Sustainable printing 'could be aided by personalised mail'

Personalised direct mail could contribute to sustainable printing, it has been suggested.

Improvements in UK printing that help to personalise direct mail could make the process more sustainable.

That is according to Morag Cuddeford Jones, who wrote in a piece for iStockAnalyst the industry is becoming increasingly aware of environmental considerations.

A significant part of this focus on sustainability is cleansing data, as it is believed companies would reduce their carbon footprint and increase the effectiveness of their marketing materials if they "applied the same targeting rigour to direct mail as transactional marketing or online targeting", the author continued.

And although personalising content for large print runs may seem logistically unviable, "innovations in the print process are allowing mass mailers to address individual consumers", the writer observed.

Adrian Wray, client account handler for APS, proposed large catalogues could be reduced to smaller leaflets that only feature the interests of a particular recipient.

However, Nancy Scott recently stated on the Digital Nirvana blog many businesses are nervous about personalising direct marketing materials such as flyers.