Local hero

Apr 1, 2007 12:00 PM, By PMB staff

Marketing managers for companies with multiple locations face an almost impossible task. They are asked to tailor ads and other materials to specific locations while still adhering to corporate standards. Prices and other details might vary, but company colors and logos must be identical, whether they are seen in Sacramento or Staten Island. Until recently, most marketing managers followed a two-step process. First, they distributed binders filled with ad slicks. Then, they hoped for the best.

The old-school system has many pitfalls. Frequently the person responsible for placing the local ad or promotional campaign is a store manager or business owner with limited design, print or marketing skills. The do-it-yourself approach can result in amateurish ads that might require extra-long lead times. But Internet-based tools offer a new approach to local marketing.

Saepio (Kansas City, MO) offers Web-based tools for creating localized content that doesn't compromise brand consistency. The company got its start with Saepio Print, Web-based ad templates that enable marketing professionals to create customized, local-level ads. Saepio's Marketing Suite, known as Saepio Enterprise, now includes Web-based ad building technology, digital asset management and local marketing management tools.

Think nationally, act locally

Using Saepio Print, franchisee and branch managers can go to the corporate intranet, pull down an ad or marketing piece, insert a local name and address, customize the copy blocks and forward an electronic file to a publication or directly to the printer. Saepio's Web-based tools eliminate the cumbersome system of distributing paper materials and also avoids the hassle of ads drawn up and altered using a variety of software packages.

“What our software does is allow people who aren't technologically sophisticated to version marketing collateral for their specific locale,” says Stephen Tucker, vice president for Saepio Technologies. “Any authorized user can tap into their company's digital repository of professionally designed marketing assets.”

Spur of the moment direct-mail pieces

Nearly 18 months ago, U-Save Car And Truck Rental introduced the Saepio-powered “U-Create” ad builder system to franchisees, to strengthen the national brand at the local level. The franchisor, which grew its rental business by targeting the neighborhood, corporate rental and insurance replacement markets, broadened its business model two years ago to include airport rentals. Today, U-Save has approximately 300 car rental locations and more than 10,000 vehicles.

“It is so great for our locations to have the ability to put together a direct mail piece at the spur of the moment,” says Carrie Kelly, director of marketing for U-Save Car And Truck Rental. “Before we added the system, there was no easy avenue for customizing and I was spending my time literally changing every single bullet on a flier.”

“There was no way to run a campaign,” Kelly continues. “Now our franchisees can make a short-lead decision and have the entire campaign ready to go in a matter of minutes. They feel like they are doing it on their own, and we know it's being done professionally.”

Eventually, U-Save will add its Yellow Pages advertising system to U-Create. “Yellow Pages advertising is a huge part of our marketing efforts,” explains Kelly. “Even though they offer their own online system, our Yellow Pages agency has seen the Saepio system in action and is on board with the decision to move it to U-Create.”

Saepio tools also can help franchisees stretch their print dollars. A marketing agreement with Kinko's lets owners or branch managers send a marketing piece generated by the U-Create system directly to the Kinko's store down the street from U-Save corporate headquarters in Jackson, MS. By centralizing brochures, postcards and other preprinted shells, U-Save keeps per-piece costs down.

“Our franchisees receive a 50 percent discount on printing when they choose to send it directly to Kinko's in Jackson,” Kelly says. “While there are shipping costs, they are also deeply discounted because Kinko's is owned by FedEx.”

Franchisees that prefer to work with local print partners simply send the finished piece directly to the printer via e-mail in the specified format, usually a compressed high-resolution PDF file.

Put on a happy face

Sona MedSpa offers medically supervised skin health treatments in a luxury spa environment. The addition of the Saepio Print system has made it easy for its franchisees to create seasonal or other special offers quickly.

“As a franchise company, we have to closely guard the integrity of our national brand,” says Leslie Ellis, marketing coordinator for Sona MedSpa. “We now have all of our campaigns uploaded to the Saepio system. This allows our franchise owners flexibility while maintaining a standard for our brand from coast to coast. They can customize each template including changing photos and graphics and selecting copy blocks.”

Once the user has completed the customization, which typically takes only a few minutes, the file can be compressed and e-mailed to the printer of their choice. With aggressive plans for expansion across the United States, Ellis says that the Saepio system will be able to grow with Sona MedSpa. “We'll keep adding campaigns, including Spanish materials for markets such as Miami,” she says.

Medical marketing

Medical Consulting Group (Springfield, MO) specializes in advertising, marketing and patient development programs for OB/GYN, ophthalmology, plastic surgery, orthopedic, dermatology and other medical practices, as well as medical manufacturers and medical spa services. A Web-based resource called PatientBuilder.com helps members market and grow their practices.

At PatientBuilder.com, users can create postcards, print ads, brochures, countertop displays, newsletters, Web marketing, radio and TV spots from an online portal that is customized for each practice. According to Bill Rabourn, founder and managing partner of Medical Consulting Group, PatientBuilder replaces “off-the-rack” marketing materials that offer minimal amounts of customization and in-house advertising attempts that might lack a professional image.

“PatientBuilder creates a paradigm shift in the way doctors market their practices,” says Debbie Donovan, director of corporate communications for Conceptus, which manufactures and markets a medical device and procedure designed to provide a nonincisional alternative to tubal ligation.

Point, click and print

To create a printed piece with a custom message, practices access the PatientBuilder Web portal and customize scores of ads and other marketing templates, all of which include thousands of possible variations with headlines, copy blocks, photo images and other graphics.

An exclusive partnership between Conceptus and PatientBuilder.com, which is powered by the Saepio Marketing Suite, allows qualified physicians to create and customize Essure patient educational and marketing materials at no cost.

PatientBuilder stores information about each of Conceptus' clients, such as logo, PMS colors, staff photos and contact information. The technology also tracks key words used by the given practice to describe medical procedures, and it automatically populates each of the templates.

Proofs are generated electronically and print orders can be placed online. If the piece is to be mailed, a targeted mailing list can be generated from within the PatientBuilder site in less than five minutes.

The Saepio server powering PatientBuilder is HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) compliant, ensuring that personal health information is transferred securely. Practices can either upload their own patient mailing information or tap into the built-in list builder and target prospects by demographics such as ZIP code and disposable income.

“Our target market is women age 35-45,” Donovan said. “The PatientBuilder mailing list lets us further refine our target and specify only women with children. It will sort for me and let me know how many potential patients are in that ZIP code.”

Economies of scale

All PatientBuilder orders run through ColorGraphic Printing, Inc., located near the Medical Consulting Group headquarters in Springfield, MO. ColorGraphic receives the print instructions and artwork online from PatientBuilder. From there, the piece is sent to a fulfillment house for labeling and mailing. PatientBuilder can gang run several orders so practices get better pricing.

Fast turnaround times aren't a problem, according to Rabourn: “From the moment the practice starts the process to the time the consumer receives the piece in their mailbox, it is literally 7-10 days.”

A problem solver

Donovan says her company is saving time and money: “Before PatientBuilder, I had one person working full-time to customize materials using complicated layout programs like Quark or In Design,” Donovan said. “I had another working part-time to manage the logistics of printing, mailing and fulfillment-it was expensive.”

Field managers, owners and other non-technical employees at Sona MedSpa and U-Save Car And Truck Rental quickly grasped the Saepio system for creating ads and ordering print.

“It's so easy to use, even for those with limited computer skills,” says Sona's Ellis. Adds Kelly: “Even if there is a little hesitation to try it, after [employees] visit the U-Create site the first time and find out how easy it is, they start using it all the time. It's really been the answer to my problems.”

Workflow Tools

• Internet-Based Ad Builder Technology
• Market-Relevant Versioning
• Digital Asset Management
• Direct Mail List Creation & Management
• Ad Specialties Cataloging
• E-Commerce Capabilities
• Co-Op User Budget Management
• Order Management with Multiple
• Vendor Support

About Saepio

Saepio was founded in 2000. Marketing executives at Fortune 500 companies comprise about 50 percent of Saepio's customer base, with the rest split between ad agencies and marketing service providers. Saepio's open architechure allows users to integrate other vendors' direct mail list building tools, image ad placement services, e-mail creation and distribution as well as image libraries. A wide variety of languages are supported. Saepio's solutions are Mac- and PC-compatible. See www.saepio.com.

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