printing and production

Look! It's Alive, It's Moving! It's Print

Look! It's Alive, It's Moving! It's Print By

A message to all the haters: Print is not dead. It's really just a perception issue.

Simplifying complex, personalized print

Simplifying complex, personalized print

You want to strike a chord with your customers and prospects. But as you can imagine, the more complex the personalization, the harder it is to put it together.

Capitalizing on transactional documents

Capitalizing on transactional documents

What happens when messages are sent within a printed business document? You may be surprised to know that they get read.

Hyper-personalization in marketing

Hyper-personalization in marketing

Understanding the role of print and production in achieving hyper-personalization is critical, so consider the following four tips to drive the effectiveness and efficiency of your next direct marketing campaign.

Internet giant Google loses a few inches

Internet giant Google loses a few inches By

A lot of people had a pretty bad day on October 18—we're looking at you RR Donnelley & Sons Co.—but Google is having a pretty bad year-over-year.

Pushing the envelope

Pushing the envelope

Marketers who still fully embrace traditional marketing tools such as print catalogs and direct mail have an opportunity to stand out to consumers bombarded by digital pitches.

Meredith's CMO reshapes its story

Meredith's CMO reshapes its story

Nancy Weber had a clear goal when she signed on as CMO of Meredith Corporation in July 2005: define and put a face to the media conglomerate's then audience of 75 million.

Bridging the channel divide

Bridging the channel divide By By

What'll happen in Vegas will be so excellent, you won't be able to keep it in Vegas. At the DMA Annual Conference in Las Vegas from Oct. 13 to 18, Direct Marketing News will be hosting three thought-provoking Town Square sessions.

HP to merge its printing and PC groups

HP to merge its printing and PC groups By

Hewlett-Packard Distribution Co. (HP) will merge its Imaging and Printing Group and its Personal Systems Group (PSG) into the Printing and Personal Systems Group, said Michael Thacker, a member of HP's corporate media relations team. Todd Bradley, EVP of PSG, will run the new entity; Vyomesh Joshi, EVP of the Imaging and Printing Group, will retire.

Kodak loses its snap

Kodak loses its snap By

In my mind, Kodak is a kind of synonym for photography. But the scoop from Rochester is that the iconic brand will no longer be producing cameras.

Quad/Graphics acquires Williamson Printing Corporation

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Printer Quad/Graphics announced on Feb. 1 that it acquired Williamson Printing Corporation, a 128-year-old printer that specializes in short- to medium-run catalogs, books, direct mail and promotional products.

Kodak reorganizes business structure to focus on digital, printing

Kodak reorganizes business structure to focus on digital, printing

Eastman Kodak completely reorganized its business structure by aligning itself into two units that will absorb the company's film and photography segment and maximize its digital and print offerings.

NewPage files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

NewPage files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

Paper producer NewPage Corp. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on September 7 to ease its debt restructuring.

Michaels selects LogicSource for print procurement

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Arts and crafts retailer Michaels Stores has selected procurement firm LogicSource to manage the company's consolidated five-year, $250-million print-procurement budget. LogicSource will assist Michaels in identifying cost-savings and operation enhancements through 2015.

RR Donnelley buys Sequence Personal

RR Donnelley buys Sequence Personal

Printer RR Donnelley & Sons Co. has acquired Sequence Personal, a New York-based custom publishing and advertising-personalization company.

RR Donnelley Q4 US print sales up 5.3%

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Fourth quarter 2010 net sales in RR Donnelley's US print and related services division grew by 5.3% year-over-year to $2 billion. The Chicago-based company's US printing business saw net sales increase 1.3% for the full year to $7.5 billion.

RR Donnelley buys direct mail services company 8touches

RR Donnelley & Sons Co. said January 4 that it has acquired real estate marketing services company 8touches.

Quad/Graphics launches commercial, specialty division

Printer Quad/Graphics has created a commercial and specialty print division, combining the recently acquired HGI Company operations with those of its magazine, catalog and book-printing business.

Q&A: Karin Stroh, VP of marketing, XMPie

Q&A: Karin Stroh, VP of marketing, XMPie

Customization is like motherhood and apple pie for direct marketers - hard to be against it. But you have to know how to do it, says Karin Stroh, VP of marketing at XMPie.

Quad/Graphics reports Q2 loss

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Commercial printing company Quad/Graphics saw an operating loss of $23.7 million in the second quarter of 2010, as well as a net loss of $35.6 million. The company, which closed its acquisition of Worldcolor July 2, saw an operating profit of $8.2 million for Q2 2009 but a net loss of $7.2 million for the same period.

Quad/Graphics to close five plants

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Printing company Quad/Graphics announced August 5 that it will close five plants that employ approximately 2,200 workers. The company, which acquired fellow magazine printer World Color Press in July, said it is integrating operations to improve efficiency.

Worldcolor, Kodak launch FastBook digital printing system

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Worldcolor has partnered with Kodak and Muller Martini to create the FastBook Digital printing system for short-run books. The platform will be eventually used to produce versioned and variable magazines, catalogs and high-end direct mail.

Customized envelopes drive conversations

Customized envelopes drive conversations By

Marketers are making use of recent printing and production technologies to enhance the outer envelope with customized messages and other embellishments.

Hearst awards Quad/Graphics printing contract for five publications

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Quad/Graphics will print five of Hearst Magazines' consumer titles, Good Housekeeping; O, The Oprah Magazine; Harper's Bazaar; House Beautiful and Veranda, effective January 2011.

J. Crew extends contract with Quad/Graphics, adds 'Crewcuts' duties

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Apparel cataloger and retailer J. Crew signed a three-year contract extension with printer Quad/Graphics last month. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Quad/Graphics will add J. Crew's standalone title for its "Crewcuts" line of children's clothing to its duties.

Staples kicks off b-to-b site

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Staples launched a business-to-business e-commerce Web site, staplesadvantage.com, on March 11. The company's goal is to meet corporate demands for supplier consolidation and reduced procurement costs. Managed by the company's business-to-business division, Staples Advantage, the site also features the offerings of its five recently announced business-to-business segments.

Bottomline Ink acquires Bolt From The Blue

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Bottomline Ink, a Perrysburg, OH-based printer, acquired its in-state peer Bolt From The Blue on March 4. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Bottomline's goal is to add direct mail marketing to its transactional printing service-focused business.

Quad/Graphics to buy minority stake in HGI Company

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Catalog, magazine and retail insert printer Quad/Graphics will purchase a minority interest in HGI Company, a commercial printer. Financial terms of the deal, announced March 1, were not disclosed.

Bigeye Direct, Advanced Mailing to merge

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Printing and mailing firms Bigeye Direct and Advanced Mailing Services announced February 16 that they will merge. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

IWCO Direct to acquire Transcontinental Direct's US locations

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IWCO Direct, a Chanhassen, MN-based company specializing in direct mail, has acquired the US direct mail operations of Transcontinental, a Montreal-based printer. The deal, announced February 10, is expected to close this spring. Terms were not disclosed.

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