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Direct Group Transforms Trigger Marketing with High Speed Digital Color
By: Carro Ford Weston
Trigger marketing is about getting the right piece to the right people at the right time. “In some cases, trigger-based mailings can result in very impressive double-digit lifts in response rates,” said Chris Ryan, Chief Operating Officer of Direct Group.
Direct Group is a major supplier of trigger-based mailing campaigns, which enable marketers to respond to life events such as birthdays or new cars with relevant communications. “For instance, when someone buys a new car, we want to be in their mailbox right away with the best offer for insurance,” Ryan explained.
“Clients tell us that using lists in the digital (i.e. variable) world generates up to 95 percent better results than traditional formats. The Océ JetStream helps us maximize the advantages of color, variability and speed for customer mailings,” he said. The Océ JetStream™ system is an ultra high-speed, high-volume full-color digital ink jet printer. Direct Group was the first in the U.S. to leverage its capabilities, installing two Océ JetStream 2200 systems in the company’s Swedesboro, NJ facility in 2008.
Digital Color a Logical Choice
“It was a logical move for us to expand our print capability beyond traditional printing presses and lithography by implementing digital full color. These capabilities allow us to further target and personalize clients’ mailings, which improves their ROI,” Ryan said. “We selected the Océ JetStream for its speed, quality, efficiency and uptime. Its capabilities are quantum leaps from what was available even a year ago.”
The Océ JetStream duty cycle handles well over 60 million impressions per month with a maximum monthly capacity of 18 million linear feet. Offering versatility, ease of use and integration into existing workflows, the Océ JetStream family is distinguished by flexibility as well as raw speed.
Fast Time-to-Market Is Critical
According to Ryan, the real advantage of Direct Group’s digital color platform is speed-to-market rather than cost savings. The most targeted message is futile if the prospect has already moved on to another decision.
“When we decided to invest in the digital space, our criteria included not only high quality, but also high speed because of commitments to our clients. Time-to-market is a major consideration in target marketing. Our customers want to be there first, so speed to market is at the top of our priority list. Digital printing – with its speed and variable data – secures us a place in prospects’ mailboxes promptly. For example, we have a client in the home security business. Some 120,000 people move every day, and time is of the essence in making a successful pitch to these prospects.”
Reliability is also key to delivering mailings that hit their timing targets. Ryan stressed, “The JetStream has proven to be extremely reliable in creating the kind of variability our clients seek, at the speed and quality we demand. From an operations perspective, we have experienced great uptime.”
Up to 20 Million Trigger Mailings a Month
Depending on formats, Direct Group may run between 10 and 20 million names a month on the Océ JetStream system for trigger-based marketing communications.
“We have eliminated the traditional forms printing component of our clients’ mailings,” said Ryan. He explained that Direct Group used to overlay variable content onto static preprinted shells, but now the entire page can be printed in one efficient process. This saves money and reduces excess obsolete shells.
Print Stream Sorting for Postal Efficiency
Despite the widespread use of electronic media, print – especially mail – still represents a major marketing solution because of its predictability. “Mail can be tracked so much better than other forms of marketing, and it’s still part of what works in the advertising world,” Ryan explained. “We know to whom we mail and who responded, and by scoring and analytics, we can build the next file for a new cycle of relevant communication.”
The digital platform for variable data has made the postal piece of the equation more efficient. According to Ryan, postage can account for up to 65 percent of the actual cost of a mail campaign. With digital printing, documents can be much more efficiently sorted in the print stream for output in a specific order to reduce the downstream steps needed for inserting and mailing.
“We can utilize the JetStream to capture lower postage rates because of the amount of sorting that is possible in variable formats. The key is to drive the sort down to the last possible point in the postal chain, instead of requiring multiple steps to get to the right post office. Huge savings can result, but they revolve around of the capability of the sorting technology.”
World-class Printing for World-class Marketing
“We believe in the digital space and in the powerful techniques of variability and targeting,” said Ryan. To build on its commitment, Direct Group invested in a second Océ digital ink jet system with magnetic ink character recognition (MICR) printing to support an expanded menu of services such as check printing and barcode tracking.
“Combining print variability with MICR capabilities, we can now offer an even more viable solution for clients who need checks and coupons,” he said. Direct Group has offered similar services for many years, but all of its MICR output has been on black and white systems. The second Océ JetStream will transform MICR application printing with high-speed color, making for higher-impact mailings.
“We chose capabilities that will help our clients the most and move our business forward in reliability and speed,” he said, and Direct Group is seeing those results every day. “Digital color is already giving us a great return, helping generate revenue for us and for our clients.”
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Carro Ford Weston has been writing about the digital document marketplace for years. Contact her at carrof@earthlink.net.
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