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Solutions January 2006
A
6-Sided Marketing Message
When
Bart Huthwaite owned a machine
tool company, he regularly taught
engineers how to innovate products
to gain more benefits from his
machine tools. It led him to believe
that innovation should be learnable,
repeatable and sustainable. Huthwaite
sold his company in 1982 and founded
the Institute for Lean Innovation,
which teaches companies a 6-step,
end-to-end product development
process.
Large
companies, including Motorola,
Eaton, General Dynamics and Northrop
Grumman, are among the Institute
for Lean Innovation’s customers.
But despite his success, Huthwaite
wanted an innovative way to attract
more clients and to more easily
demonstrate the institute’s
product development process. Then
Huthwaite saw the perfect marketing
vehicle: It was a 3-dimensional
cube with messages on all six
sides. What better way to depict
the Institute of Lean Innovation’s
6-step process?
Enter
Structural Graphics, the Essex,
Conn., company with a patent on
the Book-Cube design. Structural
Graphics specializes in innovative
packaging products, direct mail
campaigns, point-of-purchase displays,
magazine inserts and sales aids.
Its Book-Cube ships flat and appears
at first to be a 4-page folder.
When recipients open the book,
it automatically pops into the
shape of a cube with the help
of an internal rubber band mechanism.
“It’s
a piece of advertising that sticks
around,” says Michael Dambra,
vice president of marketing for
Structural Graphics. “It
mails flat, then pops into shape.
That ‘pop’ is the
‘wow’ factor. Very
few people throw Book-Cubes away.
They sit on desks for quite a
while.” The company provided
5,000 Book-Cubes for the Institute
of Lean Innovation, which distributed
them at trade shows and via direct
mail.
The
cubes were printed by United Graphics
in Dallas on 15pt. C1S stock.
The 4-color cubes, which include
a spot varnish, are taxi-cab yellow
and measure five inches square
when open. Prior to opening, the
front cover reads, “Avoid
the Enemies of Value” and
depicts bright-colored cartoon
characters representing those
enemies. For instance, a blue
character with diapers riding
a bike represents “immaturity,”
and a green one with bandages
and crutches represents “sensitivity.”
When
the book is opened to a cube,
the remaining five sides display
tips for developing innovative
products. One side is imprinted
with a pie graph showing the five
elements of value: people, processes,
materials, parts and functions.
Another side encourages companies
to deliver the eight core customer
values, with cartoon characters
depicting durability, affordability
and six other “ilities.”
A third side shows eight innovation
tactics, while yet another discusses
innovation metrics. The final
side portrays a pie chart with
the four domains (supply, design,
customer and operations) where
companies should seek value.
Dambra
says one of the biggest challenges
on this project was the fast turnaround
required. “This one screamed
through the house, so scheduling
was critical,” he says.
The Book-Cube took five weeks
from receipt of artwork to delivery.
While that may be a lot of time
for stock forms or simple tri-fold
brochures, complicated 3-dimensional
products involve more steps. In
addition to prepress and printing,
the book cubes require die cutting
and hand assembly.
Huthwaite
says working with Structural Graphics
was great: The marketing piece
was top-quality, and the company
delivered it on time. “And
the response was more than we
expected,” says Huthwaite.
“We anticipated five companies
would call us to set up appointments,
but we got 25.”
—Susan
Keen Flynn
“When
you have something you really
want to make a splash with, a
dimensional marketing piece is
ideal.”
Michael
Dambra, Vice President of Marketing
Structural
Graphics, Essex, Conn.
TIPS
1.
Don’t let the marketing
message get lost. Structural
Graphics, Essex, Conn., sells
millions of “pop-up”
marketing pieces—3-dimensional
printed pieces shaped like polygons,
pyramids and other shapes. The
high-impact pieces are spectacular
and complex, but can’t be
successful marketing tools without
clear, concise messages. While
interesting marketing vehicles
may draw in the audience, be sure
to focus equal energy on solid
text written by professionals
with expertise in the topic.
2.
Educate customers on complex pieces.
Everyone knows how a tri-fold
brochure opens. But it’s
not as easy helping prospects
visualize their messages on dimensional
products, where, for example,
opening a fold in the paper activates
a platform to rise. Structural
Graphics spends a lot of time
leading clients through the process.
In addition, it has several “How-to
Guides” on topics ranging
from pop-ups to holograms to lenticular
printing.
3.
Expect added expenditures. Pop-up
printing isn’t cheap. It
typically involves more design
time than flat printing, several
tests to ensure the piece functions,
die cutting, hand assembly and
other steps, all of which add
to the final cost. “They
aren’t as inexpensive to
produce as flat pieces, but they
pack a more powerful punch,”
says Michael Dambra, vice president
of marketing for Structural Graphics.
Be prepared to defend the cost
to clients by explaining the benefits.
4.
Pick your medium carefully.
While pop-ups are eye-catching,
they aren’t suitable for
all applications. “The message
must be married to the mechanism,”
says Dambra. “The piece
has to make sense, otherwise it’s
just a gimmick.” He says
dimensional products are ideal
for promoting new product launches
and breakthrough company news.
