Your source for plastic card solutions in Africa
Our How to use QR Codes (and how to get it right!) Series is complete, but that doesn’t mean that the information we have to offer is depleted!
That’s right! In true CardsPlus style, we’ve compiled industry tips and tricks into a single PDF document. It’s easy to read, fast to follow and packed full of tips that you won’t find elsewhere on the internet.
Best of all, it’s still free.
A QR code is a type of Matrix code that stores much more data than a standard UPC or 1D barcode. Using a QR code, we can store URL
links, geo coordinates, and text for data retrieval
QR Codes are also called by various different terminologies including: 2D bar code, QR tag, or quick response code.
The key feature in a QR code is readability. Instead of needing a clunky scanner to decode the QR code, a modern smartphone with internet access and a QR code app can both scan the code, and jump to the web-enabled content. Through a well placed, smartly used QR code, you can pave the way for leads and customers to jump from “real life” marketing to “online” marketing in a snap.
_________________________
This post is Part 1 of a 3 Part series on QR codes in marketing. If this post is helpful, please feel free to download our infographic guide to using QR codes {and getting it right}.
The world has gone green! We’ve entered the age of balance, harmony and lush elegance. From 2010′s vibrant pink, to 2011′s lively tangerine, we’ve seen the colour trend go topsy turvy in 2012. On Friday, Pantone, the professionals behind the standardized color reproduction system, has announced that the 2013 PANTONE Color of the Year is Emerald.
The more relaxing emerald “is absolutely the opposite of 2012′s Color of the Year,” says Leatrice Eiseman, Pantone’s color specialist. Most often associated with brilliant, precious gemstones, the perception of Emerald is sophisticated and luxurious. Since antiquity, this luminous, magnificent hue has been the color of beauty and new life in many cultures and religions. It’s also the color of growth, renewal and prosperity – no other color conveys regeneration more than green. For centuries, many countries have chosen green to represent healing and unity.
“Green is the most abundant hue in nature – the human eye sees more green than any other color in the spectrum,” says Eiseman, “As it has throughout history, multifaceted Emerald continues to sparkle and fascinate. Symbolically, Emerald brings a sense of clarity, renewal and rejuvenation, which is so important in today’s complex world. This powerful and universally appealing tone translates easily to both fashion and home interiors.”
Green is said to represent growth and fertility, which is why we think emerald is the best hue to help you inspire new sales in your latest marketing campaigns. The gem-stone shade of green is rich, and lush, and is perfect for conveying a sense of exclusivity and elegance in your campaigns.
Other colours also in the spotlight are:
Mix and match in this palette easily. They all translate into plastic with ease. The CardsPlus graphics specialists recommend freshening up emerald with a dose of Lemon Zest and Dusk Blue for a young fresh approach, or enhancing it’s elegance with a dash of Monaco Blue (my personal favourite!) and Linen. Oh the possibilities!
Go ahead and give your campaign the 2013 twist by going green and including emerald in your upcoming plastic card designs and marketing ventures. We can’t wait to show you how it will turn out on plastic!
_________
CardsPlus is committed to providing fully inclusive customised plastic card solutions. We do this with help from our unique combination of speedy service, flexibility, knowledge, commitment to quality and support.
We’re proud to have helped thousands of African companies get the most from their plastic cards. Read more about us on http://www.cardsplus.co.za/
Plastic card printers make your life easier and safer. You use them to print ID cards for staff members, police verification, personnel identification, membership management, client loyalty, and other mission critical applications.
But deciding which machine to get can be like wading through muddy water. Brochures are written for the IT department, even though you will be the one using the machine.
Reading a plastic card printer brochure shouldn’t be so difficult.
This infographic compiles all the features of the DCP350 in an easy to read A4 page with clearly indicated benefits to you, as the user.
The DCP350 was designed to meet all entry level printing requirements with ease, high performance and superior print quality.
It’s the first of it’s kind and we hope you like it!
___
CardsPlus is the exclusive EDIsecure dealer for Subsaharan Africa. Pre orders of the DCP350 are available on www.cardsplus.co.za
We’re excited to announce that a brand new RewardsPlus website! Visit it here: www.rewardsplus.co.za
Read in depth about:
Using our simple downloading tools, you can download the user guide and 30 trial version for free!
With it’s easy to use interface, we hope that RewardsPlus.co.za will help you improve your gift and loyalty campaign.
View it here. www.rewardsplus.co.za
A recent article from BioPlastics Magazine shed light on an interesting development of Biodegradable plastics. Written by Ramani Narayan, a distinguished professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science of Michigan State University in the United States, this article approached the claims made by biodegradable plastic and the science behind each product.
The article addresses the claims of biodegradable PVC products, biodegradability PET products and biodegradable PE products. Each were found to be lacking the scientific justification that this solution is environmentally responsible.
“Unfortunately, there is a growing number of misleading, deceptive and scientifically biodegradability claims proliferating in the marketplace.” Narayan stated int he article.
Some important points were highlighted in the article for your attention.
This dictionary definition is:
(biodegradable) capable of being decomposed by e.g. bacteria
It is an end of life option that harnesses the power of microrganisms, like bacteria present in the soil, to completely remove the substance from the environment in an efficient and safe manner.
In the world of plastics, a biodegradable card would be disposed of in a landfill and dissolve using the microorganisms present in the soil.
This can pose a particular problem. Soil across the world is all made up of different composition, with different environmental factors. Also, there are additional environments outside of soil. Plastic can make its way into oceans and rivers.
As Narayan mentions, ” because it is an end-of-life option, and harnesses microorganisms present in the selected disposal environment, one must clearly identify the disposal environment when discussing or reporting on the biodegradability of a product… Specifying time to complete biodegradation or …time to complete microbial assimilation of the test plastic in the selected disposal environment is an essential requirement – so stating that it will eventually biodegrade or it is partially biodegradable is not acceptable.”
More information about the specifics of a biodegradable product is necessary to be able to determine the validity of the “green” claims.
This product claims to use “special ingredients” to attract the microorganisms that begin to breakdown the PVC plastic. They claim that the PVC is broken down into water, salt and carbon dioxide. Yet, from the study offered at Michigan State University, “there is no scientific stata provided to substantiate the complete breakdown and utalisation of the PVC by the microorganisms present in the disposal system… Th
e proposed mechanistic chemistry would not pass muster in a high school honours chemistry classroom”
Yet, we are seeing large corporations across Africa, even a manufacturer or two, embracing this solution as a “green” option for plastic cards. But, according to this article, the science is off and there are no actual facts to endorse the claims that this product biodegrades. The disposal environment was not specified, and may not even be present outside test environments, if at all.
There are many more such examples of misleading claims. Several offer weight loss and other chemical evidence for the break down of the plastic. However, there is little evidence offered to prove that the fragments of plastic are consumed by the microorganisms present in the environment over a reasonable time period.
In the few cases offered in this paper, Narayan mentions that a few did partially biodegrade, and continues, “However, if one obtains only 5% or 30% or even 40% biodegration, there are serious health and environmental consequences caused by the non-degraded fragments as it moves through the eco compartments… Unfortunately, all the focus is on demonstrating the break down or degration…but no data on how much and in what time frame did the microorganisms present in the in the disposal environment consume the carbon food.”
This is where things get tricky. Decomposition of the plastic into fragments is especially dangerous to the ecosystem and if the plastic is not completely consumed by the microorganisms, it poses a great risk to the environment. Just because it partially degrades, does not mean that it is actually helping the planet!
The take home message here is clear. Validate the claims made by your printers, and by your manufacturers before placing orders. Gimmicks and Green Washing abound and can be tricky to navigate through, however, the effort to weed through the gimmicks is worth the effort to choose a truly responsible solution for our Earth.
_________
CardsPlus is committed to providing fully inclusive customised plastic card solutions. We do this with help from our unique combination of speedy service, flexibility, knowledge, commitment to quality and support.
We’re proud to have helped thousands of African companies get the most from their plastic cards. Read more about us on http://www.cardsplus.co.za/
We promote the DCP240+ -entry level plastic card printer- as “Reliability Approved” and this week, while doing our standard end of year maintainance on our bureau printers, our technicians made a great discovery that explains exactly why we are so passionate about these machines.
We have several printers with over 500 000 prints and they are still running smoothly!
This is exactly why we proclaim that the DCP240+ is the BEST entry level plastic card printer. When you print plastic cards for your company, you rely on a printer to operate when and as it should so that you can get the job done quickly. And the DCP240+ does that- over and over again. (even up to half a million times!)
Thank you EDIsecure for providing such a reliable and affordable option for plastic card printing!
In South Africa and need a reliable solution for card printing? Contact us today for our end of the year deals.
We’re always on the look out for clever ways to use loyalty to further your business. Read this excerpt from SG Entrepenuers to see how being disloyal can be the best kind of loyalty.
“Be Disloyal(which is what their loyalty program is called) is an epic win, branding wise.
Here’s how it works: Head to one of the eight indie cafés listed here, and ask for a Be Disloyal card. Buy a coffee, get your card stamped, and check out the remaining cafés. Once you’ve visited all of them, head back to the first one to redeem your free coffee.
It’s essentially a coffee discovery trail.
The idea of a disloyalty card was first conceptualized in the UK by 2009 World Barista Champion Gwilym Davies, and has since spread to different parts of the Western world — US, Canada, and Australia.
Erik and Luke are perhaps the first to bring this concept to Asia. Singapore, said the duo, is ripe for it because the coffee scene is really growing here.
“We cater to people who enjoy coffee but are not loyal to a specific brand,” Erik explains, “we also want to help small businesses by giving them more exposure.”
Started in September and slated to run until the end of 2011, Be Disloyal is an initiative that’s still in its infancy. The co-founders have managed to cover cost by charging the cafés a one-time fee. There’s no doubt an expansion is on the cards, although they are tight-lipped about their future plans for the moment.
It’s not hard to imagine where they are going to take this though.
A disloyalty card for ice-cream and desserts, anyone? How about a website, or even an app? Or perhaps they can work with bigger brands, like Starbucks, Coffee Bean, or Gloria Jean’s?
Whatever they decide to do, I can certainly see the idea grow in the near future. “
Can you use disloyalty to enhance loyalty at your business?
Purchasing directly from a manufacturer has its share of benefits. Resellers often add an extra element of service and value add to the project. There are benefits to both. And while the decision as to which is best for you is a personal choice, you need to feel comfortable that the company you work with is offering you the service you are paying for.
But what are the benefits to choosing one over the other?
The biggest benefit of purchasing from a manufacturer is service flexibilty
When you approach CardsPlus directly, you will receive the most flexible option available. When you require something less than straight forward, you can be assured that the printing company knows exactly what you need without relying on additional people. There are no long delays waiting to hear back from the printers, since we can look at our production schedule right away. With information “straight from the horse’s mouth” you can be assured that everything is being handled.
Great Pricing
Since there are no additional mark ups, you can feel confident that you are receiving excellent pricing.
Indepth Information
Plastic cards is what we do. It’s our specialty, our livelihood. We know plastic cards inside and out. If you require information about the technology or it’s application, you best contact someone who has pinpointed vision on the industry.
CardsPlus has a strong network of reselling agents and we believe in promoting our reseller base as there is value in buying from a reseller.
The biggest benefit of purchasing from a reseller is Added Value.
Each reseller packages their value-add in different ways. Some offer free artwork, some have a wide variety of suppliers and can offer a more inclusive product solution, others suppliment cards with loyalty provision or other software or system add on.
Advocacy
All resellers act as the mediator between the manufacturer and the end user. They keep track of your order, ensuring that artwork is completed, proofs are signed off, and delivery is arranged. While some manfacturers, like CardsPlus, offer order tracking, and delivery, it is sometime nice to have additional advocacy to the manufacturing company.
Are you not sure if your supplier is a reseller or manfuacturer? We have addressed disturbing trends in the industry about this very thing.
Choosing a plastic card supplier is a personal choice, and can refer to the time and resources available to spend on your project. I believe in the value of purchasing straight from the manufacturer. This is why CardsPlus transistioned from a printing service to a manufacturering company. Yet, the industry is so big and full with unique projects and situations, there is sometimes a better fit with a reseller than the manufacturer directly.
If you would like more inforamtion about how an order would be handled at CardsPlus, please give us a call.
CardsPlus was proud to be invited to Digital Identification Solution’s partners meeting while we attended Gitex 2011.
CardsPlus received recognition as the top provider of Value Line printers in the Africa/Middle East/Central Asia region.
We were pleased to meet Matica System’s CEO Sandro Camilleri. Matica System purchased the controlling share of DISO and Camilleri was elected as the new CEO of DISO in July. Matica system has a large market share in Europe for centralised issuance and has become an international player in personalisation systems. He has big plans for DISO and we’re looking forward to being part of them!
DISO’s growth has continued and with the addition of Matica System’s market share, we remain confident in the integrity of the brand and excited for the future.
____
This is part of a 3 part series
Read Part 1 – Overview
Read Part 2 – the Debut of LPI by Digital Identification Solution
Read Part 3 – Results of Partner’s Meeting
