The 2009 edition of InfoTrends’ popular TransPromo Summit is right around the corner: August 13-14 at the Hyatt Regency Boston. The Summit is the place to be to beyond the hype and buzz of TransPromo and see real world applications and discuss TransPromo applications with print service providers, marketers, and vendors.

InfoTrends Road Map 2009: TransPromo Service concluded: “The year 2009 will be an exciting one for TransPromo and will likely include everything from implementation discussions to sales force education to potential mergers and acquisitions. The continued delivery of new inkjet production color devices will certainly have an impact on the TransPromo opportunity, as well as its appeal to marketers. Reductions in overall customer print spend will encourage service providers to get creative with higher-value applications. Effective applications can deliver the return on investment of which customers are becoming ever more conscious.”

According to InfoTrends the market for TransPromo communications printed in full color will reach 12.8 billion impressions by 2012. Their market research found 95% of statements are open and read with an average of 2 to 3 minutes reviewing their statements, with 20% spending more than 5 minutes.

More information about the TransPromo Summit is available at http://www.transpromosummit.com

Heidi Tolliver-Nigro noted in a recent posting that 1:1 print jobs are rarely repeated. Let’s think about that for a minute. First, what do we mean by 1:1?? Name and address with a customer loyalty coupon? Some real estate post card application? Those are nice, but they have little or nothing to do with the notion of TransPromo. These 1:1 jobs are one-off projects, simple promotional mailings usually composed in a PostScript of PDF creation tool and printed on cut-sheet machines – usually color. Transactional printing on the other hand is done in huge volumes using AFP/IPDS. When promotional messaging is integrated into these kinds of document you get a whole new thing. First of all you have the opportunity to dump all of the blow-ins, inserts & generic coupons. The result is something currently called TransPromo. TransPromo and 1:1 are two distinctly different kinds of print jobs for two distinctly different markets and different types of customers.
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TransPromo communications, or the blending of promotional messages into transactional documents, has received extensive trade press attention. “it is clearly a growth opportunity for commercial printers, direct mailers and transactional service bureaus. What often is not discussed are the unique design considerations required to make TransPromo successful. InfoTrends has generously agreed to share recent research on this subject with our audience.

Webinar archived playback:

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An upcoming WhatTheyThink educational webinar, sponsored by Océ and The Digital Nirvana, reveals keys to success in designing TransPromo communications

“TransPromo communications, or the blending of promotional messages into transactional documents, has received a lot of trade press attention,” said WhatTheyThink Senior Editor Cary Sherburne.. “It is clearly a growth opportunity for commercial printers, direct mailers and transactional service bureaus. What often is not discussed are the unique design considerations required to make TransPromo successful. InfoTrends has generously agreed to share recent research on this subject with our audience. This session will provide thought starters and advice from experts that should be considered when getting into the TransPromo game.”

Sherburne will be joined by Michael O’Leary, Director of InfoTrends’ Document Outsourcing Consulting Services, document and technology services veteran with over 24 years of leadership experience in the areas of document management, enterprise print, and information technology services. O’Leary is responsible for providing marketing, technical, and consulting services to outsourcing providers, technology service providers, commercial printers, quick printers, and in-plant operations.

The free event will be held Wednesday, March 11th, from 2:00 to 3:00 pm EST (-5 GMT). Register here.

Way back in September ’08, I talked about a study that InfoTrends conducted entitled “Trans Meets Promo… Is It More Than Market Hype?” and I said that I would be posting some high-level results from that study on The Digital Nirvana. Well… that didn’t exactly happen in 2008. However, since everyone is putting on their soothsayer hats to proclaim what they think will happen in the next 12 months, I thought I would present some of our study’s results and give some insight into what the world can expect for TransPromo in 2009.

To give a general overview of the study, InfoTrends surveyed consumers, transaction document owners, direct marketers, and print service providers about the use of direct mail, transaction documents, e-Presentment, and TransPromo. While the primary focus of this study was related to TransPromo, there were a number of direct marketing-related questions asked as well. There were also a number of interviews and case studies conducted of companies that have successfully implemented TransPromo applications. Below are some intriguing results from the study.

• - Consumer respondents spend an average of two to three minutes each reviewing statements; 20% of consumers spend five minutes or more.
• - Consumer respondents still prefer to receive bills via the mail; 44% of respondents prefer mail with an additional 18% preferring to receive transaction documents via mail and Internet .
• - 68% of direct marketer respondents who include promotional messages in transactional documents are printing at least some of those messages directly on the statement.
• - 54.4% of document owner respondents produce less than 100,000 bills or statements per month.
• - Print service provider respondents expressed that the average number of unique addresses included in transaction print jobs is 36,000, and the median is 3,000.

Consumers spend a significant amount of time reviewing their statements, which can be capitalized upon by implementing TransPromo onto statements. Direct Marketers are clearly taking advantage of statement viewership by placing promotional messages directly on statements, which can also be viewed through e-Presentment.  There is also a significant opportunity for print service providers to take advantage of mid-market TransPromo opportunties, as many are well-equipped to handle these volumes.

InfoTrends is formulating a road map for trends in TransPromo we expect to be prominent for 2009. Our road map is based on our own primary research, past trends, current & future vendor and service provider initiatives, and a little bit of guesswork on our part. While the actual road map document provides much deeper insight, here are a few trends that we see occurring this year:

• - 2009 will bring with it a greater understanding and acceptance of TransPromo, fueled by better education and deeper penetration.
• - Vendors and service providers will focus increased efforts on sales force education for TransPromo in order to be better equipped to sell clients and prospects on the value that TransPromo can bring to their organizations.
• - Interest in mid-market TransPromo applications will lead to increased competition between both TransPromo statement print providers and software providers positioning themselves to enable mid-market TransPromo applications.

Overall, TransPromo is definitely poised to become more conspicuous in 2009. We are well aware of the potential of TransPromo here at InfoTrends. Aside from our TransPromo study and the third annual U.S. TransPromo Summit being held August 13-14 this year (at the Hyatt Regency in Boston), InfoTrends recently launched a service dedicated to the topic: the TransPromo Consulting Service. Since TransPromo touches on business development, production workflow software, and on-demand printing, it made sense to centralize discussion within its own service. By dedicating staff to the topic, we are able to go much deeper on the topic, enabling us to be better informed and educate the market at the next level. Now that we all know WHAT it is, we can move onto the why, how, when, and where. The next step is taking the research to Europe in 2009 in a multi-client study entitled Trans Meets Promo: a European Perspective along with an inaugural European TransPromo Summit slated for late in the year. For more information on our studies, services, and events, please contact our TransPromo analyst Matt Swain.

So what do you think about TransPromo? Will Trans Meet Promo in 2009? Please comment and let us know.

Bryan Yeager is a Senior Research Analyst in the Production Workflow and Customized Communications Services group at InfoTrends. He can be reached at bryan_yeager@infotrends.com.

WhatTheyThink.com’s Cary Sherburne talks with Gilles Biscos of Interquest about the firms North American Transactional Printing: Market Analysis & Forecast

A few weeks ago Heidi Tolliver-Nigro pondered what coattails are marketing messages riding. Citing a InfoTrends study that found 63% of customers prefer promotional pieces over purely transactional documents Heidi asked, “I mean, another way to put this is that, if you’re talking about transpromo credit card statements, for example, and if credit card statements irritate people (which they do), you’re hoping that your marketing message catches the coattails of something that people fundamentally don’t like and that irritates them.”

In the comments Michael Josefowicz provided his take saying, Maybe one way out is to consider the frame of mind of the person who is getting the credit card bill. For example, if the person runs a large balance at golf stores and pays on time, it might be a good moment to present some ads for a high end golf clubs from an exclusive outlet. The neat thing about a credit card statement is that by analyzing the content of the statement you can get a pretty good idea of the mindset – at that moment – of the “eyeballs.”

Today at OutputLinks Denise Davert takes a look at going beyond the monthly statement:

There are transactional documents, and there are documents that represent a transaction. The former is the document that gets all the hype, such as the traditional billing statement that arrives each month from your bank, wireless provider, or credit card company. The second category, equally useful in cross-selling and building customer loyalty, includes individual or small-batch documents such as late-fee letters, overdraft notices, and confirmation letters. Some of these are not the most popular envelopes in the mailbox. Nevertheless, these documents can be a way to connect with the customer in a positive way even while they deliver what may be an unpopular message.

There is opportunity in Transpromo if you have the right data and good marketing. So the next question is, what is the right data?

My colleagues at InfoTrends have been extremely busy over the past few months conducting an extensive study on the North American TransPromo market. InfoTrends Group Director Barb Pellow, Associate Consultant Cary Sherburne, and fellow Senior Research Analyst Matt Swain have put together “Trans Meets Promo… Is It More Than Market Hype?” Some of the study results were previewed at our annual TransPromo Summit in New York City last month.

The study builds upon prior InfoTrends research on the future of mail and transaction documents, as well as the future of commercial printing, and also includes comprehensive survey data on the TransPromo market from consumers, document owners, direct marketers, and print service providers. From the press release:

While the North American market for TransPromo communications printed in full digital color stood at 1.7 billion impressions in 2007, InfoTrends projects this number to reach an astounding 12.8 billion by 2012, for a CAGR of 68%. Also compelling is the fact that 63% of document owners surveyed stated that they currently add marketing messages to statements or are planning to within the next 36 months.

This growth is not surprising.  TransPromo provides a cost-effective way to communicate educational and promotional messages to customers. TransPromo documents leverage opt-in relationships and incorporate relevant and compelling promotional or educational messages in the white space of transactional documents. By leveraging TransPromo communications, document owners can reduce the number of mailings that must be sent, which translates to substantial savings in terms of postage and printing costs.

Just as document owners continue to embrace the TransPromo opportunity, an increasing number of print service providers are implementing TransPromo in their offerings. One factor that is catalyzing this change is the availability of affordable high-speed inkjet devices with lower running costs. For print service providers with 20+ employees, nearly 60% are considering the purchase of one or more of these devices within the next two years, with 14% stating that they would consider such a purchase within the year. In addition, software providers are starting to introduce easier to use solutions that are enabling mid-market print service providers to add this valuable offering to their portfolios.

The study is rich in fresh information about the TransPromo market, but also significantly covers the direct mail market. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing some of the results of our study to spark more discussion on these growing markets. In the meantime, if you’re interested in purchasing the full study results, please contact Matt Swain at 781-616-2100 ext. 204, or via email: matt_swain@infotrends.com.

Bryan Yeager is a Senior Research Analyst in the Production Workflow and Customized Communications Services group at InfoTrends. He can be reached at bryan_yeager@infotrends.com.

Eliot Harper blogs Vodafone Australia recent announcement to discontinue the use of printed statements:

As of October 1 2008, all new & existing customers will be sent an Email Bill. Customers can still choose to view their bill via My Vodafone if they do not wish to/cannot provide an email address

It it is interesting to compare Vodafone Australia announcement to Telstra (Australia’s biggest telecommunications company) who adopted TransPromo with a statement redesign earlier this summer.

As Harper points out, TransPromo arrived too late for Vodafone.

While the value of incorporating TransPromo elements in a full colour printed statements TransPromo are obvious, and Telstra are already incorporating TransPromo in their new bill for their 9.6 million fixed line and 9.3 million mobile subscribers, it seems the opportunity for TransPromo has arrived a little too late for Vodafone.

Hansa Direct a business unit of Hansaprint Group has been very successful at helping their customers leverage TransPromo and Multi-channel Communications.

Jouko Haapamaki, Business Development Manager for Hansa Direct sat down with WhatTheyThink.com’s Cary Sherburne to create two video case studies on these topics.

How Hansa Direct Uses Transpromo

Leading Print Customers to Multi-Channel

In Barb Pellow’s latest article on TransPromo at WhatTheyThink.com, she provides this juicy fact on the market for full color TransPromo applications:

InfoTrends recently completed its multi-client study entitled Trans Meets Promo… Is It More than Market Hype?. In conducting this study, InfoTrends surveyed more than 1,000 consumers, 600 direct marketers, and 230 print service providers to understand the strategy and direction for TransPromo implementation. Based on this feedback, InfoTrends projects that the North American market for TransPromo applications printed in full digital color represented 1.7 billion impressions in 2007. By 2012, the number of impressions is expected to reach 22.8 billion.

According to an article I recently read by InfoTrends, 63% of customers prefer promotional pieces over purely transactional documents. For this reason, “incorporating promotional messaging in transaction documents can both boost the appeal of a transactional document and generate a higher read rate for the marketing message.”

When I read this, I had to stop and think about that again. Putting a promotional message on a transactional document can “generate a higher read rate for the marketing message.” On the surface, this makes sense. Use something people like more (promotional messages) to boost readership of something people like less (transactional documents).

But as usual, I had to re-think it in a contrarian way. You are hitching the more desirable (the marketing message) to the less desirable (the transactional document). In some ways, you could argue that, by doing so, it’s like putting flat tires on a sports car. Of course, you could argue the other way, too, and that’s what is being done here. Bills have nearly a 100% open rate. You can’t say that about most direct mail, even highly personalized direct mail. By attaching the marketing message to the transactional document, you are increasing the chance of eyeball exposure.

I guess what struck me was its over-simplicity. As analysts and consultants, we are prone to blithe and pithy statements that make great pull quotes. But we need to be careful not to over-simplify.

I mean, another way to put this is that, if you’re talking about transpromo credit card statements, for example, and if credit card statements irritate people (which they do), you’re hoping that your marketing message catches the coattails of something that people fundamentally don’t like and that irritates them. Those marketing messages better be cheap to add!

It’s just another way to look at it. I’ll be available for tomato throwing later

Over at Transpromo-Live, Lee asks a very important question: Do you know what your junk mail is doing?. A poll conducted by the site found that “56% of the respondents did not read any of the promotions (inserts or flyers) which accompanied their bills while 39% said they “sometimes” they read the flyers and only 6% said that they read the inserts.”

As pointed out in the article, this creates a lot of waste and creates an opportunity for embedding promotional messages within transactional documents.

Lee sums it up by ending with:

Wouldn’t it be easier to place the advertisement/relevant promotion and or educational messaging in the unused white space that already exists on the bill or statement? Hundreds of millions of trees a year could be saved using transpromo best practices.

WhatTheyThink.com Senior Editor Cary Sherburne has posted some notes from the first day of InfoTrends’ second annual TransPromo Summit. Sherburne reports that attendance is up 30% with about 400 people in attendance.

A theme set by Barb Pellow at the event is that of simplexity:

Industry veteran and InfoTrends Group Director Barb Pellow kicked off the session by introducing to the audience the concept of Simplexity – the title of a new book that talks about how complex things can be simple and simple things complex. This is the perfect concept to help kick TransPromo to the next level. The technology infrastructure for TransPromo is now the simple part. The complex part is more human-related—organizational issues, and even a lack of creativity and vision on the part of implementers.

Simplexity: The consumer sees a simple, elegant interface, and the complex inner workings make it all happen. This is the mantra for the future of TransPromo.

TransPromo Summit the 2-day event focused on helping marketing executives and print service providers develop stratgies for using transpromo in advertising and marketing campaigns begins tomorrow in New York City.

Here is a look at some of the news announced in conjunction with the event.

Rochester Software Associates will be demonstrating its Enterprise Workflow System which offers a closed loop, integrated solution for transactional job transform, PDF conversion, variable data personalization, and output management.

GMC will showcase PrintNet, the companies application suite for designing and producing high impact, personalized print and digital communications. Dr. René Müller, CEO of GMC Software Technology will participate in a keynote panel titled: “Software, A Critical Enabler.”

Crawford Technologies will exhibit its Document Enhancer, Electronic Envelope, and Dynamic Document Archive products.

Solimar Systems will demonstrate suite of enterprise output management solutions including Rubika, the companies application designed to automate and enhance processes associated with legacy and pre-composed applications.

Kodak experts will offer insight on trends and advances in TransPromo. Ron Gilboa, Director, Current Marketing & Operations, Kodak’s Graphic Communications Group (GCG), will join other industry executives for the keynote panel “Recent Hardware Announcements and Their Impact on Your Business.” Pat McGrew, EDP, Transaction & Data Center Segment Evangelist, Kodak’s GCG, will share her expertise on how to successfully develop and implement a TransPromo campaign.

Pitney Bowes experts will take part in a number of Summit sessions including Innovative Software Tools, Software – A Critical Enabler for TransPromo, Advances in Finishing & Mailing Equipment, and White Space Marketing…Generating Revenue with Statements.

Printable Technologies is launching a new Transpromo On-Demand module for the companies FusionPro Web 6.5 Web-to-print solution. The module enables print and marketing professionals to design templates that can be map promotional information into ordinary transactional statements.

Océ is launching a suite of TransPromo Solutions and Services including the Océ TransPromo Application Development Services which will help customers design or redesign TransPromo applications for maximum impact. Océ TransPromo Support Services takes a consultative approach to helping customers develop a TransPromo strategy, implement a new infrastructure or upgrade existing workflows, streamline processes and keep operations running at peak productivity.