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Tag Archives: Business Extension Bureau
November QR Code 2013
Be sure to scan this month’s QR Code from your interactive BEB Calendar! Or you can see where it takes you by clicking here!
Happy Halloween
Have a safe and fun Halloween!
@BEBTX Reaches 800!
Wow! Thank you (so much) for helping us to achieve 800 followers on our Twitter account. All of them acquired organically too!
What has 3 Cactus, 1 pair of boots,
QUESTION:
What has 6 Bunnies, 38 little running bunnies, 3 Texas Long Horn Cattle Heads, 2 Cow Skulls, 3 Snakes, 2 Buffalo, 2 Lizards, Spindle Top, 1 Cotton bloom, the 2nd tallest monument in the US (Our San Jacinto Monument), 1 battleship, 2 feathered head dresses, the phrase; “Fortune Favors the Brave” – in Latin, 3 Cactus, a picture of Sam Houston, 1 pair of boots, 1 cowboy hat, and can only be redeemed when presented by a person born in Houston, during the month of August, in the year 1836 AND accompanied by both parents?
ANSWER:
This amazing direct mail insert from 1952 for Houston toy company, Texantics Unlimited! Be sure to check out the serial numbers too!
2BN TXS S 2BN XTC
To Be in Texas is to be in ecstasy
EZ2CYURA HOUSTONIAN
Easy to see you’re a Houstonian
6¢ First Class stamp
As we continue our story on Direct Mail Diamonds from the past, check out this gem we uncovered from December 1970.
Men made up 71% of our national workforce and the marketing message reflects it. Check out the reply card; “Gentlemen: I am interested in discussing…”
This piece was printed on textured card stock using 2 colors (which was leading edge), and the reply card is business reply mail. Note the First Class, 6¢ Stamp with Franklin D Roosevelt’s image on the outgoing envelope.
The content is solid direct marketing that stands the test of time. The marketer discusses the importance of a mail list and reviews how to better target. It reads; “We can even breakdown lists by area, income, automobile, hobbies or club affiliations.” Using demographics to identify your audience is the fundamental marketing principle that holds true today. The complexities of our list compilations have significantly increased, and the messaging has changed to incorporate a more diverse audience. However, the basics of direct mail remain unchanged and are unquestionably one of the most powerful and lasting forms of advertising today.
FUN FACTS FROM 1970:
- The annual inflation rate was 5.8%
- The average US Salary was $9,400
- One gallon of gas cost 36¢
- We celebrated the first Earth Day
- 100,000 people demonstrated in Washington DC against the Vietnam War.
- #1 Pop Song in the nation was “My Sweet Lord” by George Harrison
- #1 movie was “Love Story”
1969 – 3 Steps for While-U-Wait Printing
As we continue to share the direct mail gems (or blasts from the past); we review how printing has changed in the last 44 years.
Above is a view of a self-mailer sent in August of 1969. The marketing mailer promotes “Fast and Economical print” or reproductions; and explains how the process worked in 3, easy steps:
- YOU PROVIDE US WITH A PHOTO READY ORIGINAL COPY: May be typed, previously printed, drawn, paste-up – Black or Red on white paper reproduces best. Originals on dark paper or with Grey, Blue or Green ink may not print well.
- WE PLACE YOUR ORIGINAL IN AN AUTOMATED CAMERA AND ALMOST INSTANTLY MAKE A PHOTO OFFSET PLATE (MASTER).
- AND FROM THIS PLATE, WE PRINT 10 – 10,000 COPIES, AS YOU WISH.
It is amazing when you consider how much has changed within the printing arena over the last 40-years. Today’s digital presses don’t even use plates and the quality of their output rivals offset printing. Each printed piece can be personalized, press runs have minimal waste and small quantities are now affordable.
1969 was ripe with change. When this mail piece was delivered, The Woodstock Music and Art Festival was unfolding. The Haunted Mansion attraction opened at Disneyland California, Honky Ton Women by the Rolling Stones was number 1 on the Billboard music charts and movies such as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Midnight Cowboy and Easy Rider topped box office sales.
WHERE WERE YOU IN AUGUST OF 1969?
Woman’s Touch – An article from August 1966
One of the (many) benefits of working for a company that has been in business since 1949, is finding unique discoveries from years past. Earlier this week our founder, Bob Royall, shared a couple of mail pieces with us that he found “tucked away” in a drawer.
The first was a newsletter from a company called Tom’s Print Shop in Zanesville, Ohio. The piece was created in August 1966. The newsletter covers some interesting dates with fun facts such as:
August 1, 1659– William Prynne, an English Puritan and member of Parliament, opened a crusade against bobbed hair for women
August 5, 1884– Cornerstone laid for pedestal of Statue of Liberty.
There is an article on Hamburgers, stating that more than 70 million were eaten every day in America in 1966, while today 100 million are consumed daily. An article on a boating boom, a piece on Economic Waste reviews the cost to clean up litter and a review of the “new” IRS computers are also included.
My favorite is entitled, Woman’s Touch. Its content is below and we hope you enjoy!
It seems to me that being a woman in business, in the finest sense, means being always a pleasure to work with and supplying the qualities that women best supply in business-serenity and calm, grace in all situations, warmth, strength, and intelligent understanding. And being a woman in business means using to the full, women’s special creative abilities on the job, whatever it may be. So look like a girl, act like a lady, think like a man, work like a dog, but I urge you, be a woman.-Mrs. Jean Simpson, Vice President
October QR Code 2013
Be sure to scan this month’s QR Code from the BEB Interactive Calendar! Or you can click here to see where it takes you!
Print 13
Over the past week our industry has been watching the big show known as PRINT 13. This year’s show focused on the digital print arena and emerging markets connected to the platform.
A myriad of who’s who in the print industry, such as Xerox, Ricoh, Komori and Konica Minolta attended this once every 4-year chapter of Graph Expo. Industry expert Barb Pellow of Info Trands wrote a great synopsis of the incredible show for “What They Think”, and gives highlights of the software and hardware debuts. Check out the article in its entirety by clicking here!