There’s a shortage of pretty much everything at the moment and paper is no exception.
Since the start of the pandemic, which disrupted supply chains and the labor market, mail consultants have been adapting to the new normal. But with the cost of paper still rising, and the shortage not easing, they’re finding new ways to make their businesses run and, at the same time, adapting their clients’ mail strategies.
But before any strategic decisions can be made, clients have to get over the sticker shock.
“Costs are significantly higher, of course, which often leads to sticker shock for candidates and consultants who haven’t seen this big a price jump in this short amount of time,” said Andrew Boucher, a partner at GOP shop Ascent Strategic.
“Our response has been to be proactive in reaching out to mail clients to let them know about the new realities in budgeting and scheduling, and we’re starting the planning process weeks and even months earlier than in previous years.”
Planning and ordering may need to stretch even further into the future for speciality items like envelopes, he added. “Start thinking about Christmas cards now.”
Still, there’s opportunity for campaigns that can get their budgets and planning in place, notes Amanda Biundo, Ascent’s creative director.
“Mailboxes are less cluttered. So smartly designed, well-planned mail campaigns can own the messaging space,” she said, adding that flexibility is key in this environment. “We’ve sometimes had to be flexible on the fly to change envelope sizing or inserts to whatever stock is available.”
Sue Zoldak, owner and chief creative officer of The Zoldak Agency, told C&E she was holding meetings this week on sourcing for a July mailing because of concerns about paper.
“Sourcing reams of quality paper has been difficult for more than a year now — especially when we are looking for high quantities of the same paper for a consistent series or to produce a multi-page book,” she said.
“The hand feel of the paper is an integral part of our process, as well the way in which the ink will adhere. We have gone to sourcing and printing across Asia and allowing for longer turnaround times to ensure high-end collateral.”
Chris Russell of GOP shop Checkmate Strategies said that he’s shopping his jobs to more printers as a result of the shortage.
“Fortunately, we have a great roster of top-notch print and mail partners and we are able to get every job done that comes our way, but not without being nimble and building in more time for jobs than normal,” he said. “So far, campaigns have been dealing with the reality of higher prices, and we are also working hard to mitigate the higher print and mail costs from passing on to our clients.”
Kara Turrentine, who heads Democratic mail shop Turrency Political, LLC, said that she’s encouraging clients to commit to budgets early so that they can “lock in production and paper resources.”
“Vendors should be ready to potentially adjust your designs based on what kind of paper stock is actually available,” she said. “Understandably, smaller printers want your business and will do their best to keep costs low, but expect an increase to cover lost business this year and have a back-up printer in place just in case the paper doesn’t make it.”
In some ways, the crisis has helped boost larger firms. Chris D’Aniello, president, voter contact, at Axiom Strategies, noted that “in the past couple months, we’ve had other mail consultants come to us in the thick of approaching primaries to help them get mail printed and dropped on-time.”
That’s because Axiom is so large that it has “the volume of work to be treated right by printers and mail houses,” he said, although noting that even a mega firm like Axiom has implemented new planning processes to cope with the ongoing shortage.
“Turn times can be longer, too, because fewer printers have paper stock on-hand to meet the tight deadlines of political advertising, so there is less press capacity available overall,” D’Aniello said. “That means you’ll pay more per-piece now [than] you would have last cycle, for sure, and you may not be able to drop mail as quickly as you are used to.”
