PALO ALTO, Calif., June 20, 2006 -- HP today announced that Annex Print and Mail Solutions (www.annexmail.com) has installed a new HP Indigo press 5000 to fully harness the power of personalization for clients in real estate and other industries. The company has also scheduled delivery for an additional two HP Indigo press 5000s to accommodate current and anticipated growth opportunities. With a pair of HP Indigo press 3050s filled close to capacity running variable-data jobs, the Denver-based firm will use its new HP Indigo presses to expand into other high-value on-demand applications, including web-to-print ordering systems that eliminate the need for collateral storage. “The next generation of high-value direct mail involves the type of personalized, variable-data, offset-quality production only possible with HP Indigo equipment,” said Alon Bar-Shany, vice president and general manager, Indigo division, HP. “This is a new paradigm for companies like Annex and its customers, marketers that gain a big improvement in the cost-per-response with mail pieces that are many times more relevant to recipients.” The installation continues the rapid pace of expansion in variable-data printing at Annex, which is embarking on an ambitious digital expansion after reaching its 10-year anniversary on June 19. Soon after acquiring an entry-level HP Indigo press three years ago, a national mortgage firm and longtime mailing client requested to have its 400,000-piece quarterly newsletter printed digitally to incorporate variable-data imaging. Today printed on one of two HP Indigo press 3050s at the company’s 30,000-square-foot facility, the newsletter features color photos of individual agents that match regional mailing lists, and takes three weeks to produce instead of three months. “People have been talking about one-to-one marketing for the past five years, and now marketing departments are finally starting to get their arms around it,” said Annex Owner and President Jim Albany. “Companies are taking a more focused approach and spending their money more wisely by sending fewer pieces to more targeted markets. On the mail side, we can get people better postage rates that almost pay for the whole mailing. Our business is growing with HP because we are increasing our customers’ return on marketing dollars and investment.” By offering offset-quality digital color printing alongside traditional mail-shop services that encompass presorting, data management and bindery expertise, Annex is attracting new business and providing profitable new opportunities for existing customers. Recently one of the company’s largest clients, a Denver-based organizer of nationwide legal seminars, switched from offset to digital production of its two million annual brochures, a decision that streamlines what had been a lengthy inventory process and brings Annex closer to its goal of doubling digital color impressions by next year. While Annex’s second HP Indigo press 3050 handles additional variable-data jobs, the first of its three new HP Indigo press 5000s is busy producing personalized brochures, self-mailers and postcards for a growing roster of local Realtors, print brokers and Internet marketers. In addition to multiple paper trays that enable fast, uninterrupted printing of short-run jobs on different substrates, the HP Indigo press 5000’s digital front end allows Annex to leverage the power of web-to-print and create efficient online ordering systems for targeted marketing materials, using advanced software from HP partner Printable Technologies. “HP digital printing has revitalized us,” said Albany. “It’s a creative tool that makes our work much more exciting than just processing mail and taking it to the post office every day. And as we evolve from a service provider to a solutions provider, we are able to educate clients and prospects about this technology.”