January 10, 2018 – In 2018, success in every market environment will be dependent upon the ability to navigate a communications landscape that continues to rapidly evolve. This will require strategic attention to development of a plan that ensures your customer communications management (CCM) processes connect with measurable data. The good news is that Madison Advisors has a methodology that can assist organizations with these challenges. It is called optiMA.

January 1, 2018 – While print is an essential component of a successful customer communications (CCM) strategy, it’s not the only element. Electronic options like email, SMS, and electronic bill present and payment (EBPP) provide strategies that span multiple channels. The adoption and use of electronic components within a comprehensive CCM strategy allows print and electronics to combine into one effective solution.

December 7, 2017, Colleyville, TX—Madison Advisors today announced the release of its new research study, “Color Print Migration Market Update 2017.” The report provides an overview and analysis of color inkjet technology adoption by both print service providers and enterprise in-plants over the last five years, compared to expectations. The report also supports Madison Advisors’ view that print will experience a revival thanks to color inkjet technology available in the market today.

“Our latest research reveals that adoption of color has grown, but not as fast as anticipated,” said study author, Gina Ferrara, senior analyst at Madison Advisors. "The data uncovered that 62 percent of the total images produced in 2016 by service providers and enterprise in-plants combined were still monochrome. This shows there is plenty of opportunity for color inkjet printing to penetrate the transactional printing industry.”

Some key observations in the study include:

Print service providers produced the majority of image volume: 81 percent of the total image volume was produced by print service providers, despite the equal number of service providers and enterprise in-plants involved in the study.
Use of color is not volume dependent: With only 3 percent of the total image volume, broadband/cable had the highest use of color at 98 percent. Banks represented close to 25 percent of the image volume and yet 54 percent of those images were monochrome.
There have been notable increases in the insurance and healthcare verticals: Although the insurance and healthcare verticals still continue to lag, the use of color by these two verticals combined increased to 16.3 percent, up from 5 percent in 2011.
There is still a large opportunity for color inkjet growth: Of the total 39.78 billion images accounted for in this research, approximately 62 percent were monochrome, indicating that there is still a significant market opportunity for color inkjet.

Madison Advisors has observed the industry’s migration from monochrome to full color over the past decade. The report uncovers why many print service providers and in-plants have been slow to convert their transactional communications from monochrome to color. The analysis also examines the unexpected challenges and benefits of investing in color inkjet technology, as well as its impact on a multi-channel customer communications delivery strategy.

To purchase the full report “Color Print Migration Market Update 2017,” click here.

By DPS Staff

Each year we reflect on the culmination of emerging technologies and what it means for both the immediate and future print industry. As consumers become accustom to targeted messaging, the demand for relevant communications continues to rise. The move to digital print is rapid, and it’s a lot to take in. To help summarize noteworthy advancements, we’ve asked industry analysts to highlight key trends in their areas of expertise.

By Gina Ferrara

Determining whether to shut down your internal print and mail operation and outsource to a print service provider, or keep it in-house and potentially make a capital investment in new technology can be a tough conversation.

Those in favor of the latter option will cite concerns over sending customer data outside the organization and advocate that investing in new technology will improve operational workflows, enhance the customer experience and increase brand recognition by adding color to documents, as well as potentially generating a better ROI for the organization. Proponents of outsourcing believe that print is not a core competency and argue that outsourcing to a service provider would be the less expensive alternative.

October 3, 2017, Colleyville, TX—Madison Advisors—Madison Advisors today announced that senior analyst Gina Ferrara and Gary Simpson, vice president of business development and service delivery, will host an educational breakout session at Canon’s thINK 2017 Conference on the latest trends in the migration to color inkjet printing. The event, exclusively for Canon Solutions America production print customers and partners/sponsors, will take place October 9-11 in Boca Raton, FL.

Madison Advisors’ session, “Color Inkjet is the New ‘BLACK’ – Technology Trends that Will Change the Way You Work” to be held October 10 from 3:30 - 4:20 p.m., will discuss the disruption and innovation that comes with new color inkjet technology. Ferrara and Simpson will share with attendees recent research on best practices and market trends in the color inkjet market gleaned from interviews and surveys of print service providers and Fortune 500 companies about their successful approaches. Conclusions drawn from the data highlight the many ways businesses can develop a thriving color inkjet business strategy.

For more information about thINK 2017, visit this link.

By Gina Ferrara

Last month, we released the sixth edition of our "Customer Communications Management (CCM) Solutions Market Study." When reading the report, you may notice a common theme, which can be summarized in a single word—change. The CCM industry is constantly changing, which is no surprise to the veterans of this space who have witnessed this firsthand. However, what is interesting is the magnitude of change in a relatively short amount of time and that the primary driving force behind it has been technology.

By Hal Hinderliter

Anyone involved in the printing industry over the last twenty years might be forgiven for the over-use of heartburn remedies! It has been a rollercoaster ride of sudden economic jolts (9/11), devastating recession (2007), and digital displacement by desktop PCs, then mobile phones (a process that is still ongoing). Numerous printshops have merged, downsized, or gone out of business as we struggle to reinvent ourselves for the new realities of today’s marketplace.

By Gina Ferrara, Senior Analyst.

Insurers face a growing challenge when it comes to customer communications management (CCM). The need to personalize communications to ensure they are relevant and actionable, coupled with managing a proliferation of delivery channels as well as compliance mandates have made it extremely difficult for insurance organizations to achieve strategic communication goals for customer engagement.