10 colours to include in your 2011 marketing and loyalty campaigns for added benefit

What is going to get the attention of your clients this year?

Pantone predictions
Colour authority Pantone released their predictions in late December and as we noticed late last year– exotic, vibrant colours are on the up and up.

The colour of 2011 is Honeysuckle – a fresh, cheerful and versatile shade of pink. You can expect this colour to feature across the industries in new marketing campaigns, clothing designs and even home industry trends.

Pantone also gave Russet, Regatta, Coral Rose, Peapod, Blue Curacao, Beeswax, Lavender, Silver Peony and Silver Cloud the thumbs up for 2011.

This palette is strong, intriguing and healthy with a particular nod to saturated African and Indian inspirations.

How it will help you

Forecasting
Armed with this knowledge, you have the edge in trend appeal. You can choose to embrace the power of popularity– much like the turquoise of yore, these colours have mass staying-power and will still look hip and fresh for the next few years according to trend analysis.

African Influence
Local is Lekker and with the unique African influence these colours are primed and ready to pounce on your target audience.

Colour Association
Harnessing the power of colour provides subconscious messages to your audience.
These colours are energetic and vibrant. Using these colours for a marketing or loyalty campaign associates your campaign is associated to youthful vibrancy and positivity.

Putting it on plastic
We love this new palette of dramatic , rich shades– even more so because they look so good on plastic. Pair Coral Rose with Regatta and Honeysuckle for high energy impact – or Peapod and Blue Curacao with a touch of Silver Peony for a subtle chic result.

Give it the 2011 twist with increased interest in striking colour combinations. You can’t go wrong in this palette– so go big and reap the benefits of trend appeal.

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Client FAQ: What do I need to start a card orientated loyalty programme?

Card orientated loyalty programmes for retailers is a popular solution for companies looking to increase revenue and client loyalty.

There are just two key steps that we recommend to clients who are ready to start their own highly effective loyalty programme.

Back-End software:
The software can be as simple as RewardsPlus or as complicated as hiring a loyalty provider.

This back end software will manage the rewards and keep track of all details of the clients. Think of it as your heavy lifter that will do all the hard work for you.

Plastic cards:

Once you determine your system and are ready for implementation, you will just need some cards to round off the system. You can use barcodes, magnetic stripes or even contactless technology– depending on the system you choose. At CardsPlus, you can be up and rolling in just 10 days or fewer.

There you have it! Just two step to a highly effective loyalty programme in your retail
establishment.

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A Different Angle on Recycled Plastic PVC Cards

In the ever growing environmentally conscious world we live in, awareness as to how we are impacting the world is taking a forefront in our consumerism. Because of this awareness, there is a very strong marketing strategy taking place which urges consumers to "think green" and make choices as to how their purchases impact the world.

Companies, on all fronts, are using this angle to market themselves anew - pushing products that are considered "environmentally friendly" and "green". This designation, however is ambiguous (see our recent post on the "corn card"). In addition, it can be narrow minded, not taking into consideration the overall impact.

A new article has been posted by CR80 News regarding one aspect of the "green movement" in plastic card printing - using recycled pvc plastic-gives a balanced glance at many of the issues involved. Using recycled materials is of course, a responsible approach to good consumerism - "reduce, reuse, recycle", however to make a truly educated decision as to whether to chose recycled plastic over "virgin pvc", one must take into full consideration all angles and implications, then base a decision on these facts. Being bullied and guilted into spending more money for the sake of one companies new marketing angle, is not a responsible way to move the world into thoughtful consumerism.

At Cards Plus, it is our desire to be responsible citizens. We offer a range of plastics to choose from - some more environmentally friendly than others. We also recycle our waste material whenever possible. However, it is not our desire to jump on the newest environmental bandwagon, for the sake of seeming to be "green" when in fact, it is not. Yes, we must be responsible. Yes, we must take care of the world we have been blessed with - but our clients will never be guilted or bullied into putting their hard earned money into a product that does not fit their needs and requirements. This is our committment to them, and to you.

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Giving your Membership the Personal Touch

Business in today's economy demands creative thinking. When prices must be raised, how does a company maintain its customer base - adding value to its services-without it costing a fortune? Advertising has always been an option, but this can be a pricey venture.

One solution is to offer your clients a sense of belonging and additional value to continuing their relationship with your business. Membership cards and Loyalty cards are a simple, cost effective solution. The plastic card is a minature billboard and helps to build your brand - and shows your client that you value their business or membership.

The standard membership card or loyalty card can be amped up a notch (and be made more secure) by adding features such as signature panels, personalization and magnetic encoding.

At Cards Plus we offer a variety of solutions for our clients to add that personal touch to their plastic cards. Full service printing - printing each batch of cards, large or small quantities, complete with personalized details and encoding if needed; Pre-printed cards with batch printing personalization; or perhaps purchasing an affordable printer to print your own cards at the point of service - all of these options, and more are part of the portfolio we offer to our clients.

Making our clients look good is our goal. And we would love the opportunity to speak to you to see if one of our solutions might fit your needs.

You can contact us at Cards Plus by calling 086 16 CARDS (in South Africa) or +27 11 894 3914 and one of our friendly staff will be happy to assist you.

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Gift Cards - Marketing Tool Extraordinaire

At Cards Plus, we have always believed that something as seemingly simple as a small plastic card could carry benefits far and above its diminutive size.

Aside from the obvious durability over the old fashioned paper issued gift certificates of old and the advantage of full colour advertisment, custom printed gift cards carry benefits for both the retailer and the purchaser, offering the perfect "Win-Win" situation that every business desires.

In a recent article by Fastmoving, editor Karen Naude lists the reasons that gift cards have become an invaluable marketing tool,
"The benefits of what effectively boils down to a pre-selling of revenue lie in an exchange of small investment for good return. And that return is not purely monetary. Earning money in advance of the card being redeemed translates into a double whammy winning. Indeed, customers in Europe and the US spend between 40% and 140% more than the face value of the card. And, because they’re buying a gift for themselves, and because part of that cost is already covered, they also tend to select more expensive items.

But the gift card scheme also serves the retailer in less tangible, less measurable ways. It simultaneously procures for the retailer a peripheral marketing system whereby store customers transform others into same-store customers – at no extra cost to the retailer. Retailers also have the option of using the gift card as an employee incentive. And what’s in it for the bestower of the gift? Supreme convenience!

In South Africa, nearly every major retailer offers gift cards, and the offering is proving popular. Top end retailer Woolworths, for instance, launched its gift card last October, and celebrated the issue of its millionth card after just seven months. The Pick n Pay Gift Card was launched in December. With its focus on convenience and safety, this card is designed to be as much a gift to oneself as to another.

At Cards Plus, we are pleased to offer solutions to our clients, offering not only the pre-printed card itself, but a software for small to medium size retail establishments that enables them to institute their own gift card program.

Our helpful staff assist our clients in determining exactly which card features available would be best suited for their needs and budget. No minimum orders as well as our Quick Cards -less than 5 day turn around time makes launching such a program a less daunting task.

Contact us at 086 16 CARDS or +27 11 894 3915 for more information and a personalized quote on your preprinted card needs. You can also check out our company at www.cardsplus.co.za

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Pre-Printing of Cards an Introduction

At Cards Plus, we believe there are two key ingredients to a successful Pre-Printed card project:

• Project Management
• Card Printing Technology

Project Management
Cards Plus has many years of experience project managing large and small projects. We treat every Pre-Printed card job as a project. We assign a project manager that will be involved in every step of the process with you. We will work diligently from the art preparation to making sure all your specifications are correctly met. We will make sure that you get you proof quickly (in digital format) to ensure that the project does not sit unnoticed. We will work diligently to service you and our goal will be to exceed your expectations in every step of the project.

Card Printing Technology

We offer a couple of ways to produce pre-printed cards. For the lower volume of cards, we suggest dye-sublimation. This type of technology is suitable for ID Cards and card orders of 500 cards or less. We can print full colour on the front and full colour on the back. We also offer a cheaper option that allows for monochrome print (black, blue, green, red, white, gold and silver) on a standard white credit card size card.

Our standard lead-time for these types of cards are 3-4 days.

We also offer an option for larger volume of cards which also offers better print quality. This option offers a lower cost. We can print full colour on the front and back, we also offer guilloche printing, foil stamping, UV Ink printing just to name a few. Our standard lead-time for these types of cards are 3-4 weeks.

There are many advantages of a Cards Plus Pre-Printed card, including:

• Durability
  1.0 mil overlay to provide an extremely durable card
• Resolution
  This high printing resolution will make your images dramatically sharper and if you require security printing i.e guilloche or micro printing we can accommodate those needs
• Speed
  A Pre-Printed card allows you to just print the data that is varying on the card, since the background image is already printed. This can sharply increase your productivity of your card printing process.

Card Plus’ technology for producing your card will be state of the art including the following:

• The process includes a fully digital pre-press, which allows for the litho plates to be 100% digitally created (many plants still use film). The digital litho plates will ensure highest quality images. What that means at the end of the day, there are NO SETUP COSTS.
• The Litho offset printing equipment is also fully digital and uses the most advanced technology available for plastic card printing. The colour, density and litho plates are computer controlled, which will ensure an exact reproduction of your cards.
• The cards are cut using an optical registration system that checks for accuracy on three axes to guarantee accurate cuts.
• The cards are inspected using a fully computer controlled optical inspection system that accurately assures the highest card quality.
• The plant has achieved the highest quality designation - ISO 9001.
• The plant produces cards for American Express, Visa and MasterCard with a huge capacity of cards per year.

We can accomodate almost any size and type of pre-printed card. We work with worldwide industry leaders from financial institutions, casinos, loyalty card managers, retailers, restaurants, hotels, airlines, schools, governments, libraries, and more.

It doesn’t matter if you currently have a paper based, laminated plastic or even no membership cards at all, we are sure that Cards Plus can assist you in shaping your card requirements.

You demand the quality, innovation and creativity to make your card stand out above the rest. It is a relationship, touch point, or communication piece to your customer.

Cards Plus is the company to meet your needs. Our streamlined process gives customers competitively priced products without sacrificing the quality and technology needed to succeed in business today.

Click here for a QuickQuote for Pre-Printed Cards

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