Print Solutions Magazine, March 2002 -- The E-files

Behold the power of one-to-one marketing.

When targeting new clients or solidifying existing accounts, highly personalized marketing works better than traditional methods, says Scott Rich, vice president and national sales manager of Data Supplies Inc. (DSI), an $80 million distributorship based in Duluth, Ga. "Companies finally are putting a value on customized marketing," he says. "Thanks to new technologies, we don't have to take a shotgun approach and mass-distribute [generic marketing] pieces. Instead, we can drive key issues to targeted end users."

In today's marketing realm, immediacy and customization are no longer crowning achievements. "They're absolutely necessary," Rich says. "The ability to personalize and distribute collateral quickly is one reason we're increasing sales and reducing costs."

Web Inquiry Fulfillment

To offer one-to-one marketing solutions, DSI and a growing list of other distributorships rely on VIP Page, a group of web-to-print modules from NextWave Digital Color Printing, an Alpharetta, Ga.-based division of manufacturer Wise Business Forms Inc.

In 1999, as the internet and digital color printing increased in popularity, NextWave began developing technology that would give firms a way to tailor their marketing messages to individual recipients. Several trends, including broadband internet access and improved personalization software, helped drive NextWave's initiatives, says Jeff Prettyman, Wise Business Forms' executive vice president and director of marketing. "We see fast, digital solutions as a growing business model," he says. "Soon, it will be the business model in our industry."

NextWave's first VIP Page module—Web Inquiry Fulfillment—was implemented by DSI's sales force in June 2000. (DSI branded the service as SmartCollateral.) The internet-based module eliminates the need for procedures such as pick-and-pack, storage and overnight delivery. It enables immediate, electronic fulfillment of personalized marketing collateral from individual web inquiries. For instance, a company with a 50-page catalog can allow prospects to go online, check off certain boxes of interest, and receive custom PDFs that are paginated and personalized based on their selections. "Companies can stitch together catalogs, books, brochures and other pieces on the fly," Prettyman says.

In addition, marketing personnel can use NextWave's Web Inquiry Fulfillment module to view reports showing who entered their sites and what pages they viewed. Then, they can export the information into their customer relationship management software.

"Most marketing collateral costs are tied into things like time, people and processes, not the actual printing," Prettyman says. "VIP Page helps users drastically reduce their overall costs and redundancies, streamline their ordering processes, and keep their corporate branding standards consistent."

Corporate Resource Center

After DSI found success using the Web Inquiry Fulfillment module, it expressed interest in setting up a "virtual library" where sales, marketing and customer-service employees could access marketing collateral templates and customize brochures, post cards and other marketing pieces in real time. NextWave launched the second module of VIP Page--Corporate Resource Center--for DSI in February 2001.

The module helps one DSI client--a large mortgage firm--personalize trifold brochures, post cards and approximately 20 other marketing pieces. Loan officers can add their biographies, digital photographs, credential information, custom messages, sports schedules and other variable data to standard text before emailing PDFs to recipients. They also can send files digitally to NextWave's press operators, who print documents on the company's Indigo TurboStream digital press. The firm's turnaround for digital printing jobs is three days or less, depending on the end user's requirements.

The Corporate Resource Center module also aids DSI's own Customer Care center employees, who receive billing, product and capability questions daily. Prior to using VIP Page, the distributorship mailed follow-up materials that included a generic cover letter, handpicked collateral and a standard #14 envelope. Today, employees can enter callers' names to automatically populate address fields on their screens. Then, they can click approximately 20 buttons to generate 20 different pieces of collateral. For instance, when DSI employees click "About the Bill," they generate custom PDFs that merge billing information with variable data such as callers' names and locations. Employees can send the PDFs "literally in about the time it takes to hang up the phone," Rich says.

"NextWave has given us the ability to help our customers develop marketing strategies," Rich says. "Administrators are in control of branding and have the flexibility to personalize collateral any way they want. Companies really are starting to understand the advantages of one-to-one marketing. They see this technology as a way to accomplish that."

NextWave Digital Color Printing, an Alpharetta, Ga.-based division of manufacturer Wise Business Forms Inc., offers a Co-op Marketing module with VIP Page, a group of web-to-print marketing solutions. General Motors dealers log into the module to customize and personalize these 11 x 17-inch brochures.

Digital Future

NextWave launched the third module of VIP Page--Co-op Marketing--last June. It enables channel partners to access vendor collateral and customize pieces with logos and company information. In addition, NextWave launched a separate suite of e-business solutions last October at DMIA's 2001 Informservices Conference & Expo (i2001) offering distributors web sites that include complete e-catalog and e-commerce capabilities. It plans to launch a new online pricing mechanism soon.

NextWave, which has developed and installed 10 VIP Page web-to-print solutions, continues to gain interest from distributors, Prettyman says. "We're open to any partner, and find most success working with distributors who are technologically savvy and who understand digital color and 4-color process," he says. "We offer distributors a turnkey program from web development to print and fulfillment--a complete, digital, end-to-end marketing communications solution."

Rich says he expects the industry to migrate toward digital marketing collateral the same way it has migrated toward other electronic processes. "Companies that can open more doors and offer more value-added services because of their digital capabilities will achieve higher profit levels," he says.