem to be trans-sexual: “Mars” thinking seems to be marketing-related (MBA). “Venus” thinking seems to be creative-related. Understanding that difference will get you great work almost every time. Marketing is linear, literal and logical. Creative is non-linear, emotional and illogical. You need both in order to create great advertising. The problems arise when neither the creative team nor the marketing people understand that they’re speaking different languages. So how do you get them on the same page?

The key is “process,” and it’s the most under-used word in our business. Process is the common language of creatives and marketers. Creatives hate process – until they see that it works. Once creatives see that process helps sell great work then the creatives become the biggest champions.

The first step, though, is agreeing on what that process will be. That’s why one of our three fundamental rules in the book is “You Can’t Manage What You Don’t Measure.” Is your advertising effective? How do you know? Is your communication cutting-edge? How can you tell? Is your marketing on target? Who says? Are your projects getting the results you want? How can you be sure? It doesn’t matter what parameters you use, but you’ve got to agree on a baseline and goal for measurement and comparison. One more time: You can’t manage what you don’t measure.

How you measure it is totally up to you. Awards? Fine. Billing growth? Perfectly reasonable. Sales effectiveness? Also good. There are, literally, hundreds of indices you can use to start to get a baseline on what you’re doing and then measure against progress as you go along.

Pick one, two or as many as are realistic or the number you can afford to act on. Then start the measurement process. And don’t change parameters in the middle of your measurement schedule. If you’re measuring dollar sales one month, don’t switch to unit sales the next. Pick the measurement you feel is most realistic and most evergreen and stick with it as long as you can.

Whatever metric you use, give yourself at least a year to track the results. Seasonality will always be a factor in sales. While CFO’s, CEO’s and Wall Street Analysts will be pushing you for constantly improving results, taking the long view will give you a more realistic view of the market – and the effect your advertising is having on it.
Measurement gives everyone who works for you an objective basis on which they can compare their own growth and success.

If awards are your standards, your team can know on an annual basis if they’re doing “better” or “worse” than the year before. If they’re not doing as well, you’ll know what you have to focus on: “Why didn’t we win as many awards?” Suddenly, you have a concrete question that can produce meaningful change. (“Blue was out and blue is our corporate color” might not be the answer you’re looking for.)

If sales results are your standard of measurement, then you can know overnight if your advertising is working. And you can start creating marketing pieces specifically to generate response. Again, our point here isn’t to favor one type of measurement over another. Everyone in your organizational chart – both above and below you – should agree on what the measurement will be; and then work together to develop a methodology that will help you improve your score and progress.

Pick your standards. Pick your measurements. Set them as high as your dare – then live up to them. Now here’s the other secret of this measurement puzzle: if you live up to your standards, it will change not just your work, but your life.

Steve Lance
Author and Advertising Gypsy

Posted by In The Balance at 09:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

As a sponsor of the Ducati Xerox Superbike team, Xerox took guests along to one of the World Superbike races at Silverstone in the UK. I was asked if I wanted to join and despite being a little apprehensive having not experienced any live motor sport events before, I was pleasantly surprised at what I encountered. Even in the wet and windy English weather I had a truly memorable experience!

My first impression upon arriving in the Ducati Xerox hospitality tent was the friendly and welcoming atmosphere. As guests, we were so close to the Ducati crew as well as the riders, you really did feel you were part of their team which made the races during the day even more exciting to watch. What stood out for me was their professionalism, attentiveness and dedication.

I had absolutely no appreciation for how fast the riders actually go until I was sat in the stands during the first race of the day. It was incredible to see them whizz past at such remarkable speeds. It gave a new meaning to the term “no fear”! I can safely say that watching the races on TV doesn’t compare to the excitement of seeing a race at the side of the track.

Just before a fantastic Italian lunch, I was taken to the team garage where I watched the junior team race. It was a real privilege to see the garage in action and understand what goes on behind the scenes. Each team member had incredible focus and seemed to clearly understand the role they played in delivering performance. Our rider battled it out on the track to take first place and next thing I knew, I was out in front of the garage welcoming Brendan (one of the Ducati Xerox Team Junior riders) in - caught up in the passion and excitement of the team. I was so close to the action I even managed to get sprayed with the champagne!

Imagine the atmosphere when this success was repeated in the ‘big one’ – Troy Bayliss riding the Ducati team with no fear to a brilliant victory. The whole team and the customers were excited and buoyant with this win.

Unfortunately the weather did not improve during the day and the last race was called off. Despite this the whole day at the race was an incredible experience. It was great to be part of the Ducati team for the day and witness their efficiency, dedication and passion to deliver under pressure. There are certainly a lot of synergies with the way in which we strive to conduct our business at Xerox and we can learn a lot from a team like Ducati. I am already looking forward to my next Ducati Xerox Team experience!

Darren Cassidy
Director and General Manager, Xerox Office Group
United Kingdom

Posted by In The Balance at 10:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)