Inkjet & Digital Printing
CustomXM Uses KODAK NEXPRESS Press to Bolster One-to-One Marketing Programs for ABC Financial
Tuesday 04. May 2010 - CustomXM, a Little Rock, Arkansas-based cross media marketing services provider, continuously adds new technologies and capabilities to help its clients more effectively and efficiently communicate with their customers.
Companies such as ABC Financial rely on CustomXM to develop integrated campaigns that reach individuals around the country with personalized marketing messages. To produce the print components of these customized programs, CustomXM relies on the KODAK NEXPRESS S3000 Digital Production Color Press and KODAK Web-to-Print Solutions.
ABC Financial, also based in Little Rock, provides billing services, club management software and marketing support to more than 3,000 fitness clubs throughout the United States. Approximately 2 million members belong to the clubs.
Programs featuring one-to-one materials that target each clubs individual members and their friends have proven to be extremely effective in boosting membership.
“Being able to brand materials with each individual health clubs logo has helped our customers and has assisted us in marketing our products,” said Paul Schaller, President, ABC Financial. “The printed pieces have had a significant impact on our clubs membership numbers. This is a creative and innovative way for the clubs to market themselves.”
With the “Friends Are Free” campaign, ABC Financial gets a three-in-one marketing product with a one-to-one message. Each direct mail piece welcomes a new member within days of joining a club. The new member also receives four free trial passes to introduce the club to family and friends, and two coupons for more profitable services like personal training, tanning, or supplements. This promotional mailing enhances relationships with new members, serves as a prospecting tool for new customers, and drives members to consider new services.
The variable data printing for the expiration date on the coupon allows individual clubs to stagger the redemption dates on the coupons to ensure visits and frequency over time. The use of barcodes and tracking details from the coupons redeemed also ensures members receive the additional free month of membership offer automatically, without any manual data entry or tracking.
ABC Financials design staff uses CustomXMs web-to-print tools to create on-demand, personalized materials, with each clubs customized design. The short-run, color materials are then routed to the NEXPRESS Press for printing. These automated tools help reduce the time to market for offers and promotions, while streamlining back office functions as well.
“The online tools that CustomXM provides are extremely helpful and efficient for our sales reps. Many of our products are customized to our different clubs various offers and needs, so we require a user-friendly, easy-to-navigate tool that we have confidence in,” said Schaller. “CustomXM provides that. Not only is the tool user-friendly and efficient, our expectations for quality and accuracy in the work we submit are high. CustomXM provides both the efficiency and accuracy we are looking for.”
In order to provide customers such as ABC Financial with cutting-edge digital printing solutions, Custom XM made its single largest investment ever by purchasing a KODAK NEXPRESS S2500 Press in 2007. Shortly thereafter, the company upgraded to a KODAK NEXPRESS S3000 Press and changed the corporate name from Custom Printing Company to CustomXM.
“The name CustomXM reflects the importance of successfully executing cross media campaigns that result in more targeted, one-to-one marketing messages with both print and digital components,” said Paul Strack, President, CustomXM. “The NEXPRESS Press allows us to offer the highest quality digitally produced products available. More important, the modular nature of the press allows us to upgrade as the technology advances. Adding new capabilities is key to transforming our business.”
CustomXMs innovative approach was recognized by the Printing Industry Association (PIA), which awarded the company with two Benjamin Franklinor “Benny”Awards, the industry equivalent of the “Oscars.” The only Arkansas-based business to win, CustomXM took home “Bennys” in the Variable Data Printing and Self-promotion categories. Arkansas Business also named CustomXM the 2009 Arkansas Business of the Year in Category 1, which recognizes businesses with 25 or fewer employees.
CustomXM actively uses its own solutions to reach out to potential new customers and showcase its capabilities. The “Benny” Awards rewarded the company for its successful use of variable data printing and KODAK NEXPRESS Dimensional Clear Dry Ink to create a tactile, 3D printed surface. The dynamic pieces were instrumental in attracting the attention of potential new customers, and opened the door for CustomXM to establish and nurture new relationships.
The company also features its “Benny” Awards in a series of videos posted to its channel on YouTube. The presence on YouTube, as well as other social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, allows CustomXM to showcase its personality and sense of humor.
“Actively participating in social media helps make our company more approachable, and occasionally opens doors for potential new business relationships,” said Strack. “This is, and always will be, a relationships-based business. The pieces we create using KODAK NEXPRESS Dimensional Clear Dry Ink get us noticed, and give us opportunities to create new relationships,”
Plus, the speed and efficiency of variable data printing with the NEXPRESS Press gives us the ability to go out and actively seek these new business opportunities with greater ease.”