Competitive Advantage: The Handbook of Strategic Marketing and Management Systems for Imaging Businesses [Paperback]

Michael T Branham (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0966517601 | ISBN-13: 978-0966517606 | Publication Date: November 1, 1998 | Edition: 1

A comprehensive how-to guide and workbook that consists of 15 informative chapters covering topics such as print shop management, marketing strategy, facilities management (FM), niche marketing, legal imaging services, and developing a sample book to use as a sales tool.

Other topics include selling digital color printing services, marketing on the worldwide web, utilizing an outside sales force, partnering with your customers, selling your printing business, and more.

The Strategy Workshop section at the end of each chapter enables the reader to immediately apply marketing and management principles to their own business.

Chapter 15 defines the size of the entire imaging industry (commercial printing, quick printing, blueprinting, and reprographics) as well as niche market segments such as litigation copying and architectural engineering. It also defines average sales per shop, average sales per employee for businesses of various sizes, average sales per type of business, total annual industry sales by type of business, and more.

Editorial Reviews

Review

This is a book about the imaging industry -- an industry that is really a combination of several closely related and overlapping sub-industries. It's about quick copy shops, blueprinters, commercial duplicating services, digital printers, and commercial lithographers. This book is about an industry in consolidation -- an industry that needs a better sense of direction.

We have entered a new age. An age when imaging professionals who implement systematic business practices will prevail over those that continue to use short-term ad-hoc approaches to marketing and management. In the coming years, all segments of the imaging industry will undergo continuous consolidation. During this time, larger imaging companies will grow through acquisition of smaller businesses.

For the average print shop, the next decade will be a time of great opportunity or devastation. The choice is up to the management of each business.

This book addresses what the author considers to be the most pertinent marketing and management practices for running a profitable and competitive imaging business in the new millenium.

The author hopes imaging businesses of all sizes will use this book as a guide to develop systematic growth strategies for long-term success. -- Book Description

About the Author

Michael Branham is president and managing consultant of Competitive Benchmarking Associates, a market research and strategic planning consultancy serving the imaging industry. He has assisted some of North America's largest and most successful printing companies in developing and implementing strategies for improving profitability, efficiency, customer satisfaction & loyalty, and market share.

Recognized as an industry expert in marketing management, Branham's articles and quotes have appeared in respected business publications including Marketing Tools, American Printer, Printing Manager, Quick Printing, Digital Printer, Modern Reprographics, Quirk's Marketing Research Review, Athletic Business, DBA Houston, The Executive Report on Customer Retention, and The Journal of Management Education.

The author is also a well-known contributor to the general field of business-to-business marketing as creator of the Competitive Strength Inventory (CSI), a market research-based benchmarking and competitive analysis tool useful for strategic planning in any industry. The CSI was originally developed specifically for companies in the print-for-pay business.

Michael Branham holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in finance from the University of Houston and a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) in marketing from Baylor University.

Product Details

• Paperback: 123 pages
• Publisher: Marion Street Pr; 1 edition (November 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0966517601
• ISBN-13: 978-0966517606
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 10.2 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,631,250 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book is a MUST READ!!!, September 4, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Competitive Advantage: The Handbook of Strategic Marketing and Management Systems for Imaging Businesses (Paperback)

Competitive Advantage is a comprehensive and insightful resource on all aspects of marketing and management for the printing industry. It's truly a masterpiece and a MUST READ for anyone who wants to grow their imaging business.

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Competitive Advantage truly rocks!, November 9, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Competitive Advantage: The Handbook of Strategic Marketing and Management Systems for Imaging Businesses (Paperback)

This book addresses issues of strategic business orientation management in a confrontational and challenging manner that no previous work on this compelling subject has attempted. By taking the imaging industry as its start-point, this book offers a macroscopic overview of 21st century analytical management strategies. Whilst it may lack the forensic focus of Coulter's seminal 'Why waste product? A critical dissection of the United Kingdom Pollution Directorate waste management strategy' (JMLS, 1999), Branham's work will remain a key text on this topic for many years to come.