Definition of Cross-Media in the Marketing World

I just returned from the Graph Expo show at McCormick Place in Chicago. First of all, you wouldn't know that the economy is "suffering". The place was packed. Not sure if anyone was buying anything, but it was packed nonetheless.

Anyhow, the big buzz at the show was cross-media solutions. I visited many of the vendors and sat in on a seminar on the subject. What I found out was that cross-media is being defined as the integration of direct mail, email and PURLs (personalized URL's) into one application solution. You create the direct mail piece and the email header with the same look and feel. You then publish PURLs to the content of those two media and send the recipient to a personalized landing page (otherwise known as a micro-site). All of this is tracked and triggered based upon logical steps determined by the recipients action. The end-game report gives the CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) some datapoints to sink his/her teeth into to determine next steps in the strategic marketing picture.

OK...sounds pretty cool and all that. However, these so-called cross-media application solutions are missing quite a few other media. I think the software developer that can integrate more than just the "big three" media will be onto something extremely big.

How would you define Cross-Media Solutions? I'd like to hear your comments...

MoD and HVAC Units - PART 2

If you recall, I posted a blog on Sunday, April 6th, 2008 about an AC filter that I bought for my home AC unit. It had an email reminder option that I filled out and waited to see if they'd send me a reminder. Well, just the other day, I received an email from the company. It read:

Hello Bob,

It's that time of year again. Yep, you guessed it, time to change your air filter. (Remember, changing your filter regularly saves energy because your heating/cooling system is running more efficiently.)

Last time you purchased our MERV 7 Basic air filter, size 20x25x1 at Home Depot. If you would like better protection for your family of airborne allergens and pollutants check out our Allergen Protection™ MERV 11 or Ultra Air™ MERV 12 -Our Finest Filter.

We really appreciate your business, Adam. Which reminds us; if you'd like more information about our products or have any questions, you can always give us a call toll free at 1-888-808-9100 or email salesinfo@trueblue.com.

Thanks much, Your friends at True Blue

Nice email reminder. The only problem is that it came two months too late. The reminder I received two months ago was the banging at 3 a.m. because the filter was blocked with dust, etc. Oh well, they tried. Nice concept when it works properly.

Web to Print Among Swiss Printers

I thought I'd go International for a change. I saw this comment on www.printplanet.com. It seems the Swiss print community is not yet sold on proactive launching of web to print solutions for their businesses. See for yourself;

Comment from PrintPlanet:

I thought you might be interested in hearing about a survey conducted earlier this year in Switzerland by the Swiss portal www.mediaforum.ch. To my astonishment, the majority of the 200+ printers who responded do not seem to see web-to-print systems as a priority. For the most part, they are content to wait for requests from customers before considering a system. When asked “Should printers offer their customers web-to-print solutions?” only 29% said that printers should do so “as soon as possible.” The answers of the other 71% ranged from “Only if a customer expresses a need for it” to “No, there’s no market for it.”

Do printers in the United States feel the same way about web to print? What are you hearing out there?