Inspiration

Well, it’s that time of year again. Among all the shopping, parties, sporting events, and other distractions, here at Roland DGA we’ve spent the last few months forecasting our sales and formulating strategies for 2012.

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We recently conducted a survey of our users who have “metallic capable” devices from our lineup, and we found some amazing nuggets I’d like to share. The survey was sent to 500+ users, with a 29% response rate, enough that the results are statistically significant. For starters, 61% of those units are set up to run our metallic Eco Sol Max inks.

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I don’t know about your office, but ours runs at 100mph for most of the year. I’m sure you can relate. If it’s not a tradeshow, it’s a product launch. If it’s not a product launch, it’s budget time. If it’s not budget time, it’s a web redesign. And so it goes. The best part is, that no matter how busy we are, we always manage to squeeze in a little fun, mostly due to our quirky staff. Last week for example, the Occupy movement set up camp, right in our department! (Notice Romie, our web guy. He’s a total Mac-head and he made his “iProtest” sign on his iPad.)

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Everyone loves a good story. Which is why whenever we’re not launching new products, we try to feature our customers’ work in our advertising and public relations. It’s our belief that seeing and reading about what a customer has done with their Roland DG inkjet, vinyl cutter, engraver or milling machine is far more engrossing and believable than us tooting our own horn.

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Back when I was in high school, our favorite burger joint advertised its secret sauce. Whatever it was made from, it gave their burgers a decidedly different taste than other hamburgers. Today, marketers often talk about successful brands having a “secret sauce” – and they’re not talking about fast food. For Apple, their secret sauce is not only inventing groundbreaking products, but packaging them in a way that is simplistic to the point of seeming obvious. As Jonathan Ive, Apple chief designer says, “It feels almost inevitable.”

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It’s been 5 months since the country of Japan was turned upside down by a pair of natural disasters and a nuclear crisis. [See Dave’s Blog immediately following the crisis “The Sun Will Rise Again] While the world headlines have turned their attention elsewhere, the Japanese people are still dealing with the consequences and working on recovery day by day.

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We recently updated the home page of our web site at Roland DGA. It sounds simple enough to do, but the reality was quite different.

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After a break that stretched too many years, I have been riding my bike a lot lately. Don’t worry, this isn’t going to be a preachy post about the value of exercise, or good nutrition. There’s a lot out there on that, and everyone should make their own choices in life. No one who has met me would mistake me for a long-lost Schleck brother, and I’ve got a very long way to go before anyone’s likely to ask me for fitness advice.

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Every summer we head to Japan for what we affectionately call, Summer Camp. The similarity it has with most summer camps is that it's typically very hot & humid in Japan at this time of the year, about 85 degrees and 85% humidity!

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In a recent article in the Harvard Business Review, Barnes & Noble was commended for their innovation and risk taking in their attempts to revive the struggling book business. They are fearlessly expanding their offering and moving away from selling printed books. The author equates this strategy to that of the dairy farmer who acquires a second cow instead of trying to get more milk out of his single cow. Its the same in durable graphics inkjet printing: if the only products in your catalog are PVC banners and stickers, printing them faster and cheaper won't expand your profits. You'll simply spend more of your time figuring out how to milk the same cow harder and faster while your business (and your profit) shrinks. Simply put, you need more cows.

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