Digital Printing: The Hot Markets

DIGITAL PRINTING has created new opportunities for print producers and print buyers alike. One of the biggest of these opportunities is personalized communication to an individual.

Digital printing is the output end of customer relationship management and comprehensive databases. When customer and prospect information is used intelligently and creatively, it engenders larger numbers of calls, clicks and visits. It translates workflow into cash flow.

There are 40 primary market segments in which business entities operate, from ad agencies to wholesale food (see list at end of story), and each segment has unique marketing, promotional and communication channels and approaches.

The Technology

Digital printing involves any reproduction process that does not use a static image carrier (such as a plate). Every page impression is regenerated, even if it is the same as the previous page. Digital printing refers to any printing method that places spots of colored particles on substrates, with toner and ink-jet being most common.

• Toner-based printing—also known as electrophotography or xerography—is based on particles of pigment encased in plastic-like cocoons that are moved around by electrostatic charges. Laser light images photoconductors to convert light energy into electrical energy. The page image exists as a set of plus and minus charges, which then attract the oppositely charged toner. Paper is either charged or conducts a charge that is opposite to the toner on the drum and the toner is attracted to the paper. It is heated to fuse the toner on the paper. Toner printing can be sheetfed or roll-fed, using wet (liquid toner) or dry (powder toner).

• Ink-jet technology is either thermal (heat makes a bubble), piezo (pressure makes a bubble), or continuous (pressure makes a flow). Ink-jet printing can be sheetfed, roll-fed, flatbed or a combination. It can use inks that are aqueous (water-based), solvent (petro-chemical-based), eco-solvent and UV, using either dyes or pigments.

Toner quality is now very close to offset litho, with resolutions at 1,200 dpi or so. Speeds have been at 40 to 110 pages per minute (ppm) for sheetfed systems, and 130 to over 200 ppm for roll-fed systems. All digital printing systems are perfect for short runs and they are the only way to handle variable and versioned jobs.

Variable data printing (VDP) means that each impression can be personalized for the recipient. The text and graphics can be personal to them, generated from databases that have information about the individual.

The Hot Markets

All of the major markets for printing (see page 28) can benefit from VDP, but there are a few that are hot:

• Casinos

• Healthcare

• Higher Education

• Insurance

• Retail Food/Supermarket/Grocery

Casinos track every aspect of a guest’s visit. They can usually record wagering time, type and volume, restaurant activity, gift shop purchases, and the use of any other services. This information can be used to generate personalized coupons that relate to the particular guest’s preferences.

Healthcare organizations, especially HMOs, can personalize communications based on age, medical condition or location. Newsletters and advisories can be specific to the individual.

Higher education can apply VDP in admissions, alumni relations and development/fund-raising. For admissions, images on brochures can be specific to the potential student’s interests as indicated on a form. Alumni relations can use information and imagery based on the alum’s date of graduation and degree. Fund-raising can tailor requests in many ways.

Financial services, such as insurance companies, banks and mutual funds, are in competition for your retirement investments. Imagery on brochures can be selected based on the recipient’s age or gender or family makeup.

Supermarket loyalty customers leave a trail showing the timing and nature of their purchases. Newsletters or other promotions can provide coupons based on past purchases or coupons designed to get you to change brands.

The Transpromo Opportunity

All markets are now looking at the convergence of the transaction document and the direct mail promotion. Since the advent of computers, transaction printing has been a primary printed product for any company that sends bills, statements or other material based on a financial relationship between the sending company and its customers.

Usually under the responsibility of the MIS or IS department and its data center, the technology for printing transaction documents has evolved from typewriters to high-speed character and dot matrix printers to toner-based and ink-jet printers. All transaction-based printing systems have increased in speed over the last two decades in order to accelerate the printout and mailing of bills and invoices, as such items directly influence recipient payment timing and the sending organization’s cash flow.

Transaction printing is database printing. A large part of database printing involves financial information, such as statements and invoices, that we call “transactional.” Targeted promotional direct mail marketing pieces are also database printing, but are produced with different workflows by other areas of the company, such as the in-plant. Sheets or rolls may be pre-printed using offset litho or other ink-based processes, but variable data printing is needed to print the database on paper.

Transaction documents include:

Bills/Invoices 32%

Statements 24%

Policies 8%

Coupons 6%

Checks 5%

Contracts 4%

Pension/Retirement Info 4%

Proposals 3%

Account Information 3%

Purchasing/Trade Docs 2%

Other 9%

Now in Living Color

Transaction printing in color is growing as new full-color printers, both toner and ink-jet, enter the market. These machines will allow companies to include advertising messages as a part of the bill or statement and eschew the use of inserts. This gives rise to the concept of the “transpromo” document.

Because transaction document volumes may not be sufficient to justify the new color printers, we envision that some volume of company direct mail volume will move to these machines with the convergence of transactional and promotional printing.

Most transaction documents are digitally printed on pre-printed stock. This is also how most direct mail is printed-using pre-printed “shells” that are toner (laser) or ink-jet imprinted, mostly with address information. It is cost effective, but there is no ability to vary color images. Full-color printers will negate the need for pre-printed stock, a cost that must be factored into any ROI.

Transaction printing is usually produced on continuous-feed monochrome devices that run at a few hundred pages per minute. (The terms “continuous feed,” “roll feed” and “web feed” refer to the same approach.) In the last two years, some companies have applied cut-sheet color printers for credit card and other transactional mailings.

Printed Products Affected by VDP

All categories of print will be affected by VDP:

• Publishing-specific categories include books (mass-market, professional, elementary/high school, college and university press), and many will be versioned based on market. Photo books are a major opportunity for digital printing.

• Catalogs (business, consumer and mail order) will contain inserts or cover wraps with information derived from past purchases.

• Directories (white/yellow pages, trade and organizational) are already generated from databases.

• Newspapers (daily and weekly) are considering digital printing for on-demand publication or versioned inserts based on location or interest.

• Periodicals (magazines, journals and newsletters) apply on-demand publication or versioned inserts based on interest and demographics.

• Technical documentation (manuals, guides and instructions) are moving to electronic versions.

The products above comprise about 33 percent of the total print produced in the U.S. Another 36 percent of all print is in:

• Promotional (flyers, brochures, folders, booklets, inserts, circulars, collateral material, signage and point-of-purchase), all of which are using short runs and versions.

• Direct mail (post cards, self-mailers, booklets, letter mail), which is moving to targeted approaches rather than mass mailings.

• Financial/transactional (annual/quarterly reports) are already using on-demand approaches.

• Lastly, forms, packaging/labels, stationery and miscellaneous make up the remaining 31 percent. They all are affected by VDP.

How much does it all total? About $321 billion for all printing and packaging in the U.S. produced internally or externally. Just over 10 percent is now printed digitally—and growing, as marketers discover the unique capabilities of digital printing.

.

Frank Romano’s career has spanned more than 40 years in the printing and publishing industries. He is the editor of the “International Paper Pocket Pal” and has written hundreds of articles for publications around the world. The author of 45 books, he has also founded eight publications. He lectures extensively and has consulted for major corporations, publishers and government agencies. He was the principal researcher on the landmark EDSF study “Printing in the Age of the Web and Beyond.” Romano continues to teach courses at RIT and other universities. You can e-mail him at:

fxrppr@rit.edu

.

The Market Segments

There are 40 major markets for printing:

Ad Agency

Architecture/Engineering

Associations

Automotive

Banks

Beverages

Book Publishing

Casino/Gambling

Catalog & Mail Order

Cruise

Department Stores

Fashion and Apparel

Franchise Ops (channel sales)

Fund-raising

Gas & Electric

Government (Federal)

Government (State, Local)

Greeting Cards

Health Care

High Tech

Higher Education

Hotel (Hospitality)

Insurance

Investment (Mutual Funds)

Manufacturing

Newspapers

Office Supply/Home Improvement

Packaged Food

Pharmaceutical

Photographers

Professional Services

Publishing

Real Estate

Retail Food/Supermarket/Grocery

Schools K-12

Sports/Entertainment

Telecommunications

Toys and Games

Travel

Wholesale Food