Whatever you call it, “sustainability marketing,” “interweaving sustainable attributes with your brand,” or “greenwashing” even, the conversation is about the same thing: How is your organization operating?

This is the driving force that is changing the way we market ourselves in this emerging new economy. No longer is the basis for marketing messages about just what we do and what value we produce for our customer—today it integrates the how as well.

Whether your organization is big tech company or the neighborhood florist, all of the acts that make up your organization’s processes either have a positive effect or a negative one. In other words, acts that are decent and acts that are not. All of our organization’s “how” is either generally decent or generally not no matter what the end product or service. Sure, the “what” may be considered indecent (e.g. mountain-top coal or cigarettes) but in this new perspective on communicating, consumers are moving past the discussion of the literal “what” they’re buying and are becoming influenced more strongly by how it arrived in their shopping carts or the back of their Priuses.

Decency Marketing changes the focus of marketing communications. As mentioned above, marketing strategy typically focuses on a series of repetitive messages intending to communicate an emotion (as in brand messaging), what the product or service is, and/or what great things the product or service can do for you, the consumer, in the immediate term. DM lengthens the time horizon these messages are bound by, by initiating a discussion with the consumer about not only how this product or service came to be but how will it continue on after the consumer’s emotion fades, is done servicing the consumer, and/or effects our children or our children’s children.

In order to achieve a connection this great inside the consumer it only takes looking at the standard organization’s silos and shifting the focus. Each organization, large or small has [5] generalized silos: Marketing and Sales; Operations, HR, Facilities; Product or Service Development; Finance and Management. For too long the focus of marketing communications has had the approach of not incorporating and addressing the positive and negative effects of Operations, HR, and Facilities. Keep in mind in this model executing and producing falls under operations.

By closely looking at the operations silo, and pushing it closer to the forefront by increasing its tie with marketing and sales, messaging begins to include the “how.” “How” is also found by simply applying the question to the other silos, certainly, and this does create a more detailed picture of how an organization “is,” but the most simple change an organization can make to improve on communicating their decency is to focus on operations.

Communicating Decently

Since Decency Marketing is not just about the macro “how” it’s also about the micro, an organization also needs to assess the impacts and benefits of how it is communicating. From strategy to execution, the how question becomes about impacts and successes. This produces authenticity in the mind of the recipient.

We consider a strategy as failed if when executed it doesn’t produce the results we intended. The “how” of developing a marketing communications strategy needs to include an analysis of what channels will be used to reach the customer, sure, but it also needs to include in that analysis the impacts—both positive and negative—of using the varied communications channels available.

When working with a communications partner, for example, it’s important to look at the channel mix of any proposed initiative not only for the estimated financial impacts (hopefully positive), but for the environmental and social effects to attain the return. This requires us—in order to communicate decently—to include in our strategies and our execution the consideration of “how” by asking, “How did this set of messages come to be and what will be their ultimate effect?”

Although print ads and mail still exist, the role of the production manager has expanded to more of a generalist, project manager role than a specific knowledge-based function with expertise in procurement practices, manufacturing, quality control and all the other responsibilities the production manager used to hold.

This is not necessarily a bad thing, but the effect it has surely affects the quality of the end product—purely from the manufacturing perspective.

Times are Bad.

Not to mention, recessions aren’t exactly the greatest periods for marketing and communications agencies in that marketing budgets seem to be one of the first to dry up. I never really understood this, as I’d think a recession creates a great environment to gain competitive advantage, but whatever, that’s just me.

When times get tough and agency margins shrink to get work, one of the first roles to go “contract” is the production manager. Often there isn’t enough work to fill 40 hours for the production expert and unless they can show their value in some other area (e.g. online producing, project management etc.) there go the company benefits and everything turns to an “as needed” basis. This phenomenon is rarely reversed

To add another nail, production managers aren’t directly associated with generating revenue and are one of the roles that are too often seen as invisible. Think about it, when a production manager is doing her job and all is going well, you nearly never hear from her. It’s only when the client re-specifies the paper and it becomes a mill-order—unattainable for 3 weeks—that the bad-news flag is raised and she becomes visible. It’s a job not unlike the accountant or finance manager who constantly has to communicate, “No, with options.” and “By changing X, Y will anger the client (or the SEC).” Because of this, production managers are seen not as problem solvers when the S hits the fan, but as dead weight because nothing’s going wrong, and what’s so-and-so doing these days, anyway?

Flying in the Face of Progress.

Another couple of things that can’t be reversed are technological advancements and aging.

So not only does the channel-mix change to include more and more online methods of engaging the customer, advancements in the print industry are also making it seem as though anyone can do it. Since we all got desktop printers at home, printing has become so ubiquitous and click-done that the perception is that commercial, large-scale print manufacture simply happens at the push of a button. Oh, and why does it look one way on my LCD monitor under blue fluorescents than when it’s printed? What the hell do you mean you can’t get the paper when paper’s all over the place? Riddle me that, Print-Boy.

The web is also adding a perception of ease to the situation. “Print-on-Demand” and “Web-to-Print” offers are popping up all over the place, most of which are nothing but a simple ordering process and an upload. What’s not understood here is there’s a whole mess of people behind the scenes making sure quality and turn-time are met, operating on ever-decreasing margins in a commodified, shrinking market.  So what happens when something goes wrong? Whoever placed the order, more and more likely to not be someone that has an understanding of print, get’s an email or a call that reads or sounds like the crazy guy on the street yelling gibberish. “Sorry sir, but your rich black is too dense. We need you to provide new artwork with an aggregate density of 270 or less.” “Huh?”

It’s not to say that Web-to-Print solutions are bad if you know your artwork is production-ready and you’re good with your piece being printed on a digital press. Many of the conventional press web-to-print solutions combine multiple orders and gang them up on one press sheet and this can inadvertently cause problems with matching important color. With digital press web-to-print it is more likely jobs are processed one after the other so color moves can be made by the operator to insure print quality. Note here that so far digital printing is reserved for lower volume printing as the processing and set-up fees are less expensive than setting up a conventional press. There is a break-even point to this though, as quantities rise, conventional printing becomes more economical.

Aging, as we’re all well aware of, is also irreversible. As the knowledge-based labor-pool gets older, they are either retiring, or worse have found that their years of skills and experience is now expected from the younger (and cheaper) account staff. I’m not even going to go into the headaches and screaming client calls this opens folks up to. Age aside, and nothing against office managers, but an office manager is an office manager. I wouldn’t ask him to build me car or a solar panel.

Another thing to think about is that there aren’t very many new entrants into the profession. What college-aged kid is sitting around considering becoming a production manager? My bet is there aren’t many. This is a problem because in the communications industry, there is still a need for expertise and management of print manufacture, but there are less and less people that truly understand it and provide the kind of quality, cost management, and expertise just about all manufacturing sectors need.

OK, Glum-Guy, So How Do We Address This?

Well, that’s a tough question. I don’t want to tick-off all of the working and valuable print and production managers out there but at the same time, I’m seeing a shift in the agency world that is decreasing the ability of agencies to deliver quality print. That’s why I’ll qualify my answer with if as an agency, as an senior account person or as a creative there is a problem with managing production or God-forbid you’re tired of doing what used to be two jobs, consider a print management partner.

A true print management partner is a hybrid role. Part production manager, part print broker, part consultant, a print management partner is uniquely positioned to address some of these problems. Here’s how:

A print management partner acts as a liaison very different from a salesperson at a print facility. He or She purchases material and services from pre-qualified vendors that are required to complete any project for their clients. In this, they are independent reviewers of quality and pricing not influenced by their sales managers or executive staff. They are their own bosses and rely solely on their reputation of having the highest-quality and most cost-effective solutions at the ready for your project. Put simply, the broker has the power of influence in your favor, because they are doing the purchasing on your behalf and they are the printers’ client. They can reject a job until it is exactly what you and they want. A salesperson at the print facility ultimately works in the interest of the print company, not you.

It’s in the best interest of the print management partner to provide you with a much higher level of customer service and education. A print salesperson is driven to find and convert more and more leads. A good print management partner is driven to develop relationships with their clients, build trust, and make you look good.

The print management partner still has to be price competitive. Even though there is the value-add of supply chain qualification and management, built trust in execution and experience and short-term financing, the print management partner still needs to compete with the pricing of the sales force laden print facilities. This is possible because the print management partner has pre-negotiated pricing agreements with vendors based on a shorter-term promise to pay or simply on the promise of bringing work. It’s as simple as getting more bang for your buck because the print management partner is out there working for you even before you pick up the phone and call them.

Don’t Believe the Hype.

So, should you start to look for a print management partner be careful. Any single print facility can easily make the claim of print management but they’re missing the ability or motivation to bid out your projects. Because a true print management partner manages their own bidding process with multiple pre-qualified vendors, you can be ensured a competitive price to have your work done. Again, a print facility by itself, is working in the interest of that print facility only and doesn’t garner the benefit of a project by project bidding process.

Another reason to use a print management partner is because it minimizes third-party buy-outs. Varied processes, when working with a print facility, like bindery, fulfillment or mail services may be bought out by them and a margin applied. The print management partner compiles bids and agreements with multiple vendors directly and is able to provide more competitive pricing, as there are fewer margins on margins. The chain of vendors required for any specific project is composed of several links that are qualified only for the value they add—not their ability to sub-out and mark up work they don’t directly do.

There’s Nothing Wrong with Change.

Although print production the way we used to know it seems to be quickly following the way of the dodo, it doesn’t mean we don’t still need the expertise and knowledge held by print manufacturing experts. How those relationships manifest may be different than we may be used to but sometimes changes improve things, and innovations occur. It’s OK that there’s a sunset, we have to have them in order to enjoy new dawns.

“Why does it look one way on my LCD monitor under blue fluorescents than when it’s printed?”

“What the hell do you mean you can’t get the paper when I see paper all over the place?”

Riddle me that, Print-Guy.

In response to this, “Print-on-Demand” and “Web-to-Print” offers are all over the place claiming ease and affordability—but very few of them deliver on quality. Most of them, have a simple ordering process, an upload, and a credit card payment. You can proof your job on your screen to make sure all looks just the way you want it to.

What’s not understood here is it’s not just a computer talking to some over-sized desktop-style printer. There are a whole mess of people behind the scenes making sure quality and turn-times are met. Balancing many jobs and many problems at the same time. Not to mention, without strict quality standards and fulfillment partner qualification, your “Free 250 business cards” come out looking, well, like you got them for free.

Most of the online print ordering facilities are operating on ever-decreasing margins in a commodified, shrinking market.  So what happens when something goes wrong? Whoever placed the order, more and more likely to be someone that has little understanding of what it takes to manufacture print, get’s an email that reads or sounds like the crazy guy on the street yelling gibberish.

“Sorry sir, but your rich black is too dense. We need you to provide new artwork with an aggregate density of 270 or less.”

“Huh?”

It’s not to say that Web-to-Print solutions are bad. They are very convenient for small jobs of all sorts of formats. If your artwork is production-ready you can benefit from this technology and make your life easier. The catch is, when something goes wrong—and in print manufacture it often does—you need to ask yourself, “Can I actually speak to someone or am I doomed to automated phone-jails, cryptic emails, and a shoddy end-result?”

Many of the conventional press web-to-print solutions combine multiple orders and gang them up on one press sheet. So your business cards are being printed on the same sheet of paper as another order’s fliers. This can inadvertently cause problems with matching important color. With digital press web-to-print it’s more likely jobs are processed one after the other and dealt with individually. This means  color moves can be made by the operator to insure color accuracy.

Note here digital printing is reserved for lower volume printing. The processing and set-up fees are less complicated than setting up a conventional press making them more financially viable. There is a break-even point to this though. As quantities rise, conventional printing becomes more economical. This is another reason to have someone you can talk to. If you don’t know whether to use a web-to-print store or to go conventional it sure is nice to be able to pick up the phone or send a quick email for a recommendation.

Both Saatchi & Saatchi S and Publicis Dialog needed a consistent framework for executing client work. While at both I developed role architecture; project planning and execution methodology; escalation processes; resource requirements and leveling tools; risk and opportunity assessments; estimate versus actual comparisons. I was an integral part of providing training and managing change while streamlining delivery across the organizations increasing operational efficiency, client satisfaction, and morale.

Sprint hired Publicis Dialog as the agency partner to create and produce the multi-vertical B2B announcement of the Sprint and Nextel merger. I managed a $2.5mm production budget for enterprise, medium, and small business sub-campaigns. The creative I produced won several awards including quite a few local and regional Addys. The campaign included full procurement and production of 33,000 custom-packaged and mailed Rockstar energy drink 4-packs; 250,000 custom shaped, sealed, and mailed t-shirts; 200 custom packaged, licensed, and compiled CD packages; 20,000 custom calendar notebooks; and 2,000,000 oversized postcards.

Make it easy to tweet on your behalf. Twitterfeed is a service where any RSS feed can automatically appear as your own tweets. Bloggers do this, for example, so that their blog posts automatically appear as their tweets.

I took it to the next level by asking Mario Menti, the Twitterfeed creator, to make a special webpage where people could sign up to allow us to automatically post Alltop news as their tweets (click here if you’d visit the webpage). Approximately 177 people did so.

I want to make sure you understand what this means: 177 people agreed to repost all Alltop news as their own tweets. This took automated tweeting to a historical new high—or low depending on who you asked.

Then my new book, Reality Check, came out, and I made an offer of a free copy of it to anyone who signed up for the Alltop Twitterfeed. Another 280 people signed up—bringing the total to approximately 450 people.

We counted, and these 450 people had a total of 140,000 followers. This meant that whenever we announced a new topic, the 140,000 followers of 450 people received notification. These 450 people had followers in common, so their tweets didn’t reach 140,000 different people (see next section), but this was the Mother of Retweeting.

Right about now you should be asking yourself, “Why would people help Guy like this?” The answer is that these Alltop evangelists see spreading the news about Alltop as a service for their followers. They believe that Alltop’s information is good and useful and will help their followers access information on the web. Thus, the primary motivation is not a $30 book, but the satisfaction of helping others. This is a very important lesson: people must believe that what you’re marketing is great for their followers, and they must trust you. Here’s a guideline for creating something great. Here’s how to build trust. Here’s a complete explanation of evangelism.