One-to-One Marketing

It’s All About the Database

A little research unveils a plethora of one-to-one marketing success stories in the direct mail segment of the print industry, but what about catalogs? And are there lessons to be learned from the direct mailers who paved the way to personalization?

The most significant inhibitor to the catalog industry’s quick adoption of one-to-one marketing has been deficiencies in the manufacturing process, says Gaillard. Bindery technologies were built for economy and high rates of speed, but when variable-data processes are factored into the manufacturing line, things begin to slow — and it becomes less efficient for printers, and more expensive for catalogers, to print.