Millennium Marketing Solutions Focuses Technology on Personalization

By Reed Hellman, STAFF WRITER



Some people are fortunate: They know early on the path they want their lives to take. For Janice Tippett, that realization came during high school when she decided she wanted her own design business.

Sparked by those high school plans, Janice and Keith Tippett and Jody Franklin began Millennium Marketing Solutions in 1990, creating a marketing design company that would enable them to parley advanced digital technology into better control over production time and quality of their design work.

"We're not a printer looking to push a particular product," said Keith Tippett, "and we're not an agency over-analyzing the creative process. Our experience and wide range of expertise allows us to create marketing solutions with a high return on investment."

Millennium Marketing Solutions combines all facets of marketing, from initial concept through completion of the project, including printing, promotional products, mailing services and web site development. "We take a practical approach, with design and production under one roof," explained Janice Tippett. "All elements of the marketing plan have to work together."



A Carnival of Colors

Many of those elements are exhibited in Millennium's Annapolis Junction headquarters. The entry area is a carnival of colors and promotional items, arrayed in an almost bewildering display. An adjacent showroom has the look of an overstocked novelty store, packed with all manner of promotional items - logo jackets, tool kits, mugs, pens, signs, champagne bottles, shelves full of desk toys - all vying for attention.

But, Millennium's serious production work goes on behind those first colorful spaces. "Our team has grown to include full-time designer/developers, copywriters strong in search optimization and two strong search marketing professionals," said Keith Tippett. "Our print designers are still very busy and up to date on traditional marketing products. Three full-time senior graphic designers assist our customers with branding, direct mail, brochures, etc., on a regular basis."

Millennium's services range from traditional offset and digital printing to creating multimedia presentations and sophisticated marketing packages and Web presence. "We try to stay on top of technology," said Janice Tippett, "invest in the right technology at the right time."

In the past 24 months, Millennium has reduced its emphasis on traditional print methods and pushed forward on digital and personalized printing. Web-to-print and cross-media solutions form a growing segment of the company's business.

Web-to-print provides an online catalog of customized and customizable promotional products and services, tailored to each client's marketing program. Cross-media solutions help determine a client's ideal customer base and merge technology and solutions that fit that particular market segment. Both products enhance Millennium's ability to build customer-specific suites of marketing services. The company also offers print-on-demand services, enabling clients to print only the quantity of copies immediately needed.



The Business of Personalization

"Personalization is the hottest trend for Web and print," said Keith Tippett. "The invention and improvements with digital press technology allows marketers to personalize their print, just as they have with their e-mail and web sites." Millennium recently invested in technology that enables it to deploy cross-media campaigns that include personalized web sites, e-mails and direct mail, all tied into one database.

"Each company needs its own mix," said Janice Tippett. "We don't take the cookie cutter approach. ... We look at all viable media and how to use social media. It's 'smart marketing' with a team of social media experts."

Millennium is currently certified by Howard County and the state of Maryland, Maryland Department of Transportation, as a Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) and Women Business Enterprise (WBE). The company also holds Maryland Small Business Reserve Certification and has received national certification as a Women's Business Enterprise by the Women Presidents' Educational Organization/D.C., a regional certifying partner of the Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC). In 2006 and 2008, Millennium was recognized among the top 100 Minority Business Enterprises in Maryland; Washington, D.C.; and Virginia.

For the immediate future, the Tippetts and Franklin plan to continue adding marketing technology and employing some of the region's top marketing professionals. "Keeping Millennium together as a tightly integrated team of professionals with a keen understanding of both technology and marketing will be key," said Keith Tippett.