BEA WebLogic used variable data print (VDP) in a recent marketing campaign and achieved response rates above 15 per cent. BEA’s product is an application infrastructure platform that allows businesses to rapidly integrate their software. The company wanted to raise the profile and sales of the WebLogic Portal element of the brand, and facing competition from IBM amongst others it knew it needed a high-impact campaign. Its agency, Gyro International, developed a five-stage DM campaign, using VDP, which was tailored to each recipient with personalised text and calls-to-action.
Many B2B marketers are discovering the possibilities of VDP and achieving similar results. For some, however, this revolutionary new technique remains a mystery. In theory it is very simple. Steve Dyer, MD at agency Clockwork IMC, says, variable data printing does exactly what it says on the tin. It is the insertion of variable data fields into a piece of digitally printed creative. Doing this allows you to tailor individual mailings in two ways. Firstly you can incorporate the name of the recipient within the creative using either a standard font, or creating a picture font. Secondly you can also insert bespoke content.î
As BEA WebLogic discovered, this new technique can lead to better response figures and better ROI. Neil Anderson, MD of marketing software provider Neolane, says, ìMore relevant, personalised communications are proven to deliver higher reactivity rates and improved sales. Our experience is that a 100 per cent increase in response is a reasonable expectation. Quite simply, we are all more likely to take up offers that are relevant and meaningful to us. Marketers shouldn’t be accepting one per cent response rates any more.
However, although the theory is simple and the potential benefits enticing, in practice getting VDP right is difficult. The following seven steps will help you to emulate the success that BEA WebLogic and others have enjoyed.
VDP is not appropriate for every campaign. You will benefit from it only if your products or services can mean different things to different people. You should also bear in mind that it is considerably more expensive than a conventional approach to printing, so, while you are likely to see uplift in response and sales, you need to be confident that the increase in revenue will justify the expenditure.
Lucy Edwards, marketing director at DM agency Howard Hunt Group, says, at the moment, digital printing is still more expensive than the conventional production of DM. Until there is a change in this, VDP is best used to target specific segments of the database when you want to deliver a specific message to them. Some companies use it for the high-value section of their database. Other companies use it to drive trigger mailings to their customers. For example, if someone informs you they have just moved house, VDP can generate not only a ‘welcome to your new home’ pack, but the data can be used to deliver a map of your local area with locations of company’s stores. Variable data print isn’t the right route if you want to deliver high-volume mailings within a short timescale.
Every DM campaign needs accurate data, but when it comes to VDP it is absolutely essential. The only thing worse than sending a mailer that begins ‘Dear Sir or Madam’ is sending one with the wrong name on it. You are better sending no mailer at all. The more detailed your data, the more impact it will have; however the reverse is also true.
Simon Addinall, business development manager at HP Indigo, says, When it comes to B2B, you have to know who to target at your customer, be that the finance director or marketing manager. You have to understand the procurement process, so you know what to send to whom and when. Just knowing the prospect’s name isn’t really enough. It’ll look like a gimmick. Increasingly, the trick with VDP is for the recipient not to notice that it’s been personalised, just for him/her to think it’s relevant to them.
You can indeed go too far with personalisation. It must never be carried out purely for the sake of it. In developing the creative, it is not about what is possible, but only about what is relevant to the recipient.
There are also practical considerations at the creative stage, as Paul Bayliss, production director at McConnells Advertising & PR, explains, You have to consider all the key message changes so that, whether it’s a copy change or an image change, the design still works no matter what the nuance. If you have someone’s name in a paragraph of copy, you will need to take care at the end of a line. For example, ‘Liz’ takes up less room than ‘Jonathan’. Of course, the larger the number of variables, the more design verification you will have to carry out.
Most agencies report that using VDP takes longer than traditional print, and so advise others to allow more time for perfecting the data and creative.
However, Anthony Hyde, direct marketing manager at Xerox Europe, disagrees. He says, ìIf you want to use the effects created by a company like Alphapictures where background effects such as clouds and objects are used to spell out a name ñ then extra time needs to be built in for the creation of fonts and the special effects. Apart from that, the timescales for a variable data print campaign are the same as a standard print run. The Xerox iGen3 takes the same time to print 10,000 copies of variable data as it does to print 10,000 copies of a straight print run. There is absolutely no difference.
Noel Warner, MD of digital print firm Inc Direct, says, you may be new to this technology and have limited knowledge of its true capability and potential. If this is the case then you’re going to need a huge amount of support and added value. It’s critical, therefore, that you involve everyone in your strategy as early as possible. Get your agency and digital partner around a table to thrash out the detail and iron out any technical or data issues long before concepts are produced.
During this process you will quickly discover whether a marketing agency and print firm are able to help you deliver successful VDP. As with all new technologies suppliers have a wide range of expertise in VDP. As with all agency selection issues, word-of-mouth recommendation is the best way to find a good supplier.
A VDP mailing must be integrated with your broader marketing communications programmes. The look and feel, frequency, tone and offer must all make sense within the overall programme. Furthermore, the most successful campaigns have used an email or telephone follow-up to an initial mailing. Different people respond to different media and once you have discovered this, you can record it and use it to improve future campaigns.
Dyer at Clockwork IMC, concludes, ìThe key point for all marketers to remember is that although variable data print is a new and exciting print process, which has opened many new avenues for personalisation, the success of any campaign is still entirely determined by the quality and relevance of the creative idea. The real danger with VDP is that it can allow you to make a very weak idea look good. Never lose sight of the fact that VDP is just a print process that can deliver additional benefits.
