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Client Project
Title Printing with Personality Copy It may sound contradictory, but mass mailings have become personal. Advances in digital printing technology mean a university can now directly tailor every piece it sends out to each individual recipient. In other words, if a campaign calls for 1,000 pieces to be mailed, a single print run will create 1,000 unique variations. For universities, this new capacity for print personalization is opening up entirely new ways for them to connect with both students and alumni. What exactly can a university personalize in a print campaign? The most obvious starting point is each recipient's name. Of course, if a campaign personalized by name looked no better than a stuck-on mailing label, there would be no cause for excitement about digital printing, which allows an individual's name to be integrated into each print piece's overall design. When used creatively, it can make a striking impression. In addition, universities are able do so much more with digital printing than just change out recipients' names. They can choose which photos and even entire sections of content they want to show each individual depending on that person's gender, age, declared major, extracurricular interests, and other variables. The digital printer uses a database to generate each unique piece as it is being printed. In the end, the capacity for personalization greatly improves response rates in a university print campaign, or for any campaign. Printing industry statistics bear out that, no matter the business or topic, highly personalized pieces are more likely to compel recipients to follow through on calls to action. (See sidebars.) In general, the more a campaign drills down to refined levels of personalization, the better the printed piece will hit its target. The Plusses of Digital Printing Digital printing is often more formally called on-demand digital printing, because it efficiently and affordably lets printers turn out small-print runs just when clients need them. Within the world of digital printing, the term variable-data printing refers to the detailed levels of personalization. In 2006, 10 years after it first appeared, commercial digital printing in all its forms represented 10% of the worldwide market, according to market research firm InfoTrends; over roughly the same time period, digital printing costs dropped 58%. Clearly, digital printing is on the march against its rival, offset printing. Quality keeps improving while costs continue to go down. Analysts expect the digital segment to continue to encroach into the territory long dominated by traditional offset printing and to eventually become the leading printing method. The principle advantage offset continues to hold over digital is that it's better suited for very large print jobs. Meanwhile, the benefits of digital printing are that it:
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