*** From the Archives ***

This article is from March 18, 2003, and is no longer current.

Bit by Bit: Targeted Printing by Design

I received a letter yesterday from the local BMW dealership offering service specials like deals on oil changes. It asks: “Do you own a BMW?”

Well, no, I don’t. So I threw the letter in the recycling bin. A moment later I took it out again. I have selected this solicitation as a candidate for my “Most Inappropriate Mailing Award.” (Last week’s winner was a pocket knife I received as a promotion that was engraved with my name and “SN LS OBSP” for my city — they obviously couldn’t fit San Luis Obispo in the database field.)

Certainly a BMW dealership trying to extract additional business from existing owners should know who its local customers are. If not, the dealership could ask BMW Corporation to provide it with a list of registered owners of BMWs in this area (manufacturers do possess this information).

Why on Earth did this dealer spend so much money to do what marketers call a “shotgun mailing” to a large group of people, most of whom don’t own a BMW? This is about as foolish as foolish can get.

Instead, the dealership should have called on the services of a graphic designer and printer familiar with the ways of variable-data printing. Such professionals can help companies target their clients correctly, and then market their products and services precisely to the person receiving the mailer.

Fahrvergnuegen Printing
Imagine how I would have reacted if I had received a similar mailer targeted at Volkswagen owners, of which I am one, and as an owner I am certainly receptive to deals on oil changes. Now imagine how I would have reacted if the mailer featured a photo of the model of Volkswagen that I own, perhaps even in the correct color. Imagine, further, that the mailer was gender-specific, featuring images that appeal to men when mailed to male recipients, and to women when mailed to female recipients.

Variable-data printing is the name of the technique used to produce such mailings, and there are a number of software applications and printing machines that facilitate this kind of work. The software must be paired with a quality color copier-printer or a digital press that can change the document with each impression. Variable-data printing can be done on a small scale — a few hundred mailers for the local BMW dealership — or on a large scale for more ambitious clients.

If creative professionals develop the skills necessary to create targeted-market print materials, there is a gold mine of value there for the client. Direct-mail marketers suggest that targeted mailings are much more effective than shotgun mailings, and it’s obvious that impressing the recipient — as opposed to insulting him — creates a better return on marketing efforts of all types.

Let’s assume that the local BMW dealership put 10,000 flyers in the mail (they didn’t). The cost of printing 10,000 flyers in color is about $925 for printing (I got an instant quote from creativepro.com’s Printing Center, which has very competitive rates, in my opinion). The dealer paid 37 cents each for postage (I checked the postmark — another area where they could save money, more on that later); that’s another $3,700. Buying the mailing list was about $500, and printing and inserting the envelope cost another $2,380. This brings the total (discounting labor costs at the dealership) to $7,505 (75 cents per unit mailed). The Printing Center is a great place to get printing done, and their prices are very competitive, but this is a story about creating variable-data printing.

Now let’s assume that the BMW dealership can acquire the mailing list of all registered owners of BMW automobiles in our county. That list (calculated through a few minutes of Internet research and guesswork) would be less than 2,100 people. If we scale the costs down (a slightly unfair comparison), then the total would be $1,575, which leaves $5,930 to pay for a more sophisticated mailer and printing (assuming the dealer is willing to spend all the money in the first place).

Graphic designers who understand the potential of variable-data printing could use that “extra” money to produce specialized and targeted products like this, and can charge premium prices for the effort. This kind of work is much more valuable to the buyer than a “flyer” or a “throw-away” that is indiscriminately delivered. (Mass-printed mailings do have their place, for instance when introducing a product or service to a wider audience.)

A New Set of Skills
To succeed at variable-data and variable-image printing, you need to become an expert in a few areas that are not the usual skills of our profession:

  1. You need to understand the process of variable-data and variable-image printing. This is slightly different than creating static printing projects. It requires a detailed understanding of the requirements of the marketing program, the client, and the client’s customers. It requires complete knowledge of the bigger plan (is this a one-time effort, or is it part of an on-going program? Are there Web sites to develop as a part of the plan? What follow-up ideas exist? How will the Big Plan be executed?).
  • You need an excellent working relationship with a print-partner who understands the process of variable-data printing, and who has the necessary technology. High-speed color copier-printers are at the bottom of the variable-data printing food chain. Presses like the HP Indigo, Xerox iGen3 and Heidelberg NexPress are at the top. This relationship must allow for considerable experimentation and file testing. Your print-partner must be a good sport, and be willing to try, and fail, a few times before you jointly hit the Big Time. Many printers have invested in the right kind of presses, but almost none know how to use them effectively for variable-data printing. This is a tremendous opportunity for the right kind of partner relationship.
  • You need one of the available variable-data preparation programs to build, or modify, your document. The most common applications are: Darwin, from Creo; PrintShop Mail from Atlas Software; and DL Formatter from Datalogics Corp. (More on these in my next column.)
  • You need to know how to use a database application — or work with someone who does. This is where variable-data efforts usually collapse. Information technology specialists, the control-freaks of our bigger industry, have traditionally held this role — and held it tightly. I suggest that you develop a relationship with an IT person who is creative, flexible, and willing to experiment liberally (a rare combination). In my work with variable-data printing, I assumed this role myself, and it has proved to be one of my best assets. My tool of choice: FileMaker Pro. It’s a great product, has a very low geek-factor, and is quite easy to learn.Putting these tools and skills together into a salable product-process takes talent, commitment and practice. It isn’t easy. But, graphic arts pros have all the right skills and talents to find success with this new angle on printing.In my next column, I’ll look at the software applications used in variable-data printing in more detail, plus I’ll point out factors that you’ll need to consider when undertaking variable-data-printing projects.
Brian Lawler founded Tintype Graphic Arts in San Luis Obispo, CA, in 1973. Since 1992, he has worked as a consultant to the graphic arts industry, specializing in prepress and color management subjects. He is an emeritus faculty member in the Graphic Communication Department at California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) where, for 22 years, he taught color management to more than 1,500 students.
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