DNI Newsletters
Jeff's Perspective
Periodically, DNI sends out newsletters from our president, on topics that we think will be of interest to our readers. If you have questions or comments about anything you read in these newsletters, or suggestions for future newsletter topics, please feel free to contact us. Be sure to check back frequently, as we are always adding our latest newsletters for you to view here!
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Newsletter Archives
05/01/2009 Jeff's Corner - May 2009
With the recession and all of the cut backs, I've recently begun to see advertisements that say "go direct eliminate the Middleman, save money".
I believe these ads are somewhat misleading. The Middleman or Consolidator provides an excellent service. By putting together an entire package it saves the marketer time and worry. They make your speed to market easier. Who is to say that "going direct" you will save money? Traditional PO manufacturers are saddled with overhead burdens that become a large part of their pricing structure. With today's trend of outsourcing, I would ask these companies if they really do everything in house and nothing is outsourced. The answer may be surprising.
The following article goes into more depth about the value of the middleman in our industry. I believe you will find it has an interesting point of view.
03/01/2009 Jeff's Corner - March 2009
Last week one of our top sales people came to me with a problem. A potential client from a very large corporation told him that they could not use our services.
The reason being, that we did not have production facilities. I must confess this stopped me for a moment because this was a shot from the past that had little relevance in today's economy.
When my father started in this business almost sixty years ago, this was a question that had a great deal of relevance. Having a factory gave your company credibility as opposed to "brokers" who let every job go to the lowest bidder and had no control over the quality of the product.
My father worked for a company which is no longer in existence. The company started in the 1930's as a part of Sears Roebuck. It was their silk screen department, producing banners and signs. As Sears grew so did the silk screen department, which eventually became a separate POP company. As Sears needs expanded the company added lithography, wood and metal departments, vacuum forming and finally polyurethane molding department to its core competencies. It did everything a display company could do, "a one stop shop". In those days as the POP industry was forming this was a positive attribute, but over the years as the world economy changed, this mindset contributed to its downfall.
This month's article explores the disadvantages of having everything under, one roof. It also speaks about how today, companies use multi-core partners to produce quality products.
01/01/2009 Jeff's Corner - January 2009
DON'T HOLD OFF
All I am hearing in the marketplace today is "let's hold off and see what is going to happen in the next few months". Holding off might not be the best idea.
No one really knows what is going to happen tomorrow, next week, or next month. I believe inaction in this type of climate is going to put you behind the curve. It will put your company in a position that will be difficult to surmount when the market begins to turn around. For the near future, sales and income are going to be down, that's a given. What you don't want to do by inaction is to lose your market share.
Make what ever cuts you deem necessary for survival, then implement an aggressive marketing plan to take advantage of the recession. Remember Warren Buffets advice," Be fearful when others are greedy and be greedy when others are fearful.
Recognize that you have a different consumer, one that is scared and is cutting back on spending, but is still value oriented. This means they will be looking for savings in everyday purchases, but can be persuaded to spend when they are excited, enticed and see an item of value.
It will be up to you the marketer to provide the enticement and excitement that will encourage the consumer to buy your product. Advertising and promotion all have their part in creating the excitement, but the sale is made at the point of purchase. You must provide display material that will capture your customers' attention and persuade them to purchase your product. You and your competitors will be fighting for those few available dollars and you need to win.
As a prudent manager, you need to be assured that the designers and producers of your displays are providing you with the best value for your marketing dollar. This becomes more than, which vendor has the lowest bid, because the lowest bid may not get you the best value.
Every step and component of your display needs to be analytically evaluated. This is where a system called Value Engineering, comes into play and should be a vital component of your recession purchasing. Using this process you and your suppliers will be able to take an unbiased look at each design to provide the best possible value and cost savings for your marketing efforts.
The following article only gives you a brief synopsis of value engineering. For the most part our industry always being under time and dollar constraints has placed little emphasis on value engineering. Now that we are in a recession and need to look at the dollars, maybe the time has come to consider its benefits.
11/01/2008 Jeff's Corner - November 2008
With the markets in turmoil and the dreaded "R" word on every ones lips, maybe we should talk about budget cuts. We are all going to be cutting back on our personal spending and companies are going to tighten the purse strings.
Hopefully layoffs will be kept to a minimum and we will all find a way to deal with our current problems.
Budget cuts are always difficult and mostly initiated very high up in each company, far away from the front lines. The cuts are usually across the board with little strategic thinking beyond "we have to cut costs immediately". In the case of POP, I believe that it can be a very short sighted policy with long term consequences. You may say that this is a self serving belief, yes, it is! But I have some good reasons for what I am saying, backed by well grounded studies and some common sense.
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