Heidelberg and Thomas Cook Combine Interactive Television with Variable Data Printing at CeBIT

Showcase incorporates all digital printing solutions from Heidelberg

At Stand 6a2, Hall 1 at CeBIT in Hanover from March 12-19, Heidelberg and travel specialist Thomas Cook will be joining forces to demonstrate how print works in practice as a means of winning new customers and maintaining customer loyalty over the long term. The cooperation came about through the mediation of agency group Serviceplan in Munich, a leading player in the field of developing interactive forms of communication such as i-TV.

"We are experiencing a paradigm shift in communication. Production inspires creation, thereby leading to faster market successes", says Holger Reichardt, Marketing, Sales and Service Director at Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg), summarizing the company's strategy. World market leader Heidelberg is using CeBIT 2003 as a platform to present innovative technologies in realistic solution scenarios. The principle behind this is to illustrate the advantages of communication with print media in a way that will make them equally comprehensible to production service providers, creatives from agencies, producers of branded goods and other advertisers alike.

Today's technologies are hugely complex, as Holger Reichardt explains. To make these the center of an exhibition would not make much sense. Technical innovations are only beneficial when they are used in everyday communication and have a demonstrable effect. In Heidelberg's opinion, the advertising industry is still far too restrained in its use of digital communication technology. "The digitization of print technologies allows print media to be used as a central component in customized marketing concepts", explains Holger Reichardt. Brand advertising needs print. The key print media for advertisers - newspapers and magazines - are complemented by commercial work, i.e. print products of all kinds that can be incorporated into the campaign plans using new technologies. There is no question that customization optimizes communication activities across a broad front. It fulfils three important criteria:

• Minimization of coverage waste
• Made-to-measure contents for definable target-group profiles
• Increased customer loyalty

1:1 technologies in the printing sector maximize the response rate. Holger Reichardt can prove this through independent studies. In a campaign to win customers, Stadtwerke Düsseldorf were able to triple their transactions. 1:1 marketing makes sense for both direct marketing and sales promotion.

"Print media and online media in a communication mix" is a field that offers new opportunities. According to Heidelberg, digitization gives print and online a shared technological basis. Substitution effects are generated with classical TV through online marketing. "Print profits from the web", states Holger Reichardt. "Web-to-print solutions make communication more exciting - and this extends right through to viral marketing with digitally printed postcards". Heidelberg has developed new solution and workflow scenarios for inter-company communication that allow the use of a whole range of practical applications. "For example, the Heidelberg Prinect concept allows production environments at the print provider's to be networked via Internet with intranet solutions implemented by the customer", explains Wolfgang Pfizenmaier, Digital Director at Heidelberg. He says that it is possible to link order processing with ERP solutions such as SAP R/3 to print media production. The new technology standard JDF (Job Definition Format) developed jointly by Heidelberg and its industry partners creates a workflow environment that significantly helps to optimize the data and information flow.

Heidelberg and Thomas Cook at CeBIT 2003 At the Heidelberg trade show stand, a number of television monitors will be installed showing the current Thomas Cook TV advertisement. Visitors can interrupt the ad at any time using an info button and a remote control element and obtain customized, detailed information about the relevant destination. This information is then printed out and sent to the interested party. The offers are classified according to the four Thomas Cook "worlds":

• Total relaxation
• Active adventure
• Exclusive enjoyment
• Cultural discovery

The data input by the interested party provides companies with information and customer profiles, which then form an excellent basis for CRM activities. All the offers are real, high-quality Thomas Cook holidays which can actually be booked. There will also be a competition on the subject of travel. The print production runs simultaneously on all the Heidelberg systems on show.

NexPress 2100
A personalized offer for the destination selected by the customer from the relevant category is printed in color on the NexPress 2100. Prices and services are also shown, as is the nearest travel outlet with a Thomas Cook agency through whom the selected holiday can be booked.

Digimaster 9110
 This prints a personalized travel guide for the selected destination.

Quickmaster 46 DI-Pro
Prints a CeBIT Special Flyer with current Thomas Cook offers subdivided into the above categories and made-to-measure to suit particular target groups (not personalized). Postcards with motifs from the destinations are also printed on this unit.

These solutions, shown here for the first time, prove that personalized print communication increases customer loyalty (as a positive side-effect). The physical appearance of printed material and the associated tactile experience make it attractive to look at and touch and engender trust and the impression of durability. Holger Reichardt sums up: "Digital technology opens up new horizons for marketing and communication. Its key benefits are efficiency, flexibility and capacity for dialog."

For further Information:
Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG
Corporate Communications
Matthias Hartung
Tel.: +49 (0)06221 92 50 77
Fax: +49 (0)6221 92 50 46
E-mail: matthias.hartung@heidelberg.com