NEW YORK, March 8, 2004 – Xerox Corporation today announced an initiative called Profit Accelerator that will sharpen the company’s focus on helping customers worldwide grow their businesses and succeed in digital printing. Built on customer input and Xerox’s digital printing expertise, Profit Accelerator is a comprehensive portfolio of resources designed to speed up a customer’s return on investment in digital technology. It demonstrates Xerox’s commitment to helping print providers assess digital printing opportunities before the sale while increasing volume and profits after the sale. “We’ve looked at them all, and this is the most comprehensive offering of its kind in the industry,” said Mike Panaggio, chief executive officer, Direct Mail Express. “Partnering with Xerox is helping me to grow my business a lot faster.” According to Tom Wetjen, vice president, worldwide graphic communications industry business, Xerox Production Systems Group, “It’s not business as usual for printers. It’s not enough to simply sell a product. Today, print professionals want a full range of support to help them learn, market and sell digital printing, and make money faster.” Xerox expanded its industry-leading portfolio targeted to help the three main departments of a commercial print shop: executives, sales and marketing, and operations. Joining the Profit Accelerator portfolio is ProfitQuick?, a financial modeling tool developed by Xerox and used to help print executives justify the purchase of digital production equipment. ProfitQuick, translated in multiple languages, is able to help people: - Develop a five-year customized profit and cash flow analysis for Xerox production equipment. - Show which applications are most profitable. - Determine the page volumes needed to become cash flow positive. - Show the impact of quick-turnaround and variable pricing premiums. Another new tool available to customers is uPublisher, a marketing and digital learning simulation program that introduces printers to the marketing opportunities in book publishing. The program targets both sales and marketing and operations personnel by allowing printers to understand the market opportunity and to practice programming a job on a “virtual” DocuColor iGen3 Digital Production Press without tying up actual equipment. Other resources included in Profit Accelerator are: - Sales and Marketing Resources The Getting Started Kit, an in-depth introductory set of tools and samples to help production customers drive volume to their equipment. Part of the kit includes Profiting Through Personalization, materials to help print providers understand the technologies surrounding full-color variable-information printing. Xerox DocuColor iGen3 Digital Production Press sample portfolio, a set of applications for print providers that are designed to highlight the capabilities of the DocuColor iGen3. Marketing Accelerator Kit, a comprehensive marketing and volume-building plan, in both hardcopy and CD, for customers to be successful in their digital printing business. The objective is for customers to have a clear plan before they even get in the digital business. For those who are already using digital, it maps out a two- to five-year strategy to grow their page volume. Resource Guide, a comprehensive list of thought-provoking resources to help printers learn, generate ideas and stay current with the latest industry information. - Business Development Support, includes sales and applications analysts, a 24/7 customer support hotline and DocuColor iGen3 SmartPress Consultants. This team of specialists support business integration in customer environments and provides sophisticated marketing assistance and industry-level training services to key business personnel. Together, the team rapidly ensures equipment is working to its fullest potential and provides continuous ongoing support. - Creative and Design Resources, a set of tools to help providers increase digital print sales to advertising agencies and graphic design firms, among the heaviest and most influential buyers of printing according to TrendWatch and the Rochester Institute of Technology. The suite includes creative industry applications, case studies, how-to articles and business-building presentations aimed at helping print providers develop their digital printing market. - Paper and Media Resources, a program that contains many tools and programs to educate customers on the use of Xerox paper and specialty media. One program is the SmartPress media package that allows each DocuColor iGen3 customer to receive a free pallet of Xerox media to use on the digital press. - Marketing Partnership Program, a series of training and education courses designed to give print providers the knowledge needed to be successful in selling and marketing digital and variable information printing. Profit Accelerator is delivered worldwide through a network of several hundred customer business development professionals, including Xerox sales and marketing managers, analysts, SmartPress Consultants and solutions development managers. The programs are designed for easy implementation by customers, and customers can receive them through multiple channels including on-site consulting and webinars.