Monthly B2B magazine PrintMedia Management went for the personal touch when it celebrated its second anniversary – sending each of its 15,000 subscribers a copy with their first name on the cover.
Digital technology was used to create personalised copies in what is thought to be a UK publishing first. Subscribers’ addresses were on the back.
The issue included articles about how the technology, produced for the magazine by digital print specialists dsi Group, could revolutionise parts of the print industry from direct mail to newspapers andmagazines.
Editor Jonathan Levy said: “Our issue has a lot about the benefits of this technology so we thought we would practice what we preach and open people’s minds to what it could do. We saw what dsi were doing and came up with the concept.”
He added that the process was expensive and publishers would have to decide whether the commercial benefits outweighed the costs.
The technology is seen as most useful to marketers and companies sending direct mail but Levy believes there could also be benefits for publishing.
He said: “If the technology was used inmagazine publishing there could be personalised content using information in databases. As the technology becomes more affordable, publishers would have to decide how relevant it is to their readers and how much they could benefit.
“Far from killing print, digital technology is creating a new set of creative opportunities for putting ink on paper in a way that complements new electronic media.”
By Sarah Lagan
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