Green team

Jun 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Katherine O'Brien

If you're a marketing professional, you've probably seen copies of Deliver, a splashy magazine dedicated to showcasing how direct mail supports marketing strategies. Launched in 2005, Deliver is a custom publication from the U.S. Postal Service — it is developed and directed from USPS headquarters in Washington, DC, and published by Detroit-based Campbell-Ewald Publishing.

A typical 32-page issue has a mix of case studies, feature stories and columns dedicated to a specific theme, such as the tactile power of direct mail or multimedia marketing campaigns. Over the past three years, Deliver has won many fans among its 350,000 subscribers.

“Packed with useful information”

Readers, mostly C-level executives, sales and marketing managers, and advertising professionals applaud its content and colorful design.

“I always find something useful to help my clients make decisions about their direct mail campaigns,” declares one reader. “And my creative team and I appreciate the cool artwork.”

Raves another: “[The magazine] is packed with useful information and ideas [for] enhancing our direct marketing efforts. It's like a conference I attend from the comfort of my office chair.”

Others call it “tremendous,” “consistently great” and “a breath of fresh air.”

Deliver devoted its September 2007 issue to all things green. “From the front to the back, we've set out to inform and instruct,” declared Cathrine “Cat” Moriarty in her editorial. “[We're] offering a range of insightful articles about how mounting environmental concerns are permanently altering direct marketing.”

The green theme carried over to the production process — every page of the magazine was printed on recycled paper with 100-percent postconsumer (PC) waste.

Readers were impressed — in a poll on www.delivermagazine.com they voted the green issue “Best of Deliver 2007.”

“This was a great issue embracing the cutting-edge issues fostering green technologies,” wrote one reader. “Living the green dream using recycled paper and environmentally friendly inks showed that you embrace that which you present. How can you not love this issue?”

A green marketing encore

In May 2008, Deliver offered another issue on green marketing. Highlights included a story on Dawn Codd, a Washington, DC-based publisher of direct mail magazines that have adopted an eco-friendly approach; an explanation of carbon offset programs; green paper myths; a yogurt mogul's marketing strategies; and stump-to-shelf paper procurement policies.

Like its predecessor, this issue was printed on recycled paper with 100-percent postconsumer-waste.

“We have been told that the Deliver green issues have offered many companies a great starting point for turning their direct marketing green,” says Lynn Sarosik, vice president and senior production specialist for Campbell-Ewald. “Many companies want to move in this direction, but are unsure about the methods to take and what green technology is available. On www.delivermagazine.com, we have an entire section devoted to this topic, with helpful tips, insights and best practices for green marketing efforts.”

Some readers praised the power of a good example. “One thing people tended to note is how Deliver not only ‘talks the talk,’ but also ‘walks the walk,’” says Sarosik. “That's exactly what Deliver did by having dedicated green issues that were printed on 100-percent recycled stock.”

Contact O'Brien at katherine.obrien@penton.com.

Weight watching

The May 2008 issue of Deliver was printed on Mohawk Options 70-lb. text. Similar jobs generally are printed on 80-lb. text, but the Mohawk paper's quality and opacity enabled the production team to spec a more lightweight paper, resulting in dramatic substrate and mailing cost savings. According to Nahan Printing, the cost difference in the paper was $15,000 and the postage savings was approximately $6,000.

Deliver was printed on an M2000 8-color web press. Nahan's diverse array of equipment includes 40-inch sheetfed presses up to 10 colors, a wide range of forms printing capabilities, and full-size web and double-web presses capable of printing up to 10 colors.

Paper trail

Deliver magazine typically is printed on Vision Velvet, a coated stock with 20 percent recycled content. “[For the green issue] we wanted an uncoated stock because it represents a more natural or recycled feel, so a 100-percent recycled stock made sense,” says Campbell-Ewald's Lynn Sarosik.

Deliver's May 2008 issue was printed on Mohawk Options 100% PC, an uncoated paper made with process-chlorine-free 100-percent postconsumer waste fiber. The paper was manufactured using nonpolluting, wind-generated energy, making it carbon neutral, too. Mohawk Options, as with all of Mohawk's papers, is manufactured with electricity generated by renewable, nonpolluting wind power. For the production of Deliver, this order of Mohawk Options was made carbon neutral within the production process.

Although Sarosik had no prior experience with Mohawk Options, some co-workers had used it for other agency projects and were pleased with the results. Meeting with a paper company rep and viewing samples reinforced the Deliver production team's positive perceptions.

“What impressed us about Mohawk Options was the finish of the paper with Inkwell Inxwell technology,” says Sarosik. “After seeing other 4-color process projects run on Options, it looked like a good solution. The paper had excellent ink holdout.”

But how would the paper perform on a high-speed web press? Campbell-Ewald asked Nahan Printing (St. Cloud, MN) to run a test roll.

“Scuffing was a primary concern, especially because the cover had a lot of white area,” Sarosik explains.

The tests went well, as did the actual results. Despite the lack of coating, transit marking wasn't a problem and the issue's cover, featuring Charles Wilkin's vibrant collage of animals, insects, flowers and fruit trees, earned kudos from many corners.

“Mohawk Options is a very consistent sheet with a nice finish on it, and because it's recycled, people are surprised when they see how nice it prints,” says Pat Nahan of Nahan Printing, which specializes in high-end commercial printing and direct marketing. He attributes the paper's durability to its bulk as well as its absorption characteristics.

Calculating the environmental impact

Want to know your project's potential environmental savings? Mohawk offers an online calculator. Here are the stats for Deliver magazine.

For more information about Mohawk's environmental initiatives, visit www.mohawkpaper.com/environment.

Celebrating green printers

Teaming with Premier sponsors Heidelberg and Kodak, AMERICAN PRINTER, in conjunction with the National Association for Printing Leadership (NAPL), has created the Environmental Excellence Awards. Other sponsors include Adobe, Air Motion Systems, HP, Mohawk and Presstek.

Winners will be announced in our next issue. Watch this space!

Three key certification programs

“There are 46 forest certification programs, but only three are widely used by printers — Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) and Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC). To use any of these trademarks, a printer must obtain a ‘Chain of Custody’ certification guaranteeing its products are traceable to their origin and managed sustainably. To obtain it, printers must establish a documented paper management plan, and a tracking and training system audited by an independent third party. Any type of printer can apply for certification, and it is a great way to show their commitment to the environment.”
— Denis Beaudin, strategic business development director, Transcontinental Book Group

Stock options

When first introduced, recycled paper was inferior to virgin pulp in price, quality and performance. As Americans continue to recycle more paper and socially responsible purchasing practices fuel demand, recycled fiber has improved in those three areas, sometimes dramatically. Coupled with environmentally friendly options for virgin pulp that isn't just marketing-speak, printers and print buyers have many green paper options available.

An improved paper manufacturing process, coupled with better post consumer fibers has created new choices. “The quality of the finished printed piece often rivals that of virgin papers,” says Laura Shore, senior vice president of communications for Mohawk Fine Papers (Cohoes, NY). “Sometimes one would be hard-pressed to tell the difference.”

Energy conservation & emission-free energy

Mohawk has taken a proactive approach to environmental stewardship, establishing itself as a leader in the use of electricity generated by renewable wind power and, in 2007, joining EPA's Climate Leader program.

The company was among the first to make papers from postconsumer recycled fiber and has continued to expand its offerings. New fiber meets third-party standards to ensure it comes from responsibly managed forests. Mohawk also has found ways to make paper bright and white without the use of elemental chlorine, keeping its hazardous byproducts out of the water supply.

On the paper trail

With so many papers, some print buyers might be overwhelmed. Nahan Printing works with customers to determine the desired look and feel of the project and then reviews potential choices.

“We also run print tests on the actual paper to make sure the results deliver what the customer is looking for,” says Pat Nahan.