The concepts of variable printing or personalized printing started around 1970. Some major financial firms such as American Express and Citibank NA have been using target marketing technology to find potential customers. Because of the improvement of database technology, the increasing availability of databases containing consumer data, and most people¡¯s preference for personalized direct mail instead of misguided mass mailings, personalized printing has became a new trend for the printing industry. Based on content and the degree of variation, personalized printing can be divided into two generations (Romano, 1998; Ray, 1998). The second generation personalized printing has fully utilized variable data and digital presses to customize an entire page including color graphics and photos. Romano (1998) further classified personalized printing into twelve different levels, from the lowest level of ¡°Addressed to ¡®resident¡¯; same contents; every piece the same¡± to the highest level of ¡°Every pixel on every part of a piece or mailing personalized to the recipient¡± (p. 18). The current developments of database technology and digital press technology have built a solid foundation for personalized printing. Database and software systems allow printers to create and personalize multiple copies of a document and sent directly to a digital press or stored in a file. Digital presses can print personalized copies with stable quality. With database technology and digital press technology, every print can be highly personalized; this makes personalized printing a very powerful tool for target marketing. Because of the growth of direct marketing and high degree of effectiveness and acceptance, personalized printing, a value-added tool, will keep growing and generate more revenue opportunities in the future (Mathison, 1998; Romano, 1998; Tilden, 1998). Considerations for Successful Personalized Printing Personalized printing is a powerful tool for direct marketing activities. Its goal is delivering the right information to the right target. A higher degree of the variable information based on customers¡¯ preferences will improve customer communication and increase response rates. It is different from mass communication and broadcasting. The starting point for the process is the target customer. The workflow is opposite from regular printing. The backward workflow starts with target identification; after the target list generation, is the content information generation. The various information shown on each print is based on the target recipient¡¯s preferences and needs. Therefore, the message delivered should motivate recipients. In order to deliver appropriate information to the right target, database analysis and database management are the most important tasks when dealing with personalized printing. Because of the importance of the database for personalized printing, printers need to switch focus from press operation to database preparation (Ray, 1998; Romano, 1998; Tilden, 1998) and position themselves as information service providers instead of printers or printing product manufacturers. Important considerations for successful personalized printing include:
The workflow for personalized printing is different from that of traditional printing. The most important process for personalized printing is database analysis. The function of database analysis is to study the project/activity, familiar with the relationship between activities and business goals, and identify resources in order to reach business goals. Database analysis for personalized printing includes intensive research regarding the purpose of the publishing/printing, the available data, each object and method, content information, and more importantly, the database needed to accomplish this project. The next step is to organize available data, sort the relationship between databases, and out-source necessary databases. After databases are established, a definitional program is needed to define and manipulate the objects, methods, and classes of the database structure in order to manage and maintain them. A well-managed database system allows printers to collect, store, and retrieve data and information effectively for personalized printing. It is necessary to utilize the appropriate software to integrate variable information and digital printing devices in order to produce actual print copies. There are many software programs available; each having its specific function. Therefore, careful research is necessary to select appropriate software. DataMerge offered by Meadows information System is a QuarkXpress Xtension that provides mail merge, variable information printing, and document assembly features. Other Xtensions to QuarkXpress also have functions that merge variable data with QuarkXpress page layout files. PrintShop Mail from Atlas Software is a Macintosh or Windows production tool for mailings and personalized printing. It can be used with any PostScript printer and also works with Scitex Variable Print Specification and Splash DiamondMerge. Varis Corporation¡¯s VariScript is a total system for producing fully variable PostScript pages and feeding them to digital printing devices. In addition to these systems, each of the digital press manufacturers such as Indigo, Xeikon, Xerox, and Agfa all offer variable data software for their own products. When selecting software, one should make sure that it is flexible enough to carry out the project. Some software is tied to a certain front end or output device, and some can export variable-data files as PostScript files, which can be sent to any digital printing device. Printing performance still is an important consideration when producing final prints for personalized printing. Different digital presses have different capabilities as well as costs. Choosing the appropriate digital press is critical when dealing with a high-level of data variability. Some major considerations for printers in selecting digital presses are:
The selection of digital presses will base on the consideration of cost, speed, and multicolor capability. Printers need determine the priority of these three factors in order to make appropriate decisions. Developing a Distributed Object-Oriented Database The major driving force for personalized printing is database technology. There are four major database models: the hierarchical model, the network model, the relational model, and the object-oriented model. Each model has a different way of representing relationships between record types. Databases have become more complex in response to expanded organizational and variable database printing needs and the inclusion of more sophisticated types of data and information. The latest trend is toward the object-oriented database. Which provides a structure capable of defining complex data relationships. An object is a focal point about which data and information are collected. An object-oriented database presents conceptual data relationships so the database designer and printers do not need to be concerned with how to physically link records. With other database models, all the customer records have the same record structure. An object-oriented database provides the flexibility to create variations of a single record type. For example, a database designer can identify potential customers by utilizing information from a variety of sources, such as income information available from voluntary customer questionnaires, household credit risk information available from credit bureaus, food purchase information available from sweepstakes coupon redemption and scanning technology, clothing preference information available from department store charge accounts, and subscription information available from magazines¡¯ subscriber lists. An object-oriented database allows database designers to define a variation of the customer record that provides a related field. With the object-oriented database, the record type for each information is only a variation of customers and does not require a separate series of commands. Database management is a critical task for personalized printing. The object-oriented approach is used to manipulate or manage an object-oriented database. Because each object that forms the database includes a method for performing actions on the data. The object-oriented model requires an approach that provides a way to define and manipulate objects with their associated methods. In an object-oriented model, each group becomes an object and the objects may further be grouped into classes. The database designer can also define the methods that process the data in each object. Careful consideration of which objects inherit each method will improve the efficiency of an object-oriented database. Databases are almost always shared among many users and applications. Database designers share data to make effective use of available resources and to become more productive. The set of data shared by a group of related businesses, for example, provides each business with a consistent view of a customer, supplier, or business transaction. These shared databases can also be distributed. A distributed database is a database whose data reside on more than one system in a network. These data can be stored, retrieved, or updated from any node in the network. Distributing data provides the needed data and information at a specific location, while allowing those same data to be used at other locations as well. People using distributed databases need not be aware of the location of the database. The application programs, communications software, and database management systems interact with one another to identify, locate, and retrieve the data and information needed by the database user. There are two common database distribution strategies: geographic distribution and functional distribution. In geographic distribution strategy, a database, or database partition is located in a region where the data and information will be used most frequently. Each partition is accessible to database users in all the regions. A functional distribution strategy stresses processing functions over physical location. Functional distribution strategies are effective only when communication network interconnects each database or partition. The following model is a system approach that is based on the relationship of a personalized printing production process and a distributed object-oriented database. Each distributed object-oriented database block includes several objects and each object has a method and has the ability to interact with other objects. Objects that share common characteristics are grouped into a class. For example, the class customer includes the objects customer, income, and credit. On the other hand, the products/services object is a separate class. The method generates a potential customer list by calculating and matching field information within objects. The functional distributed database also provides timing information for personalized printing project schedule. The workflow of the personalized printing is identical to most digital printing. The only difference is that the personalized printing pre-press operation is more focused on data analysis and content information analysis in order to provide appropriate variable information for the right target. Personalized printing is a very powerful value-added tool for marketing and communication. The effectiveness of personalized printing depends on the completeness of databases and database analysis. A distributed object-oriented database system allows database designers an effective use of any available data within the network. The distributed object-oriented database printing system model displays the personalized printing workflow and database system network structure. This system model can be used as a blueprint for any high-level personalized printing project. Mathison, M. (1998). The golden rules for delivering personalized communications. GATF World, 10(5), 21-22. Ray, B. (1998). Preparing the database for printing and mailing applications. GATF World, 10(5), 19-20. Tilden, S. (1998). Revenue opportunities and software choices for personalization. GATF World, 10(5), 20-21. Romano, F. (1998). The five Ws of personalization. GATF World, 10(5), 17-18.
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