Because they enable one-to-one marketing, variable-data tools seem right for today’s customer-driven society–where everyone wants it their way. However, for most printers, nailing these applications means a new business model with a whole new set of nuances.

It’s defined as a megatrend in the Special Report by CAP Ventures, and these days it seems as if everyone has a personalization or customer relationship management (CRM) strategy. Designed to foster loyalty and reduce customer churn, CRM initiatives span the entire relationship that a customer has with an organization. Companies of all types and sizes are leveraging myriad technologies and services that claim to help them provide some aspect of CRM. But how can on demand printers capitalize on this trend?

Most organizations have invested resources or have strategies for the front end of CRM–for example creating personalized customer service applications and providing customers with a rich Web experience. Now, organizations recognize the need to extend their strategy to the later stages of the relationship–into back office services, including fulfillment and delivery. This is where on demand printers can leverage variable-data tools to provide exciting value-added services.

With the right tools and business model in place, on demand printers can add a whole new set of services to their offerings and fill a critical hole in CRM initiatives: personalized output on demand.

For example, many retailers for years have leveraged data mining to determine customer preferences, but few actually use that data to drive output such as personalized brochures and catalogs. Many banks, brokerages, insurance, and health care organizations allow customers to request information online, but few send these requests directly to an on demand printer to produce customized products that are shipped the same day they are requested.

These kinds of variable-data applications offer a tremendous opportunity for print providers. However, they also introduce an entirely new business for most on demand printers.

Variable-data tools allow print providers to offer highly sophisticated applications, including customized product brochures and training manuals, one-to-one marketing materials, and

personalized insurance and health plan books. Variable-data tools also position firms to fulfill on-line requests for information with personalized products.

Digital print and variable-data tool vendors have been waving such applications around show floors for years. But only recently, with every organization rolling out the red carpet for customers, has the market demand caught up. Finally, organizations recognize the tremendous value that these applications offer. For the print provider, however, success with these applications requires an entirely new business model and culture, including the support team, technologies, and ancillary services.

The Variable-Data Team

If your customers have the impression that they can simply drop off their data in the morning and pick up their shiny personalized brochures and books in the afternoon, your variable business won’t get off the ground. Customer education on the nuances of variable-data printing will be a new area for your business development and sales team to tackle. This group will need to educate the customer on what is required of them for their applications to be a success. Specifically, if there are problems with the data, the customer must be willing to work with your variable-data team to resolve them.

Because variable applications are data-driven, they require some discussion up front about the data and layout. You’ll need a database expert to sort through and manage customer data with an eye for data (or lack thereof) that may cause problems. And your prepress team will want to review the format and layout with the customer. While a lot of preliminary work is required, once a variable-data application has been set up, it can be reproduced for a new set of consumers just by processing a new set of data.

New Technologies

To produce variable applications you need a printer with a high-speed RIP to process the variable data and allow for output at production-level speeds. Production monochrome printers, such as the IBM InfoPrint 2000 or the Xerox DocuPrint series, are suitable for variable-data applications. Digital color presses based on the Xeikon or Indigo engines are ideal for producing 100 percent variable color applications.

For applications with myriad variable images, graphics, and content, you need a digital asset management (DAM) system with robust document or content management capabilities. Variable-data tools incorporate these assets as determined by the rules and data for the application, but the tool doesn’t know if it is pulling in the correct version. Poorly managed or lost assets lead to costly mistakes. In the on demand world there is no time for this. DAM systems ensure that the appropriate version of every asset is the one used in production.

Electronic workflow is also important. If the customers are submitting electronic files and databases, why create a physical job jacket and route jobs manually? Workflow systems, which monitor the progress of each job and then forward completed work to the next stage, are becoming widely accepted in the printing industry as a great way to streamline processes.