First Impressions of a drupa Newbie
By Christine Winter, PR/Marketing Programs Manager, XMPie, A Xerox Company
Wow! That’s the first word that comes to my mind as I sit here reflecting on my first drupa experience, because ‘wow’ is a word that encompasses my many emotions from those 13 days – joy, happiness, pride, surprise, excitement, appreciation, hope, exhaustion, relief, gratification…
Wave 1 XMPie drupa Staff
My feelings of joy, happiness and pride come from all that I saw the Xerox and XMPie team accomplish at this show. Before coming to drupa, I could only imagine how much effort and teamwork it would take to put together and run an exhibition of this size. Now I know.
For starters, the sales and marketing personnel had been working for months and months to coordinate all the logistics, promotions and customer experiences. The XMPie product, research and development team worked tirelessly to prepare new software versions and applications to showcase at the trade fair…and what a reaction they got!
uStore 6.0 was a big hit with its new features, including the ability for store customers to upload static Microsoft® Word, PowerPoint and PDF files, combine them with other uploaded documents and/or documents that are available in the store catalog, choose a binding method, and see a 3D preview.
Me with my Facebook birthday calendar
Another new development that was introduced at the show and gained a lot of interest was our exciting new uStore Facebook Connector application, which allows brand/company pages to link to their XMPie uStore storefront via a Facebook app so that their fans can order company-branded, printed materials. The sample product we showcased was a perpetual calendar that included the birthdays and pictures of each individual’s Facebook friends. It was exciting to watch it go viral, gain XMPie over 100 new fans, and drive traffic to the Xerox 770 Digital Color Press on-site!
But perhaps the newest innovation that drew the largest crowd was XMPie Circle: The Digital Storyboard for 1:1 Multichannel Campaigns. During the first week, we ran live shows in the XMPie 1:1 Cinema Theatre every 30 minutes, and nearly every show was a full house! Circle is a SaaS solution for collaborating on, sketching, planning, building, reviewing and monitoring multichannel, individualized communications campaigns. And with its highly-visual campaign flow diagramming tools, intuitive user interface, and ability to seamlessly connect with the XMPie uProduce™ production engine, the feedback we got was that it would undoubtedly improve the way our customers work with their customers – making it easier for everyone to understand and sell the power of personalized cross-media campaigns.
Wave 2 XMPie drupa Staff
On another note, my surprise, excitement and appreciation comes from the quality time we got to spend with our customers and prospects from all around the world, the several XMPie applications that were running on almost every Xerox press, and of course, the 36 Cirque du Soleil shows I got to watch over the course of the show in the Xerox booth.
But now, still with hope for new and revitalized customer relationships over the next few weeks as a result of our presence at drupa, the exhaustion has set in. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t relieved that I’m finally home (after making a quick stop in Paris), but overall, drupa was a great experience. I’m very pleased to have had the opportunity participate in the show and spend time in Düsseldorf with my colleagues….many of whom I had met for the first time.
Now I suppose it’s time to start planning for Graph Expo!
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!
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