From ours to yours...

We hope you enjoyed the Holidays!


Maybe you got a few things done around the house...


Maybe you decided to do some baking...

Maybe you dressed up as one of Santa's elves...

Maybe you had too much time on your hands...

Maybe you waited patiently to open gifts...

Maybe you couldn't sleep a wink...

Maybe you begged to play...

Maybe you played...

Maybe you got stranded in a blizzard...

Maybe you decided to bake some more...

Maybe you built your first snowman...

Maybe you made a sassy & fun snowlady...(I guess the politically correct name would be snowperson)

Or, maybe you slipped on your Snuggie and just had fun being with family...

(I promise that is the last time this YEAR I will talk about a Snuggie!)

No matter how you celebrated this Holiday season we hope you had a wonderful, safe, and memorable time!

From our FAMILIES to yours, we wish you a very Happy & SAFE New Year!

See you in 2010. (Yippee....that means they're lettin' me come back!)

**Pictures courtesy of Heritage employees

Giving Back

So this year back in...oh...September we decided we wanted to do something "different" for our holiday cards and Christmas gifts. So the sales team piled in the conference room and began brainstorming (you can only imagine how scary that was). We came up with an idea to give each customer $1000 in cash....but we decided that was too easy.

So.....we created project Giving Back.

Customers were sent a recyclable gift bag that was theirs to keep.

We also sent them a brown paper bag as well. On the brown paper bag was a label asking our customers to donate items to Infant Crisis Services!

(Now...I wouldn't be a good Director of Marketing for a printing and promotional products company if I didn't pause to tell you about the use of variable data on this project. Each box had a customized label with a corresponding label on the bag as well. The company name, customer's name, and personal label changed for each individual package! Each package was just a little sample of everything you can receive at Heritage...printing, a promotional product, and fulfillment. Okay, I'll take my marketing hat off and put my Santa hat back on.)

The Infant Crisis Services wish list was placed on each bag, and the bags started flowing in! Our customers rock. R-O-C-K, rock! Heritage also offered to MATCH what was collected. So for each bag collected, we donated a bag as well!!!

This morning we delivered over 100 bags and boxes of diapers to Infant Crisis Services! It was amazing!!! (Can you tell how happy our guys were for having to wear Santa hats???)

I put together a little video for a recap of the event! (I can't help it...I love animoto.com!)

Again, it WAS amazing! The response from you, our customers, was amazing and Infant Crisis Services was touched by your kindness and generosity!!!

Thank you for Giving Back this Holiday season!


*If you received a bag and you didn't have time to fill it up, NO worries! We're collecting extra bags through January and we will deliver the extra bags at the end of the month.

Free to Live

We recently printed calendars for Free To Live. Free To Live is a non-profit sanctuary for stray, abandoned and mistreated dogs and cats. It is the largest no-kill sanctuary in Oklahoma. From Free To Live more than 500 animals are adopted out to loving homes each year. At the sanctuary, animals that are not adopted live out their lives with healthy food, shelter and medical care. Euthanasia is not practiced.


Well...the 2010 Pet Calendars are now available!
These calendars were beautifully done (I'm not just saying that because we printed them...well maybe I am. No matter why I'm saying it, they are nice, and you need one!) It has over 200 pages, and has month/week at-a-glance for jotting down things to remember. It's packed full of cute, funny and absolutely precious photos as well as poems, stories and helpful information.

Don't you need one???

I mean who can resist a sweet puppy dog face....



Calendars are only $15, and proceeds go to Free to Live! (Let us know if you want one!)

We're not begging...really we're not. (Insert whimpering sounds.)

I’ll be HOME for Christmas!

We are currently working on several print projects for our friends at Home Creations. They’ve been building new homes in Oklahoma since 1981.

They build ENERGY STAR qualified new homes with tornado safety features, AND they even pay closing costs. Wow! Dear Santa (aka Husband), All I want for Christmas is a Home Creations home, preferably the Wilshire floor plan, with black granite counter-tops, and a Jacuzzi tub. That’s all.



You can only imagine the joy and celebration that took place at the Home Creations office when President Obama signed the Home Buyer Tax Credit extension! The extension continues the $8,000 tax credit for first-time buyers and those who haven’t owned a home in three years, and it offers a tax credit of $6,500 for existing home owners who purchase a new home. The home purchased must be used as a primary residence. Buyers must be under contract by April 30, 2010, and close no later than June 30, 2010. (There's more details, just click HERE to check it out!)

So, are you tired of renting? (Oh boy, I get to use my infomercial voice…) Stop renting. Act now! Call Home Creations today at 877.277.7121 and find out how you can own a brand new home and get an amazing tax credit as well! BUT THAT’S NOT ALL! If you call now, and sign a contract with Home Creations they’ll send you a Snuggie...

.....hmmm, I probably should have asked Home Creations about that first…I was just on a roll with my infomercial voice, and I couldn’t stop myself! Okay, here’s a deal for you…if you sign a contract with Home Creations based on reading this blog post, I’ll buy you a Snuggie! I think I should quit using my infomercial voice.

Just think...if you sign a contract with Home Creations you could be celebrating Christmas next year in a brand new, energy efficient home! Did you HEAR THAT SANTA? By NEXT Christmas! (I doubt my subliminal messages are working on Santa.)

I’m Dreaming of a Green & Yellow Christmas!

We’re not obsessed with John Deere around here….well, a few of us might be. (Remember this?)

Our friends at Western Equipment own stores in Clinton, Weatherford, Hobart, Alva, Altus, Woodward, Childress and Amarillo, and they sell a lot of tractors, combines, mowers, and sprayers! But did you know that they also sell t-shirts, sweatshirts, artwork, gun safes, and dog collars? Yep, they do!

Their 9^th store is online! They created greentractor.com, which features John Deere merchandise, and they have ANYTHING you could ever want with a yellow deer on it! Backpacks, money clips, poker chips, pet supplies, grill covers, coat racks, golf balls, license plates, and even remote control gators! (Yeah...I'm not gonna show this one to my husband because if he sees it, he will own one before sundown!)

It’s not too late to get some Christmas shopping done! If you need a fun gift check out greentractor.com! OR, if you really want to make someone happy stop by Western Equipment and buy one of these bad boys! (That's a real one, NOT a toy!)

While you start shopping, I’m going to keep coming up with more catchy John Deere Christmas tunes…

Here comes Santa Clause, Here Comes Clause… ridin’ his new John Deere

All I Want for Christmas is Two John Deere’s

I saw Daddy kissing his new John Deere

Grandpa got run over by a John Deere

I’ve been informed I should keep my day job!! Oh….wait, what? Ohhh! I misunderstood. They said….”Stop coming up with song titles if I want to KEEP MY JOB!”

We're thankful...

Wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving!

~Your Friends at Heritage

We really do have so much to be thankful for. So much, in fact, that we've compiled a list (I know you're shocked.)

At Heritage...

We're thankful for soldiers protecting our freedom.
We're thankful for our families.
We're thankful for the smell of aqueous in the morning.
We're thankful for recycling.
We're thankful for all of our wonderful customers who have become friends.
We're thankful for people who love chotskies, toys, prizes and gifts with their logo on them!
We're thankful for trade shows in Vegas. Anytime you can work and be in Vegas is a good day!
We're thankful for healthy children.
We're thankful that there's not a turkey shortage this year. Yum.
We're thankful that people still want to "touch" what they read.
We're thankful that we don't have to listen to oldies music everyday. Just Fridays. (Dave, please don't fire me...Rachael said it.)
We're thankful for halftone dots.
We're thankful for having turkey sandwiches nine meals in a row after Thanksgiving is over.
We're thankful for elastic waist bands, since we ate turkey sandwiches for nine meals in a row.
We're thankful that fighting construction on I-40 to work each day gives us an automatic excuse for being 10 minutes late to work!

We're thankful for PMS 388.
We're thankful for paper…we really love paper.
We're thankful for the fridge in the front conference room.
We're thankful for coffee.
We're thankful for pot-luck lunches this place can throw.

We're thankful for fun & dedicated co-workers.
We're thankful for large folding machines that can double as a tornado shelter (that's another blog post for another day).
We're thankful for the sound of the presses running on a daily basis.
We're thankful that we no longer have to say we have "strippers" that work at Heritage, but we do have call girls that work in our call center....wait, that doesn't sound right...I should stop typing now....really I should. Happy Thanksgiving.

We want to hear from you!

Guess what?????


Give up? Okay, I'll tell you!

Heritage is building a new......

WEBSITE!

(Crowd roars with excitement.)

We knew that our current site was in need of updating! We were waiting until just the right time! (Not sure what right time means to you, but to us it means boss signs a check!!)

Here's a little sneak peek, it's just a snapshot of one corner...

Sorry, that's all I can show you. You'll have to wait a few weeks to see the rest....

So, what do we need from you???? Your feedback!!!

We want you to answer one (or all) of these questions...

"I like working with Heritage because...."

"What's your experience working with Heritage been like?"

"What does your relationship with Heritage mean to you?"

Answers can be one sentence, or a few paragraphs!! The customer feedback will be posted on our new website under the "Our Customers" tab. (Please respond by Friday the 27th!)

We've got operators standing by to take your calls! But...to make it easier on them, why don't you just email your response to info@heritagesolutionsok.com

We can't wait to hear from you.....

Mirror, Mirror in the Mail

Recently the crazy-creative-collaborative-charismatic design team over at 3rd Degree created a cute & catchy direct mail piece using variable data! And if there's one thing we LOVE here at Heritage it's variable data!! The team was actually hired to launch a new brand for Cosmetic Surgery Affiliates. The direct mail piece was just one component, of a much larger effort to launch the new brand. A pale pink direct mailer with a die cut mirror was created. The reflection in the mirror was created using variable data, so the customer's name (reflected in the mirror) changed for each individual piece. It was a hit, and Cosmetic Surgery Affiliates received great feedback from their customers as well.
You know, Cosmetic Surgery Affiliates and Variable Data Print have a lot in common! They both make you look good, and get you noticed! (I'm going to bet that's the first, and possibly last time, someone will compare cosmetic surgery to variable data print capabilities.)

With Variable Data Printing, we customize every mail piece unique to the recipient. You can vary the text or even the photos used on each card. The result is personalized mail that really gets noticed. Since response rates are generally much higher with variable data printing, you can mail smaller quantities and still achieve better results.

So in conclusion I think all you need to remember is this:

If you need to get your BUTT in gear and do some variable data direct mail campaigns, you need to see us. If you need to save your companies BUTT and get a new brand, you need to see them. And, if you just want a brand new BUTT for yourself, then definitely see them.

There's no BUTTS about it, together we can all make you look good!

Got Uniforms?

Remember a few weeks ago when I blogged about the Love’s Corporation and I talked about the uniform program we offer for their subsidiary companies, Gemini & Musket? Well if you don’t remember you should click here!

With around 400 employees combined, the Musket division handles fuel distribution and Gemini Motor Transport operates 190 trucks, servicing Love’s Travel Stops and other fueling stations across the United States. All that makes perfect sense now, right? Well…since that’s cleared up, now you’re wondering how Heritage provides solutions to them. (If you weren’t wondering that, just play along with me please.)

Musket & Gemini needed to come up with a way for their truck driving employees to order uniforms. You know things like….



fire retardant jump suits! (I wanted to have a video of our Director of Sales, Curtis Jones, wearing one of these suits. I thought we could have the sales team light him on fire so you could see how the suits really do work….wouldn’t you know that HR gets in the way of all my fun ideas!)

Let’s get back on track, Heritage created an online store for Musket & Gemini employees. A draw-down account feature was used to identify what each employee had to spend on uniforms. When the employee logs onto the website the amount they have to spend is clearly visible on the site. As items are purchased throughout the year, the dollar amount decreases automatically. Both companies have been pleased with the ease of the system and they like the fact that they can easily track what dollars are being spent. (Please note that there’s more than just uniforms on these sites! Managers have the ability to login to order promotional products, holiday gifts, service awards, mailings and much more!)

We do wear many hats here at Heritage. You knew we did print, and you knew we sold promotional products, but I’m guessing you had no idea we managed online uniform stores too! We need to work that into our title: Heritage...Your Print, Promotional, Fulfillment and Uniform Solutions Source! Like it??? What?? Geeze…I asked to light one person on fire and suddenly none of my ideas are good!

Pimp My Pumpkin

Today at Heritage we had our first annual PIMP MY PUMPKIN contest! There were two different categories, carved and decorated! It was fun to see what everyone showed up with.

Ezmerelda was entered in the carved pumpkin contest. She was GREAT, and extremely detailed! (I need a better camera so I can take pictures of things like.....pumpkins! Feel free to leave the boss a blog comment requesting that I get a high-end professional camera! No really...go ahead.)

Ezmeralda witched her way right in to 2nd place!

We also had a carved John Deere pumpkin. All the guys loved this one! Why are guys so fascinated with tractors, and things that are spray painted green?? Whatever the reason, that great design and spray paint won that tractor lovin' boy $50 cash for 1st prize in the carved category!

In the decorated category we had 5 pumpkins to choose from!

Murray the Mummy was adorable! He had a little glittered head and squiggly eyes. He was super cute! So cute in fact, he won second place in the decorated contest!

We needed a high end arts category for the next two. The Nightwatchmen and the Naked Eye of Objectivity is our next featured pumpkin. It was a creative design and I always love a pumpkin with a story!

Can you say Better Homes & Gardens? This fabulous trio of pumpkins was amazing. The title of it was Nightmare before Christmas Tree. It's hard to see, but there are small holes drilled through the two bottom pumpkins and lights inside. It was impressive to say the least.

The Octomom pumpkin was featured with a few of her little ones. As you can tell by her expression she was overjoyed with her 1st prize recognition. Doesn't she look thrilled? She's hoping to get a Pimp My Pumpkin book deal.

And finally we had an adorable crafty pumpkin with an equally adorable title, "Sassy & Flashy I wanna WIN some Cashy!"

Stay tuned for another exciting contest from your friends at Heritage. Pimp my...Christmas Wreathe, maybe? Okay maybe not.

Check it out!

I usually don’t do two blog posts in one week but this event is tomorrow...and it’s so important I HAD to share it with you! Our promotional products team (remember we call them the ASI group) recently helped Integris come up with a few products to feature for Men’s Health University. This was tricky since the Men’s Health University covers a few subjects that we don’t freely talk about! Why don’t we talk about it??? We talk about breast cancer awareness all the time, but subjects for men’s health aren’t addressed as much! That is one main reason why Integris began this program.

This came from the Integris Men’s Health website…

Getting men to schedule annual check-ups is at best like pulling teeth. The alpha-male is taught from an early age that their individual health is not a main concern. The hunter/gatherer looks to take care of the family first, although by overlooking their own health they are doing the family a disservice. Men usually delay or avoid seeking medical attention even when they know something could be wrong.

That's why INTEGRIS Health has developed Men's Health University. Men-U gives men the opportunity for free health checks and cancer screenings in a tailgate party environment with food and door prizes. 

The 2009 Men's Health University will be Saturday, October 24th from 9:00 a.m. to noon at the Francis Tuttle Techonology Center - Reno Campus, which is located at 7301 W. Reno.

The health and cancer screenings include: Glucose, Cholesterol, Blood Pressure, Vision, Hearing, EKG, Prostate, Colon, Oral, Skin and Colo-Rectal.

We ordered two products for Integris. The first was a self exam card that says “Hey Guys, Get Checked!” It gives detailed instructions for guys to do self examinations (so detailed, in fact, that I won’t be sharing them with you here, but I do encourage you guys to check out the Integris Men’s Health website! There’s a ton of great information and resources on the site!) Also we ordered a scroll pen, it features a chart with ages that men should have routine examinations. We feel like this is a great program, and think the folks at Integris do a wonderful job of keeping the state educated on potential health risks!

So tell the men in your life to get up, get out and "get checked" tomorrow!!

Bus Stop.....

Recently we produced a very cool piece for an emerging design studio in Oklahoma City, Studio fj, and their client ACOG. ACOG is the Association of Central Oklahoma Governments, and their purpose is to aid local governments in planning for common needs, cooperating for mutual benefit, and coordinating for sound regional development. ACOG is an organization of, by and for local governments that allows member entities to work in partnership to address issues or problems common to many jurisdictions. This regional cooperation serves to strengthen both the individual and collective capabilities of local governments.

This cool piece that the talented team over at Studio fj designed was the School Bus Idling Reduction: Project Report & Implementation Guide for Oklahoma School Districts. (Yes kids, you still have to write reports when you’re finished with school!)


The design was headed up by Studio fj's Owner, James Harber, and designer Kaleb Nimz. The introduction from the report states the following: “School bus idling wastes fuel and financial resources while producing exhaust emission that are harmful to human health and the environment. Beginning in late 2006, ACOG, Choctaw-Nicoma Park Public Schools, and the OK Department of Environmental Quality undertook a two-year project to determine the extent of fuel and emissions saving that OK school districts might expect by instituting a maximum five-minute school bus idling policy. This report offers the study’s finding to public school districts in Oklahoma and elsewhere so that limited resources can be maximized and children, teachers, bus drivers, parents, school administrations and other can enjoy the benefits of a healthier environment.” It amazes me all that goes in to making our city, country, and world environmentally safe and protected, and it makes me see how much we take for granted.

I know you’re thinking, “KJ aren’t you going to tell us WHY the printed piece was so cool??” Of course I am! Studio fj wanted to take a fresh approach and do something a little different with this project. It has spot UV on uncoated stock. (Gasp!)

In the past spot UV was used on coated stock to give a high definition finish and shine. When applied to uncoated stock it absorbed into the stock and really did nothing, you couldn’t even tell anything was different. Thanks to products and technology it is now possible to apply the spot UV on uncoated stock and achieve great contrast, and that’s just what we did. Also a readymade envelope was purchased and we printed it digitally in four color process. See…told you it was super cool!
Great design Studio fj! ACOG we thank you for researching the harmful effects of school bus emissions, therefore promoting a clean city for all of us!