What an exciting time to be in the graphic communications business! Kodak recently kicked off PRINT 09 Media Days in Chicago, sharing our latest news and plans for the September show. It was a great experience and one that allowed us to not only talk about new product and technology developments at Kodak, but also the way we constantly focus on customer needs.

From Kodak's Prosper S10 Imprinting System to InSite Campaign Manager to the Flexcel NX Digital Flexographic System, we are always working to provide application-focused solutions that give value to our customers and their clients. For our customers, that means greater production efficiencies and new revenue opportunities. And for their clients, it means greater return on marketing investment (ROMI).

Kodak solutions enable those in commercial print, data print, publishing, and packaging to stand out in the marketplace and offer their clients a valuable mix of printing and marketing services.



Like all businesses today, the graphic communications market has experienced unprecedented challenges. However, with challenge comes opportunity, and we see many print service providers transforming their businesses and working harder than ever to understand and meet the needs of their clients. That often means adding innovative solutions that bring them - and their clients - added value and return on investment. Print is changing, but it still plays a critical role in marketing and is a powerful component of today's communications mix.

I feel it's Kodak's responsibility to provide the solutions and support our customers need to be more efficient, more profitable, and more empowered. Nothing energizes me and our team more than making sure Kodak is, and will always be, the best partner to help customers grow their businesses.

As always, let us know what you think of our latest innovations. It's time for you AND Kodak. See you in Chicago!

Run a quick check of the internet using your favorite search or decision engine and you will find that strategies for using data in customer-facing communication are the buzz. The role model success stories for both direct mail marketers and transaction print producers have been rolling out in blogs, articles, and in conference presentations for the past several years. The question: Is data-driven communication integrated into your 2010 customer communication strategy?

Let's start with a definition of data-driven communication. The baseline is the use of data in communication to your customer. In the case of transaction communication the data flows from customer transaction data bases and may be directly placed in the customer document (what you bought and what you paid). It may also be used to trigger formatting changes or the insertion of informational, educational or marketing messages. In direct mail the database provides the address, but in the best of situations is also being used to trigger different offers to different targets.

These are simple definitions, as current practitioners of data-driven communication will tell you. They do, however, lay the baseline. Once we agree about what is included in the definition of data-driven communication, the next step is to understand that it is a multi-channel communication technique. In the best of integrated customer communication strategies, the use of data to tune offers, alter formatting based on the gender or age of the recipient, and track trends is customer interaction is part of the plan.

That brings us to the question: what are you planning for 2010? Have you brainstormed with your Kodak team to see how we can help you communicate more effectively with your customers? We have team members ready to come and talk to you about how adding a data-driven communication strategy can add value to the services you offer (internal or external clients) and maintain your status as a partner to your clients.

If you haven't talked to us recently, come talk to us now!

Have a story to share? Drop me a note: pat.mcgrew@kodak.com - we'd love toshare your success story!

If you want to make good money selling VDP please stop selling VDP.  For many years we have been selling personalization in an impersonal way and that clearly does not make sense.  We also have been pushing personalization from a technical stand point and have failed to meet expectations.  Does having all the relevant technology to produce a VDP job guarantee success for your customers?  What about having a good data base?  



The VDP opportunity is not only about the large amount of jobs that could be done more effectively utilizing VDP.  Most importantly it is about making sure that every VDP job that we deliver is successful for our customers and perceived as useful for their recipients.  Successful projects will help you sell more. Unsuccessful ones will make your VDP sales harder in the future.  

Most successful VDP sales do not talk about VDP.   VDP becomes a next natural step in the process.  Successful sales reps thoroughly know their customer's business and therefore can put together a personal/tailored marketing project/proposal that their customers can not afford to turn down.  Most importantly they present/sell/price the project linked to their customer's business.  They constantly show real value and gain customer's agreement throughout all the steps of the process. 

"Something you know about your customer may be more important than anything you know about your product."  Harvey Mackay