Ask yourself why
The first step is to ask yourself why: Why do you want to get into cross-media, why do you think you’ll be good at it and why would a client come to you for the service?
"Is it just because everyone else is doing it, or just because you can?" asks John Nodding, client services director at APS Group. If so, take time out and think through your reasons carefully. This needs to be a decision that will benefit your business, that you have planned for in the long term, and you have to ensure you have the investment to put it into action properly.
Be honest
For those print companies that think they already are providing cross-media services, there is a different question: are you doing it properly?
"There are many organisations that think they are a cross-media provider because they have produced or have the ability to produce email, or text messages or other services," says Nodding. "However, just because they have the ability to output, it doesn’t mean they are a cross-media provider, as there are skills higher up the chain that are essential."
Kit
If the answer to question one was, ‘I’ve thought it through, let’s go!’ and the answer to question two was ‘Oh dear, I’ve been living a lie, help me’, you are warmly welcomed to stage three of this process: kit, or more accurately, software.
For it’s likely you have the print capabilities already – a digital press for short-run personalisation work and an offset press for long-run DM shots – but you need software to add online options such as email and SMS, and also to be able to send the same campaign to multiple output channels, without compromising quality or brand identity. For example, Virgin would not be happy if the red on their print DM was different to the red on their e-marketing, and they’d be even more annoyed if the print PDF was not resized properly when used for web marketing, so that, when viewed on an iPhone, the logo looked like one of the firm’s planes had landed on it.
The right software can ensure continuity, standardisation and proper repurposing of messages.
The kit can be as expensive or as affordable as you want to make it, but to do things properly, Gurdev Singh, managing director of direct channels at Communisis, says you have to be prepared to make a substantial investment. You also have to be aware that once that kit is installed, the investment does not end. The software provides the platform for cross-media, but Andy Bailey, director of client strategy and insight at Inc Direct, warns that in order to meet customer requirements you have to develop that software further.
"Of course you can spend money on kit and software, but soon you will realise that just buying expensive software off the shelf doesn’t fit bespoke client solutions," he says. "You need your own software team in-house to truly serve clients. We are able to mould software to suit a client to get the most out of every campaign and if you don’t have that ability then you will find it very expensive and very difficult to do cross-media properly."
Bailey hints here at hurdle number four: finding the skilled staff at every point of the cross-media process.
Staff
"The kit is relatively cheap compared to the potential staff costs," says Simon Gray, managing director at Cross Media Communications. "This is not just in terms of having the expertise to use and run the software, but also to go out into the market and build a solution for the client. This is something that is a massive barrier to those coming into cross-media, you need to find the right people to formulate the campaign, to sell the campaign and roll it out. They don’t come cheap."
In other words, having the kit is just the beginning. In order to truly provide a service you need highly trained individuals that can build and roll out a cross-media campaign. You need sales professionals that can sell a cross-media solution; you need data professionals to interpret the data and to decide the right output solutions; you need creative professionals to design and build relevant creative that can present a unified message across the channels; and you need strategy professionals to decide when and how prospects are targeted.
The margin in cross-media comes from this knowledge and these skill sets take the provider role from service-based to consultancy-based. APS Group’s Nodding says that this means you can’t take short cuts by recruiting someone green straight out of college or retraining your existing staff – this is not what is being paid for. What is needed are professionals that are experienced in a number of industries and have the knowledge base to advise properly. Singh agrees, though on the technology side, rather than the strategy side, he believes there are viable cheaper opportunities than headhunting experienced pros.
"You have kids in bedrooms writing iPod apps, this sort of thing is second nature to them," he says. "So kids coming out of college are very well trained and they are worth investing in for the technology side of the cross-media offering."
But bringing in new faces or investing in new kit is pointless, according to the experts, if the mentality of the business remains a print mentality.
The right mentality
"If you are going to do cross-media properly, it requires a complete change of mentality of the business as a whole," says Grey. "Shifting from a service industry mindset where you are selling a fixed project into a more consultative industry mindset where you have to educate and help people through the process, is essential."
Some printers may argue they do this already with their print – getting involved higher up the supply chain is a must for any printer wishing to go places. However, they do this from a print perspective and the argument from those successfully doing cross-media is that a bias towards print cannot ever enter the equation.
"You have to go down the route the client wants, not the one that you want to push," says Singh. "Often, a campaign will involve no print at all and you have to be prepared to accept that."
Grey adds that if you see cross-media as a way of filling you’re presses, you will be very disappointed. The business, he says, has to be geared to, and equally passionate about, every channel equally – not channel agnostic, but rather an ardent supporter of every output out there.
The benefits
It probably sounds like it’s more work than it’s worth, but that would be the wrong assumption to make. As Grey explains, the benefits of getting into cross-media are multiple: "You get to deal with a much more diverse set of clients, you are dealing with people that may not have ever considered print as an option, you are talking to people higher up in the marketing departments and generally it does bring in higher incomes, made more by the fact your overheads are less."
Also, as our Client Insight shows on page 18, cross-media is increasingly something buyers are after and so the work will be there for any printer willing to make the move. Sure, not everyone will be prepared to take their business down this route, but for a company with the right investment and the right attitude, cross-media services can be a profitable and rewarding direction to take your business.
The 10 commandments of cross-media
- Do not rush into cross-media without having a good think first
- Do not assume that having Microsoft Outlook Express, a digital press and a carrier pigeon means you are a cross-media supplier
- Consider the available software options carefully to ensure they fit with the scale of operation you are planning to run
- Ensure all possible output channels are covered, including television and radio, both of which can be facilitated through partnerships rather than in-house options
- Ensuring brand continuity across all outputs is
- essential
- Acquire knowledge of both the processes that go before a cross-media campaign, such as data mining, and those that come after, such as postage, so you can put your own work into context
- Ensure you have the right staff with the right level of experience for each stage of the cross-media process
- Do not have a bias for any particular channel, remain enthusiastic about all equally
- Listen to your client
- Do it properly or don’t do it at all
