Powerful Recognition For Our Powerhouse

NEWS FLASH: Postal Center International (that’s our parent company) was seen mixing and mingling with South Florida’s Business elite at the South Florida Business Journal’s “Business of the Year” signature awards dinner last night. That’s because we were named one of three finalists tapped for the prestigious title in the $50 to $100 Million In Revenues Category. While we didn’t win (kudos to you, Hypower!), we are both proud and honored to have been nominated.

Our President Ismael Diaz said it best: “We are continually redefining the space we work in – at each of our facilities and within our industry. We push the envelope, literally and figuratively, when it comes to the level of service we provide our clients, as well as the dedicated focus we place on having the right people, equipment and processes in place to ensure we deliver at the highest standards.”

And that’s just why he’s at the top of this #PCIOIpowerhouse. He is laser focused on an aggressive acquisition plan, as well other capital investments and operational enhancements to grow our business. In fact, in the last two years, PCI has tripled its revenue and profits while laying the foundation for new growth, which will ultimately benefit the South Florida economy and its labor force. Chief among these has been technology. In addition to hiring a new Chief Information Officer to oversee the IT infrastructure and security across the Company’s family of brands, PCI has made several enhancements to the existing IT network and infrastructure to increase speed, performance and responsiveness.

The Company also received SOC2 Certification that allowed for the implementation of internal controls, security practices, policies and procedures to manage the flow of data throughout its organization for those clients in highly regulated markets. To support this, security cameras were installed to optimize visibility facility-wide; access control systems were placed at all entry points to provide restrictive access and tracking facility-wide; all network security endpoints were hardened to ensure encryption, best practices and data integrity are maintained; and security training of all employees and in-depth security review and background checks were conducted on all employees with access to sensitive data.

Additionally, the Company received G7 certification, which is an industry-leading set of best practices for achieving gray balance and is the driving force for achieving visual similarity across all print processes. The application of this helps the Company’s clients ensure brand consistency across each print run.

Above and beyond this, PCI invested in new equipment, which offer a wider print range and help more efficiently deliver on one-to-one marketing initiatives. It also added an inserting system, which allows letters and flats to be processed on the same system. Barcode scanning, optical mark reading (OMR), 2D barcode scanning and optical character recognition (OCR) are now supported.

All together, these investments have positioned PCI’s family of brands to better serve clients (that’s you!), allowing for unmatched accountability, greater efficiency and streamlined decision-making (and, that’s a win for us).

Watch out, South Florida Business Journal. We are coming back for round 2 – bigger, faster, stronger. That’s just what you can expect from the leading print, mail and marketing solutions provider!

You Need GREEN

Nah, not that kind of green. While that one can help improve your bottom line, the bottom line is THIS GREEN will make right by you, your business and our community – and who doesn’t love Mother Earth?

Truth is when employees feel connected to a purpose beyond profit, they can improve the company culture, as well as the bottom line. According to a National Environmental Education Foundation study, companies that approach employee engagement by creating a culture of sustainability saw gains in talent attraction, employee productivity, community recognition and brand strength.

And while we are no change makers, we do like to lead by example and help our clients make the right choices when it comes to eco-friendly and sustainable papers. As the first company of its kind to be triple certified in South Florida, we are proud to offer FSC, SFI and PEFC papers and to support industry-leading sustainability efforts. As a family of brands, we leverage energy-efficient equipment and forward-thinking technology that save on printing inks and processing chemicals. Our robust recycling program covers items from toner cartridges to printing plates to, of course, paper. We use non-toxic chemicals, vegetable-based inks and paper that is sourced from well-managed forests and processed in mills that adhere to strict environmental standards.

And while we celebrate Earth Day every day, we have marked the day each year by gifting our employees seeded cards, orchids, lucky bamboos and the like. This year we made our mark in green by planting two trees with a special plaque to commemorate the day.  We also produced a brochure entitled “Rethinking How We Work: Eco-minded Solutions for Today’s Business” that was featured as an insert in The Miami Herald.  It’s also a direct link to the Green section of our website, so check it out.

So remember, while making green is important, being green can mean the future of your business.

What's Your Finish?

In today’s print-savvy world, there are endless possibilities to the finishes you can apply to your print piece. The good news is (and who doesn’t love good news?) is that you don’t have to pick just one; there are a few options that can be combined to make a unique piece.

To start, it is helpful to know what each finish entails, what it is commonly used for and what overall impression you plan to make.

Fair warning, here is where it may seem like information overload, so grab a cup of coffee, maybe two.

Embossing raises images to provide a three dimensional effect. This finish is refined but does add enough depth and texture to make the piece eye-catching and interesting to touch. Embossing is commonly used for business stationery including business cards, letterheads, greeting cards and invitations.

While embossing raises images, letterpress indents images and text, leaving an impression in the paper, with or without ink. Letterpress was invented in the mid-15th century making it a timeless printing method. Like embossing, letterpress is used for business stationery as it portrays a professional image.

Foil stamping is the application of metallic foil on to a solid surface by using heat and pressure. Popular foil colors are gold, silver and copper. This method is used to add a bit of luxe and glam (ooh la la!) to a final piece. Foil stamping is most popular among business cards, greeting cards, especially holiday cards and invitations. 

Just checking in here, are you still with us?

Varnishing involves adding a liquid coating to a printed surface to add a clear, glossy, matte, satin or neutral finish. The great feature about varnishing is that it gives a consistent texture, but does not add much weight to a finished product. This finish is used to make colors appear brighter and richer so common uses are brochures, flyers, catalogs and booklets.

Lamination is where a plastic film is heated onto the paper and adds a gloss, silk or matte finish as a protective layer of coating. Unlike varnishing, it does add a bit of weight. This finish should be used on items that will be handled frequently such as presentation folders, booklet covers, catalogs and postcards.

Selecting the right finish for your printed piece is a fundamental part of the design process so working with your marketing communications partner (enter Original Impressions) to convey the overall style you want is important.

Did we mention that we are the single-source solutions provider for all of your print, mail and marketing needs?

We know print finishes and help make that decision easy for you. After all, the printed piece is the impression maker and we know how to make the right impression.

#PCIOIpowerhouse

Heart Your Employees Every Day

With Valentine’s Day behind us (hang on there, Cupid, don’t sign off just yet), there’s still plenty of reasons to put pen to paper – and oh how our love affair for ink on paper still burns strong. In fact, Valentine’s Day and paper have been going steady for more than a century since Hallmark first offered greeting cards for the lover’s holiday in 1913.

Fast forward to today, and Original Impressions’ got you covered with one of your most important stakeholder groups – employees. Employee engagement is essential in reducing turnover, improving productivity and creating brand ambassadors. It reinforces that the company is dedicated to treating employees the way it wants them to treat its clients. It also fosters a personal connection to the brand: they see it, understand it and believe in it. 

And what better time to show our employees some love than on the love-filled holiday? To celebrate, we created swoon-worthy V-Day cards and custom branded chocolates and hand delivered them to each and every employee. These came with a message of gratitude for our greatest ambassadors who are showing – and sharing – the love on the front lines with each of you, every single day. And while that may seem simple that simply gave our employees another reason to love us.

And pen goes to paper for their birthdays and corporate anniversaries with custom-designed cards that are sent directly to their homes to mark the milestone with a special wish, kudos and/or congratulations.

There’s just something about the touch and feel of thick cover stock paper – and when they look as good as ours, well, that’s a card worth its weight in, yup, you guessed it, paper.  

Clients are an important stakeholder group too (eh hem, that’s you!) We sent out an eblast to mark the big V, thanking you for the work you give us day in and day out and asking that you share the love by referring us to colleagues and friends. So if you didn’t get the email it was all about how we HEART you and want you to refer a friend. So go ahead and do it. We’ll give you a complimentary set of business cards.    

So whether you’re writing a corporate greeting or signing a card to your employees, save a little of love for paper (and Original Impressions). We heart you and never take your business for granted.

xoOIxoOI

You Talking to Me? Yes, You.

We’re 13 days into the New Year and with that comes the inevitable (and dreaded), “Where are you on your goals and objectives setting?” question #sorrynotsorry

Truth be told, we’re all just getting back into the swing of things after the holidays, but setting new goals, new strategy and quite possibly new tools for customer engagement is a priority. Ever heard the saying: “What gets measured gets done?”

It’s time to get to work, people, and we can help. We are visual storytellers and welcome the opportunity to help you tell yours through a variety of brand communications that spark conversation, drive relevance and build engagement. Enter Variable Data Printing (VDP) and social media.  

1.   Be there for your customers…literally. Newsletters are a great way to regularly engage customers. Personalized content and images can create highly targeted, highly relevant pieces. And that means a higher ROI.

2.   Be in their mailbox (and by that, we mean take it back old school). Direct mail that shows you know and care about them and their preferences is a great way to keep them engaged. This means identifying data points like their age, hobbies or purchasing habits. Above all, remember that engaging customers is not a one-time deal. It is a commitment to developing a relationship that is cultivated over time.

3.   Social media is also a great way to showcase company culture and tell stories behind new products or services. In addition to opening the lines of communication, it also offers the benefits of analytics, which help brands zero in on their target audiences and figure out the effectiveness of their messaging; and drives customer loyalty, which rewards them for staying in touch

And there you have it, folks. We challenge traditional thinking and timelines by streamlining the creative and production processes into one schedule – and complement it with a portfolio of fully-integrated services that help make the impossible, possible. #score

Yeah, we’re basically the undisputed, single-source solutions provider for all your print, mail and marketing needs, so forgive us when we tell you, we have our own to-do list to tend to now…and you’re up next.

That’s right. We’re talking to you.

#PCIOIpowerhouse

HO HO HOoray for Holiday Gift Giving!

Need a corporate gifting idea everyone will love? Take a page from our playbook — and do it with a branded style your clients will love + remember you by every single day.

Desk calendars, wrapping paper, journals + photo props have topped our list year after year (oh how we love ink on paper, the hallmark of our business). Once again, this year’s theme – Let Your Light Shine Bright – sets iconic graphics reminiscent of each month in a fun, whimsical fashion. On trend + on brand is the way we do it + who doesn’t love lights at the holidays? (and without giving too much away, do remember to check out our holiday card for an illuminating message (can you hear the sounds of sleigh bells ringing and Yule tide carols caroling?)

And while we do all of this here because we can, corporate gift giving is important. So whether you follow our custom-made route, or choose the more traditional, experiential or simple statement gift, you can do no wrong. ‘Tis the season for spreading holiday cheer + we hope that our gift does just that.  They say it is better to give than to receive + we truly couldn’t agree more. 

#doitallatOI

The Gift of Giving

We’re making our list.

We’re checking it twice.

And it’s a good thing, because the holidays seem to get here faster + faster each year. And although retailers start lining their shelves with holiday favorites, glittery gifts, candles, linens + lights in early October, we start brainstorming, designing + producing our client holiday gift package in July to ensure we give our clients unique + useful gifts that will remind them how incredibly thankful we are for their continued business.

Of course, we also like to remind them of our oh-so-many services, so everything we do, we do in house (think along the lines of homemade gifts are the best…wink, wink). That’s because we design, print, produce + hand kit each one in the true spirit of gift giving – and at the risk of sounding cliché, we gift from the heart of our business (i.e., ink is to paper as turkey is to football). They go hand-in-hand.   

To spice things up this year, we are delivering part 1 of our holiday gift package this week. Our highly-coveted desk calendars are back by popular demand + are themed Let Your Light Shine Bright to help light the way to a fresh, creative new year. As we embark on this Thanksgiving holiday, keep in mind that every day is a day to give thanks for new partnerships, colleagues, friends + family. For these, we are so very thankful.

So unwrap your calendar today + let your light shine bright -- year round.

#doitallatOI

Original Impressions, a Postal Center International Company, Announces Technology Enhancements to Secure the Management and Processing of Your Business Critical Data

Today Original Impressions (OI), a Postal Center International (PCI) company, issued a press release to the media announcing it has put into place measures that will help bolster the reliability and security of its technology infrastructure in an effort to manage and process your business-critical data. Our new leadership team announced these enhancements as part of a series of investments that will drive the organization into the next phase of accelerated growth. Following is the press release:

Original Impressions (OI), a full service marketing communications company, owned and operated by Postal Center International (PCI), the largest, state-of-the-art transactional printer, postal and mail processing service organization, today announced the successful completion of the Service Organization Control (SOC) 2 audit. Conducted by Berkowitz Dick Pollack & Brant, a leading certified public accounting firm, the audit affirms the Company’s security practices, policies, procedures and operations meet the SOC 2 standards for security, availability and confidentiality.
“Since purchasing Original Impressions six months ago, we have made critical investments in the business that will help to ensure our clients’ evolving needs are met while driving efficiencies – and accountability – at every level of the business,” said Ismael Diaz, president, Postal Center International. “Our goal is to reinforce our policies and procedures to ensure compliance with the law, as well as openness and accountability with our clients, employees and vendor partners.”
The SOC 2 report verifies the existence of internal controls, which have been designed and implemented to meet the requirements for the security principles set forth in the Trust Services Principles and Criteria for Security. It provides a thorough review of how Original Impressions’ internal controls affect the security, availability and processing integrity of the systems it uses to process users’ data and the confidentiality and privacy of the information processed by these systems. This independent validation of security controls is crucial for clients in highly regulated industries.
In addition to SOC 2 compliance, Postal Center International has made a number of technological enhancements to bolster the reliability and security of Original Impressions’ infrastructure. These include additional layers of redundancy to the Company’s enterprise-wide network architecture; security cameras to optimize visibility facility-wide; and robust and reliable high-speed cabling to ensure rapid and consistent connectivity and transmission of data for real-time delivery.
“These comprehensive solutions are part of a broader, more reliable technology strategy that plays a key role in the integration and optimization of the critical systems that make our business operate,” said Diaz. “These additions, while helping to meet our current needs and plan for seamless technology add-ons and changes in the future, place our clients and, the business they entrust us with, at the forefront of all that we do.”

# # #
 

You Down With PCI/OI? Yeah, You Know Me.

If you aren’t + you don’t, you will. At least that’s our hope, as we launch our newsletter PCI/OI Insights (fireworks, please!). It’s your source for PCI + OI news, delivered in a flash, quarterly to our employees + you, our beloved clients. Our newsletter places you on the inside track + lets you power up on hot happenings, client news (yes, that’s you!) + testimonials (do share!), colleague anniversaries + milestones and much more – basically, all the things that make us the #pcioipowerhouse that we are. 

Let’s face it. Executing an effective communications strategy is vital in today’s connected world + newsletters feel personal, because they arrive in your inbox + over time develop into an on-going relationship. Quite candidly, we’re hoping after you read this first issue due out this week, you’re hooked on us like white on rice. And, that out of those 35 or so emails waiting for you in the a.m. that you’re actually going to open + read ours as one of the five you commit to.

If by now, you’re not ready to change your Facebook status to “In a relationship with PCI/OI,” we hope our newsletter will convince you. Oh by the way, if you need us to help build a community around your brand via a corporate newsletter, sign us up. We will write + design yours. It’s simple + once you do, it can run on autopilot.

So check your inbox, you just might have mail.

#doitallatOI

Did You Say “Custom?” Yes, Please.

When clients say, “challenge.” We holla, “bring it on!” And do we ever?

We’re talking eye-catching turntable invites that place the recipients’ name in metallic “lights” + “spot on,” on-the-spot awards that beckon “Lights. Camera. Action.” from every angle.

Uhm, yeah. That’s just how this print house turned marketing communications partner chooses to step up its client game when presented with any project. Oh, and do tell us it’s due within days. We work best under pressure. It’s just how we roll, literally, on sheets + sheets of acrylic, PVC, coroplast – any substrate imaginable – thanks in large part to our large format presses.

Case in point. This custom invitation for Dr. Pepper plays off the love for vinyl on PVC-turned 33 rpm record. Each recipient’s name is printed in silver metallic vinyl via variable data printing a la “their own album.” The record label reads the event details like a best-played song sheet. And don’t forget the custom jacket + shrink wrap. These are sure to win “Album of the Year.” Fiction? Of course, but #truth if you ask us + Dr. Pepper.

Now from song to movies. Our friends at Prudential asked us for an award to honor The American Black Film Festival’s 20-year anniversary of celebrating African Americans in film. Do you think we would provide an off-the-shelf piece? Nope. Only custom here. We created a one-of-a-kind acrylic movie clapboard set atop an acrylic film reel complete with vinyl film strip. And the award for Best Supporting Partner goes to? Yours truly.

The End.

#doitallatOI