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Taking Personalization to the Next Level with Variable ImagesThursday, October 23. 2008 Over the past few months, I’ve provided a number of great examples of personalized direct mail pieces that I’ve received from Cadillac, Rogers, Women’s College Hospital and Volkswagen.Now there’s a way to take personalization to the next level using variable images. Based out of Germany, Direct Smile claims to be the inventor of image personalization and one of the leading suppliers of software for variable data printing and cross-media marketing. Their mass personalization solutions are directed at printers, designers, corporations and ad agencies who want to leverage the power of one-to-one marketing across all media.  Check out these images that I generated using their online image personalization tool. You can see that my name is created through the arrangement of rocks in the sand. The second shows a cute message that is written in the snow on the hood of a car. You can do the same thing yourself by playing around with the online tool that offers 16 templates. So what’s the point of variable images? Just providing variable images isn’t a solution in itself, but it’s one part of offering relevant and targeted marketing messages via an ad campaign that can help to boost response rates. By creating unique and interesting ad pieces, marketers can hope to boost their response rates. If you need proof of its effectiveness, check out the case studies provided by Direct Smile.
I can tell you that I’d certainly take a second look if I received an interesting direct mail piece with my name in an image. So, Canadian marketers – what are you waiting for? 
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I'm not sure I totally agree with the idea of using personalization as a trick. I can see your point that anything that attracts a customers attention is rarely a bad thing, but sometimes I think a more subtle approach can be even more effective. I've been using data-driven email for years now. Among the wide range of replies I have received, I've gotten responses from people apologizing for not remembering who I am. Since I have addressed them by their first name in the body of an email, they are convinced that I must know them even though they are known to me only as an entry in filemaker pro.
I realize that image personalization is only a tool to be used as a part of relevant marketing, but I wonder if anyone has ever felt creeped out about it. With the scare of identity theft out there, I find a lot of people are not comfortable if they feel anyone is doing something tricky with their personal information. While I feel that the potential of personalized communications is far from being realized, I have no plans on using image personalization in any of my future projects. -Jef
Hi Jef -
Thanks for your thoughtful post, and sorry for the delay in getting back to you.... You bring up some interesting points. How is your personalized magazine coming along? Anita Windisman |
About the author
Anita Windisman As Founder and President of One of a Kind Publishing Inc., Anita Windisman has over 18 years of experience in the area of sales and marketing, with the last 13 being Internet related. While she started her online career in advertising, she has extensive expertise in eBusiness strategy development, web marketing and content delivery, having worked with many large corporations such as Levi Strauss, Toronto Hydro, and Royal LePage and Worldcolor (formerly known as Quebecor World). About this blogI write on the topics of mass customization, personalization, and personalized marketing in the form of print, video and other applications.
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