Print is the Secret Weapon in Omni-Channel Marketing

Vicki Strull

According to Vicki Strull, design strategist, brands today are more aware than ever that it takes multiple personalized touch points to attract consumers and keep them engaged. Working with dozens of brands and businesses, Strull believes that print is their secret weapon.

And in many ways, it always has been.

Strull divides the power-of-print timeline as pre-2000 and post-2000. “Pre-2000, the main touchpoint of campaigns was print,” she explains. “Post-2000, print became just one aspect of a multi-channel or omni-channel campaign. It’s not an add-on, it’s not an afterthought; it’s a powerful part of the whole.”

Integrating print into a brand’s entire campaign—along with its digital and IRL counterparts—is really the crux of print’s ability to drive results and engage consumers. “What you have, then, is omni-channel marketing that includes a cohesive combination of messaging, imaging, e-blasts; direct mail pieces; signage; a leave-behind; a website; an app; social media; events; a pop-up store—every element that goes into a brand’s storytelling. Done right, print maximizes a brand’s opportunity to get their message across to its consumers in various formats and structures that meet the different ways people communicate and receive information.”

In Strull’s session, “Print in a Digital World: The Secret Weapon in Omni-Channel Marketing,” audiences of print service providers, marketing managers, brand owners and more, discover print’s marketing purpose in a way that gives them the language they need to consult with and sell their clients on the advantages of integrating print.

“Every single brand must employ a print strategy within its marketing plan and treat it with the same importance as their content strategy for social media, blogs, web presence, and events,” says Strull. “What’s at risk if they don’t? They will quickly lose out on customers, sales, and longevity in the marketplace.”

What’s more, says Strull, is that leveraging design strategies and new digital printing technologies with existing brand assets increases consumer engagement and sales while at the same time decreasing bottom line costs. “For brands, marketers and agencies, it’s not just a revelation; it’s a whole new way to engage with people.”

Packed with current, relevant examples, this session will reignite the way your team and your clients think about print. Strull brings her unique perspective as a design strategist to show-and-tell why print is so essential as part of a brand’s omni-channel marketing. The session will be held Thursday, October 24^th at 2:00pm in Room C144.