Case Study PODi, the Digital Printing Initiative Best Practices in Digital Print Case Study

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1 1 Case Study 2007, PODi, the Digital Printing Initiative. Members, purchasers of, or participants in an individual case study project are encouraged to distribute the case study in hard copy form as targeted sales/marketing collateral. Mass distribution or other usage is restricted as defined in the Terms of Use on PODi, the Digital Printing Initiative Best Practices in Digital Print Case Study

2 2 Project: Vertical Market: Business Application: Manufacturing Direct Marketing/Traffic Generation/Loyalty Polaris Industries worked with Moore Wallace Response Marketing Services to create an easy-to-use, Web-to-print customer loyalty and sales promotion program for its dealer network in the United States and Canada. The program is now more than five years old and 38% of dealers now participate. Response rates for some promotions have been as high as 40%. Program Objectives Create easy-to-use automated loyalty program Enroll 25% of Polaris dealerships in program Drive traffic to stores to increase Polaris sales Dealers must be able to create their own offers Significant Results Reported by User 10% of dealerships signed up within the first 60 days 38% of dealerships participate currently During one evaluation of the program, on average, customers spent $61.27 when they returned to the store with a coupon A few dealers have reported an overall response rate of 15.5% Response rates as high as 40% for some promotions Description A few years ago, Polaris decided to offer a branded customer loyalty program for its 2,000 dealerships across the United States and Canada. Another company provided a non-branded loyalty program but dealers had to sign and stamp each mail piece and all mailers were generic. The mailers did not relate to the customer or the customer s recent purchases. Polaris wanted to provide a loyalty program that would be easier for its dealers to use and that would be customizable to reflect the customer s past purchases and dealers offers. Best Practices in Digital Print Case Study PODi, the Digital Printing Initiative

3 3 Working with Moore Wallace Response Marketing Services (MWRMS), Polaris decided to create a three-touch program for new Polaris purchasers that dealers could access via the Internet. Each new customer receives three mailings at key points in the first year of the relationship shortly after the initial sale, on the anniversary of the sale, and during the December holiday season. Paige Wittman, Director of Retail and Dealer Development at Polaris, says that the company wanted to meet the needs of the dealers. They were doing follow-up with customers in many ways but most of them were doing it manually. Some were not doing it at all. They needed a turn-key solution that they could customize. Follow-up is important to ensure future sales and sales of related products, she explains. On average, in heavy snow areas, people trade in their vehicles every year. So, keeping in touch with customers on a regular basis to tell them about new models, as well as accessories and services, is important for Polaris and its dealer network. Customer loyalty is a huge deal. The average purchase price for a vehicle is $6,000. Having worked with MWRMS on other projects, Wittman says she knew the company was flexible and could come up with a viable solution. MWRMS coordinated the campaign package that included the design, creation of the templates, and the application development. MWRMS also developed an inhouse software solution to drive the digital output and mailing functions. The loyalty program is set up for four product lines snowmobiles, allterrain vehicles, and two lines of motorcycles. Dealers participate by accessing a Website that allows them to access the materials for the 12- month program. At the site, they can access the templates and select offers from dropdown menus. They do not have to enter customer contact information because Polaris uses the warranty information from a new sale to trigger the start of the three-touch program. MWRMS downloads information from Polaris to customize the mailers. Each card is customized to reflect the product purchased. An image of the product is used; for example, a snowmobile purchaser s card would have an image of a Polaris mountain, sport, or performance snowmobile depending on which type they purchased. In addition, each card is personalized with the customer s name and dealer information and signature of the dealer. Dealers can elect to add a coupon created by Polaris or design their own coupons online with their own images and text PODi, the Digital Printing Initiative Best Practices in Digital Print Case Study

4 4 Production levels vary but MWRMS produces: Thank you cards run 5,000 pieces every other week. Anniversary cards run 10,000 a month. Holiday cards one time 110,000. Total program quantity is approximately 330,000 pieces a year. MWRMS created its own PPML-based workflow for the project. The software fixes data input errors, corrects addresses, merges data into the templates, and gets the files ready for images. MWRMS also produces bilingual mailings for this program to accommodate French Canadian dealerships. The company uses PPML because it makes the production files smaller so they transfer faster and the RIP can process them significantly faster than other formats. The cards are printed on Xeikon digital presses and then scored; the coupons are perforated on a Heidelberg press. They are then hand folded and tabbed. The holiday cards are assembled in-line on Jett Webb finishing equipment. Best Practices in Digital Print Case Study PODi, the Digital Printing Initiative

5 5 Future Plans Wittman says that Polaris is happy with the program and is considering ways to expand it. She also indicated that although a few of the larger dealerships have their own in-house loyalty programs, the program is popular with many of the other dealerships. Award This case study received a 2007 PODi Best Practices Honorable Mention in the Business-to-Consumer Category PODi, the Digital Printing Initiative Best Practices in Digital Print Case Study

6 6 Client Printer Hardware Software PPML Target Audience Polaris Industries Polaris Industries is the world's leading maker of snowmobiles and the second-leading maker of four- and six-wheeled all-terrain recreational and utility vehicles. Moore Wallace Response Marketing Services Moore Wallace Response Marketing Services, an RR Donnelley Company, is a direct mail marketing company that provides comprehensive single-source solution for marketers. Xeikon 5000 digital press Proprietary system, developed in-house Produced using PPML New Polaris customers in the United States and Canada Distribution Thank you cards run 5,000 pieces every other week Anniversary cards run 10,000 a month Holiday cards one time 110,000 Total program quantity is approx 330,000 pieces a year. Date Start date May 2001, ongoing, thank you cards every other week; anniversary monthly, holiday once a year in November Best Practices in Digital Print Case Study PODi, the Digital Printing Initiative