Florida Institute of Technology Variable Booklet Purpose: In order to increase their enrollment rates, Florida Institute of Technology needed a way to more directly target prospective students. FIT also wanted to cut costs associated with the printing & mailing of informational packages to prospective students. The Problem: Prospective students are directed to a web page via direct marketing channels. Once there, they are asked to fill out a form and provide information related to their interests. However, this information is not used effectively. Despite the form they fill out, nothing is tailored to them and students are mailed a generic package for all programs and activities at FIT. The Solution: Utilizing the same data, Progressive Communications designed and developed a customized 12-page variable booklet that effectively targets prospective students by offering only the information that is important and of interest to specific students. Costs were also reduced by utilizing a Print-on-Demand workflow, and reducing the materials needed to create the booklet (vs. the previously used package).
Overview Once the concept was developed and a design was finalized, staff at both Progressive and FIT worked closely to standardize the data coming from FIT and develop a set of codes for all the Majors, Programs, and Extracurricular activities FIT has to offer. Those codes were then used to customize the booklet, using different blocks of copy and images based on particular student interests.
Cover / Pages 2-3 The cover of the booklet is an offset printed piece with 3 die-cuts which reveal 1 personalized and 2 variable images on the first page. The image on the far left is based on the student s major of choice. The center image is personalized with both the student s first name, and the distance in mileage from their home address to the FIT Campus. The image on the far right is representative of an activity of interest to the student. Student s first name used in salutation of letter. The major or program of most interest to the student is used in the body of the letter. Variable image based on extracurricular activity of highest interest to the student. Personalized image features students first name and the distance in miles between their home address and the FIT Campus. Variable image based on major or program of most interest to the student. Quick Facts: To display the distance in miles between the students address and the FIT campus, the addresses are geo-coded (converted into a latitude and longitude value), then the distance between the two values is calculated in miles. Once this calculation is made, an image is generated based on both the students first name and the distance. Due to the uniqueness of this image, once an image is used, it is rarely able to be used again. As of 3/17/2010 there have been over 20,000 unique Road Sign images generated.
Pages 4-5 Page 4 of the booklet is static for all recipients. Page 5, or the Majors Page, is divided into 3 sections. The top section highlights the student s first choice for major of interest. All of the copy and images in all 3 sections changes based on the student s choices. There are 2 versions of copy for every possible major choice, a longer version for use in the top section, and a shorter version to be used in one of the bottom sections. Student s first name used in salutation. Quick Facts: There are over 250 images that are interchanged dynamically to illustrate both majors and activities throughout the booklet, leading to well over 1-million possible combinations. Copy and the image change based on the student s top major choice. Both of these areas represent the 2nd and 3rd choices for majors of interest made by the prospective student. Since it is only mandatory for a prospective student to select 1 major of interest, there are default programs with associated copy and images that are used if less than 3 choices are made.
Pages 6-7 Page 6 is fairly generic, except for the student s name being used twice in the copy. Page 7, or the Activities Page, is divided into 3 sections much like the Majors Page. The top section highlights the student s first choice for an activity of interest. All of the copy and images in all 3 sections changes based on the prospective student s choices. Unlike the Majors Page there is only 1 version of copy for every possible activity choice. Student s first name used throughout the copy. Quick Facts: Between the Majors and Activities combined there are 135 versions of copy being utilized dynamically for the production of this booklet based on choices made by the student. Copy and the image change based on the student s top activity choice. Both of these areas represent the 2nd and 3rd choices for activities of interest made by the student. It isn t mandatory for a prospective student to select any activities of interest. That being the case, there are default programs with associated copy and images that are used if less than 3 activity choices are made.
Pages 8-9 This spread is generic, except for the dynamic insertion of a paragraph pertaining to the Florida Bright Futures scholarship program. The program is only available to Florida Residents, so the paragraph is only inserted if the prospective student s address is within the state of Florida. A paragraph pertaining to the Florida Bright Futures scholarship program is only inserted if the prospective students address is within the state of Florida, since only Florida residents are eligible for the program.
Pages 10-11 / Back Cover To add one last personalized touch to the booklet, a personalized image is generated displaying the student s first name embroidered onto a graduation cap which is in the upper left corner of page 10. The rest of page 10, as well as page 11 and the back cover (which are part of the offset printed cover) are generic. Personalized image illustrating the student s first name embroidered onto a graduation cap.
Associated Costs Initial Setup Concept / Design........................................... $2,550 Copy Writing / Proof Reading............................... $3,250 Production Preparation...................................... $1,700 Programming............................................... $7,500 Total......................................................$15,000 Production Offset / Die Cut Cover...................................... $0.37 Variable Data Body........................................... $1.20 Envelope.................................................... $0.37 Mailing...................................................... $0.15 Total Per Book............................................... $2.09 *Based on initial order commitment of 10,000