Hotcards, Full Color Printing In The Nation

Are we ready to bring meaning to consumer-land?

Deep down in the distant past of every advertising hack and marketing guru lies a childhood dream of being a writer, an artist, a musician, or some other form of storyteller. In short, although we didn’t know it at the time, we dreamed of becoming a “creative.”

The unfortunate result, as Chief Marketing Strategist Bob Gilbreath points out in this month’s issue of AdAge, is that we somehow become members of one of the most despised professions on the planet. The typical media-savvy consumer sees advertising as tricky, manipulative, time-wasting, and worst, in the case of print advertising, an eyesore.

That being said, those of us involved in full color print design are pretty lucky. We often get to exert our creative talents in the development of concert posters, DVD covers, vehicle wraps, and event invitations – all pieces of media that straddle the fence between advertising and art.

However, in many ways the industry is floundering. The solution, according to Gilbreath, is “Marketing with Meaning.” Marketing with meaning strives to turn advertising into more than a shallow cash-grab. Instead of manipulating the audience, the goal becomes to interest, engage, educate, and build friendships.

To help further define this new era of marketing, Gilbreath has launched Marketingwithmeaning.com. I’m really excited about the site because this is a concept that I’ve been talking about doing with full color printing here on the Hotcards blog for a million years:

Don’t just advertise; make an offer to the consumer that is replete in value and significance.

Don’t try to trick the audience; share what is so fantastic about your subject matter with them.

Don’t pinpoint a target market; create a community.

To get in the right state of mind, try this visualization: You’re back in kindergarten and its show and tell day. You don’t realize it, but you possessed a marketing genius that all the think tanks and money in the world can’t product - the passion, enthusiasm and integrity of the utterly guileless.

Of course, we can’t ignore the fact that the ins and outs of effective marketing are complex, but we can begin with a principle desire to make a personal, genuine, and meaningful connection.

This is particularly simple for full color print advertisers because we get to offer consumers something tangible. As I pointed out a while ago in a Design Idea of the Week, Print Advertising Is A Gift. Design accordingly.

People often resent advertising because it’s emotionally painful to be tricked into caring about something that doesn’t care about you. Planning an upcoming full color printing promotion? Remove the scam factor; insert the little kid that has SO much to say about the things she loves, it’s not the entirety of marketing with meaning, but kinda like kindergarten, it’s a good start.