Scott Kendrick, president of Kendrick Quality Printing Ltd. in Winnipeg,
Manitoba picked up his keys and the scooter from Vespa Winnipeg today, in
-40degreesC weather.
“It’s ironic timing for sure, but who would turn down a free Vespa?” said
Kendrick. “The campaign was very compelling. It was an excellent way for me to
learn about ways to expand my business, while also experiencing the
effectiveness of a custom direct mail campaign first hand.”
The campaign – launched in August – targeted new and existing Xerox
customers with potential interest in digital production solutions. Prospects
received personalized, 3D brochures produced using XMPie software, along with
a 5″ x 10″ magnetic license plate featuring the prospects’ name and the
tagline “drive your business to real results.”
As a standalone software unit within Xerox, XMPie helps graphic
designers, marketing companies and print providers develop creative,
customized marketing programs that significantly increase standard response
rates and open up new ways for marketing professionals to communicate with
their customers.
Respondents became eligible to win the Vespa LX50 simply by visiting a
personalized URL, completing a short survey, and agreeing to meet with a Xerox
sales rep. Within the survey, respondents were asked “What colour of Vespa
would you like to win?” Based on this information, they received confirmation
of their entry into the contest via a postcard that pictured a Vespa LX50 in
their preferred colour.
The campaign, called “Simply Brilliant” was created and produced by Xerox
Canada and Brees Communications to demonstrate the effectiveness of Xerox’s
personalized printing capabilities in the direct mail space. Recent
legislation like the “do-not-call registry” limits the ways organizations can
reach out to potential customers, making direct mail an increasingly popular
marketing tool.
The market for variable data jobs that capture individual information
such as name, address, account information and photographs is projected to
grow from 49 billion pages in 2004 to 138 billion pages in 2009, an annual
compounded rate of 23 per cent, according to InfoTrends, a leading independent
industry research firm. Variable data color, as part of this market
opportunity, is growing at a compounded rate of 37 percent.
“As our society becomes more and more tuned in to online advertising the
traditional direct mail model has become obsolete,” said Al Varney, vice
president of marketing, Xerox Canada Ltd. “Effective direct mail strategy
today is highly customized, using digital printing technology to decrease
unnecessary print runs and turnaround times, and reduce harm to the
environment. Combined with the correct market data, printers can now produce
sophisticated mailings to their target audiences, created to resonate with
each individual recipient.”
The “Simply Brilliant” campaign has enjoyed a double digit per cent lead
rate to date.
