Add Value...Differentiate Yourself!

Historically, in-plants have played a leading role in the adoption of digital print technologies.

In its “2010 Emerging Markets Study,” InfoTrends surveyed more than 110 in-plants and 199 print-for-pay establishments to understand where they were on the adoption of digital print technologies. In-plants lead the traditional printing market in adopting digital print solutions and are heavily invested in digital black-and-white and color capabilities. The challenge is that that they have lagged behind in the adoption of value-added software solutions.

Figure 1: Which of the following types of imaging hardware does your company own?

Just like the entire print-for-pay market, in-plants are in the midst of a radical transformation. The use of digital technologies, including the Internet and new media, has triggered this transformation while also accelerating the change.

Digital technologies and demands from users are forcing in-plants to adjust their service portfolios. To be successful in today’s market, in-plant printers can no longer depend on placing ink and toner on paper—today’s market is all about adding value to the overall communications process. User departments want value-added documents that are more personalized or relevant, more secure, and more impactful. They want options relative to the media channels that they are using to deliver information. They are demanding marketing communications that engage customers in a dialogue and generate an improved return on investment (ROI).

InfoTrends recently completed a multi-client study, entitled “The Cross-Media Direct Marketing Opportunity,” that surveyed more than 450 marketers to understand communications and their future direction. Marketers clearly understand that relevancy can prevent customer defection, improve customer satisfaction, increase customer spending, and reduce marketing costs. More than 39% of marketing campaigns were segmented (one-to-few), while 21% were highly personalized (one-to-one). What this means is that over 60% of marketing campaigns are targeted.

Figure 2: What percentage of your marketing campaigns fit into the following categories?