Tukaiz Personalizes Calendars

Tukaiz has been selling its pre-press, printing and digital retouching services B-to-B since 1965, but that hasn't kept it from finding success in the B-to-C space with one of its promotional products: personal calendars.

Last fall the Chicago-based company began digitizing individuals' names into shots of iconic Chicago scenes — carved into granite behind the Art Institute lions, for example, or spray-painted onto an “L” train. Buyers can also input personal messages on special dates such as anniversaries or birthdays.

Tukaiz partnered with local talk radio powerhouse WGN, owned by Tribune Broadcasting, to sell the calendars through its Web site. The calendars were advertised on radio through the holidays, and were also featured on morning programming on WGN-TV.

“We saw those orders coming through the WGN Web site every five or six minutes,” says managing director Frank Defino Jr. “This is a market that we're going to continue to invest in as part of our broad business mix.”

That business may get broader, even nationwide. WGN-TV is a superstation, available across most of the U.S., and consumers in other cities who saw the ads and press mentions have been e-mailing to ask about getting calendars localized for their hometowns. Defino says the company plans to start selling into metro regions beyond Chicago.

“What do you think of Boston or Baltimore?” he asks. “Would people there like to see their names on landmarks?”