Print | i-grafix.com | Print News | Packaging News | Wide Format news | Australia, New Zealand and Asia Print and Packaging news from Australia, New Zealand and AsiaCash-rich industry giant EFI is continuing its acquisition policy, adding personalised print software developer Direct Smile to its growing portfolio.
Cross media marketing, personalised QR codes and URLs, live tracking and triggering follow ups are all specialties of DirectSmile, which says it invented image personalisation in 2001, and has since added more media personalisation and automation software to its offerings
DirectSmile technology will now be integrated into EFI’s web-to-print and e-commerce solution, EFI Digital StoreFront, and into a new EFI variable-data printing product set to debut at the Graph Expo tradeshow in Chicago on September 28 to October 1.
The DirectSmile stand at Co-Reach, a trade fair for cross media marketing Nuremberg, Germany
For printers, DirectSmile offers the ability to build their own web-to-print and print-on-demand applications, and roll out variable data products.
By selling personalised landing pages with each direct mail piece, DirectSmile says printers can measure the uptake of the campaign, and provide quantified case studies for the power of print.
EFI says the acquisition will bring its customers new capabilities with data-driven digital print, web, e-mail, social media and mobile marketing workflows.
Gabriel Matsliach, senior vice president and general manager of EFI Productivity Software, says, “Web to print is one of the fastest-growing parts of the printing and marketing software segment.
“This acquisition gives us the ability to further address this segment with additional, best-in-class variable data and cross media technologies.
“DirectSmile’s customer base, which has a large proportion of agencies, corporate marketing departments and designers, is also highly complementary to EFI’s core client base, which opens the door to new growth opportunities.”
Gabriel Matsliach, senior vice president and general manager of EFI Productivity Software
DirectSmile employees, including co-founders and former principals Christoph Schacht and Christoph Clermont, have been welcomed onboard EFI’s productivity software web2print solutions group.
Schacht says, “We have partnered with EFI on many past projects to help customers bring more value to their variable data and cross media marketing efforts.
“Being a part of the EFI portfolio is a great opportunity to expose our technology to many more companies.
“DirectSmile customers will be able to achieve higher levels of automated, targeted marketing success as well as gain important new efficiencies through integrations with EFI Fiery digital front ends, EFI Digital StoreFront and other products.”
EFI says it will continue to develop, sell and support DirectSmile products as standalone software for the agency, enterprise and printing industry markets.
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