Clancy . . . overflow . . . the best bits . . . funnies

The increase in the number of persistent, if very polite, telephone canvassers from the sub-continent calling up just as one if about to have dinner, almost guarantees a huge number of people signing on to the ‘no call’ list.

This removes them from the marketing industry’s reach other than by printed material. Despite many years of complaint there are still very few ‘no junk mail’ signs on house letterboxes. Truth is, people still like to get well-produced, glossy marketing material, especially if personalised to the individual.
Not so the despairing calls from India.

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Australia Post does very well out of the direct mail industry, delivering many millions of items every month, but it is lagging behind in its recognition of new personalising print technology. Magazines especially are being held back from tailoring covers to the interests of the individual reader. When a cover includes a name and address printed digitally, Australia Post insists it is marketing material rather than a publication. So after a brief flurry of innovative magazine covers, don’t expect to see any others – at least until Australia Post gets its head around the concept of personalisation.

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It’s been truly said that there is a magazine for every conceivable interest group. Latest offering from Pacific Magazines is a consumer publication devoted to type 2 diabetes sufferers. This is an Australian first. Usually groups such as this had to rely on newsletters, but under its Better Homes and Gardens imprint, PM obviously reckons it can garner sufficient advertising support for a glossy.

Makes you wonder what other misfortunes are waiting to be tapped into?

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You’ll remember the great wide format printer school give away here from Clancy’s mate Nelson Ferrari of HP – before he headed off to the jungles of Columbia to start up an orphanage? All you had to do was provide some evidence that your school had a design course underway and HP sent you a printer free of charge. Naturally they were swamped with keen parents.

In the same spirit here’s an early Christmas offer from Starleaton, which will give you a full 30 metre x 432mm (17”) roll of Kodak’s new Professional Lustre 260gsm paper, (RRP $146.00) for zilch. All you have to do is register your printer with the company. Director Gary Smith is confident once you use the paper you’ll stay with it.
And you don’t have to be a school; the offer is open to anyone.
Call 1300 880605.

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And finally … here’s a visual reminder from Andy McC of the lengths some employers will go to if they’re allowed. Posted above a ‘spinning jenny’ in a cotton mill in Lancashire in the 19th century, it was there to keep everyone on their toes. What was that about new IR laws?