Something Old, Something New – Looking Forward to 2012
By Christine Winter, PR/marketing programs manager, XMPie, A Xerox Company
Here we are…almost through the second week of 2012 already! And while I feel like 2011 went by way too fast, I’m extremely excited about the year ahead.
This is going to be a big year for me for a number of reasons – both personally and professionally. First of all, I am getting married! Nothing beats that. If only I could get Robin Nelson at Trialogue Direct to put together a wedding campaign for me…hmm…
Another reason? I am going to be traveling to Europe for the first time! No, I’m not referring to my honeymoon (we haven’t decided on a destination yet). I’m referring to the world’s number one trade fair for the printing and media industry. That’s right; it’s time to start thinking about drupa 2012. It’s going to be an amazing show with some exciting announcements and new opportunities! I hope you’ll get to join us in Düsseldorf.
And since I don’t think I need to list any other reasons to prove why it’s going to be a good year for me, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank you all for reading the XMPie Blog. It is my goal to bring you more customer success stories, event highlights, and 1:1 tips and trends every month this year.
Now tell us: Why is 2012 going to be a big year for you or your business? What other topics are you interested in reading about this year?
Survey Says: Know ME; Talk to ME
The results of a recent study conducted by Harris Interactive for Xerox Corporation confirm what we’ve been saying for years—people are more likely to respond to information and offers that are relevant to them and their specific interests, and are communicated through the channels they are comfortable with. This is especially important for marketers to consider carefully during the holiday season, when advertising soars and shopping activity peaks.
It all comes down to this…
Prior to the advent of broadcast media channels, such as radio, television, newspapers, etc., intimate relationships between business owners and their customers were practiced and managed very successfully for generations. Somehow that intimacy was lost along the way. It’s not that business leaders forgot about the value of individual relationships. It’s the fact that they saw no practical way to scale this business wisdom and apply it to the masses—efficiently—through the media channels that were available at the time.
But now, in addition to broadcast media channels, technology exists (i.e. digital printing, email, Internet, mobile, social media, variable data and cross-media software, data mining, analytics, etc.) that enables us to have customer relationships like people used to have with their corner grocers, and people are starting to expect this one-to-one communication more and more.
Take Target for example. The retail chain built individual shopper profiles from data gathered from credit card purchases, and Web and email interactions of 2 million customers. Then they designed and distributed personalized self-mailers featuring products and coupons based on each recipient’s previous purchases. The results: double-digit response rates, a 50 percent lift over previous static direct-mail pieces, and a 30 percent savings in operations costs.
So, don’t get lost among the flurry of sales promotions about to hit every consumer this holiday season. Avoid a one-size-fits-all approach, and give your customers the individual attention they want (and deserve). Here are some tips to keep in mind when developing that next 1:1 cross-media campaign.
Five Good Reasons to Attend DMA2011
Filed under: Cross Media, Events, General, Marketing, One-to-one
By Christine Winter, PR/marketing programs manager, XMPie, A Xerox Company
Unless you’re a N.Y. Yankees fan, why wouldn’t you (the real-time marketer) want an excuse to visit Boston for “the global event for real-time marketers?” Exactly. GRAPH EXPO has come and gone, and now it’s time to shift focus towards DMA2011. Here are five reasons to register today:
- We’ll be there! Visit booth #620 to see first hand how XMPie can help you reel in more business and profit with 1:1 multi-channel marketing communications. And, of course, we’ll be showcasing the new solution that got lots of buzz and won a Must See ‘em award at GRAPH EXPO — XMPie uVideo. In fact, hear Xerox CMO Christa Carone talk about why she’s excited about new video technologies here! That leads me to #2…
- Xerox CMO Christa Carone is the Sunday morning keynote speaker. She’ll discuss how to break through information overload with customized marketing and personalized cross-media communications. Her speech, entitled “Are You Talking to Me? Mastering Relevant Messaging through Mass Customization,” will begin at 11:30 a.m. on Oct. 2. Click here for a sneak peak!
- Boston is a very cool, fun place. Lots of things to see and do. Did you know it’s one of America’s oldest cities? Check out this list of some sights to check out while you’re in Boston for DMA2011.
- It’s the perfect opportunity to check out the coolest, new cutting-edge marketing tools and techniques, of course! Acquisition and lead generation. Creative and production. Real-time and trigger marketing. Mobile strategies. Direct and digital marketing fundamentals. Cross-channel strategy. Data, measurement and attribution. Retention and loyalty. Brand, social and content marketing. These are the hot topics this year, and over 400 technology partners and solution providers (like XMPie) — and many more marketing experts — will be there to help guide you in the right direction for your business.
- Did I mention XMPie is an exhibitor? Sorry; I couldn’t resist.
Hope to see you there!
It’s Time for GRAPH EXPO Again?!
By Christine Winter, PR/marketing programs manager, XMPie, A Xerox Company
I can’t believe I’ll be packing my bags tonight and heading to Chicago in the morning to attend the largest graphic communications exhibition and conference of the year. It seems like just yesterday (so cliché, I know) that I was shipping everything back to the office from GRAPH EXPO 2010 – the first tradeshow I had ever attended. But, it’s true; here we are again, and I must say I feel a little more prepared and a little less nervous this time around.
Just barely entering my second year at XMPie, I’ll be at the front desk in the XMPie section of Xerox booth #400 – ready to welcome you (with a big smile on my face if I’ve had enough coffee) and point you in the direction of live product demonstrations on all the latest versions of our state-of-the-art software solutions for variable data printing (VDP), integrated cross-media communications, and personalized Web-to-print. And if you’re interested in attending a presentation by one of our XMPie experts, partners or customers in the “Advantage Theater,” I’ll sign you right up and you’ll be entered in a drawing for a great prize at the close of the “show.”
Or, if you’re more interested in learning about the vision of XMPie and real customer success stories, I’ll show you to the QR code-driven Individualized Communications Management (ICM) wall where you can watch a slideshow and browse and obtain XMPie case studies in a wide variety of markets.
Plus, if you haven’t done so already, we’ll even have a self-serve kiosk inside the XMPie booth where you are invited to create your very own personalized Chicago 1:1 Dining Guide – brought to you by The Chicago Convention & Tourism Bureau and GRAPH EXPO 2011, and powered by XMPie. Based on your cuisine preferences, your guide will include some superb restaurant recommendations and fun facts about The Windy City! It’s fun, easy, FREE, and will only take you a few seconds.
But what I’m excited about most of all is a brand new solution we’ll be introducing and demonstrating – XMPie uVideo™! It’s the first-ever cinematic-quality video personalization solution that is fully-integrated within a complete 1:1 multi-channel platform, PersonalEffect®, and leverages Adobe® After Effects®. We’re talking personalized video with personalized text…personalized images…even personalized video inside personalized video! Don’t miss this opportunity to see it live for the first time in our booth (or if you can’t make it to the show, get a sneak peak here).
See you in Chicago!
The ‘Green’ Benefits of 1:1 Marketing
Filed under: Cross Media, E-mail, Marketing, One-to-one, VDP, Web-to-Print
By Christine Winter, PR/Marketing programs manager, XMPie, A Xerox Company
It’s no secret that 1:1 marketing campaigns that incorporate many different media channels have a greater reach, response and ROI. But did you know that they also have many ‘green’ benefits? Think about it…
Print is typically the first medium that comes to mind for a direct marketing campaign, and many people still prefer to receive important information in the mail. Although it seems print can’t possibly be ‘green,’ there are ways to make it more environmentally responsible (i.e. recycled paper, solid ink, duplex printing, etc.). Plus, with strategic and effective personalized print that is targeted to the right recipient with valuable, relevant information, your direct mail is less likely to hit the trash can (or better yet, the recycle bin). Read more on the “to print or not to print” debate here.
Then there’s e-media, such as email, the Web and mobile messaging, which has become more and more popular because of its convenience and cost-effectiveness. Its environmentally-friendly benefits are obvious, and when used strategically with text or image personalization, it increases the overall effectiveness of a marketing campaign. For best results, you can use e-media for the initial phase of a campaign and then follow up with print to non-responders, or vice versa.
Another great way to reduce costs and waste is with a Web-to-print solution. Take, for example, Digital Color Imaging (DCI), an Ohio-based print and Web marketing communications company that prides itself on helping clients minimize their environmental footprint. Its long-standing client Norandex Reynolds Building Products, a division of building material leader Saint-Gobain, typically sends out monthly mailers containing multiple ads, as well as announcements about discount specials, events, and featured products. The mailers are also used to announce workshops, inviting local contractors to attend and learn how to install their products.
These mailers were traditionally printed and shipped to each of its 200 dealer locations across the country where they were stored until needed. At that point, seminar-specific information would be printed on the sheets and then mailed to each recipient. Norandex sought an easier and less wasteful way of recruiting attendees, so DCI implemented a marketing portal for the company using XMPie® uStore®. This enabled Norandex branch managers to upload customer mailing lists, customize seminar mailers, and print and mail exactly the number of materials they needed on demand. Not only did this help eliminate any unnecessary printing, significantly cutting down printing expenses and reducing shipping and storage resources and costs, but it also made the marketing materials even more targeted and relevant, increasing branch participation in these local seminars from 15 to 100 percent.
What are some ways your business is reducing its environmental impact? Are there other ways to minimize the impact of marketing communications on the environment?
7 Shining Examples of 1:1 Marketing
Filed under: Awards, Cross Media, Events, General, One-to-one, Web-to-Print
By Christine Winter, PR/marketing programs manager for XMPie, A Xerox Company
Last week, Caslon, a PODi Affiliate, announced that the all-new 2011 case studies are now online, along with the Best Practice Award Winners. These impressive campaigns will be featured in-depth at the AppForum, which is fast approaching!
I was proud to discover that the campaigns and applications from the following PODi case studies were powered by software solutions from XMPie. In fact, a extra round of applause is in order for the Dermalogica case study, which was awarded an Honorable Mention in the Marketing Resource Center category for PODi’s 2011 Best Practices Awards! Check it out…
Dermalogica Supports Stockists with Web-to-Print Solution
Dermalogica is an international skin care company that sells its products through trained skin therapists. The South African operation of Dermalogica has over 550 stockists that need marketing collateral support. Through a Web-to-print portal, the stockists are able to create personalized marketing collateral while Dermalogica is able to maintain brand consistency. The new solution is also much more efficient as turnaround time from order to delivery was reduced from weeks to 72 hours.
DaVinci’s Restaurant Serves up Results with Cross-Channel Marketing
DaVinci’s is a newly renovated, gourmet Italian restaurant that re-opened its doors with a fresh look and a new menu. To ensure the grand opening was a success, they implemented a cross-media program that incorporated digital print, e-mail, Web and social media. Personalized postcards invited potential customers to see the renovation and transformation of the restaurant. By visiting their Personalized URL, and answering a few questions, customers received a coupon via e-mail. The campaign generated a 4.8% direct mail response rate and helped DaVinci’s grow their customer database.
HP Value Added Reseller Cross-Media Marketing Campaigns
Hewlett Packard’s product and channel managers need support for conducting integrated lead generation campaigns. A marketing resource center solution was developed by JFM Concepts that supports eight different product lines and enables Value Added Resellers to deploy complex variable data campaigns. Cold sales lists have produced consistent direct mail response rates in the 4% to 6% range while highly segmented offers to warm leads have generated response rates of 30% or higher.
JDB Fine Hotels and Resorts Provides Personalized Memory Books
JDB Fine Hotels & Resorts is a comprehensive hotel and resort marketing organization representing the finest and most unique properties in the upscale travel market. Travel agents work through JDB to book vacation plans for their clients. A personalized memory book program was developed to strengthen the relationship between JDB and travel agents, and to increase referral business from consumers. The digital print books are customized for each client with details of the trip, exquisite photos and contact information for the travel agent.
NewPage “Dream, Green” Campaign Grows Awareness
NewPage needed a lead generation direct marketing campaign that would encourage printers to sample NewPage papers and develop brand awareness. A multi-touch, cross-media campaign with a “green” theme was deployed. The campaign incorporated personalized postcards, die-cut mailers, e-mail, custom posters and Personalized URL response mechanisms. The campaign achieved a direct marketing response rate of 4.7% and captured valuable information from print service providers.
Print Media Management Variable Content Magazine
MBA Group*, in partnership with their client Print Media Management magazine and technology supplier Xerox, set out to produce the world’s first fully digitally printed 64 page colour magazine with variable advertising and editorial content for different market sectors personalised to each of 12,400 subscribers. It helped generate 24% advertising revenue for the publisher and advertisers achieved a 256% increase in responses on variable data advertisements targeting to specific market sectors compared with the results for generic advertisements.
Progressive Communications Uses Personalized Cross-Media Promotion
Progressive Communications* wanted to highlight their new capabilities powered by digital print. A direct marketing campaign was developed to drive awareness of their services and illustrate the power of personalized communications. The cross-media program incorporated direct mail, QR codes, e-mail and Personalized URLs. Progressive Communications achieved a 11.6% direct mail response rate and new business from customers.
*Also a Xerox Best-of-the-Best award winner!
Join the High Tech Revolution – More on QR Codes
By Christine Winter, PR/marketing programs manager
You’ve probably heard the mantra “we live in a world where we are bombarded daily with irrelevant and generic data, messages and information.” And by now, you’ve probably heard that embedding personalized images and URLs (PURLs) into your targeted marketing campaigns can help you cut through the clutter and generate a higher response.
While all of that remains true, marketers – and the service providers that support them – must continue to adapt to the ever-changing marketing culture across print and new media. In today’s mobile society, that means the integration of such digital technology as quick response (QR) codes within traditional direct mail pieces. And this trend is gaining major momentum.
So, what is this technology? What marketing goals do they meet? Why should you include them in your marketing? Here’s what we think.
QR What?
To be literal, QR codes are two-dimensional barcodes that have significantly greater storage than that of a traditional barcode. They were originally used for tracking parts by vehicle manufacturers, but are now quickly gaining popularity with the mobile phone industry. When incorporated into one-to-one marketing communications, smartphone users can scan and decode them with a QR code reader to be automatically linked to websites, pictures, videos, product reviews, social media sites, etc. For print providers, they offer a unique way to use the print component to drive a response through other media and continue the conversation.
So, okay, you’ve heard all this. But what you might not have known is that XMPie makes generating QR codes within one-to-one marketing communication pieces a breeze. We have customers using them already to direct recipients of their direct mail pieces to PURLs – what we like to call response URLs™ (RURLs) – videos, and even dynamic maps. And they are seeing results, which they attest to the fact that scanning a code to get to a website is much easier than typing the address in a mobile browser, for example.
The XMPie Advantage
When creating personalized QR codes, XMPie and its Automatic Dynamic Object Replacement (ADOR) technology has a unique edge over other technology providers. This is because with XMPie software, you never have to worry about the information in the QR code (i.e. Jane Doe’s contact information) matching the information in the personalized communication piece on which it was included (i.e. Jane Doe’s business card). Consistency between the QR code and its context is automatic because XMPie encodes and images a QR code in the same step, leaving no room for mistakes in selecting the code image for a given individual.
This differs from non-XMPie solutions in that many times the creation of a QR code image and the coding of the image are done by separate tools. The room for errors in selecting the wrong image is wide open, and the process coordination investments in order to minimize these types of errors are very high. Hence, with XMPie, a match is effortless – it’s just built in – and creating QR codes is really simple and reliable.
Just Five Easy Steps
Process for Creating QR Codes in XMPie
- Open static art in InDesign
- Link to data source
- Create a new Content Object (information to be encoded into code can be a combination of static text and variable text)
- Create a graphic box on the design where the QR Code will go
- Select the new graphic box and double click the Content Object to link the two together
The bottom line? QR codes are soon-to-be-everywhere, and they make it easier for your customers to access the information you want them to respond to. And let’s not forget that with XMPie, you can actually track QR codes just like any other event or action in a campaign. So, yes, you should include them in your marketing. It’s as easy as X-M-Pie. Cheesy, I know.
Check out the previous blog post by David Baldaro for an example of a campaign XMPie executed using QR codes, and stay tuned for more on this very fascinating technology.
XMPie MC for iPhone: Cross-Media Campaign Tracking & Analysis On-The-Go
Filed under: Cross Media, General, Marketing Analytics
Today, I am excited to announce that XMPie has just recently launched its very first XMPie iPhone application – and it’s free! It’s called XMPie MC (Marketing Console) and is available in the Apple iTunes Store.
The application allows you to view and share your uProduce Marketing Console Dashboard reports directly from your iPhone. You can magnify the reports to show the table as well as the chart, and you can also refresh the report to update it with more current data and send the report via e-mail. This powerful capability provides new opportunities to continue the dialogue and provide meaningful follow-up within moments of a customer or prospect interaction.
Timothy Perrett, technical solutions specialist at XMPie, gives a brief demonstration of the application in this YouTube video.
Again, this free XMPie MC (Marketing Console) application is available in the Apple iTunes Store. We hope you find it intuitive and beneficial to your business! If you are not currently a user of XMPie’s uProduce Marketing Console for campaign tracking and analysis, and would like to learn more, please visit www.xmpie.com/mc.
What’s the PersonalEffect 5.0 Buzz All About?
If you are one of the many XMPie users who have been anticipating the release of XMPie PersonalEffect 5.0 (PE 5.0)—or a print service provider, creative professional, or corporate marketing department interested in cross-media—you should know all about the new advancements that the latest version of XMPie’s one-to-one variable data, cross-media communication solution brings.
As a new member of the XMPie family, I’ve been learning a lot about this software and its many innovative features for the creation of variable data print (VDP) and e-media communications in cross-media campaigns. But, one of the most valued features of PE 5.0, and the focus of this blog, is its support for Adobe Creative Suite 5 (CS5). Many of you, who may also be XMPie users, have been waiting to make the upgrade to CS5 as it offers more than 250 new tools and features for design, video editing, and Web development. Now that our software supports it, you can make the upgrade to both CS5 and PE 5.0, advancing your integrated marketing capabilities and keeping you on top of the latest industry technology and trends.
In fact, I asked Alastair Midgley, variable data print specialist for Kempenfelt Graphics Group, an award-winning Barrie printing company located in Ontario, Canada, for his feedback on the latest XMPie PersonalEffect upgrade (5.0):
“From uImage optimization to measuring e-mail marketing campaigns, XMPie has gone above and beyond with the release of PE 5.0. CS5 support, new barcode tips and tricks, XLIM enhancements, you name it…PE 5.0 ensures that XMPie remains the market leader in cross-media. This in turn keeps us competitive, vibrant and open to new business opportunities.”
I couldn’t have said it better myself.
So, since I cannot possibly go into all of the new features of PE 5.0 (unless you enjoy reading 10-page blogs), click here for a recap and visit us in booth #600 at Graph Expo 2010, Oct. 3-5, 2010 in Chicago, Ill. We look forward to seeing you there!
uStore 4.0: “A Complete and Powerful Solution”
It’s official. The latest version of XMPie’s Web-to-print, marketing portal solution, uStore® 4.0, is now available, and last week, I got a sneak peak! It’s new look and ease-of-use features make it even more practical and manageable for service providers, creative agencies and enterprise firms to build e-commerce-enabled stores and marketing portals.
In fact, uStore 4.0 has several new Web portal capabilities to help users expand their operations into the business-to-consumer (B-to-C) space. With anonymous shopping for instance, store visitors can browse offerings and add items to shopping carts without being registered. And, store products and categories can now be tagged with searchable terms to maximize visibility to search engines, driving potential customers to a store.
I asked Ray Aspeitia, digital media program manager for Sells Printing in New Berlin Wis., and uStore 4.0 beta customer, what he thought of the newest version. He said, “uStore 4.0 is definitely a must-have upgrade. The new features are helping us drive more print and marketing business by allowing us to expand and target new markets, and present even more out-of-the-box options to our customers. It’s a complete and powerful solution.”
The newest uStore version also features enhanced user and group management, as well as permission management capabilities, which give store administrators a simple way to organize storefront customers and back office administrators with defined access, roles and permissions. In addition, uStore 4.0 includes a new image customization tool that allows image crop and automatic color correction, and the Ogone payment option, which provides another payment gateway.
So, if you’re looking to provide your customers with an interactive experience in which they can easily browse, select, customize and order dynamic documents, driving both print and electronic media, uStore 4.0 is your single turnkey solution. And if you’re already a user, we hope this newest version offers you the new features you’ve been looking for.
uStore 4.0's automatic color correction utility