Print Solutions November 2006
COVER STORY
VARIABLE DATA PRINTING, CONTINUED
Case Study
The Truth About Digital
PrintMailers Inc. waits for digital print to reach its full potential
By LaShell Stratton
PrintMailers Inc. created a Las Vegas themed 1-to-1 marketing piece to show the capabilities of its new VDP equipment.
Steve Johns, president of PrintMailers Inc., Houston, knows that it might sound crazy
to other manufacturers, but when he bought an HP Indigo 5000 and had the press
installed in August 2005, he wasn't expecting a big return on his investment. "I bought it because I wanted to learn about it, not because of how much money I
thought we were going to make," he says.
Since 1988 PrintMailers Inc. (PMi) had been a traditional turnkey print and
letter shop that used offset presses, but the company decided to move into
digital print,
“to do VDP work rather than short run work like a lot of other companies,” says Ivana Johnston, vice president of sales and marketing at PMi. The company
restructured, incorporating digital print and list services divisions that now
work with the graphic arts group.
“That was our big evolution that needed to take place,” Johnston says. “These teams hadn’t worked together, but we now have processes in place.”
Johns admits that he was hesitant to make the switch: “I didn’t think the technology was ready until a few years ago.”
To advertise their new digital capabilities, PMi highlighted VDP at its open
house. The company used an open house invitation that would later win a Mailing
Fulfillment and Services Association National Chapter Award for Excellence in
the Chairman's Self-Promotion category. The invitation had a Las Vegas theme and was sent to
nearly 600 potential attendees. PMi designed the 17.5-inch x 6-inch piece with
FusionPro. It was printed 4-color on both sides and mailed as a letter that
included the variable data elements listed below:
1) The headline, which was the recipient’s first name
2) A simulated sign of the recipient’s name that utilized a custom font consisting of graphic files
3) First name used in “Elvis invite” text that had a gender specific salutation. For men, it was “Man, we just wanna’ say…” For women, it was “Babe, we just wanna say…”
4) On the inside, the recipient’s full name was used to call attention to their “lucky card”
5) A scratch off tab that had a sequence of numbers underneath that would be
used for a special door prize drawing
6) A hand of cards was randomly generated using custom graphic files for each
person
7) On the back, the recipient’s full name was displayed on a casino marquee as the mail panel with their full
address.
Johnston says that the response rate to the mailer was incredible, with nearly
80 percent of recipients replying. Thanks to the VDP mailer, PMi also saw a
record number of individual businesses attend the open house that year.
But Johns says that even though PMi has had triumphs with VDP programs it has
produced,
“I still don’t see a tremendous amount of customer acceptance of the value of VDP. They are
still very resistant to the pricing.
”
That is the problem some print distributors and manufacturers face: explaining
to customers why 1-to-1 marketing is worth the cost, since it can be much
higher than implementing a traditional direct mail campaign. From database
construction to data collection, customers may have to put more money up front
to get the most out of their 1-to-1 marketing campaigns—and some balk at the price tag. Johns says PMi has learned by trial and error
what customers are willing to pay for.
“We’re trying to focus on the lower volume runs—below 5,000 pieces, though actually we do closer to 2,000- to 3,000-piece runs,” he says. “We’re working with bigger customers that have higher volume projects, but there is
still price resistance.
”
At least so far, the company has seen a VDP sales boost coming in the form of
personalized postcards purchased by customers via the internet.
“We’ve started an internet ordering process focused on this,” he says. “It’s definitely fulfilling our need for internet sales.”
The company also does print-on-demand work to make the most out of its Indigo. “We also see the typical P.O.D. sales sheets, but they’ve not been our major focus,” he says.
“I still don’t see a tremendous amount of customer acceptance of the value of VDP. They are
still very resistant to the pricing.
”
Steve Johns, President
PrintMailers Inc.
Houston
Venturing into digital print also teaches companies new ways to implement the
best workflow economy. Johns says PMi figured out the best
“break even” production formula, meaning with each job the company must determine whether it
was more cost efficient to do the entire run on the HP Indigo or do the basic
printing on one of its 26-inch Komori presses and then add the personalized
text later.
“We always do a break even analysis of where we can produce it at the least
amount of cost,
” he says.
Travels down the road of digital print can mean enduring quite a few bumps along
the way.
“I think there’s a spot for it and I’m really glad I bought our press, but it’s just not a huge piece of our production right now,” Johns admits. “I think the hype is more than what is there. I know people who have three to
five digital presses running all the time but they're the ones who found applications that really sell. It just doesn’t appeal to the broad market… I know in the long haul that digital printing has a lot of potential. I just
don't know how long that will take.”
But there is one major plus to VDP. “Once you get involved in this type of business, the sales cycle can be a lot
longer, but at least when they're in, they’re in,” Johnston says. “They are less likely to shop around. It’s either too hard or too costly for them to move on to someone else.”
LaShell Stratton is assistant editor at Print Solutions magazine. Email comments to lstratton@PSDA.org.
Applications That Worked!
PrintMailers Inc. President Steve Johns admits digital print hasn’t been a huge boon for the company, but the manufacturer has produced
well-received digital print applications and plans to do more. Here's one example:
“Beach Mailer”
Back in June, PMi wanted to generate interest in VDP and to do its annual “house cleaning” of the prospect list. Approximately 6,000 4 x 6-inch first-class postcards were
sent. The postcards were in full color on both sides. The variables included
the following:
1) Recipient’s name in “cloud” text—simulated sky writing utilizing a custom “font” consisting of graphic files
2) Company name in the banner pulled by the biplane
3) The call to action was a personalized URL utilizing the recipient’s name
4) On the mail panel side, the person’s first name was used in the headline
5) Company name used in the first paragraph
6) Personalized URL in second paragraph
7) A phone number (based on zip code) was displayed
8) An addressing block.
 PrintMailers Inc. employed VDP in a beach-themed mailer in order to attract prospects.
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