...a long one, but worth the read...trust me
And while I naturally have questioned the place of digital printing (toner-based) on this very blog, I provide you now with some interesting news. Acme Printing has formed an official partnership with a large New England based digital printer. And while we can directly manage an entire digital print project, our intentions are somewhat more complex.
BUT FIRST, 1:1 or 1-to-1 print marketing is the process in which a printed communication is printed and marketed specifically to the end-recipient. This data-driven process can only be accomplished through extensive up-front programming and prepress, and with the proper digital printing technology (e.g. Xerox iGen, HP Indigo, etc.). A 1:1 piece contains any combination of static graphics/text and:
- Semi-variable (which refers to a pre-set group of variable images/messages – like a picture of a dog and a message "You like dogs").
- Completely variable (which contains a message that is completely specific to the recipient – like "John Doe, you like dogs"),
- And there’s a mix (like a picture of a dog pulled from a pre-set group of pictures and a message like "John Doe, you like dogs").
According to the "Personlized & Database Printing: The Complete Guide" by David Brody and Frank Romano, there is a 34% increase in response and a 35% increase in response time over a typical print marketing piece. For our clients, whether it be a catalog, a sales kit, or a direct-mailer, we are now capable to manage the entire project of marrying digital and traditional offset projects. The benefit of marrying the two is that both the response effectiveness of digital 1:1 and the cost-effectiveness of offset are achieved (for example, marrying a 1:1 digital cover and a 32-page offset text). This is something I coined the term mix-media-printing for.
