PODi 2012 Best Practices in Digital Printing Award Winners Announced

ROCHESTER, NY—Jan. 10, 2012—PODi, the Digital Printing Initiative, has announced the 2012 winners of the PODi Best Practices Awards for digital printing case studies. These prestigious awards recognize outstanding examples of digital printing, cross media and relevant direct marketing campaigns.

The winners will present their campaigns and receive their awards at the AppForum digital printing and direct marketing conference, set to run Jan. 23-25, 2012, at the Tropicana Hotel in Las Vegas. AppForum attendees will enjoy a detailed look at the applications and a chance to hear the inside stories.

PODi accepts case studies for the Best Practices Award competition throughout the year, and entries are judged on a combination of criteria, including measured results, value proposition, functionality, scalability, relevance, creativity and innovation. The 2012 Panel of distinguished judges:

• Howie Fenton, senior consultant, NAPL;
• Dr. John Leininger, professor, Department of Graphic Communications, Clemson University;
• Cary Sherburne, journalist, author and marketing consultant; and
• Jim Olsen, president, Imagination Ink.

Best Practices Winner: Direct Marketing Category

ScottishPower and Eclipse – “ScottishPower Welcome Programme”

Scottish Power is a major gas and electricity supplier in the U.K. Its challenge? Since customers can switch suppliers in this market with ease, there is a high rate of attrition in the first few months. Eclipse implemented a multi-touch-point program for new ScottishPower customers that included a personalized welcome pack and interactive pURL. This award-winning program reduced cancellations in the first two weeks by over 80 percent and increased customer satisfaction significantly.

“This PODi award enhances international credibility to the Eclipse approach,” says Marie McShane, head of retention marketing at ScottishPower. “To win this award alongside the other national awards the campaign has so far received is a fantastic recognition of the genuine ongoing success and outstanding results of this campaign and to the partnership between ScottishPower and Eclipse.”

Hans van Lith, CEO of Eclipse, added, “Working with open-minded and intelligent marketing driven clients such as ScottishPower, who understand the true benefit of integrated cross media and data-driven solutions is a real pleasure and a privilege. Being recognised by PODi, based on the incredible effectiveness of this campaign, is a great honour and a welcome recognition of the joint efforts between Eclipse and ScottishPower.”

Best Practices Winner: Marketing Resource Center Category

DoubleTree by Hilton, MSP, Tray and eIntegrity – “DoubleTree by Hilton Supports Properties with Marketing Resource Center”

DoubleTree by Hilton comprises more than 250 hotel properties around the world. DoubleTree wanted to improve the process by which properties procured needed marketing materials. It also wished to consolidate vendors and maintain corporate control of brand image. The company’s strategic partners Tray and MSP built a comprehensive, single-source, Web-to-print toolkit for DoubleTree’s international brand. With programming assistance from eIntegrity, the robust solution was completed in less than four months. Portal users can order over 250 items including door hangers, menus, key cards, conservation cards, stationery, and vehicle signage.

“Building an integrated, single-source, global toolkit for DoubleTree by Hilton prior to a complete re-brand in 2011 was absolutely critical to the success of the rollout,” says Evanthia Aldrich, senior manager, Brand Identity & Hotel Resources for DoubleTree by Hilton. “Our properties needed new everything—from business cards and menus to signage and apparel. Providing General Managers’ and Director of Sales’ a tool that allowed them to easily customize templates, and order everything they need all in one place, was huge.”

Mike Stone of Tray and Chris Wright of MSP, agree. “The opportunity to collaborate with an iconic global brand like Hilton Worldwide and DoubleTree to deliver a critical tool and a crucial resource is extremely satisfying. We are very proud to receive the 2012 PODi Best Practices Award and we thank Evanthia Aldrich and the entire DoubleTree by Hilton team for their vision and passion to make this project a success.”

Best Practices Winner: Self-Promotion Category

AlphaGraphics in the Cultural District – “AlphaGraphics Thinks Outside of the Box to Generate Leads”

AlphaGraphics in the Cultural District developed a multi-channel self-promotion campaign to educate clients about the power of integrated direct mail. The marketing team decided a dimensional mailer would get past the “gatekeepers.”

AlphaGraphics took “thinking outside the box” to a whole new level with their “Use Your Coconut” theme. They mailed prospects an actual coconut in nylon netting with a printed hangtag. The theme was carried through multiple channels (e-mail, personalized URLs, social media, direct mail and on site materials at a marketing workshop) with great success.

“Our amazing staff is to be commended for brilliantly developing this four-part campaign to educate our clients about the power of direct mail when approached as an integrated, multi-media marketing campaign. Pittsburgh is still buzzing! The Campaign was a huge success, and many customer campaigns and conversations have followed. It is an honor to be recognized by a prestigious organization like PODi,” said Clare Meehan, president and CEO, AlphaGraphics in the Cultural District.

The first edition of 2012 PODi case studies, including all the award winners, have recently been added to the Case Study Database. These 28 case studies cover nine vertical markets and four different business applications. The second edition will be published this spring. The PODi Case Study Database is the only collection of its kind for the digital print marketplace. Access to over 500 case studies and reports is free to PODi members.

PODi’s AppForum is a three-day educational digital printing conference, featuring over 40 sessions, keynote presentations by top innovators, networking opportunities and a Vendor Fair. Tracks include Business Growth Strategies, Leading Edge Applications, Digital Print Technologies, and a conference-within-a-conference – AppForumDirect – that boasts two tracks devoted to cross media and direct mail. For more information on the 2012 AppForum or to register, visit www.AppForum.org.

About PODi
PODi is a vendor neutral industry initiative with hundreds of member companies, including Executive Board members EFI, HP, Pitney Bowes and Xerox. The organization’s goal is to drive demand for marketing applications powered by digital print & help members build successful digital printing and relevant marketing businesses.

About the AppForum
The annual three-day AppForum is the only digital printing conference with a truly independent, unbiased agenda. Attendees learn latest business and sales strategies, and trends in new high margin marketing applications driven by digital print. The diverse audience of printing and marketing professionals, end users, technology experts and others make the AppForum a dynamic networking opportunity.

Source: PODi.