Photo Books : Never Too Late for Profits
Have Book, Will Travel
Some companies rely almost entirely on partners to drive customers to their photo book solution. One example is Vancouver, British Columbia-based Contac Services, a business process outsourced solutions provider that specializes in single-source supply chain solutions. The firm takes care of distribution for 95 percent of Canada’s travel-related marketing materials, according to Garry Gunter, associate vice president.
Contac relies on its travel agency partners to help promote its photo book offering, which is less than a year old. Once travel customers have booked their travel through one of Contac’s agency partners, the customer is sent a personalized Website (PURL), generated based on their profile, that includes a link to create a photo book based on the holiday. Schedule a Hawaiian vacation and the PURL will include links that will enable the traveler to assemble a memory book via the photos taken during the trip, enhanced by the Contac-created templates. Once the application is downloaded, it can be accessed for future use.
“We realized that through the distribution of this travel merchandise—and given our CEO’s relationships with the CEOs and presidents of these tour operators—that it was the perfect platform upon which (our clients) could get to know their customers better,” Gunter says. “We can create these photo books through (the travel companies’) own Websites, and they can, in turn, engage their clients and bring them back more and more often.”
Backed by Kodak’s Prinergy workflow and the digital print production capabilities from Kodak NexPress and Xerox iGen presses, Contac found itself in need of some finishing solutions to get its photo book production in gear. Unibind came through with solutions for case binding and Duplo USA stepped up to the plate with its perfect binding solutions.
One of the key objectives for Contac Services has been maintaining focus. Given the deluge of printed personalized trinkets, Gunter recognized that it would be beneficial to stick to an area where consolidated runs could help them lead to better managed costs. Case covered and perfect-bound photo books—not mugs and key chains—speak to Contac’s proficiency for producing quality products in a timely and efficient manner.
