Agile approaches for uncertain times

A local printer has not only endured seismic shifts in its industry and thrived but has also reimagined itself by staying close to its customers and taking cues from their requests and feedback.

The parent company of Cultivate Communications, Heritage Printing, has offered a wide spectrum of services to support its customers’ needs, providing a one-stop shop for design, printing and mailing services for many years. A recent study conducted by Cultivate revealed that Heritage customers continue to appreciate its broader focus.

In fact, it has spurred a deeper emphasis on providing marketing services to Heritage customers who use printing as the hub of their marketing, but want help developing and deploying multi-touch marketing programs that include email and social media channels.

The challenge

Heritage’s goal was to formally harness the power of this organic direction that the business was already taking. The challenge: Create a strategic and sustainable brand. To develop and brand these offerings, Heritage leveraged the strategic and creative team that shares a roof with Heritage. Yep, Cultivate.

The solution

We teamed up to carve out a new niche for Heritage and named the new, value-added service “Heritage+.”

Heritage now offers full A-to-Z services that include:

1. Strategy and planning
2. Data development and analysis
3. Creative messaging and design
4. Distribution channels (which includes print, email, social media, advertising and PR)
5. KPI measurement analysis

“Heritage+ provides our clients with a more strategic, response-driven approach to marketing,” explains Heritage and Cultivate President Bob Wendt. “It significantly increases the odds that their direct marketing campaigns will generate the awareness and leads they need to grow their organizations.”

According to the Data & Marketing Association (DMA), direct mail averages a 29% median ROI, outperforming paid search and online display advertising. Also, data from the U.S. Postal Service says that direct mail recipients purchase 28% more items and spend 28% more money than people who don’t get that piece of direct mail. Many Heritage customers recognize the power of print combined with other marketing channels to help them reach their audiences.

During the last several years, marketers have placed a great deal of emphasis on inbound marketing. But quietly, direct (outbound) marketing has started a rebound. Just look at the growing focus on Account-Based Marketing (ABM). Accordingly, Cultivate developed a plan for Heritage to support companies that believe in a combination of inbound and outbound as a strategy to drive growth.

According to the Aberdeen Group, companies with an extremely strong focus on integrated customer marketing see a 9.5% year-over-year increase in annual revenue, compared to 3.4% for companies with a weak omnichannel approach.

The right combination of inbound and outbound is as unique as the one-of-a-kind fingerprint of each business. Heritage has accumulated a vast knowledge of best practices that suggest that integrated approaches are the most effective. Customers can benefit from this expertise by using its new Heritage+ program.

In summary, Cultivate helped Heritage to expand and enhance its core offerings to support its customers’ evolving needs. To support this new direction, Cultivate developed an identity – Heritage+ – that extends and adds new value to the company’s well-respected brand. It is also helping Heritage to implement a targeted marketing strategy in two key markets where it has a strong track record of expertise and success.

Stay tuned for updates to the Heritage+ story!