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Questions and Answers

The following are questions and answers from the webinar that due to time constraints we were not able to fit within the live event.

Q: What do you charge for your services?

A:

Michael Moran:

Between ¢95 to $1.60 for each newsletter mailed. That includes postage. Average $1.10

Joe Mislinski:

We charge startup fees, website hosting, and the usual per-piece (printing, finishing and distribution) related charges. We use a sophisticated rate table for all of our production capabilities that varies the unit rate depending on a number of factors. These factors include production volumes, turnaround requirements, peak vs non-peak production times, equipment and technology requirements. We also attempt to get 100% of the startup costs funded by the customer up front. If the customer is unwilling to pay for the startup (i.e., analysis, programming, testing, infrastructure, etc) then we are usually willing to waive a portion of it in return for a multi-year commitment with minimum volumes.

Chris Petro:

Each project or initiative requires varied resource deployment. So we often charge a program management fee, as well as any hourly fee for DB work, creative and IT development costs.

Q: How was your online Web portal developed?

A:

Michael Moran:

The software vendor and our IT manager

Joe Mislinski:

Our web-to-print capabilities were driven primarily by the customer. We initially developed web-to-print sites in PL/SQL on an HP/UNIX platform, and have moved almost entirely to a Microsoft/.NET environment. This gives us the flexibility to integrate other processes and applications more easily. The newer platform is easier to replicate. We have found that no two customers have the same requirements; although generic portals in an ASP model (such as Printable, NOW Technologies and Saepio) have great products, we focus more on customers with specialized requirements. I think that, given a few years, these ASP products will ultimately evolve to include most of the functionality that we see as a differentiator today. But there will always be custom sites.

Chris Petro:

We currently deploy several different web portals. Our own site, which was custom developed based on our specs which facilitates program and job transfer. We also deploy several PRINTABLE web portals for both static and variable data integration. In most cases, our portals are custom built and carried.

Q: Joe, you told us that you recently installed iGen3 color presses. I assume you installed some lines and my question is: are you focusing on using the same quality of substrate per press, or are you using different substrates (in weight and format)?

A:

Joe Mislinski:

We have had the iGens for over two years now. The iGen has a very wide range of paper types and we’ve had no problems emulating traditional direct mail papers. Both our clients and our production teams have been satisfied with the output quality of the iGen. I would need more specificity to your question in order to answer it further.

Chris Petro:

On the Indigos, we are running a wide variety of substrates including mylar, pressure sensitive, vinyl cling and iron transfer.

Q: If the customer does not have a CRM program in place, where do these large companies recommend customers go to get help with this?

A:

Michael Moran:

Any one of us would be more than happy to help someone with that. Just about any production facility that operates in the direct mail, Custom publishing, VDP arena should be able to help you.

Joe Mislinski:

If you want to ‘do it yourself’, there are several CRM applications focused on the small and medium sized business, such as the Microsoft offering. What we have done is to purchase ASP rights to a high-end product and offer it to our customers over the Internet in a hosted environment. In other words, the client has access to the CRM product online, and pays us a hosting fee plus transaction charges. We offer ETL (getting the data INTO the CRM system), Marketing Automation (exposing campaign business rules in a web environment, allowing the client to make real-time changes driving offers) and Business Intelligence (analytics) services, which a customer can use with only a browser.

Chris Petro:

Smaller agencies and consulting firms offer some lower cost entry points to build internal CRM systems. There are also some turnkey entry low end systems some companies might look into to help get them started.

Q: Given your experience what do you wish you had done more of a year ago and what do you wish you had done less?

A:

Michael Moran:

Nothing except exercise more and eat less.

Joe Mislinski:

I wish I started my current diet and workout program sooner, because it’s doing wonders! Seriously, though, I would have done more in the area of lead generation for our business, with a larger sales funnel consisting of net new clients. The vast majority of our growth has come from existing clients, who have had successes with VDP in one area and continue to expand the use of VDP to other functional areas within their organizations. There isn’t anything I would have done less of.

Chris Petro:

Less static…more variable!

Q: There has been considerable discussion about damage to digitally produced pieces in the mail stream. What have you done to mitigate this?

A:

Michael Moran:

We put all our output into an envelope and will use the NexGloser on the NexPress for post cards.

Joe Mislinski:

Simple answer: put them in envelopes. I’m not kidding; several of our clients, unhappy with the roughness of USPS equipment, have had us put these high quality digital pieces into windowed envelopes. It’s more expensive, but gives them the look that they are after. Another possible solution is to varnish or coat the piece if it is a self-mailer.

Chris Petro:

One of the main reasons we choose the HP Indigo over other toner based color output devices was for this very reason—ink versus toner for better portability through automated mail processing. There is also a new crop of digital UV coating devices on the marketplace and we have deployed two separate post-processing procedures depending on the piece. Again, some output devices also have limitations on coating saturation and acceptance.

Q: Have there been campaigns that didn't bring in the expected ROI and how did you handle that dilemma with your customer.

A:

Michael Moran:

No

Joe Mislinski:

So far we have not had that problem.

Chris Petro:

True. We try to mitigate those situations with plant campaigns and program betas before full launch.

Q: Of the successful VDP applications you've been involved with, what % (approx.) involve a multi-channel (web, print, and email) approach.

A:

Michael Moran:

25%

Joe Mislinski:

A high percentage, over 50%.

Chris Petro:

Upwards of 90%.

Q: Is the IT staff that create the graphic files containing the variable data or do you have to link the database to a variable data press (piece of equipment) that is variable data compliant ?

A:

Michael Moran:

Our IT staff use a composition tool to create files that are sent to the NexPress for printing.

Joe Mislinski:

I am not sure what you are asking exactly. Here is a process. We maintain a repository of variable images in high and low resolution, and a library of offer text. Client data is pre-processed, run through a CRM application to assign consumers to offers, and the data runs through composition and mail processing steps. The applications that do these functions are set up in advance; the data comes into the system and creates a printstream with no human intervention. The printstream can be one of several flavors. The best one for color VDP involves pre-ripping the images on the press, so the press can run at rated speed. We use “thin VIPP” for this purpose. One copy of each of the images is included in the printstream, although the image may be used many, many times over the course of a run. The images are pre-ripped and called in at the press during printing.

Chris Petro:

Depends on the application, but the answer is both. In some instances, we use the HP technology and workflows to match the graphic mapping. In other instances, our teams do the work in pre-processing. I suspect this answer is also varied based on the output technology, its workflow capabilities and the applications used in development.

Q: what about digital asset management, anyone heard about Interchange or Parts for artwork exchange with the clients?

A:

Michael Moran:

Not a factor for us.

Joe Mislinski:

We don’t use these products but I have heard good things about them.

Chris Petro:

No.

Q: What level of employee do you start exploring a first time variable data printing job, i.e.; purchasing, marketing mgr or higher senior management?

A:

Michael Moran:

Our sales are made to the end user. Financial advisor, Dentist, or Real estate agent.

Joe Mislinski:

Aim high. The C level is where you want to be. They will resonate with the ROI more than lower levels. Minimum would be the VP of marketing. Avoid purchasing and operations on a first call. The real successes come from a consultative type sales process that addresses a series of business needs, not just a solution for a single application.

Chris Petro:

Rarely purchasing, usually marketing or senior management.

Q: What is your process of illustrating a potential solution/service ROI to your customers?

A:

Michael Moran:

That’s something that the customer has to fill in the blanks. The cost of the program is defined. The return is based on the sales made as a result of the communication. As a newsletter program continues on it can only be referenced to results they had prior to introducing a newsletter. They can always see that the $700 to $1,500 they spent in a year results in an increase of revenue. Most often we hear that it’s more than 50% difference in income for the agent 2 or 3 years after they start a program. The key is delivering valued content to the recipient and persistency on the part of the sender.

Joe Mislinski:

We use our real-life, existing case studies, such as our PIXI award winning application for the Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa.

Chris Petro:

Each application has its own ROI model, thus requiring different processes for each.

Q: What is your take on utilizing a consultant / (internal consultant) within the sales process to identify your customers’ potential ROI for a solution/service that you provide?

A:

Michael Moran:

We think we have a good handle on that one already. We look at the sector continually to determine if new regulations create new opportunities.

Joe Mislinski:

If you don’t have a full time employee with the right skill sets, a consultant is fine. Just make sure you have a tight contract.

Chris Petro:

Third party consultants are an excellent tool for creating, benchmarking and validating ROI. In some cases, we use them in all parts of the process and in other cases, just specific parts. We are also starting to see mandated 3 rd party ROI assessment.

Q: It looks to me like we're having a new paradigm - formerly the marketer or the print buyer being the party defining the document content and the printer executing the job, whereas the speakers in this webinar seem to represent companies who not only execute the (variable data-) print job, but also make a business of defining the document content on behalf of the marketers. Will (offset) printers who are trying to expand their business towards VDP also need to make similar investments in IT and data analysis infrastructure, in order to survive?

A:

Michael Moran:

I think that the more you understand your customers’ business the more they look to you as a supporter and not a supplier. I believe that this new paradigm is exciting. I embrace it and want to learn about other businesses and how they work. Where their profit is made and how they manage their customers. The more value you add to your proposition the more valuable you are to your customers, and the stronger that relationship is, the more opportunities you’ll be presented. The glass is more than half full.

Joe Mislinski:

YES, YES, YES. Without making the shift to a ‘digital service provider’, an offset printer is simply a commodity. You need ‘value add’, and that comes from the range of services you provide. The closer you can come to a ‘one stop shop’, the more customer ‘stickiness’ you will have (high switching costs) and with that comes loyal customers and higher margins. Understanding and managing the data that drives these applications is one of the foundations for building this type of value.

Chris Petro:

WOW. A loaded question. I would say that this is no longer a new paradigm, but one that has existed for some time. It could be argued that offset printers should be well on the path to those investments and that it is the digital printers who should consider the investment in offset to augment service levels.

Q: Where can I find some information about how to make the link between the database information from the print shop and the printing process done by the press. How the digital files are created from this database and how the press is used to print all theses different files on one or several presses. Is it the IT staff that will create all these graphics files or the database is directly link to the database so the press handle the image creation process ?

A:

Joe Mislinski:

I think the questioner is asking about how to compose documents and create a printstream that the digital press can print, with raw data as the input.  The answer is, essentially, a document composition tool like Exstream Dialogue.  It takes raw data, and one can use business rules within Dialogue to make decisions about how to render the document image.  Very sophisticated rules can be invoked.  We choose to preprocess the data before it goes to Dialogue, and externalize most of this decision making.  In our case, Dialogue receives data with trigger fields, or variable record data, which lines up with the way the pages are to be composed.  In other words, we leave the heavy duty data processing step to a programming language rather than dialogue.  The result of the composition step is the creation of a printstream (e.g. postscript, variable postscript (VPS), VIPP, metacode, afp, pcl, etc.)  There is a veritable alphabet soup of printstream file formats, and that decision is best made based on the output device (digital press) you will be using.  The IT programmers use the composition tool, but once it is set up for a particular application, someone in operations runs the job until changes are required. 

This free event is made possible by Exstream, Kodak, and Printable

About Exstream

Headquartered in Lexington, KY, Exstream Software helps businesses around the world connect with their customers through higher quality, fully personalized customer communications delivered by mail, email and the Internet. Companies in the financial services, insurance, service bureau, telecommunications, utilities and other industries benefit from as much as 85 percent faster time to market, up to 80 percent reduced costs and increased revenue through improved customer retention.

For more information about Exstream Software and its market-leading Dialogue and AFP Studio technology, visit www.exstream.com, or contact Exstream at 859-296-0600 or info@exstream.com.

About Kodak

Kodak is the leader in helping people take, share, print and view images –for memories, for information, for business, and for entertainment. With sales of $13.5 billion in 2004, the company is committed to a digitally oriented growth strategy focused on four businesses: Digital & Film Imaging Systems – providing consumers, professionals and cinematographers with digital and traditional products and services; Health – supplying the medical and dental professions with traditional and digital imaging and information systems, IT solutions and services; Graphic Communications – providing customers with a range of solutions for prepress, traditional and digital printing, and document scanning and multi-vendor IT services; and Display & Components – supplying original equipment manufacturers with imaging sensors as well as intellectual property and materials for the organic light-emitting diode (OLED) and LCD display industries. More information about Kodak is available at www.kodak.com.

About Printable Technologies

Printable Technologies is a world leader in providing Web-to-Print and Variable Data Printing (VDP) Solutions to commercial and digital print service providers, ad agencies and direct marketing companies, and the enterprises using their services. The Printable System delivers real-time integrated business communications applications, online ordering and e-commerce, versioned and variable documents, job submission, and file transfer; and easily integrates with ERP, content management, accounting and shop floor management applications, as well as major digital production workflows. For more information, visit www.printable.com.

If you have questions about this webinar, please contact Eric: eric@whattheythink.com