A Recipe for Success

Some of the most common markets ordering these products include those in hospitality, insurance, zoos, museums, hospitals, fraternal organizations, non-profits, special interest groups and alumni organizations, Lambert said.

"One of the numerous advantages associated with integrated labels and cards is there are millions of ways to utilize the product in a document," Lambert observed.

Gordon Klepec, vice president of sales and marketing for Portland, Oregon-based Wright Business Graphics, agreed. Some of the applications he has seen include temporary loyalty cards, membership cards, children's menus, shipping labels, coupons, calendar reminders and appointment reminder cards.

"The great thing about integrated products is they can be used for everything from a packing list to a four-color process membership card to a high-end organization. Almost every company has a use for an integrated product and, in most cases, a well-designed integrated product can eliminate another piece of printed material or streamline a step in a current process," he said. "I know our goal is to not eliminate print. However, in the process of incorporating a well-designed integrated product, you are creating value to the customer and can charge more based on that value you are creating."

Despite their versatility, integrated products require the backing of a creative team to be effective. Marketers, in particular, can fare rather well with these products. Some even are using the crippled economy to their advantage.

"The economy is creating a huge amount of opportunity for business. Targeted marketing has become even more important than ever, replacing a lot of blast-based marketing. Adding value to direct mail campaigns, such as an integrated card or label, helps to increase the response rates for those target marketing efforts," Lambert commented. "Co-mingling technology such as 2D QR codes in combination with an integrated card or label is one of many hot new ways to take integrated products to the next level."