If “location, location, location”, was the mantra for people looking to make a quick buck in the property boom, “innovation, innovation, innovation” is the phrase that company directors can ill-afford to ignore in the current business landscape. I received a full-colour mailer the other day from my local garage that perfectly encapsulates the spirit of innovation.

With six months left to go on my current car finance deal the garage decided that now was an opportune moment to secure repeat trade. Nothing unusual in that you might think; it’s just good business practice. However, this mailer wasn’t just any old ill-thought out piece of print. On the front it had a picture of the latest incarnation of my car, in the same colour as the model I currently own.

This could have been mere coincidence perhaps but then I noticed that the piece had further embellishments. The number plate was personalised with my christian name emblazoned across it and on the reverse there was a personalised URL address. My interest was piqued so I entered the PURL into the address bar on my computer, which took me to a fully personalised landing page giving me details about the new car, all the available optional extras in addition to different finance options and insurance deals.

I was able to register my interest for the most attractive offers and receive further printed information through the post in the form of a glossy brochure and detailed leaflet breaking down the finance terms.

This use of variable data printing, which just a few years ago might have been a one off, is now fairly commonplace in print as industry members have looked to innovate their way out of the recession.

This innovative spirit is borne out by FESPA’s quarter four 2009 Economic Survey, which found that 70% of printers questioned had created or used innovative processes or product to help ride out the economic downturn. It’s clear that the organisations’ members have got to grips with the fact that innovation doesn’t necessarily require major financial outlay.

Variable data printing can be achieved relatively cheaply and when used correctly can deliver measurable rewards and that all important three-letter acronym ‘ROI’. For instance, the garage example cited above allows the marketer to measure response rates to its mailer based on how many people visited their personal landing page. It could ultimately trace customer engagement all the way through a sale or indeed pinpoint the point in the communication where the prospect of a sale was lost and then use this feedback to better inform future campaigns.

That’s all well and good for DM pieces you might say, but how can printers take advantage of VDP on a wide-format press? Well they could do a lot worse than follow the lead of Sony. When it was looking for ways to drive pre-orders of Spider-Man 3 on DVD at online retailer Play.com it offered customers the incentive of a personalised poster.

The tactic clearly worked with Play.com recording a significant rise in sales with 6,000 poster package deals secured a month and a half prior to the DVDs release. Sony isn’t alone – there are numerous examples of an innovative approach to a bog-standard print job paying off in spades. The evidence points to the fact that innovation is alive and kicking in the printing industry and with good reason because if your company isn’t prepared to take the plunge then your competitor sure as hell will.