Cable Provider Selects InfoPrint And CSG Systems for TransPromo

InfoPrint Solutions Co., a joint venture between IBM and Ricoh, successfully implemented a colorful, customized, and targeted marketing campaign for one of the top U.S. cable operators, set up via the independent consortium, the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council, under the Council's Routes to Revenue project.

The campaign was carried out with CSG Systems, providers of customer interaction management and customized color print communications. The pilot highlighted an impressive 27 percent increase in registrants to the cable operator's, or Multi-System Operator's (MSO), digital phone service.

"We put inserts in the customers' statements who subscribed to cable but had no digital phone service," said Lee Gallagher, manager, Direct Marketing Solutions, InfoPrint Solutions Co.

Double-Digit Increases

The team demonstrated the value of combining data analytics and customized content directly on monthly customer bills, also known as transpromo. The pilot's results show that the MSO experienced a double-digit increase in the number of customers responding to the color images and personalized messaging of the transpromo billings.

This pilot comprised two similar groups of the MSO's customers. The call to action encouraged subscribers to sign up for the provider's digital phone service. The sample group consisted of 100,000 customers, of which 50,000 received the color transpromo statement and the remainder received the standard B/W statement.

"In a short eight weeks, we worked closely with InfoPrint to ensure accurate data analytics, create controllable content and achieve manageable results," said Pam Sellenrick, senior vice president of Output Solutions at CSG Systems. "Through our successful work with our client and InfoPrint, we validated the importance of leveraging color for one-to-one communications."

The power of color on printed communications was supported by a recent end-user study completed by InfoPrint and Zoomerang, in which 45 percent of consumers questioned felt that colorful promotional materials stood out as more interesting and enticing to read. Not only were respondents more likely to read these documents, but 64 percent of those surveyed stated that if the color advertisement was relevant to them, they would then follow a call to action.

Color Adds Readability

The pilot showcases how recent innovations in the digital printing industry have set new standards in quality and affordability, and it validates the fact that color added to bills and statements effectively enhances readability, while guiding readers to important message points and inciting a response.

CSG also advised the client on the document design and strategic usage of color on the billing statement. The pilot was conducted at CSG's facility in Florida using the InfoPrint 5000 solution, a full color drop-on-demand inkjet continuous forms production printer.

"On the back of the exponential success of our last transpromo pilot, we didn't want to expect too much," said Gallagher. "However, we could not have been more pleased with the impressive results we saw with CSG. The true value of transpromo can only be seen when color is implemented. This topic has been debated throughout the industry for years, but a 27 percent lift in the results due to the use of color is significant, and the theory is now fact."