For instance, Marini Group handles a pair of marketing pieces that have little to do with client Ernest Machine Product's main business as an equipment company, Marini says. The company sends 12 to 16-page lighthearted promotional booklets to its customers. The booklets, which have 4-color covers, include puzzles, household tips, humorous items and stories, similar in format to Reader's Digest. The distributor also provides 60,000 copies of a catalog displaying Ernest Machine's ad specialty items that is sent to customers. Marini has discovered that 4-color employee gift catalogs for Nestl and other companies also are popular.
Employees use the catalogs to purchase merchandise adorned with their employer's logo.
If you're having problems selling the virtues of commercial printing, maybe you're pitching it to the wrong people. Most of our buyers are marketing people. They more or less come to us to help them get the job done. They're really busy, and they like to work with one vendor. Just bang them over the head with service.