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United Stationers Generates up to 35% Response
and
Drives Up Sales with Web-Driven Print Solution
ROCHESTER, N.Y., August 20, 2003 ? When United Stationers needed to
differentiate itself from rising competitors in the marketplace, it employed an
Internet-based solution and digital color printing to create a marketing program
that enabled dealers to customize and print direct mail materials on demand.
United Stationers, the largest wholesale distributor of business
products ranging from office supplies to furniture, recently developed a direct
marketing program called ?Star Club,? composed of an easy-to-use
Web-interface tool for its network of more than 5,000 dealers. The
Internet-based tool, called the Marketing Auto Wizard, enables the company?s
dealers to create full-color, customized mailers and brochures online, which are
then printed on a NexPress 2100 digital production color press from Heidelberger
Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg) and delivered within three business days.
?We wanted to offer our dealers a valuable direct-marketing program
to help them meeting a variety of objectives, from adding new customers, to
retaining and growing existing customers and reactivating inactive customers,?
said Bob Burnette, vice president, Market Development Group, United Stationers.
?Our dealers now have a powerful solution that saves them valuable time,
making their marketing efforts more successful."
More than just a pretty piece
United Stationers? dealers have reported response rates of up to 35 percent
since the program?s launch, and an accompanying increase in sales. Burnette
added that the high-quality, color customized pieces printed on the NexPress
2100 press have helped drive this response, but the key to United Stationers
success has been more than simply better looking direct mail.
?The thinking that went into the program is as important as the direct mail
that came out of it,? Burnette said. ?We have different templates for
different dealer objectives ?? all of which are customized by the dealer
and personalized to individual recipients. Because of this targeting, dealers
can mail pieces in small quantities and then follow up by phone, which helps
drive the great response rates.?
In developing the Star Club program, Burnette and his team
realized that dealers were too busy with daily business operations to create
direct marketing programs. Whether a small, family-run business, or a $250
million per year dealership, resellers needed a way to produce timely,
affordable, personalized and customizable marketing materials.
The team was familiar with Web-driven customization, so the
next step was to apply the concept. The Marketing Auto-Wizard program walks
the dealer or sales representative through a process of selecting marketing
collateral templates, identifying products from an image archive and
customizing text to build promotional pieces that address specific customer
needs. It provides an immediate, on-screen proof for approval.
The system also prompts the dealer to submit a database of
customer names and addresses, which are used to create PDF-print files for
individually tailored brochures. The files are automatically routed to a
server at United Stationers? print provider, where a NexPress 2100 press
produces the output. Documents are then finished and mailed to the dealer?s
target customers.
Prior to implementing the Marketing Auto-Wizard program, United
Stationers? marketing materials included lengthy catalogs and general direct
mail pieces, printed traditionally on an offset press. Typically produced in
large quantities, these items required long lead-times and allowed little
customization. Efforts by dealers to create their own marketing materials were
time consuming, and yielded less professional-looking pieces.
United Stationers dealers now have the option of printing as
few as 50 highly targeted, professional pieces that are customer-focused,
dealer-specific and promotion-driven.
Calling on RT Associates
To implement the Marketing Auto Wizard and produce the full-color,
personalized materials, United Stationers collaborated with RT Associates, a
Chicago-area full-service solutions provider for digital and offset printing.
RT Associates turned to Heidelberg and NexPress Solutions LLC, who were
collaborating with Saepio Technologies to add its Web-driven Agilis Media
Producer to the NexPress solutions portfolio.
According to Bob Radzis, co-founder and president of RT
Associates, the company aims to offer the newest and most advanced solutions
on the market. RT Associates originally selected the NexPress 2100 press based
upon its robust digital front end, which ties database information to dynamic,
Web-driven document creation tools to produce high-quality personalized print
on demand.
As a NexPress 2100 owner, Radzis has developed a strategic
association with Heidelberg and NexPress. He appreciates both companies?
solutions focus, and their ongoing commitment to researching and bringing new
innovations to market.
?We find that new customers are now requesting Web-based
solutions and digital color print work from the start,? Radzis said. ?And
through this relationship, we?re able to gain new design, digital
photography and digital content management work. Innovative digital solutions
have become the drivers for our rapidly growing business.
?Over the years, customers have been convinced of digital
printing?s high quality output, and more clearly understand the value of
more customized and targeted communications. Today, our efforts have moved
from simply selling the concept of variable data printing to helping customers
achieve their marketing goals.?
?The Internet is driving new communication solutions and
capabilities for commercial printers like RT Associates,? said Niels Winther,
president, Heidelberg USA. ?Using Heidelberg equipment, our customers have
the unique opportunity to take advantage of exciting new applications ?-
like Web-to-print fulfillment ?? just one example of the potential for the
digital color printing market in years to come.?
About Heidelberg
Heidelberg (www.heidelberg.com) is the
world's leading print media solution provider. Headquartered in Heidelberg,
Germany, the company manufactures and supports an extensive and integrated
range of sheetfed, digital and web press systems as well as prepress and
postpress components, software and consumables for all printing applications.
Heidelberg has by far the largest manufacturing and support
network in the industry with 20 manufacturing sites, 250 sales and service
sites in 170 countries and around 24,000 employees. The installed base of
Heidelberg print media technologies includes more than 400,000 systems at
240,000 customer sites worldwide.
About the NexPress 2100 Press
The NexPress 2100 press, which recently won the prestigious 2003 BERTL Best of
the Best award and the GATF 2002 InterTechTM technology award, is the graphic
arts industry?s first true digital production color press ?? producing
outstanding image quality and consistency with every piece. It was developed
by NexPress Solutions LLC, a joint venture of Heidelberg and Kodak, and is
distributed and serviced around the world exclusively through Heidelberg.
Contacts:
Manning Selvage & Lee
Jon Updyke
404-870-6806
jon.updyke@mslpr.com