Demystifying the Paper Selection Process

Paper is essential in the design and cost of your publications.

And while paper seems like a basic element, often the print terminology and project specs can be confusing. That’s ok! You don’t have to be an expert to make smart decisions, because we’re here to guide you.

Perhaps a peek at these frequently asked questions can help you understand materials, compare costs, and weigh options for your next project.

Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Paper

1. How does the “grade” of a paper affect its appearance?

Coated paper is categorized by grade levels, with a premium being at the top. Grade levels are determined by brightness, and here are several basic grades (or types) of commercial printing papers:

BOND OR WRITING = Typically used for letterheads, business forms, and copiers. Typical base weights are 16# for forms, 20# for copying, and 24# for stationery.

BOOK = The most commonly used coated and uncoated papers for printing. Ranging between 30#-110# depending on coatings.

TEXT = High-quality sheets in a variety of surfaces and colors. Used for quality printings with a lot of surface texture.

COVER = Used when greater bulk/thickness is required, such as book covers, postcards, business cards, or inserts. Available in a wide variety of surfaces and colors, typically ranging from 60# to 100#.

TAG, BRISTOL, AND INDEX = Smooth surface papers mostly uncoated, except for bristols. Often used for displays, file folders, and tickets.

Remember, paper products come with three specifications: brightness, gloss, and opacity. Typically, the higher the grade level, the higher the brightness and gloss will be.

2. Why does the paper “weight” matter?

The higher the weight, the heavier the paper.

In general, heavier papers are bulkier and sturdier, allowing fewer pages per inch. They also have greater opacity (i.e., less show-through), which offers a higher quality but also an increased mailing expense.  

3. When is lighter weight helpful?

Publications with larger page count (like magazines, booklets, or projects using a significant amount of paper) can use lightweight stocks to reduce bulk, weight, and cost.

Lighter weights can also bring a more playful, casual feel to your brochure or booklet.

4. What is the difference between coated and uncoated paper?

Uncoated paper is porous, cost-effective, and is typically used for such applications as newspaper print and basic black-and-white copying.

Coated stock paper, by contrast, is made of higher-quality paper with a smooth, glossy finish. Coated paper works well for reproducing sharp text and vivid colors. 

5. What finishing options are available for my project?

A paper’s finish can have a considerable impact on the final appearance of your printing.

Gloss finishes are sophisticated and eye-catching, with a smooth surface that allows for more precise reproduction. Matte (or dull) papers have a softer, subtle feel, and can be easier to read. Spot or foil varnishes are also available if you want to highlight some aspects on your page.

How to Choose the Right Paper for Your Next Printing

Print is beautiful, tactile, and memorable.

More than just ink on a page, the weight, texture, and sheen of your printing can tell an emotional story. Paper plays a significant role in the tone you want to communicate, but also in your bottom line. When you increase the grade or weight, you will improve quality but increase expense, so choosing between paper selections is a delicate balance between image, functionality, and cost.

Want to chat more? Give us a call to see some paper examples or discuss your options today!

Attract Clients You Love with Consistent, Stylish Marketing

In building brand awareness, a sales pitch is the hook, and consistent marketing is the “glue” that pulls your visuals and words together in a relatable way.

Marketing is about building relationships, and people commit to brands that seem dependable and trustworthy. Companies lure you in with witty slogans or incredible offers, but it’s a brand’s reliability that keeps you coming back. Customers stay loyal to brands when they feel comfortable and “in sync” with them, and the key to building that dependability is consistent, stylish marketing.

What does that look like in real life?

3 Examples of Brand-Building Marketing

Here are three organizations that do brand consistency well, and some take-home tips you can grab from their examples.

1. Charity: Water

“Charity: Water” is a non-profit organization that provides drinking water to people in developing nations.

As of 2019, the organization has raised $370 million, funding 44,000 water projects in 28 countries.

Charity: Water gives 100% of its donations to building water wells in Africa where women and children use yellow jerry cans to carry water back to their villages. The organization’s logo is a goldfinch jerry can that keeps the branding present across all platforms and keeps the charity’s focus top of mind.

Charity: Water has mastered the art of getting people to form personal connections with their brand, including online fundraising campaigns where people can link to personal events like birthdays, marathons, or life milestones. Their highly sharable content always connects incredible impact stories and graphics, including the jerry can logo.

Whether launching a campaign or publishing an annual report, Charity: Water is always on brand.

Takeaways: Build powerful connections with people through relatable stories, engaging participatory campaigns, and on-brand imaging in all you print and share.

2. FedEx

When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight . . . count on FedEx.

FedEx provides people worldwide with transportation, e-commerce, and business services. Offering “The World On Time,” FedEx has created a strong corporate identity for its professionalism and efficiency.

In addition to reliable service, the brand garnered trust through its “We Understand” campaign, which communicates the pricelessness of people’s treasures, livelihoods, and futures. Packages mean a lot to people, and FedEx hammers this home through story-based marketing, reward programs, and regular social media interactions.

Takeaways: Find slogans and campaigns that get to the heart of what people truly desire: to be heard, understood, and valued. When you think of people as a person – not just a number – they respond.

3. Target

Do people see Target as a discount store?

Probably not. With trendy campaigns and high-end designers, Target delivers more than just products, but an experience.

Beyond quality merchandise at reasonable prices, Target offers easy-to-maneuver layouts, stunning branded displays, and contemporary styles aimed directly at a specific customer persona (higher-income shoppers ages 55 and younger). Target customers appreciate the brand’s sophisticated, affordable merchandise, including an ever-changing array of trendy clothing and home accessories.

Takeaways: Solidify customer personas and identify key themes that bring a fresh, consistent viewpoint through your products and marketing. Match the theme of your marketing with the personal experience people have doing business with you.

An Artful Tapestry

The heart of consistent marketing is your brand message.

Identify personable, engaging themes, and share them through your products, in-store displays, and print pieces. Weave these elements into a beautiful tapestry, and the benefits will last well beyond any savvy marketing campaign!

Tackle Big-Picture Projects Using a Cost-Benefit Analysis

Start at the bottom.

That’s what legendary basketball coach John Wooden did every year. Wooden did not start with layups or defensive strategy – he started with shoelaces.

Coach Wooden, who won 10 championships in 12 years with U.C.L.A., had a reputation for fortifying the fundamentals before moving forward. Before his athletes played, they had to practice pulling up their socks, leaving no loose flaps in the sneakers, and pull laces tight to avoid ankle sprains.

 “He didn’t want blisters,” said former player Rich Levin. “I mean, that’s not a serious illness, but you could miss a game or two.”

Whether you’re a new business owner or a seasoned veteran, sometimes we all need to start at the bottom.

Have you refreshed the fundamentals of your business plan lately? Managing finances is essential to success, and one tool of the trade is a cost-benefit analysis. Whether you’re considering a new venture or weighing a staffing decision, a cost-benefit analysis can help you decide which projects to tackle and what resources are needed.

The Basics of a Cost-Benefit Analysis

When you perform a cost-benefit analysis (CBA), you make a comparative assessment of all the benefits you anticipate from your project and all the costs needed to implement and support the changes this brings.

Here are four steps to account for revenue and expenses in your CBA:

1. Prepare a Balance Sheet

Begin by carefully examining your costs and expenses (or money-in, money-out).

After you categorize expenses in your balance sheet, you are ready to weigh upcoming business decisions with a rubric that puts potential benefits and costs in context.

2. Give Dollar Values to Anticipated Costs & Benefits

A CBA, in a nutshell, means adding money in benefits plus money in costs over a set period of time.

A functional CBA seeks to express benefits and costs in monetary equivalents. Some CBA’s are easy to quantify. For example, adding new seating to your restaurant might incur a one-time expense of $60,000, but result in $7,000 of extra sales each month.

Clearly, those benefits outweigh the costs. 

Some CBAs are more complex. Perhaps hiring a team member will cost $40,000, but the increased sales and productivity are hard to estimate. In this case, do your best to express benefits and costs in monetary terms to facilitate the assessment of a project’s net value.

3. Weigh Future Values or Expenses

As you build your CBA, remember to make projections for all phases of the project.

Some of your costs may occur only once (like capital investment, equipment purchases, etc.), and others will be recurring (like staffing, maintenance, or increased utility bills). The farther into the future you look, the more important it is to convert the net value (of benefits over costs) into today’s dollars. As you refine your CBA, consider inflation, interest rates, and even opportunity costs (the potential benefits that might be lost by passing on a different project in favor of this one).

Here you may want to run a sensitivity analysis, which is a “what if” analysis that goes back to your CBA and plays around with assumptions. For example, if you had uncertainty about sales projections, you could vary projections by several percentage points before re-running the analysis.

4. Make an Informed Decision

Now it’s time to compare total costs to total benefits and make a decision.

Do benefits outweigh costs? Do they do so significantly? In this case, you should green-light the project. If more capital is needed, you’ll need to rethink your goals or form a new strategy.

No matter what the decision, a CBA can be critical to the success of any project, allowing you to make non-critical choices and keep your business running smoothly!

3 of the Coolest Sticker Marketing Campaigns EVER

For many decades, stickers and labels have been helping to establish brands, elect politicians, spark micro-marketing engagement, and build social proof.

Stickers and labels are more popular than ever. Just sit in a coffee shop for 20 minutes and look at the water bottles, laptops, or notebooks of young people. Stickers are not only inexpensive and enduring, but they are also fun for users!

Build an Enduring Brand with Custom Stickers and Labels

Looking for creative inspiration? Here are three examples of sticker marketing campaigns that left a tangible impression with every single viewer:

1. Cillit Bang: Destroying Dirt Wherever You Find It

Cillit Bang is a household cleaner.

To build credibility and marketing momentum, the company placed transparent stickers on coins that were halfway cleaned by the product, highlighting the contrast between the filthy and the clean. Coins were then given as change to customers, demonstrating that people could “bank on” Cillit’s ability to get the job done.

This simple sticker drove home the obvious brand message: Cillit Bang destroys dirt wherever you find it.

The effect was simple, surprising, and successful. The company saw a sales lift of 337% in markets where the campaign was implemented.

2. Gillette: The “Ouch” Factor

Could your business use stickers to supplement the materials you already have?

That’s what one razor company did.

Gillette launched a strategic marketing campaign using stickers smaller than a palm. Instead of paying for extra outdoor ads and signs in Manhattan, Gillette enhanced signs it was already using. Everywhere Gillette had an outdoor sign; they simply added a small custom sticker that looked like a bloody tissue. Stuck on the faces of the men in their ads, the stickers made it appear as if the person had nicked themselves shaving.

Gillette turned heads citywide and got people talking!

3. Le Cactus: Screaming Hot Wings

How can you pair a sticker with people’s senses?

Le Cactus answered this brilliantly with their spicy wings campaign. To build appeal for their spicy wing specials, Le Cactus put a sticker of a man screaming on the back of taxis throughout the city.  

If that wasn’t visible enough, they took things a step farther, lining up stickers so that the man’s tongue precisely laid over the cars’ brake lights. Every time the brakes were touched the tongue looked like it was burning.

At the end of the campaign, the restaurant reported increased customer visits, high-level brand recognition, and (best of all!) tingling tongues.

Any Message, Anywhere

The beautiful thing about adhesive products is that they can take any form and can be used to adapt to any existing product.

Whether your sticker or label is a stand-alone promotion or something you add to presentation folders or brochures, any brand name, slogan, or image can be used for your sticker. From window clings and car decals to logo stickers and custom product or packaging labels, well-designed stickers generate low-cost exposure, make lasting impressions, and build word-of-mouth marketing for your business.

When done right, promotional stickers can do more than promote your brand; they can become profitable products on their own.

Want to chat about adhesive marketing options? Contact us today to brainstorm!