Print.IT - issue 49

22 PRINT.IT 01732 759725 PRINTING Crossmedia Marketing Another new product announced at Connect 2018, EFI MarketDirect, extends the company’s advocacy of personalisation to businesses of all sizes, whether they acquire it independently or consume it as a service provided by a third party. A replacement for EFI DirectSmile, EFI MarketDirect is a complete platform that integrates all the elements needed to create, publish, track, sell and distribute personalised communications. The first components to be launched are the cross-media solution EFI MarketDirect CrossMedia 8, which makes it easier than ever for users to customise and personalise both document design and delivery method (web, email, print, mobile, social media), and the VDP composition and workflow engines, MarketDirect VDP and MarketDirect VDP Enterprise. The benefits of personalising customer engagements are well known, including up to a 50% reduction in customer acquisition costs, a 5-15% lift in revenue and a 10-30% increase in marketing spend ROI (source: McKinsey & Co). In a new survey by Epsilon, 90% of respondents said they find personalisation appealing, with 80% conceding that they are more likely to do business with a company that personalised their engagement. Two thirds are willing to hand over personal information in exchange for offers, recommendations and discounts. In the past, creating personalised campaigns was such a complex process that it was usually only attempted as part of a strategic marketing campaign with long lead times and an allocated budget. EFI Product Marketing Manager Aaron Tavakoli claims that EFI MarketDirect CrossMedia 8 is so simple it removes this obstacle. “It lets you be more reactive, decide to do something on the day and bring personalisation to every engagement with customers rather than purely on a long-term strategic basis,” he said. It does this through a number of features designed for use by marketing professionals with no programming skills and no time for extensive training. These include: n a campaign wizard and workflow manager that guides users through the most common campaign types; n customisable templates that save time by allowing users to re-use digital assets created for other campaigns; n a storyboard feature that lets users build a campaign in just minutes using simple drag and drop tools; and n a dashboard where marketing professionals can view and compare data relating to each campaign, such as opening and response rates. Tavakoli added that while similar solutions tend to include print as an afterthought, EFI CrossMedia can be fully integrated with EFI web-to-print solutions. scope for personalising interiors. These possibilities, Gecht argues, have created a new definition of print. “Print is no longer just a document, it is no longer just paper. It is every material in the world that needs a printed image. And that’s a bigger opportunity than we’ve ever had before.” Adding value Gecht’s rallying cry provided the context for a multitude of new product announcements made over the three days of the conference, and neatly tied together the three elements of EFI’s business – digital printers/presses which make up about 50% of revenues; Fiery Digital Front Ends (DFEs), originally developed for office and production MFPs and now driving industrial devices like the Nozomi press and Reggiani fabric printers (25%); and software that automates time- consuming processes to maximise productivity, print quality and cost- efficiency (25%). To address new applications like those outlined above, EFI is using its eco-system to create complete end-to-end solutions for specific market segments, such as digital textile printing and corrugated packaging and display material. These combine EFI print devices and Fiery servers with industry-specific software features to automate the entire process, from concept design to delivery of the finished product. Gecht points out that the level of automation and control Fierys provide is an eye-opener to people who have not used them before. “A lot of what we take for granted in the document market is more advanced than what is available in other markets. We are applying Fiery to new markets and adding value,” he said. A common approach The next release of EFI’s job management application Fiery Command Station 6, due to be launched in April, deepens this integration by providing easy management of all Fiery-driven devices, whether they are used for printing documents, display graphics, textiles, ceramics or corrugated material. EFI’s John Henze said that with its new Fierys and new job management application, EFI was realising its vision of a unified Fiery- driven print room, where a single Fiery can drive many different types of device through a common user interface and a common platform. Fiery Command Workstation 6 will include a number of new capabilities that reflect this broader reach. They include Fast RIP technology; a simple way to create layouts for B1 sheets; enhanced Versioning & Personalisation features that enable a designer to create a single file and manage multiple versions of the same job; and support for speciality colours, fluorescents, metallic inks and technical effects, for which PSPs can charge a price premium of 50-400%, including the ability to track how much of each ink is used and how much to charge customers using the new Fiery Smart Estimator. Through a programme of acquisitions and product development, EFI has been putting in place the building blocks that will enable it to compete in new areas. The question is how many of its customers have the vision, inclination and deep pockets to follow and how long it will take them to do so? www.efi.com ...continued Print is no longer just a document, it is no longer just paper. It is every material in the world that needs a printed image

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