Paper cost increases force adjustments
Dustin LeFebvre, EVP of marketing at
Specialty Print Communications:
“If currency markets hold up, I think we
are looking at a second quarter increase.
To adjust to this increase, marketers are
likely going to reduce their spending and
go to an uncoated or matte fi nish and
maybe move downwards in paper grade.
I don’t think there is any magic wand to
wave, it is something they will have to
respond to.”
Salvatore Lacorte, consultant in
commercial printing at Sony:
“Anybody without a paper contract has
seen paper costs go up 20% in the last
year. I think paper is going to continue
to rise, so I recommend having a paper
contract to control the price increase.
Paper is the largest cost of any print job,
so being able to control the cost will help
you stay within your budget.”
Marianne Gaige, president and CEO
of Cathedral Corp:
“We saw a 4% increase in the cost of
paper last year. I think we’ll see another
2.5% increase in the next six months. The
economy is coming back in 2011, but everyone
is trying to hold
the line. I think the cost
of paper increase is
going to make it more
important to segment
your work to make it
more productive.”
Industry weighs postal price increases
Earl Howell, director of operations at
Millennium Marketing Group
“Direct mail was beginning to make a
comeback anyway for reasons other than
pricing. This year’s benign price increase
should serve to work positively with that
trend to increase volume even more.
Don’t get me wrong, the USPS still has a
lot of internal as well as external problems
and challenges ahead of them, but
it certainly is a step in the right direction.
Bill Mattran, SVP, business development,
at Specialty Print Communications
“Just because the Post Office keeps
raising its rates doesn’t mean that
marketers are just going to keep paying
more. It is going to be about how to do
it smarter and how to reach the audience
more effectively, by taking multiple mail
streams into a single mail stream to
improve efficiency.”
Jared Tanner, VP of marketing at
PrintingForLess.com
“Postal increases continue to make it
harder to be a direct marketer. It continues
to raise that break-even bar higher,
making it difficult to work with a budget.
Fifteen years ago, the postage for a catalog
was substantially
less than what we pay
for a postcard today.
With more increases,
I anticipate that direct
mail will decline for
small businesses.
