Fine Print
PRINTACTION May 2004
42
Printer: Central Reproductions Limited
Project: Springtime Variable-data Campaign
Client: Nissan Canada
The work
Central produces ongoing promotions for Nissan, including
versioning and one-to-one marketing pieces · Nissan's
runs can range in quantities from 15,000 to 500,000 pieces
· Central chooses the print or imaging route, which will
end up at a Xerox 6060 or Xerox 6135, depending upon
the volume selected by each individual Nissan dealer
· a proprietary website allows each dealer to choose
pictures, offers and pricing for their flyers · each
piece has a barcode that is scanned during customer use
· scanned data is then entered back into a database so
Nissan can track offer usage by customers · ongoing
profiling allow for deeper customization in the future
The rules
For the Nissan Springtime Campaign, Central needed to build upwards of
200 logic rules · much of the variable information wanted by the client
was not originally included in the data files · the rules were programmed
bit by bit and tested at each stage to ensure desired output · a variable job
like this could have anywhere between 15 and 20 proofing stages
· Central does address correction and validation on the data
files as well as merge, purge and editing · Central actively beta
tests software with suppliers in these disciplines · its current
software does not create fat PostScript · Central prints in
Darwin's VPS format with a Creo RIP to store all the job's
possible images, which are swapped in with the text on the fly
· colour, black-and-white or preprinted 4-colour shells are
combined as necessary · often a black-and-white overprint is
applied, which varies in up to 18 different fields
The market
Central has been working with variable applications for the
past three-and-a-half years · complex jobs can take months
to produce · all staff is trained on the variable platform,
from sales to coordinators and from programmers to proofers
· Xerox trainers were brought in to teach the solution sale
· data management companies taught data-mining techniques
· Central's sales force is better able to explain the variable advantage
· depending on where the client wants to go with their marketing ideas,
Central will segment further to isolate market recipients · periodical
seminars for clients help explain the benefits of variable marketing
· Central has prepared a what-who-why-where-when booklet called
Expanding Your Market with Variable Data Printing
"It is amazing to see how many companies and corporations do not have databases, data profiles or customer
lists. And if they do, they are in the worst of conditions... To a degree that we've had to get them started at
ground zero to build the database from a go-forward point. This then adds almost a year to a project."
Shannon Kreamer, Central Reproductions
