Ole Miss Expands In-plant’s Role

A few months ago, Tony Seaman was in charge of a 14-employee in-plant at the University of Mississippi. Today he is director of Brand Creative Services, a 25-employee operation that includes not just printing but designers, copywriters and brand account managers.

The change came about after the university’s new chief marketing officer, Jim Ebel, saw the need for Ole Miss to overhaul and strengthen its branding efforts. This meant moving staff into more appropriate areas where they could work more effectively toward a common marketing goal.

Seaman learned at the end of March that the four designers who formerly worked for Publications would join the three designers already on his team. With them would come a staff of editors and copywriters, plus five brand account managers. Now Seaman is not only responsible for the printing of high-quality marketing materials, but for making sure the message and design—the brand—are consistent and effective.

“There’s been some huge, huge advantages to the university” because of this change, Seaman declares. Among them are some major cost savings, he says. In the past, the designers in the Publications group created pieces that looked outstanding, but were expensive to print.

“We weren’t consulted,” Seaman says. For example, a recruitment brochure last year cost $40,000 to produce. This year, by changing the design and using different stocks, Seaman was able to do it for $18,000.

“It was a massive savings,” he says. “Now we’re designing products that still get the impact and image of the university where we want it, but we’re making them cost effective.”

Having the copywriters on his staff is very useful too, he notes.

“We have influence over deadlines now,” he points out. “We can be much more timely from creative to finished product.”

The five new account managers on the team are now marketing the in-plant, touting not just its printing services, but its Web design and cross media expertise as well.

To accommodate the 11 new team members, the in-plant revamped its facility, turning old darkrooms and other unused areas into office space.

“It’s definitely a more efficient use of space,” Seaman declares.

Because of the reshuffling, the in-plant, previously a self-supported auxiliary, has received some university funding for utilities and janitorial services. Since its expansion, the in-plant is bringing in work it couldn’t do in the past, Seaman says.

“Some of the things that were outsourced because they were designed beyond our capabilities, we now can design within our capabilities and keep them in-house—and save money,” he says.

To print these materials, the in-plant utilizes both multi-color offset presses and a Kodak NexPress 2500.