Tag Archives: dimensional marketing

HIPPA and Direct Mail: Do You Know the Rules?

So, you think you know the rules when it comes to HIPAA, but do you know how it relates to your marketing?

HIPAA, or the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, provides data privacy and security provisions for safeguarding patients’ medical information. It applies to organizations that are considered HIPAA-covered entities, including health plans, healthcare clearinghouses and healthcare providers. Private health information like names, social security and health plan numbers, vehicle identifiers, fingerprints or facial images are some of the information protected by HIPAA.

The HIPAA Privacy Rule defines marketing as “a communication about a product or service that encourages recipients of the communication to purchase or use the product or service”. With limited exceptions, the rule requires an individual’s written authorization before his or her protected health information can be used for marketing. (It’s important to note that the HIPAA Privacy Rule distinguishes marketing communications from those communications regarding goods and services that are essential for quality health care.)

When considering sending direct mail within the healthcare community, it’s important to remember that HIPAA is, ultimately, there to protect patient health data and to protect your business against violations and fines. However, there are still ways that your team can market without putting patients’ privacy at risk. Here are a few ideas to get you started.

Digital

  • Don’t create ads, posts or emails using patient information without obtaining explicit permission from the patients involved.
  • Don’t allow staff members to take any photos or videos, including cell phone photography, within the practice if there is the potential that personal information will be visible.
  • Create and enforce social media policies for employees limiting what they can and cannot post.
  • Ensure that any third-party agencies, photographers or vendors are HIPAA compliant. Legal Business Associate Agreements must be executed with all vendors, including marketing firms.
  • Encrypt any email sent to patients that contains personal information, including name and email address.

Direct

  • Receive explicit authorization from patients before sending them any direct mail.
  • Send marketing communications via certified mail and require the intended recipient’s signature.
  • Clearly and prominently identify your organization (if you are the one sending it).
  • Include clear opt-out instructions.
  • Explain why the recipient has been targeted with your communication and how the product or service you’re selling relates to the health of the individual.
  • Disclose whether a covered entity, such as a healthcare provider or partner, has received or will receive direct or indirect remuneration for making the communication.

Unilever Incubator’s Ad Doubles as Wrapping Paper

As more and more brands continue to join the environmental movement, Unilever’s Love Beauty and Planet are taking an innovative approach this holiday season using, you guessed it, print.

On Dec. 8, the brand released an ad in the New York Times’ Sunday edition, which doubles as wrapping paper. The objective? To encourage customers to rethink their holiday waste. The ad was supported by a digital campaign aimed at driving awareness of the initiative through the brand’s social media channels, influencers and word-of-mouth.

According to the brand, trash increases as much as 25% during the holidays. What’s more is that much of the paper waste associated with gift wrap isn’t recyclable.

“We wanted to use our voice to raise awareness about wastefulness…in a way that feels more productive and happy,” said Sonika Molhotra, Brand Founder and Global Brand Director for Love Beauty and Planet.

Study: 64% of Marketers Say Direct Mail is their Highest Performing Channel

With new technologies being created every day, is direct mail still relevant?

According to a recent study by Lob and Comperemedia, without a doubt. The study, which includes data gleaned from more than 200 marketing industry leaders, concludes that marketers view direct mail as their strongest performing channel and actually plan to increase the amount of mail they distribute in the future.

“These results validate a lot of what we hear from our customers,” said Leore Avidar, CEO and co-founder of Lob in a press release. “Marketers know that direct mail is an effective channel, and they want to utilize technologies that allow them to fully integrate it with other touch points in their customer campaigns. As email unsubscribe rates skyrocket, marketers are looking for similar tools to replicate traditional digital strategies with physical mail. Our customers see impressive results when they deeply personalize direct mail for re-marketing or customer retention.”

There’s this belief out there that direct mail is “old school” marketing, which is why some question its relevance and effectiveness.

However, even with its reputation, 64% of respondents said direct mail delivers the highest response rate of any marketing channel they use (5% or greater compared with an average email response rate of less than 1 percent) and 60% indicated that direct mail provides the highest ROI of any of the channels they currently use.

In a nutshell:

  • Direct mail remains an effective channel for marketers across all types of campaigns. A majority of respondents indicated that it is currently their highest performing channel.
  • Customer acquisition is no longer the primary use case for direct mail marketing. Direct mail volume is now spread relatively evenly across the customer life-cycle.
  • Technology has a growing influence on direct mail. Companies are increasingly using software platforms to manage and execute their campaigns, and many expect to see a closer integration between their offline and online campaigns

To read the full survey results, see the report here.

Clever Ways to Incorporate VR Into Your Next Marketing Campaign

Take a moment and think back to your last vacation. Where was it? How was the weather? What did you see? But most importantly, how did it make you feel?

What if you could relive that vacation, or the feeling of driving a new car, or perhaps learn an entirely new skill? With Virtual Reality (VR), you can. Whether that’s traveling across the world or participating in a product demonstration remotely, this technology can be a great asset for any brand or marketing team.

While VR has existed for decades (think video gamers in their parents’ basement), it’s only recently made its way into consumers’ homes. Why? The barrier to entry has been so high. Traditional VR viewers were cumbersome and very expensive. However, the introduction of customizable, low-cost, easy-to-assemble viewers like our SleekPeeks® have made it easier than ever to interact with consumers in an entirely new way.

Take the U.S. ARMY, for example. They were looking to create a unique recruitment tool that could be customized to three themes: Sniper, Tank Commander and Bomb Tech. Our SleekPeeks® VR Viewers hit the mark.

MRM/McCann created “In Our Boots”, the VR app that would be used and directions were printed on the viewer detailing where the recipient could download it. Depending upon which soldier the viewer chose to hover over in the VR app, he or she was taken into an immersive experience that simulated the role of a Sniper, Tank Commander or Bomb Tech, allowing the viewer to assess whether or not the U.S. ARMY was for him or her.

Another unique use of our SleekPeeks® came in the form of a test drive. Hyundai was seeking to deliver the ultimate driving experience to prospective customers and sought out Structural Graphics with the help of Blanks Printing to bring their vision to reality. Users were easily able to pop the viewer into place, download the app and try the vehicle out in a safe environment.

Interested in incorporating virtual reality into your next marketing campaign? Contact us or start designing your own viewer here.

5 Video Marketing Trends You Should Be Paying Attention To

Regardless of how you use it, video has become the most popular type of digital content used by people the world over. As such, it’s also a supremely effective communication tool for business, allowing advertisers, marketers, and sales teams to share everything from testimonials, product demonstrations, educational messages, reviews, and more with a target audience.

The research is clear.

According to a report from HubSpot Research, 54% of consumers want to see videos from brands they support in comparison to email newsletters (46%) or social image content (41%). Additionally, the report states that video is the most memorable content (43%) in comparison to images (36%) and text (18%).

But between customers’ varied preferences and the ever-evolving digital landscape, it can be difficult to know where to start. To help you out, we’ve outlined five video trends worth paying attention to, and how they can be used in your own marketing efforts.

Trend 1: Video First. “Video First” is a term coined by Facebook in reference to a growing phenomenon: consumers not only want to consume video, but also produce it. As today’s consumers look to express themselves, video makes it easier to provide a holistic view of ourselves, our lives, and the items we love.

Pro Tip: When developing your marketing campaigns, consider it from the lens of this “video first” mentality and get closer to your audience than ever before.

Trend 2: Live Video. Maybe you’ve heard of them: Facebook Live, YouTube Live, Instagram Stories, Periscope. Nowadays there are so many opportunities for live video, whether it’s based upon turnaround time, platform, or something else entirely. Live video, unlike pre-recorded content, draws people in nearly three times longer, according to the same HubSpot study. And brands have noticed.

Pro Tip: Look for the platforms that your target audience is using the most and experiment with live streaming. Perhaps it’s a Q&A session where you can interact in real-time with your customers or maybe it’s a simple look at a day in the life at your company. Whatever topic you choose, make it engaging – this is an opportunity to make your customers feel like they’re truly a part of your brand.

Trend 3: Cost Reduction. With so many high-quality tools at your fingertips, producing video is easier and more cost friendly than ever. At Structural Graphics, we offer custom Video in Print Brochures that marry the tactile feeling of print with the sights and sounds of video.

Pro Tip: With a smartphone, microphone and solid game plan, you’re sure to win the hearts and minds of your audience.

Trend 4: Virtual Reality. You know that cliche about walking in a man’s shoes? Well, with virtual reality, you actually can. Global revenue for this market is expected to reach $3.7 billion by 2020, according to SuperData Games and Interactive Media Intelligence.

Pro Tip: Get ahead of your competitors with our SleekPeeks®, customized virtual reality viewers that assemble in seconds and don’t break the bank.

Trend 5: 360-Degree Video. It’s exactly what it sounds like: a video that offers multidimensional perspectives of places like a room, landscape, or event. Implementing 360-degree video into your marketing efforts offers a customized experience for viewers, literally allowing them to fully emerge themselves in an experience.

Pro Tip: Start small. Think Google 360 View or Facebook’s relatively new functionality that allows users to pan or tilt a panoramic image that’s posted to its platform. Not to mention, 360-degree video content works great with our SleekPeeks® Virtual Reality Viewers! 

7 Steps Chrysler Took to Promote Their Business at the NADA Convention

Today’s automotive industry moves fast and furious, so it’s important to showcase your vehicles in new and creative ways. But how do you show change and innovation on paper? You don’t. You show it WITH paper.

Like Chrysler did here.

The automotive company was looking to encourage people to visit their service center display at the National Automobile Dealers Association’s Las Vegas convention in 2003. To do this, they cleverly employed several marketing techniques that can apply to any brand or industry.

  1. Stay true to your roots. Chrysler, which has a strong brand identity, chose to showcase a miniature version of a Chrysler dealership right down to the cars, service desk and employees.
  2. Never underestimate the ‘WOW Factor’. Pop-up mailers are a really unique way to capture the attention of your audience. This particular one ships flat but, because of its interactivity, detail and uniqueness, it also surprises and delights.
  3. Less can be more – when it’s done right. Sometimes it’s just better to get to the point. To really maximize the space on this mailer, Chrysler chose to include short bursts of essential information instead of paragraphs of marketing speak. Rather than trying to convince attendees to visit its display, the team chose to let the excitement of the mailer speak for itself.
  4. Include a call to action. In this mailer, Chrysler is up front about what it wants – for people to visit the company’s service center display at the conference.
  5. Offer an incentive. We all know that people generally love to win free stuff. So, instead of just asking conference attendees to visit Chrysler’s display, they wanted to make the visit worthwhile. To make their call to action even more powerful, the company also advertised that they would be offering a chance to win a free year of ServiceVision.
  6. Don’t forget the basic information. Between the bells and the whistles, it’s easy for marketers to get caught up in the excitement of a piece and forget the most basic of information. Always include the date, time and location (if applicable) of any event you or your business are/ is attending.
  7. Catchy openings are key. Embracing the convention’s location, Chrysler took inspiration from Las Vegas’ neon lights and showgirls. The mailer’s cover is colorful and hints at the purpose for sending it out. It also beckons the recipient to open it up to see what’s inside.

Introducing SG Unfolded

Each year, businesses throughout North America choose Structural Graphics to produce thousands of dimensional projects customized to fit their individual needs. But what about the multitude of other designs our paper engineers have created but have never been produced?

Now, you can find them here.

SG Unfolded, which launched this week, is intended to showcase one-of-a-kind inventions born of innovative thinking and precision engineering. We have such a large library of designs, that we wanted to shine a spotlight on some of the amazing work our paper engineers think up behind the scenes, which may have never made it into a client’s hands.

Our hope is not only to show off these designs, but also to help you get to know our paper engineers and their approach to crafting novel pieces for marketing professionals, Fortune 500 companies, universities and the like. Perhaps these pieces will even inspire you!

Currently, we have 16 designs on SG Unfolded (and our related Instagram account, with more queued up and ready to be posted for you to enjoy every week. Multiple images are posted for each design, including a short video to showcase how the mechanism works.

We hope you enjoy!

Pop-Up Houses & Dimensional Buildings

At Structural Graphics, we are well known for creating highly visually appealing, dimensional masterpieces out of paper.  One of our most popular requests are dimensional houses and buildings, which can be great for making an announcement of a new location (restaurant, business, school, etc.), announcing a renovation, creating a cozy holiday scene – the possibilities are endless!

Santa Snack Station

 

2_4505-537
Boston Group, Captivate Network, Fully Dimensional Skyscraper
2_4506-1039C
Choice Hotel, Fully Dimensional
Woosley Hall
Woolsey Hall
ProSource Popup Page
ProSource Popup Page
Fisher Communications, Pop Up Building
Fisher Communications, Pop Up Building

 

Pop Up Campus Layout
Pop Up Campus Layout

 

Pharmacia, Arthrotec. Fully Dimensional Restaurant.
Pharmacia, Arthrotec. Fully Dimensional Restaurant.

 

Intervisual, Target.
Intervisual, Target.

 

A&E, The History Channel.
A&E, The History Channel. Fully Dimensional.
Food Lion, Pop Up store. Fully dimensional with reference guide.
Food Lion, Pop Up store. Fully dimensional with reference guide.

And with the holiday’s quickly approaching, consider the pop-up house format from Red Paper Plane.

Red Paper Plane Pop-up House Format
Red Paper Plane Pop-up House Format

4 Marketing Trends on the Rise

Do you ever stop and wonder how our decisions are influenced?

Boy holding But why sign

 

I do, I’m a marketer after all.  These days it seems like we’re being bombarded with trends trying to get us to buy or do something.  We can’t browse our Facebook feed without being distracted by bizarre videos of the Brazilian “burning hair” treatment, the horrifying aftermath of the “Kylie Jenner Lip Challenge,” or the most recent one sweeping Instagram, “Sunburn Art.”  While we do not personally recommend any of these, we’re all about standing out.

How you market your product or idea directly impacts whether or not people will choose it.  So, to help you out, we’ve done a little research, combed thru all the weird stuff on the Internet, and came up with 4 marketing trends that are on the rise.

 


1. More Personalization

We all know the saying that goes, sometimes through gritted teeth, “the customer is always right.” It’s certainly safe to say the customer is in charge.  When asked to prioritize one capability that will be most important to marketing in the future, one-third of marketers answered: “personalization.” Nearly three-fourths (74%) of online consumers get frustrated with Web sites when content appears that has nothing to do with their interests (CMO, 2015). With all the different benefits technology can provide, personalization is more popular than ever. Targeting your products and ads directly to your customer’s specific needs is a strong marketing trend and it’s on the rise.

2. Multichannel Communications

Business icons flat vector illustration Communication
Business icons flat vector illustration Communication

Print, direct mail, URLs, social sharing, email, mobile app push, SMS… really, the possibilities are endless.  The world is your oyster when it comes to all of the ways you can communicate, and the statistics speak to its effectiveness.

  • 60% of multichannel marketers reported increases of more than 10% in revenue that are attributed to marketing programs. – Forrester (May 2012) “The Multichannel Maturity Mandate.”
  • 86% of marketing professionals agree that successfully integrating multiple channels under a single integrated marketing strategy is crucial to their long-term success. – Forrester (May 2012) “The Multichannel Maturity Mandate.”

Tip: Want to add some extra staying power to the print portion of your multichannel marketing? Use dimensional for your direct mailer.

3. Video

Unify Video Sales Aid, Structural Graphics

By 2017, video will account for 69% of all consumer internet traffic, according to Cisco. A study done by a company named Eyevie discovered that using videos on landing pages increased response rates by 80%, but why just use them on a screen? At Structural Graphics, we can seamlessly incorporate a video into print for a multidimensional, multi-sensory experience. See it here.

4. Print

There are a lot of comebacks being made recently. Fanny packs, Doc Martens, and my personal favorite – jelly shoes.

But that’s not all. Get ready marketers, because even in this digital age, print is making a comeback – and with a vengeance. Anything can be added to print: lights, sound, video, the list goes on. Print isn’t just paper anymore.  Also, who doesn’t love getting real, tangible, paper mail?  Direct mail marketing yields, on average, a 13-1 return on investment ratio (DMR, 2015).

Rolling Stone Chuck TV Show Insert & Kiosk, Structural Graphics

There you have it, 4 marketing trends on the rise — and you know what they say about 2, 3 and 4: two’s company, three’s a crowd and four is a party. Get the party started at www.structuralgraphics.com.

Oticon Glow Head

Appealing to Our Senses: Tech-Enhanced Print

What if you could support your brand outreach and engagement with creative and interactive dimensional print that takes people by surprise? Oh wait. You can. Continue reading