Every few weeks I write a post about recent news items that cross my desk having to do with communication trends, printing and/or content marketing. Today’s post is one such blog, and it even includes a tiny little video I shot. Don’t judge me. Enjoy.

1. Ok, check this out: the Smithsonian is publishing a new quarterly magazine that’s bound to be exquisitely designed, written and produced. Smithsonian Journeys will be the first commercial publication done by Smithsonian Enterprises in 3 decades. Why is this significant? It’s in print. It’s clearly something of high value. Read more here: http://nyti.ms/1SADAR

2. What might Mercedes-Benz’ head of marketing say to marketing innovators? Here’s an interesting Q&A with Dr. Jens Thiemer. He says the most important marketing topic to him is finding new ways to inspire customers and attract new ones; i.e., customer engagement. The company has a digital “ecosystem” just for customers, called “Mercedes me.” They started it in the spring of 2014.

What’s the heart-and-soul of this ecosystem? Customized content. “With customized content we increase the retention period of customers using Mercedes me. …We want to give our customers the Best Customer Experience thinkable.”

As graphic arts providers, how can you apply this notion to your companies? What types of customized content would tighten the bonds you have with your customers?

3. I stumbled upon Mary Meeker’s 2015 Internet Trends, and in my mind, there’s incredibly valuable data affecting the graphic arts industry. It’s an annual report done by Ms. Meeker, who heads digital investments for Silicon Valley VC firm, Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers.

Here are just a couple of the things that caught my eye from this article:

“Mobile Internet use is growing faster than Internet usage in general: There are 2.8 billion Internet users, up 8 percent from 2014, and 2.1 billion mobile Internet users, an increase of 23 percent.”

“The mobile ad industry as a whole grew 34 percent year over year, while desktop digital advertising only grew 11 percent.”

“This year, Americans spend close to three hours [with the mobile Web], more time than they spend on laptops.”

“Vertical screens and vertical content are a big deal now with 29 percent of people’s daily screen time spent looking at smartphones.” (compared to 5 percent 5 years ago)

The main takeaways clearly deal with the growth of mobile, and how more and more business transactions are being done and will continue to be done within mobile apps. You can access slides from her full report via this link (there are nearly 200 slides), and it’s worth your time. They touch on trends set by teenagers, user-generated content, and lots more innovative ways people are communicating via mobile.

Surely this has an impact on how all of us can expect to be doing business.

4. A marriage between PRINT & SOCIAL in this success story: Furniture brand Z Gallerie has done something fabulous. They experimented with direct mail and “inadvertently” lit a fire in their social community. Just a brilliant example of what creative marketers can do using print and digital channels. You must read all about it. This integrated campaign involves a print catalog, Instagram, email, their web site, and their own social channels. Huge success — should inspire all of us.

5. I came across another example of “when only print will do.” Have a look at a very I took of something powerful in print. You can’t convey everything digitally. Sometimes it has to be ink-on-paper.

6. Finally, I loved landing on this recent WSJ article about how critical the design of wine labels is. This quote will please all of you designers and label manufacturers: “A wine label with wide appeal is a winery’s single greatest sales tool.” I hadn’t thought about it before, but how true.

Here’s a free content marketing tip: if you produce wine labels, this article is a great excuse to write about your work. Share this article with your audience. As a rule of thumb, look for news items that feature things you do. Turn them into terrific content. You’ll get a lot of mileage out of them.

That’s all for today, folks.

(c) 2015 Margie Dana