GAMAA gets social at speaker program

Mag Nation founder, Sahil Marchant and printer-turned-MSP David Minnett speak to GAMAA members about the role of social media in print.

Merchant, founder of the magazine outlet chain, Mag Nation, and a marketing consultant to B2B and consumer brands, spoke about the impact of social media and how companies are using this medium to brand build and communicate with customers.

In his presentation he touched on some key points including the statistic that 40 percent of those 34 years and under check Facebook first thing in the morning, often from bed. But the fastest growing demographic on Facebook are females over 50 years.

Pictured: (l-r) Sahil Merchant, Ian Martin and David Minnett.

He said social media was “neither a fad or a revolution. It is just a different way of communicating. It is like TV - when it was launched it was something new and exciting, today it is part of life.”

David Minnett of Group Momentum also spoke of his experiences in transforming the company from printer to MSP. “Making the shift to MSP forced us to look at everything we do – branding, company profile, the language of marketing versus a production platform. It took us two years to evolve from a PSP to an MSP, to build up the credentials, to talk the talk,” he said.

According to Minnett, a pivotal moment was winning the AAPT account. “We pitched an idea to them, ran a trial and after a month they moved all their direct marketing and EDM (electronic direct marketing) to Group Momentum,” he added.