At A Glance

The corporateliner is a complete solution enabling planning and handling of marketing steps with print products. It is an online platform that serves concerns with subsidiaries as a cost-saving and highly efficient tool applied in the context of complete process chains.

The principle behind it: The centrally organised marketing department of a concern provides its subsidiaries with various marketing tools. These may include brochures, posters, flyers and so on and so forth. The subsidiaries are then able to tailor the marketing material to their own individual requirements and place the order for printing straightaway.

In the past this process used to be long-winded and many hierachies needed to be obeyed to, however, now with the corporateliner it is possible in an instant at a mere mouse click. At the same time, the concern can respond to regional demands much faster and more cost-efficiently and with a more individual note.

The corporate design of the concern can thus be combined with ‚the face’ of the respective subsidiary. Regional factors such as demography, wheather, education and income can be taken into account when designing the marketing material.

Volkswagen has been successfully applying this valuable tool since 2004. Currently more than 120 million brochures are generated and processed online by more than 2,500 car dealers nationwide per year.

The corporateliner represents the future for internal corporate processes geared towards the handling of individual print products. With the corporateliner the centrally organised marketing department of a concern has increased flexibility in reacting to market developments and demands, thus strengthening and expanding the company’s market position.

The Product

The same principle holds: The centrally organised marketing department of a concern compiles a variety of marketing tools which are then uploaded onto the web-based platform of the corporateliner. Subsidiaries, dealers and/or franchisers can then individualise and adapt these marketing tools online within the parameters set out by the concern beforehand.

According to the specifications each subsidiary/dealer is able to integrate its logo or brand name. They can choose from black-and-white or coloured versions, change prices if need be, offer special deals, upload personal pictures or texts, market products of their own etc. It is very simple: the options that are on offer can be ticked online and then be previewed in the prevailing lay out. Everything is ready at one click! The print shop receives the print order automatically and shortly thereafter the print products are delivered to the respective subsidiary or dealer.

Simultanously, the corporateliner allows for the process to be monitored. It is possible to oversee each subsidiary’s/dealer’s extent of usage of the marketing tools that are on offer.

To sum it all up, the marketing activities of any concern using the corporateliner will be

Improved – because now the marketing department is able to respond to regional demands and individual requirements of each subsidiary,
Cheaper – because thanks to the automated processes certain layout costs do not apply anymore,
Faster – because thanks to the automated processes the handling time is reduced to an absolute minimum (time-to-market) and
More transparent – because thanks to accurate technical controlling (up to the second!) security of the process as well as exact monitoring can be guaranteed.

Applications

The corporateliner allows subsidiaries to individualise various marketing tools including brochures, flyers, posters, business cards, etc. in real time via the Internet.
The completed files are then automatically sent via the Internet to the print shop with whom an order is placed.
A preview of the data submitted is immediately available as PDF file.
Integration of an adequate administration of rights.
Statistics on the subsidiaries’ usage of the online marketing platform are available.
Dealer and subsidiaries can automatically take over individual offers onto their own website.

Areas of Application

Printing: Brochures, Flyer, Invitations, Posters, Mailings, Advertisements, Newsletters, Give-Aways, Business Cards, Layout of Point of Sales, Business Prints
Non-print: Websites, Shops, Media Work Flow, Document Management Systems, Distribution Support, Marketing Planning and Implementation, Merchandising, T-Shirts, Cups etc.

Benefits

Cost cutting due to minimisation of expenditures for processing and coordination.
High security during the process prevents misprinting.
‚Time-to-market’: due to decreased production time of the brochure, its design is more in line with the market.
Marketing activities are responding to local and regional demands.
Great transparency though data analysis in a matter of seconds providing an overview of nationwide marketing activities, thus supporting the sales and marketing department
Self-controlled compliance with corporate design guidelines thanks to centrally organised control of the processes and local adaption within those guidelines.
On-demand and just-in-time: in the blink of an eye printable PDF files are generated.
Concern software: link-up with existing IT infrastructure through professional interface programming.
24/7 system availability.

Product Versions

The corporateliner is in several versions available:

The Entry-Edition
offers an easy, flexible and low-priced entry into the field of brochure individualisation.
The Standard-Edition
allows decentralised units to make use of all benefits of individualised marketing tools whilst operating within the corporate design guidelines.
Finally, the Enterprise-Edition
is a highly individualised version of the corporateliner allowing for an optimal adaption of diverse business structures.

With the corporateliner further modules may be applied such as SAP interface, SAP enabled, Excel reports, fax service, web catalogue, shopping cart, printing of forms and contracts, media work flow, internationalisation, free text entries, marketing mailings, email tool, newsletter etc.

References

Since 2004 Volkswagen has been applying the web-based marketing platform in order to design their brochures. Yearly more than 120 million brochures promoting products of 2,500 Volkswagen contract dealers are individualised. Each dealer is able to incorporate their own logos, pictures, components and prices.

Compliance with the corporate design guidelines is secured through a rights administration procedure. In the interest of a strong liason between dealer and concern, the dealer is offered added values:

Usage of advertisements (building blocks)

To improve the dealer’s presence in the Internet documents can be created featuring different products, deals, after-sales services, labels etc. on a monthly or bi-monthly basis

Automatic creation of individual web presence for each dealer on the basis of the individual data that has been lodged beforehand (individual selection of special deals, prices etc.). Provision of promotional tools (e.g. detailed information regarding promotions, displays, letter temtplates etc.)

Some facts that underline the great success of the corporateliner:

Handling times have been reduced from several months to a few weeks.
The error rate could be decreased to 0% thanks to standardised, transparent and secure processes.
With the utilization of to the marketing platform processing times and the use of multiple Excel tables could be eliminated. Everyone involved works with the same data.
In 2006 the marketing platform was used to successfully design more than 120 million brochures, a figure that greatly exceeds the previous expectations.
In 2006 individual newsletter for independent work shops as well as promotional letters for customers were integrated into the platform.
The corporateliner continues undamped its triumphial procession in the fields of marketing and dealer liason.

Visit our demo application corporateliner in order to obtain a general idea of how the corporateliner works.