But for some of our clients, it can be just as important at GLS, where client data, such as a client’s customer list, is integral to a direct mail marketing campaign or other personalized promotions. Proprietary customer data, which could potentially find its way into a competitor’s hands, can put any business in jeopardy!

Enter a puzzling acronym: SOC 2…it stands for Service Organizations Control #2. It’s a new audit process developed by the American Institute of CPAs to assure companies that their service vendors have established adequate data security policies and practices. In some cases, it even provides companies in need of data safety assurances with detailed reports on vendors’ security levels.

SOC 2 reports offer a security audit and evaluation describing physical, hardware and software controls, and can only be provided by qualified 3rd party auditors. GLS’ focus on SOC 2 compliance is a part of our ongoing commitment to the highest standards in providing information systems with high levels of security, up-time availability, data integrity and confidentiality.

At GLS, there are dozens of tools and processes which we use to create both a secure physical environment for materials and data, plus a secure IT environment to protect data from outside influences­—everything from video security systems and state-of-the-art firewalls, to user access audits, network intrusion detection and server hardening processes.

If you have any questions about SOC 2 or GLS Companies’ ongoing efforts to assure your data security, contact your account executive.

As the holidays are quickly approaching, GLS Companies is ready to shine with its annual holiday card. This card features an unique dimensional design that makes it standout in a sea of seasonal mailings. Digitally printed on an HP 7500 6-color digital press and die-cut on a Kluge entirely in-house, this card was printed CMYK plus 2X opaque white on a metallic C1S sheet. Variable data customized the 3400 pieces for improved direct mail response.

The exceptional quality and innovational nature of this dimensional design caught the attention of Trish Witkowski, an award-winning designer with extensive experience in marketing and collateral design, POP, packaging, direct mail and the presenter of foldfactory’s “Fold of the WEEK”.

Click this link to see GLS Holiday Card as featured on the FOLD of the WEEK.

Gary Garner, CEO of GLS Companies, Inc.

Brooklyn Park, Minn., November 28, 2011 — Digital Solutions Cooperative―known as “Dscoop”―has named Gary Garner, president and CEO of GLS Companies, Inc., to its board of directors. Dscoop is an independent, global community of print and graphics arts industry professionals involved in digital graphics using HP Indigo and Scitex equipment and related solutions.

The appointment of Garner to a two-year term on the board was announced as part of Dscoop Americas’ new leadership team.  Dscoop, with additional units in Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, provides digital graphics professionals with a collaborative community to share experiences and improve performance of the industry.

Garner, who founded GLS Companies in 1984, is also a past member of the board of directors of the Printing Industry of Minnesota―PIM―and an active member of the Printing Industries of America. He serves on the HP’s Digital Printing Advisory Council and is a member of the Mailing & Fulfillment Service Association.

GLS is a Minnesota-based print, direct mail and marketing services company with national reach that combines state-of-the-art conventional printing with expertise in a full range of digital and new-media technologies. The company assists clients with development and implementation of targeted, multi-channel marketing communications programs.

It doesn’t matter who you are: agency account executive, designer or corporate marketing manager. You name it. The problem is always the same. How do you increase sales to your targeted market segment? It always gets down to how much of a product or service is sold…and at what cost.

Most marketers over the age of thirty remember when life was simple. Marketing was risky but straightforward. Your job didn’t depend on performance metrics and you simply needed to select the “right” medium to reach your one-to-many audience. It probably involved print, maybe a brochure, a display ad or a product catalog. Nice, neat, easy. Good graphics. Good copy. Job done.

That’s the alarm ringing

But we’re not in Kansas anymore. Digital media are sweeping the globe: QR codes, Personalized and Generic URLS—PURLS and GURLS. The one-to-many communication model is becoming inadequate. And it’s happening faster than you think.

QR codes are the latest iteration of technology in the U.S. that is connecting consumers, interactively, with detailed product and service information or personalized web landing pages that make tailored offers, collect user data and response metrics, and even deliver streaming video. And it’s starting to make an impact.

Recently, it could be argued that smartphone owners using free apps to scan QR codes would “soon” be changing the marketplace. That was when smartphone penetration was at 20 percent of all mobile devices. Now, only months later, according to Nielsen, that number has risen to 31 percent, four percentage points in just five months. Need more? The research firm expects smartphone users to be in the majority by the end of this year. Gartner, another major research firm, says 297 million smartphones were sold last year and they expect sales will reach 500 million by next year.

Consumers are getting it

As you might guess, this explosion of smartphones has greatly increased consumer awareness of QR codes and how to use the widely available QR code readers. Across Southeast Asia smartphone penetration had reached 40 percent by the end of 2009 and users routinely scan QR codes in display ads, department stores, even billboards. About 75 percent of all Japanese surveyed know what a QR code is, know how to use it and have a smartphone with a reader installed! In the U.S., manufacturers have started to pre-load smartphones with code scanners. A few research findings tell the rest of the story:

1. If you exclude Japan, the United States is already among the top 10 countries for mobile bar code usage;
2. Driven by holiday buying, QR code scanning grew by more than 1200 percent in the last quarter of 2010, according to Mobio Identity Systems;
3. In one recent study, about two-thirds of U.S. respondents have seen a QR code and, of those who have seen one, about half have used it;
4. Data show motivation for QR code usage is strongest when consumers are looking for a deal, a coupon, or more product information.
5. Google and Gartner research show QR codes have entered a high growth stage.

What does it all mean?

It means there’s a QR code in your future. Big time.

Although QR codes can be scanned from billboards, TV sets and retail displays, print will likely be a dominant source of codes, a sort of matrix or platform from which QR code scans are launched. It means to be successful, print marketing communications will use QR codes to connect their target audiences to the information they want, yielding self-qualified buyers, the ability to capture buyer data—and greater sales.

In a way, you might say the integration of print and digital media, linked by QR codes, PURLs and GURLs starts with print and ends with print. A direct mail piece, for example, directs prospects to a personalized web landing page where users can take a closer look at a product or service, then leave their name and address as they request a color catalog. Or a brochure on a retail counter provides a product overview—while a QR leads to a how-to video showing how the product can be used. When the product is purchased, the packaging contains a thank you card—and a link to an online personalized offer.

Time to roll

It also means that to sell more effectively, creative marketing professionals will need to learn to use this new technology, to integrate it into their campaigns, sooner rather than later.

To learn more about how we can help you integrate interactive digital media into your print project, using QR codes, digital variable printing, PURLs and GURLs, contact your account executive or visit us at www.glsmn.com

Brooklyn Park, Minn. ― GLS Companies, a leading Minnesota marketing services provider, is pleased to welcome Jayme Wisely as Executive Vice President.

Jayme comes to GLS with more than 27 years of experience in leading sales teams and organizational development initiatives. He was attracted to GLS because of its customer approach as a complete communications solution provider.  “GLS has a strong reputation in the industry to meet and exceed their customer’s expectations using a wide range of capabilities,” he said. “I was attracted by the depth of the companies’ character and the strong values for which it is built upon. GLS is well known for providing end-to-end solutions that can be directly tied to client success. I am excited to be in the GLS family and join such a talented organization.”

In his role as Executive Vice President, Jayme will lead the GLS’ senior executive team and be responsible for the company’s day-to-day operating activities, including revenue and sales growth; expenses, cost and margin control; and monthly, quarterly and annual financial goal management; while providing feedback to the CEO. His leadership will continue to position GLS Companies as a leading Minnesota marketing services provider.

GLS Companies is a privately held provider of Integrated Communications Solutions^TM including full-service digital, sheet-fed and web printing, creative, promotional product, mailing and distribution services, with facilities in Brooklyn Park, and Saint Paul, Minnesota.

As most marketing and graphic arts professionals know, the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) provides a means for certification that a given paper comes from responsibly managed forests, verified recycled and other controlled sources.

Certified against strict environmental and social standards, the paper must pass through a chain-of-custody all the way to the consumer which, in the end, permits the use of an FSC certification logo on your printed piece. That, in turn, lets consumers know you, or your clients, are environmentally responsible.

In an effort to make the chain-of-custody tracking even more effective, the FSC has changed some of their trademark usage standards and the tracking code used on the logo. Perhaps most noticeable, though, are changes in the logo itself. Although minor, the official logos have changed in size and appearance. The changes went into effect January 1, 2011 and will be required on all new jobs. Re-runs after January 1 will also be affected.

GLS is an FSC certified chain-of-custody printer and will administer the changes to any job bearing the FSC certification. Because the changes are minor, it is unlikely that replacing the old logos with new logos will create any placement problems.

If you have any questions about the changes and how they affect your project, your account executive can provide details and assistance. To learn more about the Forest Stewardship Council and how it supports sustainable, responsible forestry visit their website at www.fscus.org.

What marketing professional hasn’t used or considered using a promotional gift or gifts in a marketing plan to thank customers, build loyalty or engage prospects? Over the years, Direct Connections has chronicled the success of GLS clients who have used promotional products in their public relations and marketing programs.

And, of course, we’ve pointed out that GLS Companies’ promotional products department has exceptional expertise in providing not only the products you need to get the job done, but the experience to help with creative, effective program development.

But do programs including promotional products really work? Do they make sense on the basis of a return on investment? Well, as a popular TV spot asks, “Does Hank Williams Jr. play a mean fiddle?”

So what do we need to know to take the plunge—or to convince a colleague—that promotional products can play an important, even sensational, role as a part of a crucial campaign? We’ve pulled together some recent industry research and offered our top ten tips on the effectiveness of promotional product advertising, some of which you may want to pass along to your program managers and clients.

1. It’s less expensive than you think—way less expensive. While you may think those branded promotional items cost too much, you’d be wrong. A recent study by the highly regarded Advertising Specialty Institute, found that advertising specialties—promotional products—beat out prime-time TV, spot radio and print advertising as the most cost-effective advertising medium.
2. It’s all about cost-per-impression. The same study—the 2010 Global Advertising Specialties Impressions Study—found that “Advertising specialties are less expensive per-impression than most other media and both are affordable and effective when compared to other media. Only outdoor advertising and some internet vehicles were marginally less expensive per impression.”
3. Promotional products really are memorable. Will they still love you when you’re sixty-four? Maybe not but they may remember your gift. Eighty-three percent of all respondents in the U.S. say they can identify the advertiser on a promotional item they own. Items that are the most frequently used, like glassware, ceramics and shirts have the highest recall.
4. Promotional products get where they are going—and stay there. Another study found that more than 70 percent of business travelers queried recalled receiving a promotional product within the previous year and of that group 34 percent actually had the item on their person.
5. You get reach even when you don’t. It’s called “pass-along”. Of those receiving an item they didn’t plan to keep, nearly two thirds of the respondents said they give the items to someone else.
6. Promotional product advertising makes a bigger brand impression. Seventy-six percent of respondents remembered the advertiser’s name on an item received within the last year, while only 53 percent could recall the name of a single advertiser they had seen in a newspaper or magazine within the last week!
7. Approximately half of all promotional product recipients kiss and tell. One study puts it this way: “Forty-one percent of promotional item recipients reported their opinion of the advertiser was more favorable after receiving a promotional product.” Another study put the same favorability number at 52 percent. Twenty-seven percent said they were more likely to do business with the advertiser after receiving the item.
8. It’s so easy being green! If you or your target audience prefers environmentally responsible promotional items, you’re in luck. GLS offers a full line of green products to choose from. Traditionally, though, the most popular items are writing instruments. In fact, 46 percent of respondents reported owning a promotional writing instrument followed by shirts at 38 percent and calendars at 24 percent.
9. Gender and ethnic preferences: good to know when targeting an audience. Can you target? Yes. Statistics abound. For example, males are more likely to own shirts and caps, females are more likely to carry bags, writing instruments and safety products. African Americans are more inclined to have received and kept caps and headwear, while eight out of ten Hispanics reported having a writing instrument.
10. Promotional items stick around. About three-quarters of all respondents say an item’s usefulness is the primary reason to keep it. The average length of time respondents keep a promotional product is 5.4 months. Electronics are kept the longest at 8.1 months, food the least at one month.

Eighty-three percent of all respondents in the U.S. say they can identify the advertiser on a promotional item they own.

For more detailed industry statistics and information on how we can help you find the promotional product you need, or advice on developing an effective program, contact your account executive or visit us at www.glsmn.com.

Denise joined GLS in January 2011 and leads the Sales Support/Clients Services staff. Denise has more than 30 years of customer service experience. Denise gained her experience in various leadership roles in a variety of corporations. Most recently she worked for Lifetouch National School Studios leading the Customer Care & Marketing Services area. She was attracted to GLS because of its diverse platform of capabilities to offer customers. “GLS is a very impressive company,” she said. “I was impressed with its outstanding reputation in the industry.”

GLS Companies is a privately held provider of Integrated Communications Solutions^tm including full-service digital, sheet-fed and web printing, creative, promotional product, mailing and distribution services, with facilities in Brooklyn Park, and Saint Paul, Minnesota.

Mandy first came to GLS with more than 7 years of experience in customer service, estimating and Production Management. She and her husband moved to Minnesota in 2005 and she started work as a Project Manager for then Litho Inc. (GLS purchased Litho Inc. in 2006).

At GLS, Mandy will be responsible for promoting company services, business maintenance and development. Because of her degree in Graphic Arts, Mandy has the experience to provide guidance to Design Agencies and Corporate Marketing clients with job planning, creative input and sound advice about production options.

GLS Companies is a privately held provider of Integrated Communications Solutions™ including full-service digital, sheet-fed and web printing, creative, promotional product, mailing and distribution services, with facilities in Brooklyn Park, and Saint Paul, Minnesota.

Gary Garner is not altogether at ease on the subject of Gary Garner. It is not a criticism; perhaps it is really just a product of Midwestern modesty. But, Garner would have plenty of accomplishments to talk about—the man started his own company, GLS Companies (along with two partners) in 1984, and it has grown to a mid-$50 million performer with two Minnesota locations and more than 300 workers.

Garner, the president and CEO of GLS Companies, came from modest means and toiled his way to the top, making his success tale even more dramatic, and his selection into the 2010 Printing Impressions/RIT Printing Industry Hall of Fame a fait accompli.

Modesty isn’t Garner’s only admirable trait, but don’t mistake it for shyness and timidity. Just ask David Radziej (rod-gee), president of the Printing Industry of Minnesota, who describes Garner as an individual that sets high standards for himself and demands the same of others.

Inspiring Excellence

“Gary is 100-percent loyal to those who give it their best…there’s no second place for Gary,” Radziej says. “He inspires those around him to become better and to grow professionally. I can also always count on Gary to help out, whether it’s opening doors or sponsoring and promoting a new service or item that we’re offering. He is passionate about our industry, and is concerned with the direction it’s headed.”

As for Garner himself, he often wonders where that direction will lead GLS Companies. One thing’s for sure, however…GLS will definitely follow its customers’ lead.

“I believe we will continue to provide products and services to help our customers grow their businesses,” he says. “We just have to figure out what those products are. My philosophy is to take our business to wherever our customers want to go.”

Garner grew up in northeast Minneapolis, the youngest of four children. For all intents, though, he was an only child, with a significant age gap between Garner and his siblings, who were out of the house and married during his formative years. One of his most liberating experiences was the day Garner received his driver’s license, but “going places” was still a few years off.

His first encounter with printing came at the conclusion of his sophomore year at Columbia Heights High School, when it was time to register for the following school year’s classes. Two courses really caught his eye: auto mechanics and printing. The printing instructor, Paul Terry, went on to mold Garner’s destiny.

“I wandered a bit in high school…didn’t really know what I wanted to do,” he recalls. “But, when I took the printing class, I thoroughly enjoyed it. There are a number of us who went to Columbia Heights High School that have ended up with careers in the printing industry, thanks to Paul Terry.”

Terry helped kick-start Garner’s career, turning him on to a building supply company in need of a point person to produce its wholesale looseleaf lumber catalog. That began a career that led him to working for several other printers in Minnesota before deciding, at the age of 31, that he wanted to take a shot at running his own printing company.

The thought of becoming his own boss came to Garner much earlier, of course, but it wasn’t until he leveraged funds from property rentals, wrote out a business plan and secured an SBA start-up loan that General Litho Services became a reality in 1984. Garner handled sales, one partner was a stripper and the other a pressman.

“When I signed (the purchase order) for two presses in September of ’83, I did not sleep well that night because I knew then that there was no turning back,” he recalls. “We didn’t even know at that point where we were going to install the presses, but the orders came in and we had to find a location.”

Growth and Challenges

GLS generated $748,000 in sales for 1984 and began to embark on a campaign of steady growth, fueled both organically and through acquisitions. The first color press landed at GLS in 1986; four years later, the company added mailing services to its arsenal. Data processing followed in 1993 and, two years after that, fulfillment and distribution. As the new capabilities flourished, operating space became an issue, so three plants were consolidated into one in 1996, and that facility has been expanded three times. Another company, Litho Inc., was acquired in 2006, giving GLS plants in both Brooklyn Park and St. Paul.

Garner has endured his share of economic slowdowns, but none can compare to the screeching halt experienced by many printers in the fall of 2008. GLS was forced to reconcile the lost work with its employee ranks, and about 25 percent was eliminated in three rounds of head count reductions. As much as it pained Garner to implement the cutbacks, he knew it was necessary to keep the company financially viable. “We were proactive in adjusting our business model, but it hurts that we had to let a lot of great people go,” he notes.

GLS’ sales, which had ballooned to $65 million in 2007, dwindled to $50 million in 2009, but Garner says the firm is on track to post about $55 million in revenues for 2010. “We must continue to engage our customers. We also know that there is a balanced approach to marketing, and it’s not just one item or another, but a combination of things. We’re seeing a definite uptick in our business.”

Perhaps the two men who have left a lasting impression on Garner are Japs-Olson’s Bob Murphy (a 1993 Hall of Fame inductee) and Jerome Carlson, who is retired from then-Instant Web Companies. Both are printing legends in Minnesota, yet have different but successful styles, according to Garner, who worked with them on the trade association board for many years.

In the final analysis, Garner wants to be known as a printing executive who isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty, and who truly cares about the people in his employ. “I want to be remembered as a guy who would never tell someone else to do something I have not done or wouldn’t do myself,” Garner says. “I try to make a positive difference in people’s lives and provide an environment where they can flourish, both personally and professionally.”

To that list one can add empowerment, says Rick Reisgraf of Carlson Advisors, who has worked with GLS for many years, and also lists passion and vision among Garner’s other top attributes. “Gary has built a strong management team over the years, and gives a great level of responsibility to his staff and managers,” Reisgraf says.

Marsha and Gary Garner have been married for 32 years and have two children: Amy, 27, and Adam, 26. They like to travel and recently enjoyed a “fabulous experience” in Italy. Europe, in general, fascinates Garner.

He also enjoys playing golf with son-in-law Jason, but perhaps his top non-family, non-printing passion is restoring street rods and older cars. One of his more recent automotive rehabs is a 1940 Ford panel truck, which bears the GLS logo, boasting air ride suspension and a big block engine with blower. Did Garner do most of the work himself?

“Does writing checks count?” he jokes.

**Reprinted from Printing Impressions (a publication of North American Publishing Company)