SGIA Journal Graphic November/December 2016 - 78

case study
While the RICOH Pro L4160 enables GAM to take on new
types of jobs - car wraps, in-store signage, posters, backlit
signage, and so on - the RICOH Pro C7100X gives the shop
unprecedented control over color, facilitating printing on dark
substrates and creating eye-catching designs that were previously out of reach. However, GAM has found the true potential
of these devices is unlocked when they're used together.
"These days, everybody wants to do a campaign," says
Grant. "That means getting to your target audience across
multiple channels. The days of just producing a storefront sign
or just handing out a flyer are largely behind us. Fortunately,
our team has the skills, these devices have the capabilities and
Ricoh provides the support to allow us to create these crosschannel campaigns at high levels of quality and consistency."
In fact, Grant says, the RICOH Pro L4160 and RICOH Pro
C7100X are each so powerful and flexible, they can often trade
jobs back and forth, depending on which is available. That
helps promote fast turn times and allows GAM to take on even
more work, generating even more revenue.
What makes it all possible, Grant says, is careful campaign
and color management.
"When we tell customers, 'yes, we can do that,' as they
check off every single box for their campaign, that makes both
us and them happy," says Grant. "It means their shopping is
over, of course, but it also means they only have one point of
contact to deal with, and it often means some big savings over
having to approach the campaign piecemeal. We're making life
easier for our customers and providing them with a superior
product. That's the essence of what we've always tried to do.
Now we're just doing it in more ways."
"Our goal is to be a one-stop shop for our clients," says
Grant. "And what I mean by that is you come to GAM to have
us create the piece that will hit the mark, and then we produce
it, finish it and mail it or deliver it to you. We strive to make a
customer's engagement with us one of the best they've ever
had, and most memorable. We look for technology and machinery that will allow us to do this. We use the RICOH C7100X 5th
color digital press and the wide-format RICOH Pro L4160, along
with a mix of paper, to help us accomplish this."
Increasingly, communicators are realizing that the advent of
new channels of communication with audiences are not signaling the death of old ones, but rather they are paving the way
for cross-channel campaigns. These kinds of campaigns can
help cut through the clutter of modern, distraction-heavy environments to help messaging reach all kinds of customers in all
kinds of ways. Modern campaigns can include many forms of
outreach, from email to window clings, microsites to sandwich
boards. The multi-channel approach has led many communicators to work with multiple partners for the same campaign,
which can be frustrating and expensive. Different partners can

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November/December 2016

have different visions for how best to communicate a customer's message. They can also produce work of different levels
of quality. On top of that, managing multiple partners can be a
full-time job of its own for the customer.
Communicators who don't have time to do their own jobs
and project manage production partners are often turning to
one-stop-shop partners who can address all of the communication needs of a given campaign. This trend, combined with
lowering cost barriers to entry, are encouraging traditionally
cutsheet shops to embrace wide format. This added flexibility helps bring more business in-house, streamline work
for communicators, and deliver a consistent level of quality
across the campaign.
That consistency is another point of pride for Grant and GAM.
"Let's say, for example, you're doing a campaign for CocaCola," Grant says. "Already, when I say that, you're picturing
their logo, that bright red. If that Coca-Cola red really shines on
the point-of-sale signage you produce, but it looks a little off in
the flyers, people will notice. If it gets out in the world, it will
hurt your customer's brand. If it doesn't, and it gets rejected
outright, you will very likely lose that business for good. Color
matching and color management are crucial to what we do,
and these Ricoh devices make it simple to get the right color on
the page, screen or anywhere else, reliably."
These cross-channel, color-consistent capabilities don't just
help bring in new customers, though.
"We're doing a wider variety of jobs for our current customers," says Grant. "Clients that used us for business cards in the
past are now turning to us to print catalogs, direct mail campaigns and even signage. Our footprint is growing in a lot of
directions. For example, a local real estate firm had been using
us for some brochures, but when our team was able to sit
down with them to talk about what we're capable of now, they
pretty quickly agreed to add even more promotional materials
to their work with us."
GAM's cross-channel approach doesn't end with the page,
cling or sign.
"If you're not online, you're offline with your customers,"
reads GAM's Web and Online Services page. "A majority of
consumers today make a decision about products and services
after they have viewed them on the web. Having the right strategic partner that understand the digital space as it presents
itself now, as well as how it is evolving into the future is of the
utmost importance."
GAM has dedicated itself to expanding, not just into signage, but into every communications channel in which its
customers need to grow their own businesses. The addition of
the RICOH Pro C7100X and RICOH Pro L4160 are major steps in
GAM's ongoing march toward the future of communication -
and the future of the production industry.

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SGIA Journal Graphic November/December 2016

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