Automated System Sounds Great to Beltone The need for cost savings and streamlined processes has made on-demand marketing a priority for many companies, including Beltone, one of the world's largest makers of hearing instruments. The Chicago-based firm has a nationwide network of approximately 400 distributors. In 2001, each had its own system for direct marketing and its own ideas about how to best portray Beltone's products. Beltone decided its marketing method was inefficient and expensive to execute, and lacked brand messaging. Wanting an automated system, it turned to Darwill, a technology-driven printer in Hillside, Ill., that provides a range of data, printing and mailing services to clients. Darwill offers a proprietary service called ForSite™, a suite of web-enabled, template-based tools that allows clients to automate the process and production of marketing programs. Its interface gives users remote access to customize, order and send direct mail, fact sheets, point-of-purchase items, advertising, electronic images and HTML email. "We realize that more companies are looking for web-based tools, particularly companies that send out a lot of literature and have repeatable marketing," says Steve Van Poolen, Darwill's director of business development. "The industry has moved from being manufacturing-focused to being workflow- and efficiency-focused. People started saying, 'Are we managing this mountain of print? How can we best get this information out to salespeople?'" Each ForSite system takes Darwill three to five months to custom-design. Its Development and Integration team conducts research about each client and tests the system until it satisfies the firm's objectives. For Beltone, Darwill built a robust, feature-rich online interface called BCS (Beltone Creative Solutions) for Beltone's distributors, who use it to customize and order direct mail and newspaper advertisements. Distributors wanting to send a direct mail piece access BCS to view a drop-down menu of direct mail types, then see a list of available post cards, self-mailers and letter packets. (They can click on PDF icons to view low-resolution versions.) When they click on "Add and Customize," they can move or change text, add logos and otherwise change the template's design. After proofing changes, users choose who will receive the piece from among 26 million U.S. households. BCS users can target recipients by geographic radius or ZIP code. Then, they choose the mailing's drop date (or multiple ones) and frequency. Most pieces are printed on Darwill's new Xerox IGen digital printer. (When distributors create newspaper ads, digital files automatically are converted to high-resolution PDFs and are sent to publications.) Since launching BCS in 2001, Beltone has reduced its average annual marketing costs by $175,000 and reduced by half its calls to marketing and customer service departments regarding direct mail, says Debbie Wachtel, Beltone's senior marketing manager of North America. "It's the best direct marketing fulfillment system we have had," she says. All ForSite systems include a tool that enables administrators to control how marketing materials are used, how they're distributed and what messages they convey. A budget-monitoring tool helps administrators target specific groups and limit quantities and types of programs such as incentive awards. Also, ForSite users can access updated order statuses, usage reports and inventory reports to help them measure their marketing campaigns' effectiveness. ForSite's archive feature provides a link to Darwill's on-site production facility or one of its local warehouses to coordinate distribution. Van Poolen says ForSite is best suited for companies that have existing marketing programs for franchises, distributors or large sales forces that need access to customized materials. "The internet has sparked the demand for immediate access to information and materials," says Troy Van Dyke, Darwill's vice president of sales and marketing. "Any inefficiencies and downtime are bad for business communicators. They want a service that puts the power of information at their fingertips and allows them to customize a piece of literature at 4 p.m. and have it on a client's desk in the morning."