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A look at how cross media marketing, variable data publishing and web-to-print is changing the shape of marketing communications.

Marketers today have a clear challenge - to communicate the right message, to the right audience at the right time through the right media. The traditional one size fits all approach of traditional print, advertising and direct marketing is being replaced by a need to provide relevant, compelling messages that are unique to the individual.

By utilising cross-media, marketers and creative’s are able to combine variable print, email, pURL's (personalised URL's) and SMS touch points to create highly effective, response driven marketing campaigns, without the need to invest in expensive software or additional technical personnel.

One company who is at the forefront of cross-media is Xeretec, one of the UK’s largest digital print  equipment and solutions provider who has developed Xcel, a cross media solution which uses variable data publishing, web to print and workflow  to deliver truly innovative campaigns.

“Xcel is not just about significantly increasing response rates, it is also about the invaluable customer insight it provides, which is impossible to get from standard direct marketing campaigns” states Warren Beard, Director of Xeretec. 

The aim of Xcel is to deliver a unique web based marketing portal including email, direct mail and eventually cross media from one login. “Typically these formats although widely used have all been fairly disparate as interaction & utilisation is delivered via completely separate systems” he continues. “Single point campaigns often include a mixture of these resources, there for the practicalities for the user to be able to use a single point solution is not only necessary but unrivalled within our technology” Beard states.

The Power of Variable data publishing

The term variable data publishing is not just a passing phase, also known as VDP, it is the cornerstone of not only Xcel but cross-media marketing as a discipline VDP involves taking static content to provide personalised and relevant user context.

Additional information such as consumer historical buying activity and product interest are just a couple of areas where information can be used to tailor images that could include the recipients name carved into an image of a tree or spelled out in the clouds. Furthermore the use of personalised URL’s such as email, SMS text messages and unique online landing pages can all be used to compliment a cross media, variable print document campaign. Essentially VDP is driven by a deep marketing need to connect with a business market and Xcel has provided the mechanism to do it.
The marketing potential of variable data printing and Xcel is enormous as it enables mass customisation of documents via digital print technology, as opposed to the 'mass-production' of a single document using offset lithography. In essence, instead of producing 10,000 copies of a single document, delivering a single message to 10,000 customers, variable data printing could print 10,000 unique documents with a customised messages delivered on an individual basis.

Integrating Workflow into Cross Media Communication

A key ingredient to cross-media marketing and communication is workflow; workflow is about the actual process, the unique creative process management requirement that streamlines print production. Workflow goes beyond being able to implement marketing approval cycles and takes into account areas such as colour management and proofing controls so that publishers can create production-ready files in PDF, PDF/X-1a, PDF/X-3, DCS2 and PostScript formats.

Web to Print the Key to Improved Communication and Business Growth

Web to print is very rarely an out of the box solution and more often it can mean something different to everyone. With Xcel it is not only a key enabler for print but also for marketing, as it diversifies how service providers communicate and deliver their services, it enables providers to conduct business more efficiently and creates a wealth of opportunity for value-added services such as e-commerce, collaboration, sales management, and customer service.  Both consumer and business users expect to have the option to conduct business using the Internet and this expectation has continued to drive the adoption of web-to-print solutions.

Those that have deployed a web-to-print agree that it is a vital part of improving customer service, expanding geographic reach, and enabling revenue growth. In addition those that have adopted web-to-print say that it has streamlined their operations through using features such as automated estimating, job templates, automated file generation and of course the e-commerce option.

Cross-media marketing, variable data publishing and web-to-print is about having the control to increase sales, acquire leads and secure customer loyalty through the production of marketing campaigns that have flexibility to utilise customer data in an intelligent way. Xeretec will be demonstrating Xcel on Stand 10 at Media Pro 2010.