KENNESAW, Ga., November 13, 2003 – Heidelberg USA today announced the availability of a new business development tool kit to help printers build successful digital color printing businesses. The NexPress Business Development Tool Kit, which supports the NexPress digital color press, was launched at the Heidelberg Digital Imaging conference for Heidelberg users held in Atlanta this week. The new kit, which complements Heidelberg’s existing Digimaster Family Sales & Marketing Tool Kit for the black-and-white digital press solutions, are designed to help Heidelberg customers integrate the digital solutions to expand their businesses and ramp up faster. “Printers understand that digital printing is the wave of the future, but that buying a digital press alone will not properly prepare them for success and to capture future revenue streams,” said Richard Sand, director of Heidelberg’s Business Development Services. “With these new business development kits from Heidelberg, printers will have the tools they need to maximize their investments in Heidelberg digital presses and build viable, revenue-generating digital businesses.” The NexPress and Digimaster kits contain powerful tools, including printing samples, marketing templates, sales presentations and a guide on how to host an open house. Heidelberg customers will receive complementary copies of the tool kits with the installation of a NexPress or Digimaster press. Kit contents include: • Digital Applications Guide: A comprehensive brochure that describes the seven-level framework for selling digital print solutions, starting with static, short-run printing and progressing to automated fulfillment. Each section provides a thorough overview, outlines specific benefits, describes a hypothetical customer problem and shows a sample solution. • Vertical Market Tools: A series of 15 brochures entitled, “Knowledge to Sell With,” provides in-depth coverage of vertical markets where demand for digital printing is expected to grow. Each brochure summarizes specific industry opportunities and challenges, describes individual industry segments and outlines business trends affecting demand for digital printing. Another vertical market tool offers a more detailed listing of potential digital printing applications and sub-applications within various industries. • Print Samples: A set of CDs capture the power, flexibility and high quality of digital color printing. The samples support a range of sales and marketing efforts. They show, for example, how to inspire prospective customers to sign up for new print services and enable printers to target vertical markets. • Templated Marketing Tools: This kit includes a specially developed selection of application-based marketing tools that printers can put to direct use and begin producing variable data jobs and demonstrate techniques for digital design. Examples include a brochure that integrates the recipient’s name and address into the text and a sell sheet that incorporates unique text, four-color images and a database-driven table. • Open House Kit: This do-it-yourself kit helps printers plan and execute a successful open house, known as one of the most powerful tools in building a digital business. The kit includes, among other things, a brochure entitled “Open House Guide: Planning a Successful Event,” a press release announcement that can be adapted for local use, ready-to-use invitations and thank you cards, a presentation for marketers and agency heads and another for designers and creative types. • Sales Resources: Reference materials are provided to support sales of digital printing services. Among them, success stories on compelling case studies, an Excel-based return on investment template to justify digital printing costs and a set of pages that focus on eight key Digital Printing Business Success Factors. • Digital Design Resources: Two brochures – “The Designer’s Guide to Digital Printing with the NexPress 2100” and “The Designer’s Guide to Digital Textures” – outline valuable tips for ensuring outstanding work. These guides help printers optimize their digital printing jobs by addressing important nuances such as textures, dry ink coverage and scanning. One Heidelberg customer, EJ Flammer, a partner at digital@batesjackson llc, has been using a previous version of the NexPress business development tool kit. He said it has helped his company successfully move into the digital color business. "With digital, you're taking such a different marketing approach that it's essential to have ready-to-use materials and resources that help you talk intelligently to your customers," Flammer said. "The resources in this kit have given us the opportunity to really do our homework on a prospective customer's business and industry before we go out and sell to them. In a nutshell, they represent the equivalent of a marketing and communications department - but required very little investment."