It is evident by the color adaption rates, the transpromo industry is trending upward as we try to brace ourselves for the 91% CAGR that seems to keep us hitting on all cylinders. Like many of you, I have a growing file of transpromo mock ups – from all manufacturers. I shamelessly collect samples at the trade shows and then file the good ones, the bad ones, and the plain just wrong ones in a binder. I mark up the samples which innovatively use color, and note the breathtaking images, as well as the exciting, thought provoking call to actions. Compared to the boring monochrome transaction documents, Transpromo is as exciting to the print industry as the Obama is to the Democratic Party. But somehow our excitement is contained within our industry of commercial and service print providers.
We are all to blame for this situation. And I blame my binder. We parade to each other our glitz and glamorous print samples; ignoring the customer’s brand in favor of demonstrating our printer strengths. Taking the tried and true, and putting it on steroids. In fact, one CMO told me that if transpromo was done poorly, it would compete with his logo, his brand!
Agreed, I was lost in a moment of crisp color, dazzling images, speed, and the hype of the upcoming transpromo revolution. I momentarily forgot all basic transpromo principles. I quickly got back on track, and the final result was not as amazing as my vision, but it was filed under “good” in my sample binder.
Remember designing to show off your print technology it is much different than designing for a marketer.
Lee!
Let’s stop right here for a moment.
I have a “brag book” – as my Aussie friends call it — chock to the brim with some of the best examples of well thought out integrated customer communication from shops around the world. I have a separate binder of things we’ve produced internally, and another of what I’ve collected from vendor sample tables at events.
I will agree that most of the vendor-produced samples are not great. Much of it is too templated, too over-colorized, and misses the point — it needs to connect to the intended user.
That means remembering that we are an aging populous and 8 and 9 point legalese needs to be reworked to include only what is relevant (I don’t care about the rules in other states). It also means remembering that plastering an add on a page that used to be an insert is not “transPromo” in my definition. If you haven’t takedn the time to mine the data and determine what is relevant, it’s not Trans-anything. It’s just an ad on the page.
I’m glad you’re happy with whatever your newest creation is, but I’ll lay down the gauntlet here — we all need to do a better job of showing curious potential users of our technology how good it can be. I’ll put the samples from my customers up against any one in the world because they use data, speak relevantly, and use color effectively. Sometimes to promote, but more often to educate and inform.
Pat