A Better Way to Market: RRD Launches Iridio

This past April, RRD launched a new business division, called Iridio, to better manage the execution of omnichannel marketing campaigns. In a world where those who manage marketing campaigns are increasingly uninformed about the power of print, the goal of the new business unit is to meet them where they live, and help bring print and digital channels together in new and powerful ways.

In a statement, RRD laid out the plans for Iridio:

• Strategy — business-driven marketing consulting
• Creative Services — impactful, highly personalized marketing content and creative, including branding, user interface (UI)/user experience (UX) design, production, photography, video and editorial
• Technology — patented and proprietary technologies spanning digital advertising, one-to-one marketing, data management and visualization and creative development — fueled by cloud-native architectures, AI and automation
• Data and Analytics — real-time insights into actionable recommendations that drive measurable results, enhance customer engagement, and inform strategic business decisions
• Media Execution — media strategy, planning, buying, placement and measurement to support content distribution and omnichannel activation

Andy Johnson, senior vice president and head of Iridio, sat down with Printing Impressions to chat about what that actually means in real-world terms. He notes, “The formation of Iridio reflects a strategic evolution at RRD. We’ve made several key investments over the last few years that brought together a distinct, unified platform to fully leverage the expanded capabilities those moves enabled. Iridio unifies the most advanced elements of RRD’s digital marketing portfolio, business process outsourcing, and tech-enabled services into a cohesive marketing powerhouse. Rather than folding these capabilities into existing units, we capitalized on the opportunity to create something purpose-built for today’s challenged CMO.”

“Print,” he stresses, “remains a critical component of Iridio, especially when it comes to omnichannel activations.” RRD remains one of the top direct mail producers in the United States, and Johnson doesn’t see that changing any time soon. Rather, he sees Iridio as a place where those printed pieces will be more directly integrated with a wide range of other marketing vehicles, allowing brands and marketers to have broader reach, and much better ROI than a single platform could deliver alone.

But why not just add these features into RRD’s primary portfolio? Why set them apart as a new business unit?

Johnson notes that the challenges connecting with brands, especially CMOs, drove that decision. “CMOs today are juggling dozens of partners, facing tighter budgets, and dealing with unprecedented economic complexity. With Iridio, we’ve created a full-funnel, full-service solution that moves us beyond the traditional print provider role and into the core of strategic marketing. We bridge the gap by showing up with data scientists, creative strategists, and a composable tech stack that can be flexed to meet modern marketers’ needs. We’re already serving as a strategic partner for Fortune 100 brands across retail, healthcare, and financial services, helping them integrate and optimize their entire marketing approach.”

That said, he does note that even with the launch of Iridio, they don’t see the customers they serve as being “print” or “digital” customers. They are, he notes, all RRD clients at the end of the day. And print will remain at the heart of the marketing strategy they bring to those customers.

He notes, “A significant part of our go-to-market strategy centers on supporting our clients and their customers by activating content in the right channel, with the right audience at the right moment. Print remains central to that equation. Whether it’s direct mail complementing email as part of a targeted direct marketing campaign, or our retail media network complementing an in-store signage program, our physical and digital capabilities remain inextricably linked. We see the breadth, depth and scale we have across both channels as strong competitive differentiators.”

And while it’s too soon to tell how Iridio and the omnichannel marketing strategy will play out, Johnson does have a few markers he is watching that will determine success or not — and they aren’t revenue related. “Are we driving better ROI through smarter use of data, AI, and automation? Are we delivering measurable outcomes and making their lives easier?” he asks. RRD will be tracking performance metrics closely to ensure they are exceeding expectations and building truly engaging campaigns that reach consumers when and where they want to connect, driving engagement and ultimately ROI for every piece of print, every digital touchpoint, and every marketing outreach channel they include.

“Ultimately it comes down to one thing,” says Johnson, “are we meeting our clients where they want to be met, and helping guide them on their marketing journey with transparency and clarity of strategic purpose?”