Kyle & Sarah at Graphics of the Americas 2016

 By: Sarah Barr & Kyle DeMartyn 

Kyle and Sarah here!  We wanted to tell you a little bit about our recent trip to Miami, Florida where we attended the 2016 Graphics of the Americas (GOA) Expo from February 18-20. We chose to go to the show to embrace change in the world of marketing while staying up to date with the most current trends!  While we were there we got to experience first-hand all the latest solutions in printing and graphic arts software that will help your streamline your projects, save you money, and improve quality of your final products.

So what did we do besides enjoy the awesome weather?

Sarah:  I enjoyed seminars led by some of my favorite people in the industry, including Dr. John Leininger, Professor at Clemson University and Kate Dunn, Director of Info Trends Business Development Service. They showed me some great ways on how to improve our customers experiences from quote to finished product.  I also enjoyed  reading case studies about businesses across the country and how they used multi channel marketing methods to drastically increase ROI. I’m happy that I’m able to attend shows like GOA to learn about the next big thing in marketing trends so that I can help our customers grow their business.

Kyle: GOA has been my favorite conference for three years and running.  The incredible instructors from the American Graphics Institute (AGI) offered advanced sessions in Adobe creative applications geared toward all types of print production. I was able to go to sessions that gave me great design techniques and pre-production tips to help our customers get the most out of their pieces. AGI’s rockstar Chad Chelius brought so much “off the beaten path” InDesign and Acrobat knowledge that I had to buy another suitcase to bring my notes home. I’m excited to use all the info I’ve gathered on new projects for our customers!

 

One of our favorite things to do when attending out of town conferences is to explore the city and discover how other parts of the country are marketing differently.  This is how we get some of our best creative marketing inspirations and ideas.

The top 5 marketing trends we saw in South Beach are:

1. Electric Golf Carts taking people everywhere with marketing displays all over outside of cart.  There was a screen right in front of passenger’s eye sight where additional ads popped up from businesses.
2. Old parking meter alongside of the road with floor graphic saying to put money in meter and money will be donated to Miami homeless. We were very impressed with that nonprofit’s approach.
3. Businesses used very colorful lighting that you could see blocks away that definitely captured your attention. It made you want to walk closer just to see where the lights were coming from.
4. Use of large graphics on the outside of buildings. A club in a basement had a huge banner with an arrow pointing down to the location. It easily would have been missed without the banner.
5. Business Card sized coupons that almost every restaurant handed out with a 20%, 25%, or a BOGO option to get you to stop by and try their place.    

 

It’s good to be home and back in the office. If you need some help with your next creative, marketing, or mailing project, give us a call at 717-731-9456 or email info@konhaus.com!  We’d love to help you out!

What do you do to get away from the office and get inspired about your business?