- "Transpromo": ON DEMAND Vendors Demonstrate How to Meet CMO Needs By Barb Pellow April 25, 2007 The "Transpromo" Opportunity This year’s ON DEMAND show was a strong indicator that industry analysts, equipment vendors, and software solution providers are getting excited about what is now being termed the "transpromo" opportunity. Transactional documents are those that are necessary to run a business, including invoices and statements. These documents are clearly a major focus for corporate printing. Historically, transactional printing has been almost exclusively monochrome with a limited number of spot color applications using continuous feed or cut sheet printers. There has been a recent market emphasis on getting transactional documents to do more so they can actually become marketing documents. Bills and statements sent to customers communicate information, and are expected to capture the recipient’s attention. The real value of transactional documents is the ability to use them to turn that attention into action. Transpromotional documents use the white space within billing documents, statements, and other transaction documents to deliver targeted marketing messages with full color imagery and/or highlight color text. The ultimate objective is to combine information delivery with data-driven personalization and promotional offers to generate faster and higher response rates. This year’s ON DEMAND show was a strong indicator that industry analysts, equipment vendors, and software solution providers are getting excited about what is now being termed the "transpromo" opportunity. According to the recently published CMO Council "Marketing Outlook 2007," marketers consider measurement, improved efficiencies, and customer knowledge to be their top challenges. Leveraging transaction documents to convey marketing information and cross-sell products and services is an ideal mechanism to enhance marketing efficiency. InfoTrends’ new study entitled The Future of Mail 2006: Direct Mail, Transaction, and "Transpromotional" Documents examined the future of direct mail and transaction documents in North America and provided details on the U.S. and Canadian markets. The study emphasized customer-facing applications such as direct marketing, billing, and related issues such as customer support and fulfillment. It also examined consumer behavior and preferences. Key statistics indicated that: * In 2005, the total North American transaction market consisted of 64.3 billion documents valued at $120 billion. * In 2005, 114 billion direct mail pieces (with a retail value of $61.1 billion) were sent in North America. * Consumers have a strong preference for highly personalized direct mail. * Consumers state that only 31% of the direct mail they currently receive contains personalized content that they find useful. * There is a high level of trust in the postal services of the U.S. and Canada. * Print providers who service these markets have strong investment intentions, particularly in terms of mailing equipment and digital color. * Not everybody will flock to electronic bill presentment or electronic bill presentment and payment, as just under half of the respondents planned to pay bills online. Those consumers who did not want to switch to online banking most commonly cited security concerns. Most importantly, there was a high consumer preference for transpromotional documents (63% preferred such a document), and the study forecasts that full color digital transpromotional pages will increase at a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 91% through 2010. The ON DEMAND show was a good indicator that the market is poised to adopt transpromotional documents, which meet the needs of end-users as well as document generators. Vendors should strive to take advantage of the technological advancements that enable this application. While the market has not fully developed, equipment vendors and software suppliers at ON DEMAND were focused on delivering solutions that were more scalable, easier to use, and provided enhanced functionality. Transpromo Applications Take Center Stage Emtex and XMPie Join Forces Emtex Software, a subsidiary of Pitney Bowes and XMPie (a standalone software unit of Xerox Corporation), announced an alliance to offer software solutions that help print professionals gain access to the transpromo market. The firms indicated that they will blend the capabilities of XMPie’s PersonalEffect variable data publishing software with Emtex’s VIP output management software for high-volume transaction printing. GMC Highlights Transpromo Capabilities GMC Software Technology exhibited the latest capabilities and enhancements to its PrintNet software suite at the ON DEMAND 2007 conference. The PrintNet solutions can be used in the areas of marketing, transaction, transpromo, On Demand, and electronic customer communications. Key modules include PrintNet T Designer, PrintNet PA, and PrintNet Connect. GMC demonstrated joint applications with several key partners during the exhibition. The applications that were featured in GMC’s booth and GMC partner booths included: * Promotional marketing flyer and postcard * Transpromo 401K transactional statement with embedded marketing messages * Newsletter with variable, personalized information * Invoice with color IPDS * Interactive, Web-based demo GMC Software Technology also introduced PrintNet 5.0 at the ON DEMAND show. PrintNet 5.0 features an updated look and feel that makes the graphical user interface easier to use. An integrated logic debugger allows dynamic testing of business rules, so users can test variable data applications as they go instead of waiting until the end of the project. In addition, objects can be aligned to each other and to page margins. Table of contents entries are now linkable to corresponding text headers for navigation through documents. In addition, users gain more choices for illustrating variable data with the incorporation of 2D radar, 2D and 3D cone charts, cylinder, pyramid, and other new chart types. With Version 5.0, PDF files can be imported as a group of editable objects for more manageable content. Version 5.0 offers a totally integrated PDF workflow with direct access to formats, scripts, colors, and objects in the PDF file. Editing and output capabilities work with the PDF file without reverting to the native application. Production workflow is more streamlined with the addition of PDF output to any protocol without pre-conversion. GMC has also made important improvements in the color management capabilities of PrintNet to help consumers use color with their variable data applications. Advanced color IPDS support is one of several color management enhancements, along with dithering algorithms for improved color output criteria. Document Sciences: Third Generation Customer Communications Document Sciences introduced version 3.0 of its xPression software suite at ON DEMAND. xPression v3.0 is an advanced third generation customer communications software solution that addresses the needs of organizations that want to improve the customer experience through the creation and delivery of highly personalized, interactive communications for print, e-mail, and the Web. Document Sciences also demonstrated the following new and/or enhanced product offerings: * xPresso for Word 2007 enables document designers to easily transform existing static Microsoft Word documents into highly personalized dynamic customer communications from their desktops. * xPresso for Adobe InDesign is an open design environment for quickly developing graphically-rich personalized customer communications that include transpromotional documents, consolidated relationship statements, welcome kits, and marketing fulfillment. * xPresso for Dreamweaver is an active eMarketing tool that leverages the power and sophistication of Macromedia Dreamweaver to enable marketing professionals, customer service representatives, and print service providers to create personalized, rich e-mail communications and customized interactive Web landing pages in real time. Exstream Launches Dialogue 6.0 and Dialogue Live Exstream Software introduced Dialogue 6.0 and Dialogue Live. Dialogue 6.0 is a major new release with over 250 enhancements and eleven new modules—several of which are for increased support of PDF on the design and production side. Fully integrated with 6.0, Dialogue Live is Exstream’s new solution for intelligent, interactive documents. Dialogue Live provides a single, integrated infrastructure for enterprises to manage the editing of interactive documents across the company—giving customer-facing employees the flexibility and guidance they need for speed and accuracy—while controlling costs, content, and standards at the corporate level. ON DEMAND illustrated that the time for transpromo is now. While production costs will increase with full color and variable imagery, CMOs are currently driving a change in culture. Marketing departments are waking up to the potential for effective use of the white space in transaction documents. The emphasis for Dialogue Live is to provide interactive "customer intelligent" transactional documents. An example sited by Exstream is a financial application. A financial analyst sits with a customer and walks through an electronic version of a mutual fund application. Each new form is pre-populated with relevant information from previously completed pages and content from a central database, then created on demand and given to the customer on the spot to review and sign. The data inputted on premises is then dynamically transmitted back to the central database, where it will be stored and reused as needed for all subsequent interactions with the customer. The application process is reduced from weeks to hours and fulfillment puts a personalized welcome kit in front of the customer immediately. Dialogue Live has transformed the static template into an interactive intelligent document designed to gather and share data. PrintSoft: Scalability and Effectively Managing Correspondence PrintSoft’s transpromotional solution has been expanded to provide exceptional capabilities at a variety of entry points, so users can choose the solution modules that most appropriately meet their needs. The solution range includes a new standalone application, PrintSoft DM-Direct, which is an all-in-one package for the design and production of direct mail transpromotional jobs from a single desktop computer. The standalone solution can be expanded to offer Web-enabled document management and high-volume production capacity. PrintSoft also highlighted its correspondence management solution at the show with the launch of PrintSoft MailDirect, a product suite for optimal management of customer correspondence that integrates compliance control, brand control, and event-triggered personalized correspondence into everyday business processes throughout an enterprise. The suite offers modules for easy integration with BPM and business systems, Web-based approval workflows, and easy Web-based management of correspondence rules and content. In production environments, MailDirect provides automated mail aggregation, postal optimization, and flexible output management. Within a particular enterprise, print output can be appropriately routed to in-plant printing facilities or to outsourced print providers for automated finishing and mailing. Output options also include E-mail, Fax, and Archive. The Time Has Come! ON DEMAND illustrated that the time for transpromo is now. While production costs will increase with full color and variable imagery, CMOs are currently driving a change in culture. Marketing departments are waking up to the potential for effective use of the white space in transaction documents. Bills or statements can become a tremendous revenue generator as opposed to a cost of doing business. They can efficiently and effectively cross-sell and up-sell clients on new products and services. Equipment and software are maturing, and marketing executives are looking for answers. Are you ready to provide the right solution to your customers?