CHOICE Library

Agency: DME

Situation: Ranked 93rd in the Fortune 500, Auto Nation is the largest U.S. retailer of new and used vehicles—with 373 new vehicle franchises selling 35 different brands in 17 states. A key element of their revenue-generating strategy is to send out reminder mailings that alert vehicle owners about upcoming services. Previously, this necessitated 16 simultaneous campaigns for multiple dealers and brands—using black variable laser on pre-printed shells that were then offset in small runs to add color.

Costs were high for proofing, imaging, printing and lettershop. Postage savings were lost because of the small mail drops. And because of constant changes in the auto industry, new slogans, and new makes and models—there were nearly 4 million unused shells left over during a two-year period.

Solution:Auto Nation worked with their direct marketing partner, DME, to develop an effective and economical solution—consolidating all the campaigns into a single 4-color VDP print run. All the variables that had previously dictated separate campaigns—different brands, for example—could now be accommodated in an all-in-one solution.

Pre-printed shells were replaced with a “stock form”—a blank piece of white paper upon which all content was printed on the fly from a database library of text and graphics. This simplified and sped up the production process, eliminated the need and expense for storage, and generated large postage savings since a single campaign was now being dropped.

Results: Superb! Responses increased by 35%...revenue increased by 65%...and costs decreased. In every respect, the adoption of VDP technology helped Auto Nation maintain its position as the industry leader.