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Multi-faceted marketing service hits next level with new press
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Published with the October 1, 2013 Baton Rouge Business Report. Copyright © 2013 Louisiana Business Inc. Special Advertising Section.
Ever wished your business could reach prospective and existing clients with an alluring promotion that actually inspired them to action because it was personalized to their specific needs and interests?
Franklin is making that happen by combining the appeal of high-caliber custom printing with the power of technology and data management.
The Baton Rouge-based company (with a second facility in Memphis) has transformed itself from the community’s beloved, iconic downtown Franklin Press into a national direct mail vendor that is forging the future of customized commercial marketing in a time when direct mail guides shopping decisions for 80% of U.S. households.
And when they say customized, they mean customized: right down to each individual customer. Let’s say you’re a bank. Using your database, Franklin can send one image and message to those in their 70s who are interested in estate planning and paying for their grandkids’ education, and another for young couples in their 20s contemplating buying a new home. Or the company can send a welcome let- ter to an entire metropolitan area, directing each resident to the branch in their particular neighborhood.
Want to send greeting cards to clients containing gift cards of varying amounts? Franklin has done that, too.
“If you have the data,” says President Ernie Seals, “we can take care of the rest.” And get this: They can have it printed and out the door in as little as 24 to 48 hours.
What makes that possible—and exceptionally affordable—is Franklin’s new HP Indigo 10000 Digital Press. The 29-inch format press makes it possible to digitally print any size application, including pocket folders, six-page bro- chures, posters and large books—and each and every one of them personalized for each of your clients.
It’s the only one like it in Louisiana.
“We can do highly targeted direct mail, versioning, small print runs and things that require rapid turnaround,” says Vice President Craig Chumney. “You can submit a job to us and we can print it instantly. We’re really pushing the envelope on turnaround time.”
If technology is more your speed, Franklin also specializes in cross-media campaigns, driving clients from direct mail pieces to customized websites using barcodes that can be scanned on any smartphone. Franklin’s creative, technology and printing teams offer the full range of services to clients: managing your database to ensure the most bang for the buck, conceptualizing and designing a direct marketing campaign, and postal optimization and delivery.
FranklinFast.com allows customers to create a direct mailing from the com- fort of their own computer, uploading artwork and mailing list and reviewing a proof without ever leaving the office.
Says Seals: “How far would you like to go?”
YEAR FOUNDED: 1922
INDUSTRY: Data/Direct Mail/Printing
PRODUCTS/SERVICES: Direct Mail/Printing
KEY INNOVATION: FranklinFast is a Web-based portal enabling remote users to create an entire direct mail campaign online in just minutes.
TOP EXECUTIVES: Ernie Seals, President; Craig Chumney, Vice President; Julie Crifasi, Chief Financial Officer & Chairman
BUZZ: “Every time we think we’re asking the impossible, the pros at Franklin come through with flying colors! They are an invaluable partner and consistently make us feel like we’re the most important client they serve.”
—Cris Melancon, Vice President of Marketing, E Federal Credit Union
Contact us to learn more!
225.927.9200
Located in Baton Rouge
IN 1985, Craig Chumney launched Baton Rouge-based DigiTrans, a data marketing and management company that attracted such customers as the FBI, American Express and NASA. Eleven years later, Chumney joined forces with Franklin, a merger that exploited Franklin’s printing expertise and the variable data skills of DigiTrans. It was a match made in direct mail heaven.
“I lead the technology race here to continue to develop from the data side, with the emphasis being on data first, mailing second and printing third,” says Chumney, who enjoys the small- company personality that resides in Franklin’s large-company tool kit. “We’ve been able to get bigger and run on a national basis with the big boys, yet
still keep the family values and entrepreneurial drive of a small company.”
CRAIG CHUMNEY, VIce President