Memo: Winner of the international 'Best-of-the-Best' Print Award

Graham Smith receiving award

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In 2009, the MBA Group installed the UK's first Xerox 980 continuous-colour press with an investment of over £4m. We needed to tell UK print buyers about our hungry digital printing press, but there was no big marketing budget available.

I decided to use co-op marketing and engaged with both Xerox and Print Media Management (PMM) magazine on an idea for a joint venture.

PMM wanted to demonstrate they were the leading trade title for Print Buyers and Marketing Managers (our key audience) and Xerox wanted to show the success of MBA's investment.

MBA needed to demonstrate the benefits and quality of variable data print, so I proposed producing the world's first 100% variable data publication.

The publication was different from anything the market had seen before. Firstly, it’s
fully digital, not a digital/litho combination. This opened opportunities for personalisation and variable content on every page.

Secondly, it used offline data – an existing subscriber database – not one that has been built or amended via a web page. So every reader gets variable content and personalisation, not just those that visited a website and completed an online form.

Finally, it has both variable editorial and advertising throughout the publication. This ensures the content is relevant to the reader; more relevance means greater readership and response.

MBA fought off stiff competition with an incredible number of entries from over 19 different countries. The award was presented in front of an international audience at the Premier Partnership Congress held in Manchester on 17 May 2010.