Quad/Graphics Exemplifies Power of Marketing Partnership

Earlier this month, Quad/Graphics made a $12 million minority investment in marketing specialist Rise Interactive. The news may have slipped past while you were sunning on the beach, but the ramifications are worth noting.

Around 10 years ago, printers started fancying themselves as marketing service providers. It became a "me, too" catchphrase, but it soon became apparent that many printers were unsure just as to what this moniker entailed. Well, as the trend toward building campaigns and subsequent initiatives around analytics and an amalgamation of online and offline marketing channels grows, this announcement will make it tougher for competitors to catch up.

The deal speaks volumes toward Quad/Graphics' commitment to its marketing clientele, and it also sets the tone for the role other printers must embrace in order to sustain a competitive advantage in this space. It doesn't necessarily mean that printers need to drop $10 million-plus on a marketing specialist to cultivate a relationship. Smaller printers can work, to scale, with similarly-sized agencies to help customers best utilize their marketing spend with a mix of digital, mobile and traditional avenues.

Rise Interactive SVP of Marketing Brad Messinger told the Milwaukee Business News that the special sauce behind the company's recipe is its ability to use online behavior and data to inform offline advertising and offers. That door swings both ways, with offline habits helping to shape the online approach. That has Quad/Graphics downright giddy about investing in digital marketing technology to complement its BlueSoho multichannel agency.

Internet marketing may evoke feelings of creepiness and invasiveness, but savvy online consumers are well aware that their buying habits are being monitored. Thus, marketers are missing a good game if they are not measuring past habits and basing future campaigns on trailing results. And the only way to do that is to hammer out an agreement with an agency that can ante up that proficiency while being able to leverage your company's traditional print offerings.

Herein lies the beauty of the partnership. Choose wisely; take a tip from Quad and don't get lost in the tall grass while trying to greenfield marketing capabilities.