Meet Seth Godin, Author of Nineteen International Bestsellers

Amazon.com Makes A Play For Print

Social Media Trends Marketers Will Be Watching in 2019

Living Large With Living Coral — 2019 Pantone Color of the Year

And along comes...

IDEAS FOR MARKETING AND CREATIVE PROFESSIONALSWINTER 2018/19

Read our cover story interview with Seth Godin and REGISTER TO WIN a copy of his new book:

Amazon: A brand we love to love! With the “throwback” to traditional marketing by sending out a printed toy catalog before the holidays, Amazon won the distinction of “Brands We Love”! Check out the article on page 10 and register to win a $50 Amazon.com Gift Card!

WHO WANTS TO WIN?

Check out page 4 for our Pantone Color of the Year story and

WIN ONE OF THESE fun Color of the Year products.

Mug

Flash Drive

Journal

Visit: couriergraphics.com/giveaway to register or scan our QR code.

appy New Year! Did you gracefully exit 2018, or did you skid across the finish line with

a few marketing projects uncompleted? If so, give us a call and we’ll help you get them fast-tracked right here, right now, at the beginning of the year! Here at Courier Graphics, we’re very excited to watch where marketing and print will take us in 2019, and we’ve got a few marketing campaigns of our own that will knock your socks off! With the continued rise of direct mail, we knew it would be important to bring you a quick-view summary of the 2019 USPS promotions. These promotions and incentives are designed to bolster your use of Marketing Mail, First-Class Mail, BRM, CRM, and Share Mail. Check out page 16 for the calendar and descriptions of each promotion. We’re fairly certain you would have to be living under a rock to not have heard the name Seth Godin. Perhaps you’re a long-time fan from Seth’s Purple Cow days when he turned the marketing world upside down and

made us all seek to “be remarkable.” Or it could be that you read one of his other 17 (yes, 17!) international best sellers and, like us, you wondered how one person could bring so much brilliant insight to brands both big and small. We’re here to tell you that he has added another best seller to his list, titled This Is Marketing. We were fortunate to be given the opportunity to interview Seth for our cover story. Were we nervous? Yes! In past issues, we’ve referred to Joe Pulizzi as the Godfather of Marketing, but 19 international best sellers puts Seth somewhere in the stratosphere of marketing, and we’re not sure anyone else will ever get there. We hope you find several useful takeaways from our story and register to win a copy of Seth’s

newest book. Our other giveaways include the newest Pantone products featuring the 2019 Color of the Year, Living Coral, and Amazon.com Gift Cards in celebration of Amazon publishing their first-ever printed catalog. Register for all our great giveaways at: couriergraphics.com/giveaway.

Printed and distributed by Courier Graphics www.couriergraphics.com

Welcome to the first issue of #MKTFWD!

Pamela CarrittPresident, Courier Graphics

h

Follow us online linkedin.com/company/couriergraphicscorporation #MKTFWD is printed on xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx paper

Winter 2018/19WELCOME 01

EXPERT OPINIONRead insights from the following

contributors in this issue:

Seth GodinThe author of 19 international best sellers and the most popular marketing blog in the world

graciously answered our call for a cover story interview. (Page 6)

01 Welcome Letter from the president, plus a selection of the key contributors writing in this issue.

02 Insights Ideas, opinions, news, and trends.

06 Cover Story Interview with Seth Godin, author of his 19th best seller, This Is Marketing.

10 Brands We Love A review of Amazon’s first-ever printed toy catalog!

12 Marketing to Gen Z In 2020, Gen Z will represent 40 percent of US consumers. Their unprecedented behaviors could redefine marketing.

16 2019 USPS Promotions Check out our summary of the 2019 USPS promotions designed to incentivize your use of Marketing Mail, First-Class Mail, BRM, CRM, and Share Mail.

Executive Editor Cindy Woods, cmoteam.com

Contributing Writers Tim Sweeney Stephanie Walden Trish Witkowski

Design: Diann Durham

©2019 All Rights Reserved

Trish Witkowski The foldfactory.com owner and 60-second

Super-cool Fold of the Week author offers two unusual direct mail formats

to consider. (Page 5)

Nancy Nessel One of the premier marketing experts on

Generation Z, Nancy has been hired to educate, advise, and present on Generation Z to clients and

press throughout the United States. (Page 14)

Winter 2018/19INSIGHTS NEWS | REVIEWS | IDEAS | OPINION |

COLOR OF THE YEAR »

ove over, Ultra Violet— there’s a hot new hue in town!

Pantone has chosen Living Coral, “an animating and life-affirming coral hue with a golden undertone,” as 2019’s Color of the Year. Pantone’s trend-analyzing tradition dates back to 2000, when the brand selected Cerulean as the first-ever Color of the Year, dubbing it the “color of the millennium.” Pantone’s announcement is a highly anticipated event in the arenas of fashion, beauty, home décor, and interior design. But brands across the entire spectrum of industry—including automobile and entertainment companies—have historically jumped on Pantone’s prestigious status as the experts when it comes to color. For example, the 2015 film Minions released a custom color swatch in partnership with Pantone: “Minion Yellow,” or Pantone 13-0851 TCX. Manufacturers, too, embrace the Color of the Year. On Pantone’s website, the company hosts an online store featuring COY-themed items ranging from home appliances—a vibrantly colored espresso machine, for example—to wardrobe staples such as watches, clutches, ties, and socks. “The Pantone Color of the Year selection

destinations, and new lifestyles, play styles, and socioeconomic conditions. “Influences may also stem from new technologies, materials, textures, and effects that impact color, relevant social media platforms, and even upcoming sporting events that capture worldwide attention,” Pressman says. For example, Apple’s use of coral in the newly released iPhone XR suggests the tone is gaining traction in the consumer electronics industry.

HOW BRANDS CAN RIDE THE WAVEFrom a marketing perspective, the Color of the Year represents an opportunity for inventive print collateral, eye-popping packaging, and attention-grabbing digital campaigns. While it’s impractical for a brand to revamp its core color scheme each year based on the Pantone selection, it’s still possible to implement inventive marketing tactics that capitalize on the buzz generated by the color. For instance, companies may consider releasing limited-edition products—cosmetics, decorative items, company swag, etc.—in the COY. Major brands such as Sephora and Beats by Dre have historically employed this approach, partnering with Pantone to release products such as cosmetics and headphones in the selected shade.

serves as a strategic direction for design and color-conscious industries as well as a conversation piece around our culture and where it is going,” says Laurie Pressman, Vice President of the Pantone Color Institute. “The significant buzz we see following the announcement is generated by brands, their audiences, designers, and consumers alike, joining the increasingly important conversation around the power of color.”

WHY IT MATTERS FOR MARKETERS In an article on Bloomberg, writer Kyle Stock states, “Pantone has effectively become to pigments what Anna Wintour is to the wider fashion world: part trendsetter, part enforcer.” In other words, when Pantone speaks, savvy brands perk up and listen. One of the key considerations for marketers regarding the Color of the Year is that it is selected based on significant research around consumer habits. Living Coral was chosen based on meticulous data and trend analyses. “The Color of the Year selection process . . . is a culmination of macrolevel color trend forecasting,” explains Pressman. “The global team of color experts at the Pantone Color Institute comb the world looking for new color influences.” She cites inspiration such as popular films, trendy art collections, emerging travel

By Stephanie Walden

Here’s how—and why—to infuse the shade into this year’s marketing campaigns.

m

How Marketers Can Ride the Wave of

2019’s COLOR OF THE YEAR:Living Coral

C-0 M-65 Y-54 K-0R-255 G-111 B-97

Winter 2018/19INSIGHTS 03

Brands get in on the action via digital avenues as well. Adobe, for instance, has been known to publish Photoshop tutorials on how to implement the COY into digital designs and templates. Content marketers may consider releasing a COY gift guide that aligns with various holidays throughout the year; Mother’s Day, Earth Day, and Valentine’s Day may be apt occasions to showcase products available in Living Coral, for instance. Brands with a particular tie to a COY selection may even consider directly including the color in their campaigns. Last year, UV LED company IRTronix touted the 2018 Ultra Violet in an online ad campaign with the copy “Ultra Violet—it’s what we do, only we do it BETTER with LED technology.” This year, any organization with a focus on vacation travel, the ocean, or sustainability in general could use Living Coral in topical marketing campaigns.

THE POWER OF COLORPressman explains that this year’s color is more than just another pretty swatch. It aligns with social causes such as climate awareness. “Living Coral represents the enhanced influence that color has on perception and experience, more powerful than a fleeting fad,” she says. “As a shade that affirms life through a dual role of energizing and nourishing, Living Coral reinforces how colors can embody our collective experience and help to answer the needs of society and culture.” Pressman also emphasizes the role that color plays in attracting consumer attention. Color, she notes, elicits an inherently emotional response from audiences. This is an important consideration in a marketing landscape that’s trending toward highly visual experiences. “As the most buzzed-about program for Pantone, the [COY] is a moment in time that highlights the importance color plays in our world as an expression of mood, sentiment, or feeling, which is just as powerful for brands and designers as it is for color-loving consumers,” says Pressman. Marketers planning to get creative with Living Coral this year should include the #COY2019 hashtag in their social media campaigns. n

COOL FINDS »

Discover Living Coral!The NEW Pantone Color of the Year!

C-0 M-65 Y-54 K-0

R-255 G-111 B-97

Pantone Chip Drive: Store files on this USB styled after the iconic Pantone Chip.

Pantone Mug: Pair your favorite hot beverage with the cool new Color of the Year.

Limited-Edition Journal: Enjoy Living Coral at home or in the office with this limited-edition Pantone journal.

WIN ONE OF THESE PANTONE PRODUCTS featuring the 2019 Pantone Color of the Year, Living Coral.

Scan the QR code or

REGISTER today at:couriergraphics.com/giveaway

Winter 2018/19INSIGHTS NEWS | REVIEWS | IDEAS | OPINION |

SOCIAL MEDIA TRENDS »

s we all know, staying ahead of the curve is crucial in the maddeningly

malleable social media sphere. To help marketers master this degree of predictive omniscience each year, industry specialists outline the top trends that will define the coming 12 months. Hootsuite, for example, releases an annual social media forecast with predictions based on its own survey of more than 3,000 marketing professionals. In 2018, Hootsuite was spot-on with several projections, including the rise of social TV and metrics-tracking tools that monitor the customer journey. In 2019, trends to watch include the “storification” of content as well as increased attention to venues such as private Facebook groups, microinfluencer accounts, and messaging platforms.

CONSUMERS CLAMOR FOR PRIVACYIn the wake of high-profile scandals such as Cambridge Analytica,

consumer trust in social platforms has waned. Today, 60 percent of people report they no longer trust social media companies. “In many ways, 2018 was a tumultuous year for brands, marketers, and customer experience leaders,” says Penny Wilson, Hootsuite’s Chief Marketing Officer. “Concerns around fake news and data privacy led individuals to question their trust in politicians, media outlets, social networks, and businesses alike.” As a result of this damaged trust, consumers are turning to private outlets instead of public forums for sharing content and engaging with brands. Closed Facebook groups and private messaging platforms such as WhatsApp are becoming increasingly popular for interacting with customer service teams—including both human employees and chatbots. While consumer data remains a useful tool in any digital marketer’s arsenal—particularly when it comes to serving personalized ads—how that

data is presented will be an important part of rebuilding brand trust. In 2019, companies should double down on authenticity and take care to avoid campaigns that feel invasive.

STORIES TAKE OVER Online-marketing expert Marcus Sheridan predicts that 80 percent of what we consume online will be video content by the end of 2019. This number seems high, but it may be reasonable considering the rise in short-form, video-centric features such as Facebook Stories and Instagram Stories, which saw major growth in 2018. These platforms are innately suited for marketing, explains Hootsuite. The ephemeral nature of Stories creates a sense of urgency and intrigue among audiences. This type of content also feels more intimate—like viewers are being let behind the curtain of a brand’s shiny, public-facing façade. Hootsuite suggests marketers rely on a “balanced diet of different content styles” when it comes to Stories, including both real-time,

a low-fi videos and more polished, traditional ads.

SHOPPABLE SOCIAL IS HERE TO STAYIn China, shoppable social is already the norm: 70 percent of China’s Gen Zers already buy directly from social. This year, the rest of the world may catch up to the trend via tools such as Instagram’s shoppable posts and Pinterest’s Buyable Pins as well as platforms such as Facebook Marketplace, which now boasts more than 800 million active users. According to Hootsuite, 28 percent of respondents either have implemented social commerce or plan to do so in the next year. n

Hootsuite and other social media management platforms release their data-driven predictions for what’s in store.

By Stephanie Walden

THE SOCIAL MEDIA TRENDS THATWill Reign Supreme in 2019

Winter 2018/19INSIGHTS 05

THAT’S FOLD-TASTIC »

THE WRAPPED STEPPED DOUBLE PARALLELThe Wrapped Stepped Double Parallel mimics other more complicated stepped formats; however, with a double parallel configuration, you can create a different opening experience and a long continuous spread when opened.

The Wrapped Stepped Double Parallel is 28.925" by 9.625" unfolded and finishes to a 6.25" x 9.625" rectangular shape. Tab depth for this format is 1⁄2 inch. This format can be mailed as Presort Standard Auto Flat.

Trish Witkowski specializes in creative

solutions and engagement strategies for direct

mail and marketing. She is also the curator of

the world’s most exciting collection of folded

print and direct mail samples, sharing the best

of her collection on her popular e-video series,

60-second Super-cool Fold of the Week. Check

out our two super-cool folds below, and request

the dielines directly from us!

Scan this code with your mobile device to watch it unfold!

THE ACCORDION INTO GATE POSTERThe Accordion into Gate Poster, when first opened, features a long gate fold spread that opens to a tall accordion poster reveal. The interior poster spread is large and impactful at nearly 20" x 30" and offers tremendous flexibility for content and imagery.

The Accordion into Gate Poster is 19.5" by 28.75" unfolded and finishes to a 9.75" by 7.25" rectangular format. This format is self-mailing as a USPS machinable flat with tab.

Scan this code with your mobile device to watch it unfold!

For smaller businesses lacking big budgets, marketing tactics such as video remain daunting. This can be particularly true if your entire “social media team” consists of one or two people scrambling to stay abreast of the latest hot platforms—all while juggling customer inquiries and a 24/7 schedule.

Luckily, a few trends in 2019 stand to benefit smaller-scale brands. Here’s how small- to medium-sized businesses can use trending platforms to their advantage this year.

Embrace Low-Fi The pendulum swing of consumer preference has put low-fi, realistic-looking video—versus high-production-value, prepackaged ads—in the spotlight. So, while your small business may not have a multimillion-dollar budget to produce a John Lewis-style viral video, you’ve likely got a charismatic employee who can showcase products or company culture in a quirky way via Instagram Stories once a week.

Microinfluencers to the Rescue Another trend that should have small businesses perking up is the shift from celebrity endorsement to microinfluencer marketing. Microinfluencers—think an eyeshadow-tutorial expert with 9,000 niche followers rather than Kim Kardashian—are attractive avenues for online exposure. These individuals not only are more attainable and cost-effective for brands to hire but also tend to have highly engaged followers.

Build Community via Facebook Groups Back in the day, Facebook groups were more commonly applicable to college sororities than they were to brands. But today, companies such as Condé Nast are launching efforts such as the Women Who Travel Facebook group, which has garnered more than 100,000 members. Such campaigns prove that closed communities present a safe space for brands and users to interact and share content—which is exactly what today’s customers are craving.

So, Your Social Team Is a One-Person Show?Here’s Some Good News.

06

COVER STORYWinter 2018/19

The author of 19

international best

sellers—including

his newest,

This Is Marketing—

stresses the

importance of

talking to the

people on the

fringe, discusses

the power of

empathy, and

explains why the

“next big thing” in

marketing doesn’t

really matter.

By Tim Sweeney

SETH GODIN

Image Credit: Polo Jimenez

Winter 2018/19 07

fortune by turning a disability aid into a fashion item. The same has not been done for people with other disabilities. That’s why Liz Jackson created an advocacy group called the Disabled List, a curated list of disabled people who are available to consult with companies to better cater to the needs of people with disabilities. The group was founded on the notion that disabled people are rarely seen as experts in disability, a notion that one must admit doesn’t make much sense. “Liz has correctly pointed out that designers and retailers are not doing the same thing for canes, hearing aids, or wheelchairs that was done for eyeglasses,” Godin says. “Not because there isn’t a market, but because it requires guts.” Godin even contends that nearly every best-selling book was written for an interested few, not the boring middle. For mass-market brands that must cater to the bigger pieces of the consumer pie, there are still ways to stand out by operating

at the fringes. Again, it starts by making the decision to do it, which requires taking a chance, like Nike did. In December 2016, the global sports brand announced that it would spend millions of dollars in an effort to break the two-hour marathon barrier in a project titled Breaking2. Nike introduced Breaking2 as “the ultimate

The audience that

matters most is made

up of smaller numbers

of people who truly care

about what you’re selling

and what you have to say.

veryone has dreams,” says Seth Godin. “We have fears and hopes and desires. We want to be seen. We imagine what we

could do and what that might feel like.” The author of 19 internationally best-selling books that have managed to change the way people think about marketing and work, Godin believes that the best way to achieve your marketing goals is to help others become who they want to be. “Instead of trying to change people’s hopes and dreams, what if we worked to fulfill them instead?” he asks. It would be wise to listen. Godin’s book Purple Cow is the best-selling marketing book of the decade, and his Unleashing the Ideavirus was the most popular e-book ever published. His books have been translated into more than 35 languages. Much of what Godin preaches to companies, in TED Talks, and as a keynote speaker for large gatherings of marketers around the globe is based on a belief that too many brands are not catering to a minimum viable audience. Instead, they are making average products for average people because they want to maximize their audience and get a return on their investment. Godin believes that modern marketing—and, indeed, the survival of a company—depends on its ability to serve the people on the fringe. He believes the audience that matters most is made up of smaller numbers of people who truly care about what you’re selling and what you have to say. As he writes on his blog, when you do that, your quality, your story, and your impact will all improve. Curious where you might discover those people for your brand? You’re in luck. They aren’t hard to find if you’re willing to do a little looking around. “The hard part is in choosing to look for them,” Godin says. “In meetings around the world, big organizations are presented with the chance to make original, useful, generous work for fringe markets that desperately want to be seen and served. And they walk away. They walk away because they’re not in the business of innovation, not really.” He refers to the eyeglasses industry as a prime example of catering to the margins, pointing out that designers and retailers are making a

e

Image Credit: Cuidad de Ideas

08

COVER STORYWinter 2018/19

controversial shoe that’s facing a rules ban. This isn’t a slam dunk. It’s not ‘of course.’ It feels risky to do this when you can spend time and money just getting more shelf space in Sears. Oh, that’s right, Sears is going bankrupt.” So how can you decide exactly whom to talk to? How can you find your “interested few”? Using the process of elimination—deciding who is NOT important to your brand—is a good tactic to begin with. “It’s a gutsy move because it’s not in the nature of a profit seeker to say to someone who might be interested, ‘Go away!’” Godin says. “But if we’re not able to do that, it’s very difficult to say to someone else, ‘I made this just for you.’” By creating a loyal customer base, you’ll likely create profits and prophets. “My argument is if you could only have 1,000 or 10,000 customers and you could pick

embodiment of the brand’s mission: to bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete on the planet.” They worked with a team of leaders across various fields of science and sports, taking a universal approach to products, training, nutrition, and environment. They enlisted their best Nike distance runners, leading biomechanics experts, engineers, and, of course, “the most innovative products” from Nike. They even let people watch live on their Facebook Page and made a documentary about it all. In the end, the effort came up short by 25 seconds, but running aficionados the world over were paying attention. And those people told plenty of average runners who lace up their Nikes after work for 30 minutes because they want to drink beer and eat pizza on the weekend. “Nike put together athletes, trainers, and a track,” Godin explains. “They’ve even launched a

WHY BLOGGING IS IMPORTANTBy Seth Godin

Seth Godin has called reading blogs “the last great bargain.” And while he may be a best-selling author, he sees great value in posting on his blog every single day. He told Tim Ferris that the daily blog was “one of the top five career decisions I’ve ever made.” Here is his advice on how to make your blog relevant and why he thinks you should start writing one today.

I write every single day. It’s been years since I missed a day, in fact. For an individual, the act of writing a blog every day is a precious gift. It’s magical. Everyone should do it. It’s clarifying, motivating, and, sooner or later, fun. And it’s important, even if it’s not getting huge traffic.

To make your blog relevant and read by your target audience, stop seeking other results and only focus on that goal of reaching this group. For a B2B seller, you don’t need huge traffic. You just need the right traffic. For a consumer brand, such as Oreos or Doritos, you might not need a blog, and that’s okay. If you decide to start a blog, understand that after you post about 200 of them, you’re likely to be glad you did it. So try for a few months and see how it goes. And write daily.

I’m often asked about brands that are doing a great job blogging. The answer is pretty simple: If you’re reading a blog regularly and it matters to YOU, then you found an example. It means you’re the right traffic and they are serving you what you want.

A FEW I FOLLOWWhat blogs does Seth Godin follow in order to keep up on what’s new and important in marketing? We asked him. Not surprisingly, his answers are quite original and varying.

Author and blogger Bernadette Jiwa helps companies design, build, and grow companies they are proud of by getting to the heart of their story. “She knows a lot about storytelling and shares it generously,” Godin says. Her eighth book, The Right Story, is coming in 2019.

Playwright Sarah Jones is a Tony and Obie award-winning performer and writer. She has given TED Talks as well as performed at the White House and at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland. “She teaches us about empathy,” Godin says.

Due to the gap between the legal world and the marketing world, DuetsBlog was created. Its goal is to promote more compatible collaboration between legal and marketing teams. Godin reads it “for insights into trademark law.”

The founder of PS Audio, Paul McGowan, writes a daily blog on a variety of topics. His short posts are often controversial and normally fun and full of information, without shilling PS Audio products. “I follow PS Audio and Paul McGowan for firsthand insights into how an entrepreneur thinks and grows his business,” Godin says.

“It’s a gutsy move

because it’s not in the

nature of a profit seeker

to say to someone who

might be interested,

‘Go away!’”

Winter 2018/19 09

them, to the exclusion of everyone else, whom would you choose?” Godin asks. “Because if you can overwhelm this tiny group with delight, they’ll tell the others.” Finding your “interested few” on the fringes, Godin believes, is far more important than identifying things such as what the next hot social media outlet is or how millennials act and what that means to your business. He also believes it’s the hardest part of communicating to your audience. “It doesn’t matter what’s next,” he says. “What we need is already here. What we need is the way to contact people who want to hear from us. And now, with more than a billion people connected, we have the ability. Whether they are connected by 100 or 1,000 different technologies doesn’t matter. The hard part is having people who want to hear from us.” If you have the guts to choose to talk primarily to the people in the margins who care most about what you have to say and what you are selling, the caring has to work both ways. In fact, a willingness to care is what Godin believes will separate the great marketers of the future from the rest. Asked whether he thinks data geeks or those with storytelling skills will write the future of marketing, he pivots in a different direction. “I think the most important skills are the soft, human skills of caring enough to do the emotional labor to dance with fear and serve the people you care about,” he says. In his latest book, This Is Marketing: You Can’t Be Seen Until You Learn to See, Godin explains how possessing practical empathy will allow marketers to “learn to see.” It’s a lesson that nearly anyone who has spent a considerable amount of time in a particular industry has been exposed to. The more time you spend in an industry or at the same business, the closer you get to it. Eventually, you are so close, so inside, it’s easy to lose touch with the customer. “Practical empathy means realizing that others—the others you seek to work with and sell to—don’t know what you know,” Godin says. “They don’t want what you want and they don’t believe what you believe. And that’s okay! If you’re

not okay with that, you can’t have empathy, which means you can’t see what’s really happening.” Once you’ve found who it is that cares about your products and your message, then made the decision to target them at the expense of the major market, overwhelming this eager audience with “delight” requires that you “be remarkable.” To do so requires people who can create the remarkable. In the last decade, more and more companies have been turning to in-house creative talent to deliver it. A 2018 Forbes article cited a study, “State of In-House Agencies,” by the In-House Agency Forum (IHAF) and Forrester Research, which said 64 percent of corporate America had in-house agencies in 2018. That’s 18 percent more than a decade earlier. “The model of the traditional ad agency is completely broken,” Godin says. “Fifteen percent commissions on a billion dollars of P&G TV ads pays for a LOT of overhead. But first media buyers stole some of that, and now more and more campaigns need constant work and have small budgets.” Godin says the result is that creative talent is rarely hanging out at a traditional ad agency and

REGISTER TO WIN:

• #1 Wall Street Journal Best seller

• Instant New York Times Best seller

• A game-changing approach to marketing, sales, and advertising

This Is Marketing by Seth Godin

that, today, there is simply too much indirectness between ad spend and creativity. “My argument for 20 years is that the ad agency needs to move upstream and become the client’s product design, user interaction, and customer service strategists,” he says. The death of the traditional model isn’t happening only at agencies. Godin fully expects brands that aren’t innovating or keeping up with their customer needs and wants will not survive. In the online marketing courses he teaches, Godin says that most everything we learned in school and everything our board and bosses know about marketing is out-of-date. Asked whether this means there will soon be a major shift in marketing leadership toward younger people because the “old guard” isn’t as in tune with what’s modern, he says this is already the case. “Random House didn’t start Google. They could have. Macy’s didn’t start Shopify. They could have,” Godin says. “This is the creative destruction that changes our culture. But it won’t happen at traditional companies; they’ll just dry out and die, I figure.” n

Image Credit: Brian Bloom

Scan the QR code or register TODAY at:

couriergraphics.com/giveaway

10 Winter 2018/19 BRANDS WE LOVE

If you’re in your 30s or 40s, you probably spent at least a few November and December childhood weekends making your Christmas list from the Toys “R” Us holiday catalog. If you are a little older, no doubt you

have fond memories of the Sears Wish Book holiday catalog. Whether you were hoping Santa would deliver your favorite Cabbage Patch doll, a Tonka truck, or a Nintendo gaming system, those catalogs were bibles. Today, four-year-olds play with iPads and select their gifts using their parents’ smartphones. Whether you find that promising or frightening, it nevertheless begs the question: Why would the single biggest internet retailer on the planet—one who has made Christmas shopping something you can do comfortably from your couch while watching football and sipping a glass of eggnog—suddenly feel the need to launch a

printed toy catalog for the 2018 holidays? Most companies have substituted online catalogs for traditional print versions (even for their own sales reps and retail partners), but Amazon seems to have zigged when everyone else is zagging. In October of 2018, the company mailed their 68-page toy catalog, called A Holiday of Play, to more than one million people. And, upon closer inspection, outlaying what has to have cost a pretty penny to create, print, and distribute just might have been a stroke of genius. The opportunity to move into the space once occupied by Toys “R” Us and Sears came after the two former giants both stumbled in recent years. In October, Sears filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and it has been closing stores across the nation. After bringing back its iconic Wish Book (which debuted in 1933) for the 2017 holidays, the company announced it would not be producing one in 2018. The 2017 Toys “R” Us holiday toy book was 120 pages, but there won’t be another one in the United States anytime soon. In March of 2018, the company announced that it would close all its remaining stores in the United States and Great

The online commerce machine

surprised everyone by publishing a

printed toy catalog for the holidays.

Are they simply traditionalists, or was

there something more behind it?

Brands We Love: AMAZON’S LATEST PLAY—Print!

Back Cover of Catalog

11Winter 2018/19

Britain, which it did by the end of June. Amazon’s goal, it seems, is to fill the gap left by the closing of Toys “R” Us and the resulting death of their catalog—an item parents seemed accustomed to handing to their kids, who were enamored with it despite the presence of nearby smartphones and tablets. The closing of Toys “R” Us left behind billions of dollars in toy sales for others to grab hold of. The Wall Street Journal cited a source saying Toys “R” Us brought in $2 billion in sales in November and December of 2017 alone. Clearly, Amazon saw this opportunity too. The toy catalog from Amazon is called A Holiday of Play, and it is not your childhood catalog. This one has QR codes for noteworthy toys and, by using the Amazon app on their smartphone, readers can scan the codes to learn more about the toys and place orders. Amazon also offers a PDF version, which can be downloaded. Every toy in that version has a clickable link taking users straight to the Amazon page for potential purchase. One clear difference between the old Sears catalog and Holiday of Play is that the new Amazon edition has no prices. Of course, finding the price gives users another reason to click through to Amazon, where they are one step closer to buying. The list of toy brands includes all the old favorites from your childhood—Hasbro Gaming, LEGO, Disney, and Fisher-Price—and some newer items, such as Fingerlings from WowWee. As of mid-2018, Amazon was reported to be the third-largest seller of toys in the United States after Walmart and Target,

according to KeyBank estimates. Walmart has held that top spot for roughly two decades, according to a CNBC report, but Amazon is believed to be growing much faster than both of them. Now by jumping into a void left by Toys “R” Us, they may be poised to move past one or both of them in the near future. Evidently, dominating the online shopping dimension is not enough for Amazon, who recently has begun to act like—gasp—a traditional retailer, though one with an untraditional approach. The Seattle-based company purchased Whole Foods for $13.7 billion in June of 2017 and has taken other steps into the retail space. The company’s first cashier-free grocery store, Amazon Go, opened in Seattle in early 2018. It now has two more locations in its home city, plus three in Chicago (with one to come in 2019) and one in San Francisco (with one more coming there in 2019). They also have somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 Amazon Books stores across the United States, with more in the pipeline. Naturally, you can pick up the A Holiday of Play catalog at Amazon Books stores and Whole Foods markets. There is a certain irony in Amazon, the company who helped put companies such as Sears and Toys “R” Us into peril, filling the sentimental void felt by holiday shoppers who long to hold a printed catalog in their hands while at the same time expanding into the retail space. But Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos has always dared to try new things. Time will tell if A Holiday of Play is the Sears Wish Book of the future. At the very least, Amazon has found

REGISTER TO WIN a $50 Amazon.com Gift Card at:

a way to start talking to the next generation of Amazon customers, some of whom might be five years old, and is likely turning some old-school print lovers into online shoppers. n

BRING ON SOME AMAZON!

couriergraphics.com/giveaway

Scan this QR code to register.

12 Winter 2018/19 FEATURE

ou have, quite literally, two billion reasons to concern yourself with the generation of young people following

behind millennials. That’s the number of people globally that make up Generation Z—generally thought of as the group of humans born after 1996. And that amounts to 25 percent of the earth’s population. If that scares you a little bit because you’re just starting to figure out what makes millennials tick, you’ve got less than a year to get over your fears. By 2020, Gen Z will make up 40 percent of US consumers. They already spend $44 billion annually, and they influence $600 billion in annual family spend, which will make perfect sense to anyone with a teenager and a refrigerator. “The unprecedented sociological behaviors of this particular generation, largely driven by technology, are defining who and what is most influential in the marketplace today,” says Nancy Nessel, a marketer and parent

yof tweens who six years ago identified the highly unique sociological behaviors among this emerging generation as an expert on Gen Z. “Through technology and social media, Gen Z consumers have immediate access to amplify their voice, along with the creativity and the entrepreneurial drive to become major influencers. For example, an entrepreneurial Gen Z can become a celebrity overnight by creating their own YouTube channel and selling their own merchandise.” A study by the Center for Generational Kinetics supports this thinking, finding that Gen Z (designated as ages 13–22) is redefining who is influential in today’s marketplace. The same study found that 46 percent of these young people follow more than 10 online

Just when you were

finally learning how

to talk to millennials

as consumers and

as coworkers, a new

generation with very

different characteristics,

expectations, and

behavior came along.

Meet Generation Z.

MARKETING TO Gen Z

By 2020, Gen Z will

make up 40 percent

of US consumers.

13Winter 2018/19

influencers and that 10 percent of them follow 50 or more. Nessel, who previously worked in brand management and marketing for leading consumer brands and now writes about Gen Z on her website gettinggenz.com, says that this popularity of influencer marketing has already flipped advertising on its head. “Many brands are chasing consumers from channel to channel,” she says. “Other brands are repositioning themselves to have stronger appeal to young consumers.” Nessel believes the latter is the wiser strategy, adding that a brand’s positioning needs to be solid yet clearly segmented among the very different-aged consumers. She points to Ralph Lauren’s recent clothing collaboration with London-based skate brand Palace as a prime example of reaching younger consumers without diluting the iconic brand of Ralph Lauren. While the collaboration gave Palace access to Ralph Lauren’s huge audience, it also brought Ralph closer to the

The good news for

brands learning new

ways to connect with a

younger audience is that

this audience is more

interested in them than

the millennial generation

just ahead of them is.

FOUR BRANDS DOING GEN Z RIGHT

Supreme — The American

skateboarding shop and

countercultural clothing

brand started in New York

City in 1994. Nessel says they

do a solid job positioning

themselves as unattainable

and high-end with their

“drop strategy,” which

involves releasing their

latest offerings on a given

Thursday in very limited

quantities. Lines for the store

stretch around the block.

Looking for a few examples of brands that are communicating effectively with the youngsters? We asked Nancy Nessel to share four brands that she believes

“get” Generation Z. Here’s her list.

Lululemon — Viewed for

many years as a women’s-

only yoga brand, Nessel

says Lulu has bolstered its

following with young male

followers in recent years,

while remaining strong

with young women. Gen

Z’s affinity for living a fit

lifestyle and eating right also

aligns well with Lululemon’s

athleisure attitude.

Gucci – Off the back of

its popularity with rappers,

Nessel says Gucci has

regained popularity with

Generation Z, who likes

old-school logos. The

brand also aligns with

celebrities from modest

backgrounds to identify

with young people, despite

the fact they need to save

mightily to afford it.

Patagonia — Teens

make purchase decisions

based on company ethics,

which is a major reason

Gen Z likes this maker

of outdoor clothing and

gear. Patagonia donates

1 percent of its sales to

the preservation of the

environment. “It’s admired

for being altruistic and of

high quality, if you’re willing

to pay for it,” Nessel says.

youthful street-wear segment. Nessel has worked with clients ranging from the Chicago White Sox to Aldo shoes to Nissan. No matter the client or the industry, all want to know what their future consumers look like—what they will wear and drive, where they will work, and how they want to communicate with a brand and with each other. “A frequent question I ask Gen Z in focus groups is, How would you like to interact with this product?” Nessel

explains. “Often brands are surprised to hear that Gen Z demonstrates some more traditional qualities than we’d expect. For example, many want some face-to-face communication in a work or school setting, and many express the need to have control over information that is fed to them.” The good news for brands learning new ways to connect with a younger audience is that this audience is more interested in them than the millennial generation just ahead of them is. The study by the Center for Generational Kinetics uncovered that 73 percent of Gen Zers follow at least one brand on social media, compared to 64 percent of millennials. In fact, 52 percent follow three brands or more. On the other hand, Nessel reports that Gen Z has caught on to the dangers of sharing too much information, and they are thus more concerned about data privacy, meaning brands must strike a balance between overtness and subtlety.

14 Winter 2018/19 FEATURE

“Brands will have to work harder to retain Gen Z followers who prefer to select which brands to follow rather than be selected by a brand,” she says. “Gen Zers do not want to feel ‘stalked’ by brands that overmarket to them. So brands need to study what’s working in the influence world and take that to platforms outside of YouTube channels. Brands can learn a lot from online influencers who are selling their unique merchandise so successfully. For example, the personality of the influencer sells the merchandise. The unique design helps sell the merchandise. The youthful appeal helps sell the merchandise.” One challenge in marketing to Generation Z at this moment in time is that, unlike millennials, Generation Z doesn’t yet have many in the workforce. If your company is trying to market to millennials, you can hire millennials who might better understand their contemporaries. That’s tough to do with Gen Z, because the oldest of them are just 22 years old. Nessel says that as they generally thrive on attention, Gen Zers are often quite willing to speak to marketers and market researchers about their buying preferences through participating in focus groups, taking online surveys, and sharing their opinions in social media. So, what do you need to know about the purchase behavior of this generation that is largely not yet old enough to earn a living? The first thing that might surprise marketers who have had a difficult time understanding millennials is that this next generation places great importance on getting value for their money. You might be thinking, “That’s because they don’t have any yet,” and you might be right. But there’s more to the story. Nessel points to three main causes for their value-based spending habits. First, the oldest of Gen Z were born in 1996, about the time the internet became mainstream. They grew up with 24/7 exposure to global disasters and the 2008 recession streaming live on screens everywhere. “This kind of exposure has caused some resiliency, anxiety, altruism, and definitely frugality,” Nessel explains. “Having seen the harsh economic, political, and natural-disaster realities of life up close, and likely at too young of an age, Gen Z is more realistic than other generations.”

Meet Them Where They Live

Gen Z is the most tech-savvy generation. They spend more time on social media. Selling strategies should start on social and mobile, and include multiple touch points, with direct, no-fluff messaging, and use various formats (video, pic posts, stories, etc.). The sales gimmicks of the past won’t work here. Instead, focus on direct, individualized messaging and content with a heavy emphasis on what’s in it for them. —Christopher Kingman,

TransUnion.

Detached and immersing themselves in technology, Gen Z grew up on social media and can research their way through any situation. Members from the Forbes Business Development Council shared marketing advice on how to market to this most unique generation.

#1

As of 2018, the breakdown of generations by age looks something like this:

Baby Boomers Baby boomers were born

between 1944 and 1964. They’re currently between 54 and 74 years old (76 million people in U.S.).

Gen Y Gen Yers, or millennials, were

born between 1980 and 1994. They are currently between 24 and 38 years old.

n Gen Y.1 = 24-28 years old (31 million in U.S.)

n Gen Y.2 = 29-38 years old (42 million in the U.S.)

Gen X Gen Xers were born

between 1965 and 1979 and are currently between 39 and 53 years old (82 million people in U.S.).

Gen Z Born between 1995 and 2015,

Gen Z includes those currently between 3 and 23 years old (nearly 74 million people in U.S.). Note: As with Gen Y, it is believed this generation will have two subsets as the older Gen Zers enter the workforce.

Forbes Experts Share Advice on Marketing to Generation Z

15Winter 2018/19

Second, they have been raised mostly by Gen Xers, usually in a house where both parents work. One parent may have lost a job or the family may have lost a house in the 2008 recession. “Gen Z sees their parents struggle to pay for life plus technology plus college,” Nessel says. “Gen Z realizes the importance of money.” And finally, Gen Z has learned that materialism doesn’t buy happiness. “Comfort, experiences, and meaningful causes mean more to Gen Z than money,” Nessel says. Armed with this kind of intel, brands must soon learn how to integrate this new generation of workers into their companies. And they will not be the same workers that millennials are. While millennials and technology helped eliminate the boundary between personal and professional life and paved the way for employees to have greater work-life balance, they also came into the workforce with such high demands that they’ve scared off employers. They expected extra vacation time, work-from-home days, and sabbaticals to travel the world, baffling leaders who were often old

enough to be their parents. Those leaders, if they are still in charge, will be happy to know that Gen Z has very different attitudes and expectations from an employer. While a millennial may view the employer as the lucky one to have them as an employee, Nessel says Gen Z employees will often come with a greater level of respect and gratitude for the opportunity of employment and the income. They even relish personal interaction in the workforce, so they’re more inclined to come into the office. In addition to the period of history we’ve grown up in, many of our generational attributes can be traced to how we were raised and who raised us. Gen Zers were reared differently from millennials, who were raised differently from Gen Xers. Gen X is raising Gen Z to be independent, while baby boomers raised millennials to be more dependent on their parents. Many would say millennials have been quite coddled, but that’s not necessarily the case with Gen Zers. “We hear about the consequences of the

boomer parenting style all the time—millennials living at home in their late 20s and being incredibly challenging to work with,” Nessel says. “Gen X witnessed this problem with the boomers and their demanding offspring, so most Gen X parents have chosen or have been forced to raise their children to be more independent. “ Remember, however, that while Gen Zers may act and look like little adults, they are still young and in need of guidance and direction to become good citizens. Nessel, a parent of two teen Gen Zers, says her generation hasn’t overindulged their children. One of her proudest moments was sending her eldest off to college knowing how to fully function, engage with all kinds of people, and thrive as an independent adult. “I hope companies research and prepare for Gen Z entering the workforce and don’t assume Gen Z will resemble millennials,” she says. “I think we’ll all be delighted by Gen Z’s hard work, integrity, loyalty, teamwork, and communication skills. They developed these skills while growing up in challenging times.” n

Leverage User-Generated

Content (UGC)There’s a whole new frontier of customers who have grown up in the Amazon era and wouldn’t think of purchasing anything without a plethora of UGC at key conversion points to help them along. Forget one or two sad reviews from some free plugin. I’m talking hundreds of reviews, user-generated photos and more. This is the new standard—not a “nice to have when we get big enough,” but a must. —Ali Fazal,

Yotpo

Sell the End Game

This is a benefit- and results-driven group, so don’t sell the product to them. Instead, sell the success they will achieve by using it. This sales approach lets you connect the dots for them, with workflows and processes on how to maximize the use of your product. Plus, this puts you in the position to be viewed by the customer as an expert who truly understands their needs. —Julie Sokley, Autodesk

Want to read more? Scan the QR code to read all eight pieces of great advice straight from the experts of the Forbes Business Development Council.

couriergraphics.com/GenZ

Scan the QR code to download the e-book or view it at:

#2 #3 #4-8

As of 2018, the breakdown of generations by age looks something like this:

Forbes Experts Share Advice on Marketing to Generation Z

16 SPOTLIGHTWinter 2018/19

2019 USPS Mailing and Promotions Calendar and DescriptionsAsk us how you can save on eligible Marketing Mail, First-Class Mail, BRM, CRM, and Share Mail in 2019!

n Tactile, Sensory, and Interactive Mailpiece Engagement Promotion Encourages mailers to enhance customer engagement with the mail through the use of advanced print innovations in paper and stock, substrates, inks, interactive elements, and finishing techniques. Regular and nonprofit Marketing Mail letters and flats that meet the promotion requirements will be eligible for an upfront 2% postage discount during the promotion period.

n Emerging and Advanced Technology Promotion Encourages mailers to incorporate emerging technologies such as AR, VR/MR, NFC, Video in Print, multichannel mail integration with Addressable TV, or digital assistants into their direct mailpieces. Regular and nonprofit Marketing Mail letters and flats, and First-Class Mail presort or automation letters, cards, and flats that meet the promotion requirements will be eligible for an upfront 2% postage discount during the promotion period.

n Earned Value Reply Mail Promotion Encourages mailers to continue to distribute Business Reply Mail (BRM), Courtesy Reply Mail (CRM) and Share Mail envelopes and cards by providing them with a financial benefit when their customers put those pieces back in the mail. New participants will earn a 3 cent credit per counted reply piece between April-June of 2019. Repeat participants must meet a threshold equating to 95% of the volumes counted during the same period in 2018 to earn the 3 cent per piece credit. Credits may be applied to postage for First-Class mail presort & automation cards, letters and flats and Marketing Mail letters & flats, and must be used by December 31, 2019.

n Personalized Color Transpromo Promotion Enhances the value of First-Class Mail by encouraging mailers of bills and statements to incorporate color messaging in order to foster a better connection and response from their customers. First-Class Mail presort and automation letters—bills and statements only—that meet the dynamic print and personalization requirements will be eligible for an upfront 2% postage discount during the promotion period. First-time participants must meet only the dynamic color print requirements.

n Mobile Shopping Promotion Encourages mailers to integrate their direct mail pieces with mobile technologies that facilitate a convenient online shopping experience for consumers during the holiday season. There are many new mobile barcode formats that can be leveraged to qualify for this promotion, in addition to the use of Payment QRs to facilitate a seamless shopping/purchase experience. Regular and nonprofit Marketing Mail letters and flats that meet the promotion requirements will be eligible for an upfront 2% postage discount during the promotion period.

n NEW! Informed Delivery Promotion Encourages mailers to adopt use of the USPS’s new omnichannel tool, Informed Delivery. Participants may create Informed Delivery campaigns through the Portal or submit elements through their eDoc submission. Regular and nonprofit Marketing Mail letters and flats, and First-Class Mail presort or automation letters, cards, and flats that meet the promotion requirements will be eligible for an upfront 2% postage discount during the promotion. n

2019 USPS Mailing Promotions Calendar

First-Class Mail Marketing Mail and First-Class Mail Marketing Mail

December 2018

January 2019

February 2019

March 2019

April 2019

May 2019

June 2019

July 2019

August 2019

September 2019

October 2019

November 2019

December 2019

Earned ValuePromo Period

(3 months)April 1 - June 30

RegistrationFeb 15 - Mar 31

PersonalizedRegistration

May 15 - Dec 31

PersonalizedColor

TranspromoPromo Period (6 months)

July 1 - Dec 31

RegistrationJan 15 - Aug 31

RegistrationDec 15, 2018 -

July 31

Emerging &Advanced

TechnologyPromo Period (6 months)

Mar 1 - Aug 31

Tactile, Sensory &Interactive

EngagementPromo Period (6 months)

Feb 1 - July 31

InformedDelivery

Promo Period (3 months)

Sept 1 - Nov 30

MobileShopping

Promo Period (5 months)

Aug 1 - Dec 31

RegistrationJuly 15 - Nov 30

RegistrationJuly 15 - Dec 31

PR I N T THAT S TAN DS OUT.

Print & Marketing Consulting | Fine Sheetfed & Web Print | Direct Mail ServicesFulfillment Services | Online Storefront Services | G7 Master Certified

FSC Certified | Women-Owned | Local First Arizona

cour iergraphics .com602-437-9700

Born 1994 and later, Gen Z is the first true generation of

“social natives.”

Generation Z’ers report that

Facebook [61%] and

Instagram [47%] are the most popular

platforms on which

to find new products.

57% have

purchased a

product they saw

because of a social

media influencer

or celebrity. Sources: Fast Company and Hill Holliday (hhcc.com)

Today’s top platforms for marketers to reach Gen Z:

Generation Z will account

for 40% of all consumers by 2020.

say a

link posted by a

brand or company

they follow drove

their purchase.

40% of brands use

social media

for marketing

purposes to

Generation Z.

88%

Mailing Panel and return address to go here

(Remove this text before printing)

Courier Graphics Corporation2621 South 37th StreetPhoenix, AZ 85034

Print & Marketing Consulting

Fine Sheetfed & Web Print

Direct Mail Services

Fulfillment Services

Online Storefront Services

G7 Master Certified

FSC Certified

Women-Owned

Local First Arizona

Ph: 602-437-9700 couriergraphics.com