K&H--Banking on It
InterWest Bank rebrands successfully utilizing personalized digital printing technology from Xeikon press user.
With a flood of marketing and promotional material clogging mailboxes daily, communicating with customers through the post office can be a challenge. Banks and corporations are increasingly using full color, fully personalized documents to battle this mail glut, and enhance their Customer Relationship Management (CRM) programs. These documents, produced using digital color presses, are increasing return on investment and enhancing the service value perceived by the customer.
InterWest Bank, headquartered in Seattle, has launched a major rebranding campaign utilizing this tactic. InterWest has grown rapidly and acquired five other banks recently. The bank is building relationships with these new customers by providing them with detailed information on changes to their current accounts. "The objective of this campaign is to build trust with new customers for InterWest products and services," says Susan Sandberg, advertising and direct response manager at InterWest. "We needed a way to communicate these changes to a large number of customers in a very personal way."
InterWest found a solution through K&H Integrated Print Solutions in Everett, WA. Using high-speed Xeikon digital color presses and InterWest's database, K&H produced fully personalized color booklets that outline changes in individual customer accounts, terms and fees, and disclosure information required by law. The InterWest booklets also incorporate full-color photography and graphics—setting them apart from typical "statements."
Digital Printing Solution
"With digital color printing we can take a complex array of data and translate it into a readable, attractive document," says Jay Ackley, executive vice president and general manager of K&H. "The document is then delivered to someone's home in a form they can read comfortably at the breakfast table. That's building brand trust because it's user-friendly and very personal."
K&H prints these eight- to 12-page booklets on a high-speed Xeikon digital color press. "Our Xeikon DCP/50D digital color press produces offset-quality at very high speeds: 6,000 full color pages per hour," says Ackley. "The digital process is also completely flexible, allowing for variable information printing from complex databases. It's the ideal solution for applications like the InterWest booklet because we're able to use data beyond name, address and ZIP code."
Because customer account information changes frequently, turnaround time is a vital factor to the project. "In order for this campaign to be effective, the booklets must be current," adds Sandberg. "After the database and booklet format are worked out, K&H is able to print these booklets digitally in less than a week. Customers need information on the accounts they have today. When they get it from InterWest in a colorful printed document, customers develop confidence in the InterWest name."
"Traditionally we would mail out a large booklet outlining changes in products and brands," she says. "But with disclosure information and explanations of every type of account, such a document can be overwhelming. With the digital color booklets, the customer only sees the information on accounts that he or she holds. It saves time and gets them off on the right foot in building a relationship with us."
Personalizing for Success
"There is a perception that personalization is just printing a person's name on a letter, but so much more is possible," contends Ackley. "We're able to flow disclosure statements in various sequences and include account numbers and terms of use for every member of a household. By adding color, we're increasing the value of the document for both InterWest and its customers."
Using K&H's proprietary data-mining software, InterWest's database is sorted and linked to individual digital documents that vary in length and layout accordingly. An array of data elements is used, including type of account, account numbers, required disclosure information and number of account holders per household.
"Digital color printing has turned our data into a useful communication and marketing tool. By linking printed material to our database, we've created an individual narrative of each customer's account history with their bank," says Sandberg. "Financial information is highly sensitive. With a color document and a truly personalized message, a customer sees that InterWest is using that information carefully and in a way that is useful to them."
Technology Builds Trust
Ackley points out that personalization, if not executed correctly, is a double-edged sword. "If incorrect or mismatched information appears in a document, it dramatically erodes confidence in the bank," he says. "The Xeikon digital color press reduces the chances of such an error to a minimum because it pulls information directly from our software. Each complete document is printed in collated order, one after another. Prior to digital technology, you couldn't dream of printing this kind of personalized data without a great deal of confusion and expense."
The Xeikon DCP/50D further reduces chances of error with One-Pass-Duplex printing or the ability to print both sides of the page in one pass. "One-Pass-Duplex printing virtually eliminates the risk that pages will get placed in the wrong booklets," according to Ackley. "Other systems require you to turn the paper over and run it through again. That isn't acceptable for work that involves sensitive personal data."
For Ackley, high technology always serves a greater low-tech goal. He explains how computer-aided CRM strategies are fully realized through digital printing technology: "A vast majority of people in the world do not have computers. And most that do still feel comfortable with a piece of paper in their hands. We're able to provide all the full color and personalized information associated with the Internet, but in a form that is truly universal."
The rebranding campaign has been a success for InterWest. Using the personalized strategy, InterWest has rebranded accounts and services for the customers of the subsidiary banks it acquired. InterWest has already sent out 30,000 booklets and plans to utilize K&H's digital technology for a larger rebranding campaign that will entail printing 80,000 booklets next year.
"We've had major success with this campaign, retaining the vast majority of customers through this brand change," concludes Sandberg. "We expect the same results when the subsidiaries change to the InterWest name next year. Acquisitions and rebranding can be uncomfortable for people, and anything we can do to make it easier on our customers will be better for us in the end. A high-quality, full color, personalized document in their hands strengthens our relationships and provides us room to grow in the future."
- People:
- Jay Ackley
- Sandberg
- Places:
- Everett