January 2009

Firm produces sizzle reels
NewYorkCity—SizzleIt!offersspecialized expertiseintheproductionofsizzlereels. The company aims to become the go-to sourceforcreative,engagingandeffective sizzlereelsandpromovideos.SizzleIt’s management team has over 20 years of experience andadedicationtomakingclients’ liveseasier.Itsclientsincludeseveralhigh profileorganizations suchasBlueManGroup, NBC Universal, CBS, Hewlett-Packard, the EricTrumpFoundation andmanytoppublic relations,marketingandadvertisingfirms.

Sizzle reels are three-to-five minute videos that combine visuals, audio, and messaging to create a fast paced, stylized overview of a product, service, initiative or brand. Sizzles can be part of any business’ B-2-B or B-2-C communications process and help convey key messages to consumers, clients, and other target audiences. They are especially effective for marketing and public relations campaigns.

The firm’s team has developed an effective three-step production process to optimally convey clients’ messages to viewers:

1. Sizzle It! works with clients to collect the ‘right’ media assets (videos of TV appearances, images of magazine placements,etc.)anddeterminesif additionalmediawill beneededforthe project.
2. Thecompanyproducesnewassets,suchas scripts, videos, photos, graphics and audio.
3. Sizzle It! promo designers, voice-over talents, and editors create a customized tone,pace,and feelthatencapsulatesthe client’smessage.
   

The company seeks to be the most recognizable name in sizzle reel production and become the ‘easy button’ for public relations firms, marketing and advertising agencies, convention and conference organizers, not-for-profit organizations, small and large businesses, entrepreneurs and other companies that need to get the word out. For more information, please contact executive producer Scott Gerber at scott@sizzleit.com.

New software facilitates TransPromo
BOCA RATON, FL—Pitney Bowes Emtex Software, a division of Pintey Bowes Inc. and a leading provider of Production Intelligence® Workflow Solutions for print and mail operations, has recently released P/I Wizard Software, a new product which has a document-driven and browser-based interface that is designed to simplify job preparation for a variety of complex applications, including digital color and Transpromo. The comprehensive P/I Wizard delivers a suite of capabilities designed to simplify print job preparation and increase workflow productivity without scripting.

“With the P/I Wizard, organizations now have the tools at their fingertips, to enable them to greatly improve operational productivity and efficiency with one workflow for many processes” said Tim Moylan, president, Pitney Bowes Emtex Software in a statement. “Because the P/I Wizard does not modify underlying processes or the host application, it provides versatile functionality with a single interface. The P/I Wizard simplifies the migration to digital colour, improves processing integrity, and transforms legacy statements and invoices into powerful Transpromo documents.”

The new P/I Wizard integrates with the Emtex Production Intelligence suite of solutions for seamless control. The P/I Wizard helps to ensure applications are properly aligned for data capture and process control. The scalable Production Intelligence architecture gathers data about every important aspect of print and mail operations in real time and makes it available as actionable information.
As operations replace pre-printed offset shells and migrate black-and-white applications to plain-paper colour printing, the P/I Wizard document development capabilities can streamline and accelerate colour migration. Significant savings may result by eliminating expenses for offset printing, version updates, storage, and inventory waste.

The P/I Wizard can be used as an alternative or in addition to ongoing professional services for developing new applications. Its automated processes eliminate time-consuming manual scripting. Users can more easily build Transpromo applications by leveraging planned or remnant white space to dynamically include relevant images, text, and insert pages in print-ready transaction applications.
In addition, the P/I Wizard lets print-to-mail operations apply barcodes, create piece-level tracking files, and index print files to aid processing integrity and help to maintain regulatory compliance. Barcode generation within existing applications enables closed-loop tracking and reconciliation. Intelligent Mail® barcode generation lets users take advantage of the potential cost benefits and services. Pitney Bowes Emtex Software is a business unit of Pitney Bowes Document Messaging Technologies (DMT) and an industry leader in providing the most comprehensive suite of Production Intelligence mailstream solutions to link print and mail workflow. Emtex solutions are used at more than 800 productions sites worldwide, across vertical industry. For more information, visit www.emtex.com.

SCAN expands global services and insight
Toronto, ON—AgencyLink Inc., a consultancy that specializes in marketing and communications client-agency relationship management in Canada, has joined SCAN International to provide Canadian corporate marketers with global services and insight.

SCAN International has partners and associates in the United States, United Kingdom, the Netherlands, France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and now Canada.

“AgencyLink better positions SCAN International to service our multi-national clients, especially those located in the U.S. that have North American responsibility,” said Joanne Davis, partner in SCAN International and founder of Joanne Davis Consulting Inc. in New York. “We selected AgencyLink because it shares the same values and approach as SCAN to client-agency relationship consultation. AgencyLink’s seasoned professionals have solid reputations and an impressive track record in consulting, agency searches, as well as the ability to enhance marketing ROI for clients.”

AgencyLink was formed in January 2008 to conduct marketing and communications agency searches, consult on existing agency relationships and deliver workshops to improve client-agency performance. The organization works with clients that use one or a variety of external agencies for public relations, advertising, branding, digital marketing, promotions, direct marketing, government relations, investor relations, editorial, corporate social marketing, sponsorship, word-ofmouth, and marketing strategy. For more information, please visit www.agencylink. ca, or www.scaninternational.com.

AdFarm wins big at 2008 Best of CAMA
Calgary, AB AdFarm celebrated the reward of hard work, driving deeper into agriculture and terrific partnerships with their clients at the 25th Best of CAMA awards, winning 22 awards including Best of Show in the Marketing and Ad Campaigns and Advertising Vehicles categories.

The annual event -recognizing excellence in agricultural communications and marketing -was held in Quebec City on November 6, sponsored by the Canadian Agri-Marketing Association. The awards included national campaigns, print, television and radio ads, special events, experimental marketing, product sales and public relations.

“Our success in such a broad range of categories demonstrates AdFarm’s commitment to driving deeper for our clients,” said Nolan Berg, AdFarm CEO in a statement. “Receiving this level of recognition for our passion and hard work simply fuels our commitment to deliver the best for all our clients.”

AdFarm awards include work on behalf of the following clients -Bayer CropScience, UFA, Fred Mertz, Flowers Canada, Alberta Beef Producers and Dow AgroSciences. Best of Show Marketing and Advertising Campaign was awarded for the Bayer CropScience Infinity® launch, and Best of Show Advertising was awarded to the Bayer CropScience Titan® print campaign.

“Our exclusive commitment to agriculture provides us with a unique perspective that allows us to communicate authentically and with relevance to farmers and rural communities,” noted Berg.
AdFarm is one of North America’s largest marketingandcommunicationsagencies focusedexclusivelyonagriculture,with locationsinCalgary,Guelph,Winnipeg, KansasCityandFargo.AdFarm’sclientrosteris comprisedofbusinesseswith expertiseincrop protection, seed, fertilizer, farm equipment, livestock, animal health and genetics, finance and accounting, and agricultural retailing.

TransPromo pilot builds brand and boosts hotel bookings
InfoPrint Solutions Company, a joint venture between IBM and Ricoh, announced that Best Western International has successfully grown awareness for its own branded credit card, and increased revenues through incremental bookings via implementation of a TransPromo pilot. The scheme replaced inserts previously included with the program statement, with personalized and targeted promotions on quarterly rewards statements, sent to a segment of Best Western Gold Crown Club International rewards card customers in North America. The program was executed as part of the Routes to Revenue research initiative released by the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council, highlighting key opportunities for companies looking to drive growth and customer engagement through highly personalized, relevant and measurable campaigns.

The eight week pilot promoted the Best WesternbrandedMasterCardamongrewards card members, and encouraged guests to upgrade their membership level through increased hotel usage. The program was carried out with a group of 100,000 guests; 50,000 of whom became the control group and the other 50,000 received TransPromo communications.Theprimarymarketing campaign highlighted Best Western's fall promotion,entitled“MoreRewards,Faster.” The scheme encouraged hotel guests to stay duringasettimeperiodtoearndoublepoints ormiles,whichcouldthenbeusedonfree nights,airlinemiles,gascardsandmore. This promotion,inturn,increasedthenumberof customer stays and spend.

Applications for the Best Western credit card among the guests receiving the TransPromo statement were boosted by 500 percent and 15 percent more of these guests registered for the More Rewards, Faster scheme than those within the control group. More than one third (39 percent) of that group then went on to stay at a Best Western location after signing up for the promotion, remained longer than the control group, and generated 30 percent more in incremental revenue during their stay.
Best Western and InfoPrint worked together to identify 100,000 customers that were similar in their Best Western relationship. Once identified, these 100,000 rewards customers were randomly assigned, 50,000 to the test segment to receive TransPromo communications and the remaining 50,000 to receive their usual rewards statement.

The pilot was conducted at the InfoPrint Innovation Center in Boulder, Colo., and output sent to selected Best Western hotel guests on their rewards statements. InfoPrint leveraged its TransPromo Consultancy Practice and software offerings, from best of breed partners such as GMC. GMC software lets users easily design and create personalized documents, such as direct marketing materials, while enabling integration of data-driven marketing messages into statements. The pilot was being printed on its full-colour, continuous forms, inkjet, drop-on-demand printing system, the InfoPrint 5000.

Pageflex announces Innovation Award winners
Cambridge, MA– Pageflex, a division of Bitstream Inc., a leading developer of enterprise variable publishing and Web-to-print solutions, has announced the winners of its first annual Pageflex Customer Innovation Awards, presented at the Pageflex User Conference held recently in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Entries were judged on several criteria, including innovative use of Pageflex technology, how the solution solved their clients’ business problem, and excellence in storefront design and usability. The software developer is pleased to announce the winners of its 2008 Customer Innovation Awards:

• Best Cross Media Campaign: Standard Offset Printing
• Best Use of Pageflex Technology to Meet Clients’ Needs: Making Everlasting Memories
• Best Site Design Using Pageflex Storefront: Bader Rutter
• Best Storefront Business Portal: Bolder Graphics (Canada)
• Best Use of Pageflex Technology to Advance Marketing Automation: OTC Systems Ltd. (Canada)
  

Anna Chagnon, Bitstream President and CEO commented, “We developed the Pageflex Customer Innovation Awards to highlight the innovative ways in which our customers are using Pageflex to expand their offerings and meet their clients’ needs. The winners of this year’s awards represent what is possible when you bring together great technology with innovative ideas. We salute the winners of this year’s awards, and we hope they will inspire others.”