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We want to start introducing you to the people behind the paper.  Many of you may not know Peter Hansen aka the rockstar.  He’s a lovable, hard working guy who is well known for wearing extremely bright socks!  He likes his rice white, he’s a mad boxer and our business development manager servicing the corporate sector.  We took some time to sit down with Pete and find out what happens in a ‘day in the life of a rockstar’? We didn’t edit anything he said. Enjoy.

How many years have you worked in the paper industry?
Eighteen. I started working at Spicers, calling on the printers then ended up back selling and calling on the designers and ad agencies.

How many years have you worked at Doggett’s?
Nine. I’m based in the Victorian office but I work around Australia.

What does a day in the life of Pete Hansen look like?
I get in very early, like 7:30am and make appointments for the following week, so I’m always working a week ahead. I go out and discuss new products with my customers, go over their jobs. I discuss applications of our current papers that might suit what they’re doing and generally become part of their decision making when it comes to stock selection. My motto is I don’t have to win every order, but I want to get every phone call to have the opportunity to win every order. This makes me focus not just on sales, but education. Whether it be paper, printing or the environment.

I work mainly with the print managers who service big clients in the telecommunications, FMCG, property and retail sectors as well as advertising agencies.

I might get some rice for lunch.  I always have three apples in the car.

My main tool is my mobile phone which I am on the whole time in between visits.  I don’t listen to the radio. Instead I spend time speaking to my clients as this gives me a good opportunity to discuss upcoming jobs.

I take my iPad into client visits and show them certain jobs we have on our blog or pages on our website they may need to know about. The iPad is great.  Easy for us older blokes.

I also have clients I see in Melbourne who I go and visit in the other states such as  the Herald and Weekly Times. I also travel interstate and go out on the road with my colleagues. I go see the corporates, ad agencies and print management companies in other states. Quite a few of these have a national focus so it makes sense for these clients to have a national contact who can discuss their needs in each state.

How has the industry changed since you’ve been working in it?
The print management companies can play a critical role in the decision making process of a print job. In our case they look to us to provide advice on appropriate paper stocks for print jobs. Along with corporates, print managers are who I predominately spend my time servicing, showcasing and educating our broad product range.

What has also changed is the turnaround time for delivering stock. Customers require outcomes quicker than they did 10 years ago. For example, a phone call comes in at 9am and the printer needs it delivered tomorrow. Used to be about a week turnaround.

And new stocks and applications – there are so many more now. What I am talking about today is not what I was talking about 10 years ago.  It used to be all about offset papers. Now we’re talking digital, synthetics or wide format as well as everything else.

What do you love most about your job?
I love it because of where I work and the relationships I have built over the years. I make sure I grow them. When all things are equal, the relationship will win the order so for me it’s crucial I spend time making sure my customers receive what they need and want. I am their problem solver and also provide the solutions.

What do people at Doggett’s know you for?
They know me for being in their faces. What I mean is, if I need something, I’ll go out and get the answer and hopefully come up with the appropriate solution. I don’t just sit back. I find what I need. And that I am great with my clients. I do what I am paid for.

What are some things you do outside of work that you love?
Boxing, weights (as you can see). I also play in a 60s/70s cover band and I like to go see other bands in my spare time. I’m going to see one tonight at the Cherry Tree.

If you want to contact Peter yourself email him here phansen@kwdoggett.com.au He’d love to talk paper, boxing or rice with you.

Hooray for Kellie Northwood, Executive Director of TSA Limited which runs Two Sides Australia (environmental campaigns) and VoPP (effectiveness campaigns) for the paper and print industry. Kellie has loads of experience and her writing is backed by research. She’s fed up with the pervasive lack of confidence in the industry about the future of print. Instead, she encourages people to stick to their guns, do the research and talk up the benefits with customers. We dig her attitude!

By Kellie Northwood.

Whether an industry event, a training session or a meeting, as I journey throughout the print industry, I find myself twitching when I hear some people talk in a way that concerns me. A voice that can become more powerful and more concerning than declining industry metrics, government cut-backs and site closures – I twitch when I hear a lack of confidence. Nervous comments over whether there will be a print industry in ten years, five years or three years. Fear over whether people will have the skills to work in the industry. A lack of confidence that print has no value and more.

Some fears have merit – with print companies folding we can be concerned as to our future employment prospects. With a communications revolution we can also be guaranteed that our industry has and will continue to change over the years ahead. However fears concerning print’s value, relevance and future prospects carry no weight with me. As an industry we must stop focussing on each other and start focussing on print as an effective, cost-efficient and powerful media channel.

A media channel that offers greater return on investment (ROI) than Online, TV and Radio. Is reported by the largest research companies across Australia – Roy Morgan Research, Neilsen, and GfK to name a few – as the strongest performer in effectiveness and influence surveys. Surveys that deliver consistent high-performance results across all socio-economic and age demographics and reveal print is the most trusted, credible and reliable. Print is also the most sustainable media channel from carbon footprint, renewable raw materials and industry initiatives over TV, Radio, Digital and Email.

No need to gain confidence from me, the research and data supports everything I am saying – Roy Morgan reports ‘Heavy print media users are more likely to be above average income earners, better educated and big spenders’. Music to marketer’s ears. Roy Morgan continue, ‘Print media continues to be the dominant media channel among those who are asked for advice on a range of product and service categories’.

Psychology reports continue to reinforce the strength of print when retaining messaging – brand awareness is stronger when communicated via print and commercial communication is most effective via paper and print. Your customer’s need to have these conversations not ones forecasting the industry’s doom and gloom. If we as an industry believe our industry has no merit then how can we expect our customers to invest valuable marketing budgets in print?

When asked are printers doing enough? My advice is to stick to your guns, declare proudly that print is still king, gather the research, collate the case studies and take them out to every sales call, every cross-media event, tag them to your websites, brochures and other marketing initiatives. When your real competitors – TV, Radio, Digital, Outdoor – talk to their customers they do not focus on who has the best camera equipment, microphones or ADSL line. They talk about one thing – results. They talk to their prospects about the effectiveness of TV, the ROI of Digital and so on. It’s time we do the same and start reclaiming some of the precious marketing dollars our industry may have lost in recent years. Trust me, the research and data will back you up.

With the never ending treasure trove of visual inspiration on Pinterest, to the cool paper projects our customers have posted on Instagram, there’s hours of fun to be had. So this is really just a super quick reminder we’re on the social airwaves and we’d love you to be part of our online family.

Pinterest: We want our Pinterest page to bring into reality your wildest paper dreams. You’ll find loads of inspiring boards like embellishments, binding and packaging. For a bit of fun, there’s a board dedicated to our four legged friends too. Well, it’s not going to be cats is it?!  Our search for the latest and greatest pins means means we invite a guest pinner to contribute to our page every now and again. Recently it was graphic designer Masaki from Three60 in Melbourne. You can check out one of Masaki’s very cool boards here. We’re always adding new pins so be sure to check in often.

Instagram: We’re so amazed at the creativity out there. It’s not about our paper, it’s what you do with it and Instagram is the perfect platform to showcase this. Keep on posting those paper projects, we love them.

Facebook: Find out about design and print events, videos about paper and sustainability, design projects showing cool print techniques, the odd competition and more.

LinkedIn: We post industry news, insights and company updates on our company page. We’d love you to connect with the Doggett’s team on LinkedIn and we can all share in the paper and print news together.

Twitter: We usually tweet about industry related information and fact based news on paper and sustainability.

YouTube: Visit this platform to be entertained whether it’s a video about iPads v toilet paper or the more serious ones like the video about paper created with citronella to keep people from dying of dengue fever,