(Weymouth) May 24, 2006… InfoTrends, the leading worldwide consulting firm for the digital imaging and document solutions industry, announced the release of a new multi-client study entitled “The Future of Direct Mail, Transaction Documents, and ‘Transpromotional’ Documents.” This study is a follow-up to InfoTrends’ landmark 2003 study entitled “The Future of Mail and Transaction Documents” and the 1997 study entitled “The Internet and the Future of Transaction Documents.” “The health of the printing industry is heavily reliant upon direct mail and transaction documents,” commented Charlie Corr, a Group Director at InfoTrends. “Our research indicates that direct mail will continue to grow at a faster pace than the overall market, while transaction documents will see a slight decline. Nevertheless, transaction documents are coming from a large base and those that contain promotional information have significant opportunities for growth.” Organizations that produce direct mail and transaction documents face continued competition and constrained budgets, and must therefore communicate in the most effective ways possible. InfoTrends’ new research will enable document technology vendors and service providers to develop product and service portfolios as well as strategic business plans so they can capture revenue from these document applications. So-called “TransPromo” documents represent one of the newest opportunities for direct mail and transaction documents. These documents combine the information delivery of a transaction document with the data-driven personalization of promotional (direct mail) offers to generate faster and higher responses. “Companies can utilize the white space on transactional documents as selling space to target recipients with specific messages relevant to their buying patterns and preferences,” continued Corr. “The adoption of ‘TransPromo’ documents could transform the existing document landscape.” In InfoTrends’ previous research, consumer surveys indicated a high preference for “highly personalized” direct mail. Furthermore, 69% of respondents preferred mail over e-mail or telemarketing. InfoTrends will again incorporate consumer research as part of this study to evaluate changing user preferences and receptivity to various communications alternatives, including electronic presentment and traditional direct marketing efforts. This study will be based on a combination of desk and primary research. The primary research will include interviews with over 300 print/mail service providers, 200 document buyers and print buyers in each category, and 400 end-users. In addition, analysts will conduct personal interviews with leading end-users. “Ultimately, the research will identify critical success factors; unmet customer requirements; purchase plans; and other items that will drive vendors’ and service providers’ product, service, marketing, and sales activities,” said Corr.