NEW YORK -- April 3, 2003 -- According to a new TWGA report, email marketing offers commercial printers and graphic arts service professionals a great new revenue stream. The Internet, which offers competition to theprinting community and, has only recently started to become accepted as a production tool, has made little impact as a revenue generator. TWGA research indicates that one potential source of Internet revenue generation is Email Marketing. Internet research firm DoubleClick reports that 68% of consumers have purchased online as a result of having received an opt-in email contact at some point in time. While Internet marketers are finding success with email marketing, graphic communication providers are not. According to the TWGA report "E-Mail Marketing: Friend or Foe?" only 2% of all graphic arts firms see "bulk email services for clients" as a top sales opportunity. In addition, only 12% of Internet Design & Development firms cited "email sales campaign management" as a top opportunity for their businesses, though 25% view "email campaigns" as one of the most important Internet changes in the next two years. The report indicates that while opportunity exists, few are mining it. The report is available for online purchase at the TWGA eStore in PDF format. For more information, go to the TWGA website (www.trendwatchgraphicarts.com). Researcher's Quote... "Email marketing is a strong player in certain segments, and it certainly competes for the same pot of media marketing dollars as print. And these days, the last thing print needs is another competitor," notes Vince Naselli, Director, TrendWatch Graphic Arts. "On the other hand, what print does need is new revenue streams to help printers develop new business models that reflect the way customers do business today. The synergy between email and print is a service that printers should be looking at, not just as a threat to their traditional print businesses, but as an opportunity to grow in new directions and service customers in new ways that will help them thrive going into the future." According to the Report... -- The average cost per message for opt-in email was $.20 compared to $1.00-$3.00 for telemarketing and $.75 - $2.00 for direct mail (eMarketer); -- 80% of email marketing messages are responded to within 48 hours, compared to the 6 to 8 weeks for traditional marketing methods (eMarketer); -- 14% of creative firms and publishers say cross-media campaigns with email are a key opportunity for their businesses; -- 15% of creative professionals see email campaign design/development as a top opportunity for their businesses, rising to 23% of ad agencies. About the Report... This report discusses the most important issues relating to email marketing and the commercial printing industry. Among the key topics discussed: -- Benefits and challenges of opt-in email marketing; -- Unique characteristics of email marketing not available in print; -- Where email works, where it doesn't; -- Does email offer synergies or challenges to print?; -- Growing importance of "convergence" on marketing strategy. And so much more concerning personalization, HTML, bounce rates, wireless devices, and response rates, as well as citing real-world examples of the power of opt-in email marketing. Methodology... This report was based on field interviews with key players in the email marketing industry, secondary Internet research from industry suppliers and information portals, and data from TWGA Printing #16, TWGA Printing Historical Database, TWGA Design & Production #14, TWGA Design & Production Historical Database, TWGA Publishing #14, TWGA Publishing Historical Database, TWGA Internet Design & Development #5, TWGA Internet Design & Development Historical Database. Some portions of this report were drawn from recent TWGA Special Reports on Wireless and Variable Data Printing to provide full breadth of discussion on this issue. Availability... The 134-page TWGA "E-Mail Marketing: Friend or Foe?" report is available for purchase by visiting the secure TrendWatch Graphic Arts eStore online at www.trendwatchgraphicarts.com or by phone at 866-873-6310. The price for the report is $1595. TrendWatch Graphic Arts eStore customers can download this report in PDF Acrobat format immediately after purchase.