I’d like to begin by shamelessly congratulating my two amazing friends on their recent engagement. Todd Cober (Cober Printing) and Magda Stolarczyk (Spicers) are GCM class of 2005 and 2006 respectively. They are both amazing individuals that this industry is lucky to have. More importantly, they are lucky to have each other. Love you both and congratulations!
As if this didn’t embarrass the pair enough, the green issue of our magazine is one of the most thoroughly read of the year. I typically receive great emails and comments from our readers. This is clearly a testament to how important the environment is to people in our industry or, perhaps more importantly, to their clients.
In this issue, you will find advice on how to approach sustainability. Gail Nickel-Kailing starts off by describing the green landscape of our industry, followed by several wonderful case study examples in Canada. She also provides you with a list of great questions to take you one step closer. Her article is a really accessible approach to starting green initiatives in the right direction.
I would like you to consider green from a slightly different, and perhaps more dramatic, perspective. To a large portion of our industry, green will forever alter the way business is done. Perhaps the easiest way to wrap our minds around this is the book publishing industry where print on demand books are produced only upon purchase. But the impact is certainly not limited to this market. Universities are a great example of the emerging game-changing rules of being green.
As promised, I’d like to share a case study example that involves a great direct marketing initiative by Keiger Direct and its client, Salem College. At the last DIA meeting, I learned about the success of a campaign that used personalized URLs to drive recruitment efforts for the school. By sending out postcards, Salem was able to take students through an online survey that resulted in a personalized custom-catalogue being sent to their home. From the marketer’s perspective, the campaign had great numbers. For example, Spring visits increased by 46 per cent. From a green perspective it outright reduced the mailing by 20,000 pieces! That is a lot of paper, handling, energy, transport, and etc. And while some may see this as the glass half-empty slashed print-run, the optimist will see the opportunity to be the solution provider.
Enjoy the issue and practise one of my favourite “Rs” by reusing it and sharing with a friend!
Natalia Gilewicz
natalia@graphicartsmag.com
