{"id":95,"date":"2020-12-29T08:44:21","date_gmt":"2020-12-29T08:44:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/truartcolorgraphics.com\/blog\/?p=95"},"modified":"2025-01-03T08:30:28","modified_gmt":"2025-01-03T14:30:28","slug":"which-way-do-we-go","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/truartcolorgraphics.com\/blog\/2020\/12\/29\/which-way-do-we-go\/","title":{"rendered":"Which Way Do We Go?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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When stacked up against history, there are certainly at least a few moments we can point to as antecedents to our current era. But for most of us alive today, especially those out in the workforce, we have had no frame of reference for the kinds of radical changes our lives and businesses have had to go through over the past nine months. We may not all be in the same boat, but we are certainly in the same storm \u2014 and that storm has made our paths forward unclear.
 
So \u2014 as individuals and as businesses \u2014 we have had to become agile. Since the future became less predictable than ever, we\u2019ve had to learn how to let each moment guide our choices. With our understanding of the novel coronavirus changing almost daily; with constantly shifting regulations and recommendations from national, state, and local authorities; with the needs and concerns of customers constantly getting rearranged \u2014 we have been standing on sand at high tide. We\u2019ve had to learn to find new footing, repeatedly. We\u2019ve had to learn to think in all directions at once, to be ready to choose the right course as it became clear.
 
In short, we\u2019ve had to learn to pivot<\/strong>.
 
The Association of National Advertisers (ANA), in its annual members poll, chose pivot<\/strong> as its Marketing Word of the Year for 2020. Having watched their choices over the last couple of years, and having watched marketing trends this year closely, I would have been shocked if they had chosen anything else.
 
Prior to 2020, when I thought of the word pivot<\/strong>, it was always in a context of athleticism and grace. It was a dog swiveling to catch a stick in midair; a dancer\u2019s pirouette; a hockey player running drills. There is an inherent rigor to the word\u2014to pivot is to have practiced. And friends, over the course of 2020, we have practiced<\/em>. Throughout the print and promotional products industries, our minds have been exercised in this skill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Early on, promo manufacturers rose to the occasion and\u00a0pivoted<\/strong> to produce masks and other personal protective equipment (PPE). Our own graphics team led the charge locally in\u00a0pivoting<\/strong>\u00a0to offer stock and customized signage, from floor decals to yard signs and so much more. Our mailing program, previously focused on direct mail and creating custom mailers,\u00a0pivoted<\/strong>\u00a0to excel in kitting projects for clients suddenly needing to send gifts to people\u2019s homes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In the print and promo industries, our specialty is communication, and the COVID-19 pandemic that has dominated most of 2020 has made essential the need to communicate tangibly \u2014 for businesses to offer things that people could touch, see, smell, hear, and even taste, in order to stay front-of-mind when they couldn\u2019t engage their customers in person. So, in a way, we have done what we have always been best at.
 
But we have had to think of our relationships with customers and with each other in new ways. There has been more emphasis on reaching out and interacting via phone, video conferencing, and email, as we\u2019re sure there has been for you as well. From all of our customers, the constant refrain has been that you’ve had to change the way you do business in order to survive.
 
In short, we have all learned to pivot<\/strong>.
 
And as is always the case when the ANA chooses their word of the year, pivot<\/strong> is more than just a word that defines the experience of the current year that\u2019s almost done: It\u2019s a word that we carry with us into the year to come, and beyond. This agile thinking, this graceful discipline, is a skill that will make us all better at all our endeavors going forward, no matter what the future holds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n