"I don't know your company. I don't know your product. I don't know you. Now what was it you wanted to see me about?" That's my best recollection of the caption on a cartoon published by McGraw-Hill many years ago showing a crusty purchasing agent addressing a perspiring young salesman. I've never forgotten it. I can't think of a better illustration of the value of a brand. These days we hear a lot about "branding," the value of a "brand." In the world of sports, for example, we recognize personalities such as Michael Jordan or John Madden as "brands." I glanced at the title of a
In my March 1999 column, I included a print salesperson survey and promised to send a magic "sales power" paperweight to everyone who completed and mailed in the survey. I hope I never weaken and make this kind of offer again. The mailman has been bringing in bags of surveys, and I am bone-tired from wrapping these little boxes. Furthermore, in a post-column wave of euphoric largess, I decided to send every survey respondent a Sean McArdle audio tape and my book, "Now Get Out There and Sell Something!" So, this whole stupid survey idea has cost me a bunch of money, and I had to tabulate
There are few signs that current, favorable conditions for paper pricing and availability will change anytime soon. BY ERIK CAGLE The current market prices for coated and uncoated groundwood and free sheet are progressing like a '74 Pinto spinning its wheels in the snow: going nowhere slowly and, if anything, digging itself into a deeper hole. Don't expect "CNN" to break into its regular news coverage with a special market report on paper. Same low prices, different day. Same high availability, different quarter. And still no drastic changes in sight. The price increases being implemented aren't taking hold, according to Karen Kelty, director of marketing for King
Lotta talk these days about the business "model." Entire industries and individual enterprises are being driven to reconsider their operations and to make major changes in their functions and methods. Nowhere is this more prevalent than with those businesses directly confronting the Internet phenomenon, such as booksellers, travel agencies, auto dealers, stock brokerages and so on. And now printing companies, also, should review their long-standing business model. Already, supply-chain linkage—where demands of the publisher pass to paper and ink suppliers, to printer, to color separation and to distribution list maintainers—is now under study by a few printers. Demand/supply shortening via the Internet will alter the
This column is way out on the edge. It falls in the category of "experimental prose." It has not been approved for general use by any government agencies. As a matter of fact, if you are . . . 1. pregnant; 2. suffering from high blood pressure; 3. wearing mittens to prevent thumb sucking; 4. wearing mittens to prevent scratching your eyes out; or 5. wearing a straight jacket . . . then, you probably should excuse yourself from this column now. Come to think of it, if you are reading this from a hospital bed, ring the nurse button now and have this magazine incinerated with the medical
We're shaking our heads. We just cannot believe that the U.S. economy continues to flourish month after month, year after year. Low unemployment rates, negligible inflation, low interest costs, soaring productivity, a surplus in place of a deficit, all of this and more, while Russia, Japan, Southeast Asia, Brazil and other countries are sinking in recession. There are as many explanations for this economic phenomenon as there are economists! There are a number of factors operating and interacting. But I'm most impressed with this suggested reason: the impact that IT—Information Technology—is now having on the economy; IT has replaced manufacturing as the driving force
We are all at risk of staying too long. Whether as a guest or in a business meeting or even, I suppose, as a columnist. Knowing when it's time to leave may be no less important for columnists than it is for boxers and ballplayers. For me, that time has come. I haven't lost a step, and I'm still at the top of my game. But nothing erodes desire and competence faster than the loss of motivation. I have sold my business. Confident that my former clients are now in the strong and very capable hands of Charlotte Seligman, my colleague of many years, I am
The printing industry never gets any publicity in the national media. Television, magazines and newspapers ignore us. It's as if commercial printing didn't exist. The graphic arts industry gets no attention or respect. If I'm not mistaken, we are something like the third largest employer and the seventh or eighth largest industry in terms of the dollar value of our production. I think I'm about right. You can look it up. The technology sector gets tremendous coverage on television and in newspapers. Intel, Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, Sun MicroSystems and all those Internet companies get lots of press. Cocktail party conversations abound with tales of fortunes
BY ERIK CAGLE Let's face facts. Paper is not exactly chic these days. There is nothing more appalling than a printing commodity strutting around while wearing last year's price tag. Unless, of course, you're a paper purchaser for a commercial printer. Unchanged prices make this person the most popular man/woman in the eyes of estimators and the person drawing up the next budget. That explosion you heard was definitely something else, not an increase in paper prices. Uncoated free sheet experienced a first quarter boost in some circles, but a number of observers wonder if they will take hold. In short, nothing's changed since
Paper manufactured overseas is comparatively inexpensive and readily available, but what's its long-term potential for commercial printers here in the United States? BY ERIK CAGLE Like Beanie Babies and baseball cards, foreign paper has become too much of a good thing. The respective markets all reached a saturation point, but when it comes to paper, you won't hear any printers complaining about the situation. Collectors may bemoan the dwindling value of Rainbow the Unicorn or a 1984 Fleer Update Kirby Puckett, but it's not likely the decline in price for Phoeno Star No. 2 is going to make a commercial printer throw a mug
