TAXI DELIVERS KNOCKOUT PUNCH - Strategy

custom publishing
Minding content, mining awareness
Digital media is changing the face of custom publishing. What
was predominately tangible, glossy and delivered to your doorstep
is quickly morphing into something interactive, bespoke
and delivered to your BlackBerry.
“We deliver digital content solutions
that cut through the clutter,” says Joe
Barbieri, Redwood Custom Communications
VP of marketing and business
development. “We are focused on
crafting very targeted content solutions
that reach high-value customers
and maximize ROI.” The benefi ts are
numerous, from increased frequency
of contact at an achievable price point
to creating more transactional environments.
But, notes Redwood president
and CEO Eric Schneider, it’s not
the media that ultimately adds value.
“What gives intrinsic value to magazines
still holds the power, and that’s
content,” he says.
Redwood – which boasts an international
reach from offi ces in New
York and Toronto, and affi liated offi ces
in London and Tokyo – has an awardwinning
track record for creating results-driven content. “It’s never
content for content’s sake, we’re strategically grounded,” says Barbieri.
“As a marketing agency, our priority is to bring innovative
How has digital distribution affected
custom publishing?
We have a fundamental principle that
content is the value proposition, but your
content has to be integrated across media.
That integration means those ideas
have to come from a media-neutral root.
How does Redwood foster a medianeutral
approach?
We’ve avoided creating media silos – we
don’t have an interactive division and a
print division and a DM division. Instead,
we have brand teams. The brand teams
are aligned with a client and are focused on
the brand and understanding the client’s
customers. This way, you’re solving issues
at a media-neutral level and then executing
by using the appropriate disciplines.
s20 november 2008
Redwood launched Aeroplan Arrival magazine in September
2008 for Aeroplan. To learn more about Redwood visit
redwoodcc.com/portfolio
Built for tomorrow
Redwood: ready for the future
Who’s on these brand teams?
For online initiatives, there’s often a web
master, a web editor, a web design expert.
But they attend the same brainstorming
sessions and meetings as people that
work on print – they plan together. A
centralized leadership ensures there are
people at a very senior level with diverse
experience across media, whether it’s
interactive or print, also working across
these brand teams.
How signifi cant is interactive now?
About 25% of our revenues are interactive.
We have a very large commoditybased
print side that almost distorts the
overall value. (The commodity side of
print is much higher when you take into
account paper, print, postage.) From
sponsored supplement
strategic thinking to our creative work, and to help brands realize
competitive advantage. We cater to leading North American
brands such as Sears, Sobeys and Aeroplan, and have the network
in place to service global brands such as P&G, Mazda, Volvo and
Land Rover.
Where product-focused marketing
initiatives aim to entice people when
they’re in a purchase phase, Redwood
focuses on the consumer’s interests
to create awareness, build loyalty,
promote advocacy for a brand and,
ultimately, entice them to buy at all
points in the relationship. “Content
can create an interest to consumers
that might need to be moved along
the purchase cycle,” says Schneider.
“A story founded in brand principles
but not overtly marketing in its orientation
is still of interest.” In other
words, instead of “Buy Philadelphia
cream cheese” the message is embedded
into a lifestyle story rich in
take-away: “Here are 10 ways to use
Philadelphia cream cheese to whip
together a meal that’s quick, nutritious,
tried and tested.” In the case of
automotive, there’s typically a three-to-fi ve year gap between
purchase and repurchase; custom publishing initiatives keep
customers engaged with the brand in the intervening years.
a workload perspective it’s probably
somewhat higher than 25%.
What’s the next frontier for
custom publishing?
Mobile devices will give consumers an
opportunity to access content that will
reinforce and support a purchase decision
at ‘the first moment of truth’, or
at the point of sale (the retail environment).
Say you’ve read a recipe, but
when you get to the store you’re lost
about what you need. There’s technology
out there, that can enable consumers
to scan a UPC code and end up in
a content environment that will give information
about how you use that product,
what other products they need, and
so on.