MARKETIPS Advertising Specifications and Guidelines GSA Corporate Partners Advertisements are permitted in MarkeTips to illustrate the breadth of services available from our vendor base. While we try to accommodate every vendor and provide equal opportunities, demand far exceeds the available advertising space in MarkeTips. With a maximum of 20 ad spaces per issue, GSA has space for one GSA contract holder in every 700 on contract during the annual publication cycle. Advertising in MarkeTips is provided free of charge. GSA does not guarantee placement. MarkeTips will only accept ad submissions from designated GSA contacts. Ads submitted directly to the managing editor without prior approval WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED. (Refer to “Who To Contact” section of this document.) GSA will not modify or return any ad submission. Ads submitted that are not in compliance with the specifications detailed in this document will not be accepted for publication. GSA advises that advertisement development costs be spread across a vendor’s promotional program, and not directly linked to MarkeTips placement. Deadlines and submission policies for ad materials can be obtained from your GSA Acquisition Center point of contact listed at the end of this document. Because ad space is EXTREMELY LIMITED, vendors should only be published in MarkeTips one­time. Submission does not guarantee placement in any edition of the magazine. Ad selection is at the discretion of the MarkeTips editorial staff. Ads placement does not constitute an endorsement by GSA. GSA does not endorse any corporation or business. All ads submitted are subject to the guidelines and deadlines published in this document and approval by the contract’s appropriate GSA managing office. GSA reserves the right to cancel or delay publication for any reason. These guidelines are subject to change without prior notice. VENDOR AD MATERIALS WILL NOT BE ALTERED OR RETURNED GSA ONLY RECOGNIZES THE ACCURACY OF INFORMATION REGARDING MARKETIPS OBTAINED FROM ITS OFFICAL WEB SITE AND PERSONNEL. MATERIALS OBTAINED FROM OTHER SOURCES MAY BE OUTDATED OR INACCURATE. Ad Content Specifications Ads submitted, must be in compliance with the following: • Ads must include the GSAAdvantage! ® Starmark logo available on the web at www.gsa.gov/logos. Click on GSA Logo downloads on menu at left. There are two exceptions: • Automotive Vendors Must use the GSA AutoChoice Logo downloaded from the web at www.gsa.gov/logos. Click on GSA Logo downloads on menu at left. • GSA Global Supply items THE GSA ADVANTAGE LOGO SHOULD NOT APPEAR ANYWHERE IN THE AD. The contract number is not necessary, but a National Stock Number (NSN) for each item must be included and the following statement must appear: To order call GSA Global Supply at 1­800­525­8027 or fax your order to 1­800­865­7057. • All GSA corporate identity standards governing the GSA logo must be followed, as outlined on page 4 of this document. • The logos cannot be altered in any way. This includes cutting out the existing white background or distorting the shape or color. The starmark portion of the logo MUST be at least 1/2 inch by 1/2 inch or larger. The entire GSAAdvantage! ® Starmark logo must be at least as large as any vendor logo in the advertisment. Please see page 4 for specific rules governing the GSA logo. • Black and white versions of the logo can only be used for black and white ads. • When using GSAAdvantage! ® within text, it must always appear as it does here with Advantage! in italicized bold type, an exclamation point, and the registered symbol. Ads using this text outside of these specifications will not be accepted for publication. • All advertisements for Schedule program contracts must include the vendor’s contract number and Schedule number for the product or service depicted in the ad. A sample format for this information is as follows: Contract # GS­12F­1234 Schedule # 81 I B Shipping, Packaging, and Packing Supplies • The schedule number must go beneath or next to the Contract number (advertisers often place both directly under the GSAAdvantage! ® Starmark logo). • Schedule and Contract numbers must be clearly and easily readable. (A MarkeTips reader/procurement specialist can use them on line to access your company through GSAAdvantage! ®) • Ads submitted may NOT include endorsements from other Federal government agencies. Work completed for other Federal agencies can be cited, but not as an endorsement from said agency. • Ads submitted are restricted to products and/or services for which the vendor has GSA contracts. If there are products or services offered by the vendor that are not under GSA contract, they cannot be included in the ad. • Pending contracts with GSA cannot be advertised. Items MUST be available from GSA before they can be advertised in MarkeTips. • It is recommended that vendors with multiple GSA contracts advertise all of those contracts in a single ad, as there is a limit to one ad per vendor, not per contract. Ad Technical Specifications Please read these specifications carefully and include all elements requested to avoid rejection of ads. A reference guide explaining some of these changes including a glossary of terms is also available. • Ads cannot be accepted via e­mail. A CD must be provided. Mac or PC CDs only. CD must be submitted in a CD envelope without jewel case. No Other Media Will Be Accepted. • Vendor’s name, address and technical point of contact should be included on the CD envelope. • Two color printouts of the ad are required. • Images must be CMYK (four color process). Single colors will be converted to CMYK process equivalent. • Vendors are free to use any Postscript or Adobe typeface. TRUE TYPE FONTS must be converted to paths or curves prior to saving in the eps format. All typeface files must be included with the ad submission. • A high resolution .eps file is the only file format that will be accepted. No Other File Formats Will Be Accepted. Eps files created in any publishing program are acceptable (Freehand, Photoshop, Illustrator etc) • Eps files must be at least 300 dpi. All fonts and images must be included. Please convert type to curves or paths wherever possible. High resolution files converted from a low resolution source will not be accepted. • Images and logos must be high resolution (300 dpi or greater) or the ad will be rejected. • Submissions will be printed as is, or rejected as necessary, no changes will be made to the file. • Live Image Area, full page, 7.5" x 9.75" in portrait orientation. • Ads produced in a landscape orientation will not be accepted. • Bleeds will not be accepted. • Ads must remain within the Live Image Area specified. • Full Page Ads Only. No Other Sizes Will Be Accepted. GSAAdvantage!® Starmark Guidelines Primary colors: The blue should be PANTONE 541 C. This is the preferred color for the star mark and should be used wherever possible, with the GSA name reversed out in white. Use PANTONE 2945 U when printing on uncoated stock. Because uncoated stock absorbs more ink, causing a slight variation in color, PANTONE 2945 U enables a closer color match to GSA Blue. PANTONE 541 C is for use on coated paper. The red should be Pantone 202 C or 201 U. 2­color: When GSA Blue is not one of the two colors, one color should be black. The star mark should be reproduced as a 70% tint of black, with the GSA name reversed out in white. The star mark may not be reproduced in any other color. Single color: Materials printed in a single color should be either Pantone 541 C Blue or black. When using black, if the work is professionally printed, the star mark should be 70% black. Reproducing the GSA star mark in solid black is allowed only for laser­printed jobs. Clear space: The GSA star mark must stand out from other graphic elements. The GSA star mark should always be surrounded with at least a minimum area of clear space. The distance between the star mark and other graphic elements (typography, charts, photos and illustrations, etc.) must be no less than 1/2 the height of the star mark. Use as much clear space as possible, but never less than the minimum. Background color: The color behind the GSA star mark should always be white. The GSA star mark should never be reversed out, or placed on a color field. NOTE: the GSA lettering within the star mark is always white, not translucent. Minimum size: To ensure that the GSA star mark is always clear as presented, it should never be reproduced smaller than 1/2 inch. Guidelines For Automotive Vendors Only Use the Autochoice logo as depicted here. All of the same rules apply to this mark as to the advantage logo. Both logos can be downloaded from www.gsa.gov/logos. Click on GSA Logo Downloads on menu at left. clear space (white) should be no less than 1/4 of the height of the logo Common Reasons Why Vendor Ads Are Rejected 1. A word about SPACE The most common reason an ad is rejected from MarkeTips has to do with limited space. Advertising in the magazine is offered free of charge, and ad space is extremely limited. With a maximum of 20 ad spaces per issue, GSA has space for one GSA contract holder in every 700 on contract during the annual publication cycle. GSA does not guarantee placement. Vendors can be published in MarkeTips as a one time only opportunity. 2. Ads are accepted by the MarkeTips editorial staff only from designated GSA contacts. Ads submitted directly to the editorial staff by a vendor or a vendor’s design firm will not be reviewed, accepted or returned unless prior arrangements exist. 3. GSA logo has been distorted, or all elements do not appear. Remember, the logo cannot be changed in any way, including the white background. The ® symbol MUST appear after the logo as well. Logo must be at least 1/2 inch in size, and must be comparable size with vendor logo. All GSA corporate identity standards governing the logo MUST BE FOLLOWED, as explained on page 4 of this document. 4. Images, logos, or other Remember, your GSA point of contact is elements of the ad are not high resolution. the only person ad material can be Please remember that the ad submitted to. See the listing at the back overall, including images and of this document to find your GSA logos, must be 300dpi or greater. MarkeTipspoint of contact. Images or logos ‘captured’ off the web (.jpg files) are NOT high enough quality to use in a printed publication. You must download a high resolution version of any item you wish to use from the web. 5. The ad is provided via e­mail. If you are using the appropriate resolution and format for the ad, sending via e­mail is not a viable option due to the resulting size of the file. E­mail often corrupts these kind of files. Thus, only ads provided on a CD can be accepted. 6. The ad submitted is the wrong size, orientation, or contains bleeds. Remember, we only accept full page ads in portrait orientation, with a live image area of 7.5 x 9.75, bleeds are not accepted. 7. The file or disk is corrupt. In general, when this type of problem occurs we will try to work with the vendor to rectify the situation. However, we may simply reject the ad based on the fact that we cannot access the file and are working under certain time constraints or space limitations. Distribution and Mailing List MarkeTips is published and distributed to the Federal community on bi­monthly schedule during the first week of the months of January, March, May, July, September and November. To subscribe or unsubscribe to MarkeTips or to order copies of recent issues, please visit our Centralized Mailing List Service website at www.gsa.gov/cmls. To view back issues of MarkeTips, visit us on the web at: www.gsa.gov/marketips and click on the Marketips Publications link. Who to Contact Each field editor has their own policy and production deadlines for ad selection. Please contact the MarkeTips Field Editor serving the office that manages your contract. If you are not sure of the appropriate GSA Acquisition Center, please e­mail us at gsa.marketips@gsa.gov Integrated Workplace Acquisition Center Furniture and Furnishings; Sports, Recreation & Promotional Equipment; Document Handling Equipment & Services Caroline Wenstrup GSA Integrated Workplace Acquisition Center 2200 Crystal Drive Ste. 400, Arlington, VA 20406 (703) 605­9283 caroline.wenstrup@gsa.gov Schedule Listing Number Title 36 I The Office, Imaging and Document Solution 58 I Professional Audio/Visual, Telecommunications and Security Solutions 71 I Office Furniture 71 II Household and Quarters Furniture 71 II H Packaged Furniture 71 II K Comprehensive Furniture Management Services 71 III Special Use Furniture 71 III E Miscellaneous Furniture 72 I A Floor Coverings 72 II Furnishings 078 Sports, Promotional, Outdoor, Recreational, Trophies, and Signs (SPORTS) Greater Southwest Acquisition Center Law Enforcement, Safety, Security Supplies, Equipment & Services; Advertising, Marketing & Public Relations Services, Temporary Administration & Professional Staffing; Scientific, Laboratory Equipment & Services, Maintenance, Repair, Operations Supplies & Equipment; Cleaning Supplies & Equipment; Hospitality, Food Service and Personal Care Supplies & Equipment Sandra Clerk­Brown Greater Southwest Acquisition Center General Services Administration 7FCO, 819 Taylor Street, 7th Floor, Rm. 6A24, Ft. Worth, TX 76102 (817) 574­2436 sandra.clerk­brown@gsa.gov Schedule Listing Number Title 056 Buildings and Building Materials/Industrial Services and Supplies 66 II J Test and Measurement Equipment, Avionics Equipment, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Related Services 66 II N Chemistry, Biochemistry, Clinical Instruments, General Purpose Laboratory Instruments and Services 66 II Q Geophysical, Environmental Analysis Equipment and Services 073 Food Service, Hospitality, Cleaning Equipment and Supplies, Chemicals, and Services 084 Total Solutions for Law Enforcement, Security, Facilities Management Systems, Fire, Rescue, Special Purpose Clothing, Marine Craft, and Emergency/Disaster Response 736 Temporary Administrative and Professional Staffing Services 873 Laboratory Testing and Analysis Services Facilities Maintenance and Hardware Tools, Hardware & Appliances; Paints, Coatings, Sealants & Adhesives; Maintenance, Repair & Operations Services Gary Jenkins Center for Facilities Maintenance and Hardware General Services Administration 1500 East Bannister Road, Rm. SBE 16­1, Kansas City, MO 64131 (816) 823­1973 gary.jenkins@gsa.gov Schedule Listing Number Title 51 V Hardware SuperStore 03FAC Facilities Maintenance and Management Integrated Technology (IT) Products and Services Information Technology and Telecommunications Products and Services. Vincent Violandi IT Acquisition Center General Services Administration 31 Weyfair Path, South Weymouth, MA 02910 (571) 259­9919 vincent.violandi@gsa.gov Schedule Listing Number Title 70 IT Products and Services Management Services Management & Operational Consulting; Language, Translation & Interpretation Services; Professional Engineering Services; Logistics, Warehousing & Distribution Services; Environmental Services Cindy Duncan Management Services Center General Services Administration 400 15th Street, SW, Auburn, WA 98001­6599 (253) 931­7068 cindy.duncan@gsa.gov Schedule Listing Number Title 738 II Language Services 874 Mission Oriented Business Integrated Services (MOBIS) 874 V Logistics Worldwide (LOGWORLD) Schedule 871 Professional Engineering Services 899 Environmental Services Office Supplies and Administrative Services Office Supplies & Equipment; Shipping & Packaging Supplies; Training Aids, Devices & Services; Audio, Visual, Photographic, Subscription Supplies, Equipment & Services; Human Resources & EEO Services Peter D. Davis Office Supplies and Administrative Services General Services Administration 26 Federal Plaza, Rm. 20­100D, New York, NY 10278 (212) 264­4781 pete.davis@gsa.gov Schedule Listing Number Title 00JWOD JWOD Schedule (NIB/NISH Products) 67 Cameras, Photographic Printers, and Related Supplies and Services 69 Training Aids and Devices, Instructor­Led Training, Course Development, and Test Administration 75 Office Products/Supplies and Services and New Products/Technology 76 Publications Media 81 I B Shipping, Packaging, and Packing Supplies 738 X Human Resources and EEO Services Services Acquisition Financial & Accounting Services Susan Farrar Services Acquisition Center General Services Administration 2200 Crystal Drive, 7th Floor, Arlington, VA 20406 (703) 305­6885 susan.farrar@gsa.gov Schedule Listing Number Title 520 Financial and Business Solutions 541 Advertising and Integrated Marketing Solutions (Formerly 738 I Marketing, Media, and Public Information Services) Transportation and Property Management Shipping, Hauling, & Transportation Services Garlette Jordan General Services Administration 2200 Crystal Drive, Rm. 300, Arlington, VA 20406 (703) 605­2871 garlette.jordan@gsa.gov Schedule Listing not applicable Vehicle Acquisition Motor Vehicles & Services Monica Bumbray GSA Automotive Center General Services Administration 2200 Crystal Drive, 10th floor, Arlington, VA 20406 (703) 605­5591 monica.bumbray@gsa.gov Schedule Listing Number Title 23 V The Vehicular Multiple Award Schedule 26 I Tires; Pneumatic and Retread Tires for Passenger Vehicles, Light and Medium Trucks. 751 Commercial Short­term Leasing (1­3 Years) of Sedans, SUV’s, Vans and Light Trucks A Short Guide and Style Manual for Advertising Specifications Some Suggestions for Ad Submissions • Label everything you submit. This includes CD­ROMs, CD envelopes, both hard copies, and shipping envelopes. If you are using an external graphics firm, both your name and phone number and their name and phone number should be included on everything. Make sure the CD­ROM is readable. Your ad will be rejected if the file is unreadable. • Keep files and copies of all submitted work. We make every effort to keep tabs on your work, but it will go through many hands. Should it be misplaced, we may require an additional copy. • All submitted materials are non­returnable. This includes both material that goes to press and material that is rejected. • Include a cover letter. Include the name and number of your company and everyone who is a contact for this ad. Include a business card of the main contact person as well. The name of your contact should be included on the envelope with their phone number. It should also be marked "MarkeTips Submission." • Proofread and copyedit your material thoroughly. Have people who haven’t seen the ad look it over and read it carefully. Spelling mistakes, punctuation mistakes, and grammatical errors can result in your ad being rejected. The layout of an ad should be clean, uncluttered, and attractive. It should present the product or service in a way that explains what it is, why it is useful, and to whom it is useful. Show the ad throughout its development to different people—people who are familiar with the product, and people who aren’t. Consider their feedback. That isn’t always easy, but it’s essential. Something you may take for granted about your product may be totally confusing to someone being introduced to it. Be a stickler for accuracy. Remember that the people who see MarkeTips ads are not impulse buyers; they are purchasers for Federal agencies looking for the best products and services available to fill the needs of their agencies. Graphics, typography, layout, and especially written copy are all important and must all work together. The content and style should be appropriate to the product or service. If your product or service is technical or specialized, remember that a MarkeTips reader may not be familiar with it. Write so a layperson can understand your ad. We’re often asked how much text can be included in an ad. There is no hard and fast rule to this. However, we would suggest that you use as little as possible but as much as you need in order to get across what your product is and how it can be used beneficially. The type of product is probably the largest factor in how long and detailed copy should be. For example, a product line of rubber stamps could be well depicted with a photograph and a small amount of copy. On the other hand, a set of course descriptions would require longer and more detailed copy. You may find that bulleted points can get your information across faster and with less space than whole paragraphs. Or the whole paragraphs may work better for you. Developing a good advertisement is almost all problem solving. The more time you devote to it, the better your ad will be. Also keep in mind that as with most ads in most magazines, you only have a few seconds to catch a reader’s attention. Your ad should have a strong heading that either describes your product in a few words or takes the reader into the main text—or does both. A subheading in smaller type can also be useful. Your goals are to explain your product and engage your reader. It’s useful to spend some time looking through magazines and critiquing the ads you see. What are the elements in an ad that make you interested in the product instead of turning the page? When you have your first version of your own ad done, look at it and ask yourself, "Would this ad make me want to buy the product it is promoting?" Remember that you are composing an advertisement—it is not a press release, brochure, corporate statement of intent, or catalog copy. All of these may be useful sources of information for Your ad should have a strong heading thateither describes your product in a few wordsor takes the reader into the main text. you, but if you try to transfer the material directly into an advertisement, it will be completely apparent to your reader and it won’t look good. And that will translate into poor sales for you. Many of our ads are comparatively simple ones done in­house or by small graphics firms with very basic resources. A good idea for an ad that is well thought through and carefully carried out is far better than a poorly conceived ad no matter how fancy it looks. Keep it simple. We welcome advertisements that show a range of products or several products on different schedules, but remember that the challenge of avoiding an "uncluttered" look goes up accordingly. It also becomes a greater challenge to give an ad a cohesive look when promoting vastly different products and schedules. As mentioned earlier, text, layout, typography, and graphics all need to be considered accordingly. We strongly recommend that before you send us an ad by ground mail or airmail, you e­mail us a draft of your ad in a low­resolution file; preferably JPEG. This will allow your MarkeTips contact person to offer suggestions and corrections more quickly and without you having to send it by FEDEX or other package mail. Remember that there is almost always a learning curve to coming up with a good ad. Far more often than not, we will reject an ad for further revision, and we will often do this any number of times before we consider it ready for publication. Again, remember that putting together the best possible ad is a learning process. But also remember that the best possible ad you can come up with will offer the most benefit to both your company and to GSA. Don’t Forget These Very Important Requirements Follow the specifications closely. Remember that as mentioned in the specs, the ad itself should be an EPS file in at least 300 DPI. You must include the GSAAdvantage!® logo, which includes the GSA starmark emblem. The logo cannot be altered in any way. The blue box for the starmark emblem must be at least 1/2" wide by 1/2" high. You MUST include in the ad the contract #. We also recommend that you include the schedule #. (We suggest that underneath the GSAAdvantage!® logo is one good place for it, although if your ad has more than one contract # or schedule #, you’ll want to locate them in areas specifying the products that pertain to them). They should be written as Contract # GS­XXX­XXXX Schedule # XX X X Use the "pound" (#) sign, not "No." Because your company can be located on the GSAAdvantage!® search engine with these numbers, it is to your benefit to make them large and clearly visible. Glossary and Explanations Adobe Adobe is a software company that produces professionally used typeface families. These typefaces are used throughout the printing industry. Bleed An extra amount of printed image, which extends beyond the trim edge of the sheet or page. In other words, the design allows for an image or other elements to violate the margin and cover the entire page, leaving no white space. NOTE: Bleed images must be non­essential items (see live area). CMYK – Four­Color Process Printing CMYK is an acronym that represents the four colors that make up four­color process printing — Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black. These four colors are applied in varying degrees to produce a wide range of colors. MarkeTips is printed using this process. Curves Type fonts that have been converted to a graphic image as opposed to fonts, this eliminates the need for fonts to be included with files to printer. Macintosh computer system is used to output MarkeTips. When Mac fonts are substituted for PC fonts, they may differ somewhat. To avoid this variance, we recommend that you use your illustration program and convert all text to "curves". DPI (dots per inch) DPI is a measure of the resolution of a screen image or printed page. The higher the DPI, the sharper an image will be. All images submitted for MarkeTips must be 300 DPI or greater. EPS format (encapsulated postscript) A file format that describes a document written in the Postscript language and that contains all of the code necessary to print a file. This file is easy to transfer between Mac, PC and other systems. If type is not converted to curves or paths, type fonts must be included with file for the printer. NOTE: .eps files are NOT editable (no changes can be made to the file). High Resolution High resolution refers to the sharpness and clarity of an image. An image is considered high resolution if it is 300 DPI or greater. All images submitted for MarkeTips must be high resolution images. Jewel Case The plastic case a CD comes in. CD’s submitted for MarkeTips must be sent in cardboard CD envelopes for ease of transport and to protect against damage. Glossary and Explanations Live Image Area Live image area is the "safe" portion of the page that will be printed and not trimmed. All essential information should remain within this area. Paths Type fonts that have been converted to a graphic image as opposed to fonts, this eliminates the need for fonts to be included with files to printer. Macintosh computer system is used to output MarkeTips. When Mac fonts are substituted for PC fonts, they may differ somewhat. To avoid this variance, we recommend that you use your illustration program and convert all text to "paths". Postscript File This is a file generated when you send your file to disk or to your desktop printer. This is not an .eps file. MarkeTips will not accept postscript files. When generating file for MarkeTips, save, as .eps file not postscript. Spot color – PMS Spot color printing is another method by which color is applied to the printed page. PMS colors are opaque inks, which are available in thousands of colors. PMS colors are not used in the printing of MarkeTips. .tif or .tiff format (tagged image file format). A picture file format used for saving scanned images that allows photos or graphics to be imported into various applications. True Type Fonts Fonts or typefaces usually available with word processing programs. The extension for True Type fonts is .ttf. Because True Type fonts do not process consistently on postscript printers, which are used in the process of making negatives for printing, we cannot accept them in ads produced for MarkeTips. Typeface vs. Font Typeface is a distinctive type design such as Helvetica. The Helvetica typeface family includes different styles of fonts within the family. For example, Helvetica Bold, Helvetica Italic, etc. Never use the stylization palette to bold or italicize your fonts, use the correct font within the typeface family.