Vistaprint

For Vistaprint, old media are something new. The company, which prints and sells customized business cards, brochures and calendars over the Internet, will spend $200 million on advertising this year to expand its online branding into television, radio and print.

To make the transition from Internet advertiser to a traditional media buyer, Vistaprint is expected to say today that it has hired Don LeBlanc, a former Staples Inc. marketing executive who helped create the ubiquitous “That was easy!’’ campaign.

As its new chief marketing officer, LeBlanc, 42, will be charged with engineering the same sort of memorable identity for Vistaprint

Revenue for the third quarter of Vistaprint’s fiscal year grew to $203.7 million, a 23 percent increase from the $166 million reported in the same quarter a year ago, and its operating income was $25.6 million, a 44 percent increase compared to the same quarter a year ago.

Some of the 1,435 Groupon users trying to redeem a March 2 deal that offered $50 worth of “Personalized Printing Online” from Vistaprint for $10 to customers in Baton Rouge, LA, found that the Vistaprint site initially lacked the field for entering the coupon code at checkout...The new site included the missing entry field for the Groupon code. It also readjusted sales rates so that a flat-rate 30 percent—or, in some cases, 31 percent—discount applied to all items.

...the prices for an item can depend on the day it’s purchased or the site through which users access Vistaprint.

Customers can design personalized apparel on the company’s site with simple point-and-click tools to specify text and to select fonts, colors and images. There are no setup fees or stitching charges even for minimum orders of a single item.

Vistaprint’s revenue for the second quarter of fiscal year 2011 grew to $234.1 million, a 20 percent increase. Its operating income was $38.2 million, a 24 percent increase compared to the same quarter a year ago. Approximately 2.2 million new customers were acquired.

The company’s inclusion was based on employee opinions about company leadership, compensation and training, diversity/inclusion, career development, family-friendly flexibility, and values and ethics. The Globe invited 1,160 employers to participate and 236 organizations went all the way through the process.

With publicly held companies on the 2010 Printing Impressions 400 reporting sales declines for their most recently completed fiscal years, pay levels for the principal officers at these large firms didn't necessarily follow suit. For most of the executives appearing here, their overall salaries were up significantly.

It is not surprising to note that much of the commercial printing industry news in 2010 was dominated by the continuing struggle of printers trying to reconcile employee ranks with dwindling press hours. White-collar crime was rampant and, in some instances, theft indirectly led to closures.

More than 875 U.S.-based micro businesses entered Vistaprint’s contest for a chance to receive one of four $10,000 marketing makeovers. The Tea Leaf was selected as a winner because owner Sally Collura’s story can serve as an inspiration to budding entrepreneurs across the country.

Vistaprint implemented a new organizational structure with the creation of the roles of Chief Customer Officer and Chief Operating Officer and the promotion of two senior executives who will lead the North American and European business units. In its first-quarter 2011 financials, the company reported revenue grew to $170.5 million, an 18 percent increase over revenue of $145.1 million reported in the same quarter a year ago.