So here we have a multi-billion dollar major advertising medium, delivering hundreds of billion pieces of communications
to millions of consumer households every year, involving thousands of businesses and several huge industries,
that retailers pour money into by the millions ... and there's almost no information on how it's done.
For this report, we've had to beg, borrow and steal
from other areas, learn lessons from what retailers are actually doing, and lean on
our experience in retail, advertising, and newspapers. We've had to sort out what works, what's witchcraft, and
what witchcraft works.
And are there 50 ways to improve your preprints? This report
goes through more than just 50 suggestions. You may be doing many of these already. But when it comes to preprints, there are
more ways to go wrong than to get it right.
KubasPrimedia is a marketing research and consulting firm active in both retail and media. There Must Be 50 Ways To Improve
Your Retail Preprints was created to mark our 25th year in business.
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Chapter
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Page
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Executive Summary
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1
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The Setup
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What This Is About
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6
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Do Preprints Work?
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7
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What It’s Worth
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8
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State Of The Un-Industry
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8
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Best Practices?
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9
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The Big Picture
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1
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Understand The Objectives
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10
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2
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Know Your Costs
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11
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3
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Work Out The Economics
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12
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4
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Look Out For Creeps
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14
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5
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Think Investment-Making
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15
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6
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Guess What, You’re In The Publishing Business
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16
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Program Size
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7
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"How Much Should I Be Spending?"
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17
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8
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Tune In To Purchase Cycle
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19
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9
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Budget For Critical Mass And Quantum Leaps
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20
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10
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Go As Frequently As Possible
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21
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Format, Size, Pages
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11
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Size To Show Store Selection
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22
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12
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Keep Footprint To 10½” By 12”
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23
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13
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Work Width First
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24
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14
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Minimize White Wastage
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25
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15
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But Format For Readability
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26
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16
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Optimize Items Per Page
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27
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17
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Optimize Number Of Pages
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29
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18
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Plan Space With Layout Control
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30
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19
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Stick With The Program
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32
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20
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Later, You Can Cheat A Little
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33
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Get It On Paper
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21
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Use The Right Paper For The Job
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34
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22
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Full Color Almost Always
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36
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23
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Know Your Printer’s Capabilities
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37
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24
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Print It To Proof It
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38
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25
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Avoid Origami
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39
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In The Ink
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26
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Most Ink Is Good Ink
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40
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27
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Don't Bleed
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41
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28
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Get Or Forget Your Favorite Color
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42
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29
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Watch The Blends And Fades
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43
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Strategic Content
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30
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Have The Right Content
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44
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31
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Plan Ahead, But Be Flexible
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45
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32
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Use Content Versioning
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46
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33
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Use Price Zoning
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47
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34
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Administrative Content Is Not The Most Essential
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48
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35
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Consider Spot Editorial
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49
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36
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Brand It
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50
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37
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Theme It
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51
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Pricing
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38
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Show The Savings
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52
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39
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It Doesn’t Have To Be On Sale
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53
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40
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Lose The Loss Leaders
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54
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41
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Be Careful With Coupons
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55
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Key Layout Issues
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42
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Make The Front Page Work For You
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57
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43
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Make The Back Page Work For You
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58
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44
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Make Page 3 Work For You
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59
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45
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Make The Centerfold Work For You
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60
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46
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You Know Where You Can Put The Store Hours
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61
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47
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Cluster And Flow Sections
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62
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48
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Size Speaks, So Say The Right Thing
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63
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Design And Graphics
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49
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Use Photography For Everything
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64
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50
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Show The Product, Not The Package
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65
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51
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Control The Background
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66
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52
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Patrol Your Borders
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67
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53
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Keep It In Proportion
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68
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54
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Pitch High And Outside
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69
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55
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Flag It To Flog It
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70
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56
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Develop Multiple Masters
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71
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Text And Type
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57
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Be Ready To Be Flexible
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72
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58
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Follow Copywriting Basics
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73
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59
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Avoid Reverse Type
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74
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60
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Avoid Vertical Type
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75
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61
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Practice Safe Sans Serif
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76
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62
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Treat Headlines As Graphics
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77
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63
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Watch The Shadows
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78
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64
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Keep The Font Count Down
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79
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Prepress
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65
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Get Good Or Get Out
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80
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66
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Pull It All Together
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81
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67
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Bank On It
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82
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Distribution
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68
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Define Your Trade Areas, Really
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83
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69
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Pick Your Spots
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84
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70
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Decide On Full, Partial, TMC, EMC, ABC, Etc.
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85
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71
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Distribute On Weekends, Or Maybe Not
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86
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72
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Deal With Distributors
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87
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73
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Question Spoilage Copies
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88
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74
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Check Up On Distributors
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89
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75
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Be Consistent With Distribution
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90
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At The Store
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76
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Whatever You Do, Be In Stock!
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91
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77
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Distribute In The Store
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92
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78
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Sign Advertised Items
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93
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79
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Consider Preview Bag-Stuffers
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94
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Use With Other Media
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80
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Preaching To The Unconverted
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95
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81
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Advertise Your Advertising
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96
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82
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Creatively Integrate
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97
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83
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Get It Up On The Web
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98
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Management
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84
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Use Vendor Co-op Wisely
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99
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85
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Decide What’s In, What’s Out
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100
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86
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Lock Up Outside Services
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101
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87
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Track Successes And Failures
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102
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88
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Get Feedback From The Store
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103
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89
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Track Your Competitors
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104
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90
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Test, Research, Be Patient
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105
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Size Small
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91
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Be More Promotional
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106
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92
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Stick To Best Bets
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107
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93
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Fold Once
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108
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94
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Use A Spot Color
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109
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95
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Concentrate
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110
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Size Large
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96
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Consider Other Media
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111
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97
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Go For Both Volume And Margin
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112
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98
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Break It Up
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113
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99
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Consider Two Per Week
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114
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The Final Kicker
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100
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You're Advertising You Too
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115
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Back