It seems that the amount of printed material out there has been shrinking over the years, often with good reason: With an increasing focus on green practices, printed materials can be seen as wasteful and hazardous to the environment. Websites and other interactive media have eliminated the need for copious amounts of hard-copy sales material and, in a world where most information we need is obtained through a two minute search on our iPhone or Blackberry, brochures, catalogues and flyers are often consigned to the recycling bin as quickly as spam email.

So why write an article about 5 ways to get the most from your printed material? While it's true that the abundance of digital information has made a lot of printed material extraneous, it also provides new challenges and opportunities for companies when it comes time to produce an actual printed piece. Print is quickly becoming the exception rather than the rule, and there's never been a more important time to ensure your printed material is the best it can be.

With that in mind, here are our 5 tips:

1. HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY
Your printed piece must have a reason for being. Ensure you have a headline and that your message is clear, short and to-the-point. Ask yourself if this information is best communicated through print, online, or both? If your material would be easier to use online or in digital form, your customers will sense it and not bother with the hard-copy version.

2. STAND OUT
With many companies moving most of their material to digital format, print has become the path for the out-of-touch and the desperate in the mind of many consumers. Separate yourself from the junk mail and trashy flyers of others by investing a little more in your printing. Use an extra-thick stock, bonus points if it's recycled. Use a spot varnish, or an extra spot colour to make it more eye-catching. Explore the possibilities of embossing, blind embossing, die-cutting or non-standard sizes. Print has a tangible quality that is lacking in digital material – invest a few more dollars and invite your customer to touch, hold and feel the printed material, not just read it. You'll see a higher return on your investment.

3. FOCUS
Too many companies make the mistake of trying to say too much in one piece. Don't overwhelm the reader with huge blocks of text, starbursts, or superfluous information. Keep it clean, simple, and to the point, with a carefully chosen headline, a small amount of text, and a lot of white space. If you have more to say, do so elsewhere in another printed work or in a digital companion piece.
What if you could engage users in a story for about half the time, yet have them remember about 34 percent more of the content? That’s exactly what one test showed. Spending less than two hours rewriting and reformatting a story about New York City restaurants really paid off according to a recent study: http://www.ojr.org/ojr/stories/070312ruel/

4. USE A GOOD PRINTER
Great design is only half the battle, and too many great designs have been squandered through the use of shoddy printers. Make sure that your printer is reputable, high quality, up to date, and cares about your business, and always get a proof! Ask the designer if they know a good printing service, and never settle for a printer just because they're the cheapest.

5. CALL TO ACTION
A proper call to action goes hand in hand with a good headline. Make sure your customer understands what the next step is, and make it easy for them to take it. Don't forget to put alternate means of communication as well. Want them to call? Make the phone number large and easy to find, but ensure your web address is also prominent. Don't forget a physical address either – it helps the reader feel more confident about your company and its services.

It might be Marketing 101, but I meet a lot of business people who forget this critical rule - always sell to your competitive advantage. Your CA is an invaluable tool not only to move your products, but also to stave off competitors.

I hear all too often "our product is a commodity, and there's nothing we can put in our marketing mix that will make us stand out." That's one of the biggest cop-outs in the history of business - if I ask you what makes your product and your company better than anyone else, you need to have an answer, otherwise you're just wasting your marketing budget.

Sure, your product might be something simplistic, and 1000 other manufacturers might make the same thing, but it's absolutely critical for you to identify what makes your company, and therefore your products, unique.

What do you do better than anyone else? Turnaround times? Then market yourself as the fastest manufacturer in the world, dedicated to meeting tight time lines. Do you offer a wider product line than the competition? Market yourself as the company with the most selection (so why shop anywhere else?). More efficient manufacturing process? Then you're the most affordable, least wasteful company in the industry.

It doesn't matter what you're selling; even if it's toothpicks, you should be able to find something that makes you stand out. Once you've identified this, figure out how you're going to spin it to your market, and all of a sudden people will start to identify your commodity product with something they want (time, savings, selection, etc.) One toothpick might look just like another, but customers will want the one that gives them value. Make sure they see the value in you.

(image courtesy of Rupert Ganzer)

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Often we come across companies who absolutely refuse to change their logo. Even if their cousin Fred scribbled the logo on a cocktail napkin in 1974, they feel deeply attached and committed to that logo. And rightly so, a logo is the frontman of marketing, it gets all the glory, and proudly shows itself on signage, letterhead, hats, cars and even the occasional tattoo (I'm still waiting for someone to get a Studiothink tattoo).

As a branding company, we sometimes cringe at the logos we get from clients. A client will want a brand new, cutting edge website that will bring them up to date, and yet want to keep their outdated logo. And really, I can't blame them. In a recent refresh of our own Studiothink logo, I found myself torn and deeply attached to a logo we have had for the past 12 years. I hesitated (for only a few agonizing seconds), pondering on whether it should be changed at all. In the end, my marketing brain got the best of me, and I knew without a doubt that we would be hypocrites not to move with the times.

We aren't the only ones that modify their logos to keep current, it's been done for years by the corporate giants. They too realize the importance of keeping a logo fresh and current. They may retain elements of their old logo to avoid confusing the consumer (as we did as well), but they don't bury their head in the sand and hope for the best, they are proactive in making sure their logo reflects the time period and what is popular in the marketplace.

So my challenge to you is—if Pepsi, Apple, Nike, Starbucks, and even Studiothink can do it, you can too. Discover the secret they have known all along—a logo update is a great way to show your customers that you embrace change, and will be able to adapt to consumer needs and trends. As I discovered, the decision to do it only hurts for the first few seconds—before excitement sets in.

It's supposed to be one of the cold hard truths of marketing - sex sells. Need to move some beer, jeans, burgers, or snacks? Just put the product next to some sexy chicks and take a few photos - the ad copy will write itself.

Stay Classy, George
That was obviously the plan with the latest ad for Octane Energy Drink. Have an NHL'er play road hockey with some models, and get ready to fill orders:

The only problem? The NHL has a slight issue selling sex, caffeine, and alcohol to a family-friendly audience. After some apologies from Mssr. Lararque, the ads were pulled and online banners were taken down. But, Octane sales won't even miss a beat, and it won't be sex that sells them.

Sex Doesn't Sell
Sex isn't going to move a single can of Octane. In fact, had George just been an actor instead of hockey player, Octane might be totally forgotten. That's because sex appeal on its own doesn't sell.

Noted branding expert Martin Lindstrom set out to study this, along with some other common marketing misconceptions, in his book Buyology. Martin hooked a bunch of consumers up to complicated neuroscanning devices, to get a close look at how exactly their brains reacted when shown a number of ads.

Guess what? Sex didn't trigger any kind of buying impulse in the area of the brain that controls purchases. Asked later to recall the ads they were shown, there was incredibly poor recall of the sexy brands, and average recall for plain vanilla ads. The sex appeal of the ads actually interfered with the messaging.

So What Sells?
If sex doesn't sell, why does Octane (amongst others like Calvin Klein, Candies etc.) find success using it? Because, as Martin points out, controversy does sell.

I could list probably 5-6 energy drinks off the top of my head, out of the seemingly hundreds that are out there. Each one has its own reason for being memorable:
- Redbull (the market pioneer)
- Amp (because they're backed by PepsiCo's big marketing dollars)
- Cocaine (due to the controversy over their name)
- Octane (thanks to the controversy over the sexy ad)
- Beaver Buzz (a shout out because I'm a sucker for Canadian-centric marketing)

Both Redbull and Amp had to spend millions to get the brand recognition they've received. Cocaine and Octane only had to introduce a little controversy to get the same top-of-mind awareness.

The lesson here is that sex doesn't move product - marketing strategy moves product. Putting a sexy guy/girl in your ad won't help your sales, but a strategic dose of controversy might. As always, it's how you use the marketing tools available that will dictate your success.