In “Variable Data Printing 2005: Finally, the Data Are In!” TWGA gives the marketing, creative, and printing worlds their first look at the detailed inner-workings of the variable data printing (also called personalisation or 1:1 marketing) marketplace.

Figures revealed by the survey include:

29 per cent of commercial printers as a whole produce some sort of VDP jobs in-house (rising to 58 per cent of digital printers) and 13 per cent outsource them;

38 per cent of creatives say they have produced VDP jobs in the last 12 months, including 49 per cent who say they’ve produced full-color variable-image, variable-text jobs;

19 per cent of creatives say their use of these applications is increasing a little or a lot;

In addition to documenting the current status of the industry, the report details many of the industry’s upcoming challenges. After a decade of educating the creative marketplace about VDP, the report finds a lot of misinformation that still exists about these applications. For example, while 49 per cent of creatives doing VDP claim to be doing full-colour variable-text, variable-image jobs, only 24 per cent of these same creatives say they are using digital colour presses to output VDP jobs.

The TrendWatch Graphic Arts Variable Data Printing 2005 report, including a useful Executive Summary, is available for purchase by visiting the www.trendwatchgraphicarts.com/special. The price for the 153-page report is US$995.

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