Russell Price

Welcome to the Mount Vernon Product Spotlight, where each month we will take a look at a unique, interesting or downright creative piece produced through Mount Vernon and Consolidated Graphics.

This month, we are looking at the Consolidated Graphics patent-pending Flex Mailer.  CGX Flex Mailer is an efficient and effective packaging solution designed to reduce postage costs and increase revenue opportunities for creative mailing programs. Its flexibility and unique inner tray design allows an enormous variety of items to be shipped with substantial postage savings. This U.S. patent pending product is available in six sizes, accommodating items as small as a USB drive and as large as a t-shirt in a USPS approved automatable package.

Quaker is one of the most recognizable brands in the country.  They were looking for for a way to spread the word about their new line of cookies, specifically the Soft Baked Oatmeal Cookie.  Utilizing the power of social media Quaker ran a campaign where people on Facebook could request a sample of the cookie be mailed directly to them (in the Flex Mailer, of course).  Once they launched the tab on their Facebook page, fans of Quaker rushed to get samples...and promptly crashed the page!  After a few apologies, they were able to get the tab up and running on their Facebook page...and promptly gave away 20,000 samples in one day!

So let's think about this for a minute...Quaker has over 800,000 fans on Facebook and were able to reach out to them basically for free.  Add to that the cost of the cookies, production of the Flex Mailer and the postage (which was substantially lowered thanks to what?  The Flex Mailer!).  Now compare that cost to the cost of a TV ad...what do you think was cheaper?  And you can't taste the deliciousness in a TV commercial.

What's the lesson here people?  The power of social media COMBINED with print is a pretty effective way to get your cookies out!

Adapt or die...

Those were the words said by Billy Beane (as played by Brad Pitt) in the movie Moneyball. What was true in the world of Major League Baseball in the early 2000's is true in the printing world today. As printers, we must choose to either adapt or...well the other option isn't really an option at all, is it? The marriage between electronic media and print media is not only necessary to embrace, it is inevitable.  Printers who do recognize this or simply do not have the resources to make these investments will find themselves going the way of film...anyone buy any Kodak stock lately?

With this in mind, we are proud to introduce Moving Messages, the latest technology offering from Mount Vernon and Consolidated Graphics.

Partnering with Sony DADC, this cutting edge new technology will deliver the "ultimate consumer journey" by creating captivating experiences that take consumers on an enhanced journey from print, to rich media, to the web and beyond.  This USB based technology can be produced in printed card formats, included inside direct mail or on a self mailer or as a publication insert.  There is even a printed wrist band with a USB drive!

Here's how it works. Having been engaged with the physical messaging, the audience can remove the eBridge Arc from the printed carrier and plug it into the USB port of any computer to begin their ‘journey’. The eBridge Arc automatically begins to provide its rich media content prompting the audience to engage and personalize the journey. As the audience interacts with the rich media, their navigation selections are captured to be viewed later on a custom dashboard via the built-in eBridge Analytics feature. Once the rich media portion is complete audiences are prompted to continue their journey by clicking a link that automatically launches their browser seamlessly connecting them to a personalized landing page, and to the on-line portion of the experience. Upon arriving at the selected site, audiences can continue an even deeper experience with the brand and the brands on-line assets. This all happens seamlessly while capturing and reporting personalization and behaviour data through eBridge Analytic software. 

How's that for combining print and electronic media into a seamless user experience?  To learn more about this exciting new technology, contact us at Mount Vernon or go to http://www.movingmessages.cgx.com

A situation arose at one of our sister companies recently that got me thinking about tough problems and how we solve them.

A sales rep at Western Lithograph in Houston recently received a frantic call from one of their customers.  This customer needed 50 books in the Netherlands the next day and the vendor that was to do the job was going to miss delivery.  The sales rep was able to contact the CGX facility in Prague, Czechoslovakia, where it was 3 pm local time. After discussing the specs of the book and sending the print files, the Prague team got to work.  By 6:30 pm the books were complete and were personally driven to the Fed-Ex drop off to meet the 7 pm cutoff.  The next morning the books were delivered on time.

No matter how much we plan, issues always arise.   Having the resources to respond to these types of problems can be the difference between success and failure.  Working with vendors who have "complete solutions", be it through geographic reach or through a wide variety of product offerings, can be invaluable.

We hear a lot these days about cost.  How much is the print cost, the mailing cost, etc.  There is so much more to this than just the cost of ink and paper.  What is your time worth?  What is success worth?  What is peace of mind worth?

When it comes to communicating your message, the ability to create a personalized message that speaks to your target audience on a one-to-one basis is a must if you want to stand out from pack.  E-mails wind up ignored or in spam filters, you fast-forward through TV ads and many of us now have satellite radio, with no ads at all.  Personalized direct mail is still the most effective way to speak one-to-one with your audience.

Mount Vernon Printing, in a partnership with MapCreator, now has the ability to create unique variable data maps for direct mail projects.  

You can now target prospects effectively with innovative personalized direct mail.  Mount Vernon and MapCreator provide personalized maps with an individual and effective approach.  All maps are based on address information and each mail piece contains a unique personailzed map.  The shortest route from the recipient to the provider or nearby locations can be highlighted on the map by using dynamic routing.  This powerful display of the individual driving directions offers an exceptionally effective customer communication.

MAPS ON DEMAND FEATURES

PERSONALIZED MAPS

Addresses the business challenge of increasing direct mail response rates. 

• Variable data greatly increases response rates.
• Images are more engaging than text.
• Personalized maps are visually compelling.   

 PERSONALIZATION

Achieved by creating a unique map for each customer.

• Your list of 1,000,000 addresses returns 1,000,000 unique maps.
• Starting point, ending point and route are displayed.
• Text for directions my be added.

 CUSTOMIZATION

Provided to give your project a 'look and feel' to support and reinforce your brand or event.

• Map style, levels of detail, and sizes to suit your message and artwork
• Color and font choices
• Custom location markers

 SEGMENTATION

Capable of using targeted lists to reach specific demographic markets.

• Automatic geo-coding to match starting points with destinations.
• Automatic map scaling for each map based on start and end points.
• Quarterly Navteq data updates ensure maps are up-to-date.

In early 2012, Mount Vernon will be moving to a new home!

Mount Vernon has recently signed a lease on a brand new 48,000 square foot facility located in Laurel, MD.  Located in a development called "The Brickyards", this building will be the new home of Mount Vernon for many years to come.  Centrally located near 495, 1-95 and the Baltimore-Washington Parkway and the new Inter-County Connector, this location will provide easy access to Mount Vernon from both the D.C. and Baltimore areas.  This new facility will also allow for greater operational efficiencies and as a LEED Silver Certified building, will continue our efforts to reduce energy consumption and lessen our impact on the environment.

Check back often as we begin construction and we will update you on the progress.

Welcome to the new and improved Mount Vernon web-site!

Our goal with this site is to introduce you to who we are and what we can do.  Here at Mount Vernon, we feel that print is changing.  It used to be that a successful printing company simply needed to do a great job putting ink to paper, but as they say, "the times, they are a changing".  Now, putting ink to paper is just the first step.  Today's successful printing companies have to be "solutions providers", helping our clients achieve their goals through the medium of print.  Print communications has become more sophisticated and businesses are looking for ways to lower costs and improve their return on investment.  We are now talking about more than the cost of paper and ink, but the total cost of ownership of a printed product.  Through such technologies as our WorkSmart Suite™ family of products, we are able to show our customers how to better organize and manage their print spend.

A new website these days would not be complete without a social media component.  We believe that social media is a powerful new tool that helps us communicate directly with current and potential customers.  In addition to our blog, you will see we have incorporated our Facebook and Twitter pages throughout the website.  We encourage you to follow us through these formats for updates on new technologies, interesting tidbits on printing and anything we just find a little interesting!

If you have any questions about the website or what Mount Vernon can offer you, please see the contact page.  Enjoy!