An Inside View of Affinity Express

Hello, folks!

Why do I say, “Inside View of Affinity Express”? Because I’m an outsider who recently became an insider. And I want to give you a sneak peek in.

You see, I joined Affinity Express just a couple of months ago. Not only am I new to the company, but also to the industry. I’ve spent much of the last several weeks looking around me wide-eyed (and listening wide-eared). So in my second post here, I’m going to tell you about my initial impressions at Affinity Express.

Designs of the Quarter

The “Designs of the Quarter” contest was launched with our first issue of the Affinity Express company newsletter in the third quarter of 2008. Since then, each quarter, we have turned the spotlight on a few of our products and award the best designs in each category. Of course, “best” is relative, but our judges try to be fair! Kelly Glass, Vice President of Marketing, and Tinna Hall, VP of Global Human Resources, judge the contest. They also seek the opinions of the business head of the relevant product category.

A call for entries is sent to all employees and they are free to submit designs they created that were accepted by clients within the designated quarter.  Winners receive a certificate and recognition in the newsletter.

So here are the winning designs for Q1. The three categories were flash ads, vector artwork and programs.

Flash Ad

(Click here to view the Flash ad)

Why Should You Outsource Vector Artwork?

First, why shouldn’t you? As a small business owner or manager, I’m sure you can come up with a few answers to this:

• My in-house artists have worked with me for years, they know what I need.
• They are focused on the kind of artwork my business needs, so it’s easier – and faster! – to get work done.
• They are right here in my office, so it’s easier to communicate.
• I’ve worked with them for years, I don’t want to change.

All of these are valid reasons. But if you are looking for ways to increase value to your customers and to cut costs (and who isn’t?), you are doing yourself a disservice if you don’t look at the other side of the coin.

Affinity Express at the ASI Show New York

Were you at the ASI Show in New York? I was there all three days (May 4-6). Here is a picture of our booth.

Branding the Company that is Changing the Industry

There’s always a lot going on at Affinity Express, as we continue to grow, take on clients and target additional market segments. But it’s especially busy in the Marketing Department these days as we re-brand materials and roll out a new company tagline: “Transforming advertising and marketing production.”

We had outgrown our previous tagline and held an internal contest to inspire and tap into employee creativity. There were hundreds of responses from individuals in a wide variety of positions – not just designers. And the results gave us great insight into team members perspective on what we do, as well as their pride in the company.

Ultimately, we selected “Transforming advertising and marketing production” because it expresses what we do today and opens the door for where we are heading in the future.

Connect with Affinity Express

Welcome to the Affinity Express blog!  We launched this new vehicle as another means to dialogue with our clients, prospects and employees. In our posts, you will learn more about our services, trends in the industries we serve, and our people.

If you are not yet familiar with Affinity Express, you should know that we are blazing a trail by addressing the need for advertising and marketing production solutions for a variety of market segments. Today, we have well-known newspaper, direct marketer, yellow pages, marketing services, retailer, promotional products, digital media agency and corporate clients.

Our vision to provide high volumes of digital files in fast turn times, with excellent technical quality at a cost-effective rate. Affinity Express clients lower costs, generate higher profits and gain a competitive edge, without having to invest in building and maintaining these capabilities internally.

We currently offer a full range of services, including print ad production and digital ad production, execution of marketing campaigns, pre-press services, page building and document creation, HTML email and web design, online content publishing, image editing, vector artwork, and embroidery digitizing among others.

Affinity Express has been successful because of our unique offshore, onshore and onsite business model, state-of-the-art technology and best practices in quality and productivity. As a result, we have established a niche in the business process outsourcing industry for print and interactive production services and become the leading provider.