Over the last few weeks, Xerox Corporation has taught customers a variety of new ways to grow their business and boost profits through a series of Thought Leadership Workshops at its Gil Hatch Center in Webster, N.Y. At the workshops, Xerox and industry experts armed attendees with the expertise to develop and implement personalized direct-marketing campaigns, integrated communications programs, specialty photo applications and variable-information documents.

Highlights from Xerox’s Thought Leadership Workshops include:

Creative Pros: Open New Opportunities with Digital Printing Thought Leadership Workshop, Oct. 24-25: Xerox invited creative services professionals, marketers and digital print providers to attend a workshop focused on helping attendees produce and deliver real-world integrated communications programs using compelling, results-generating 1:1 marketing pieces. The workshop covered an array of topics, including steps for more effective communications with a focused brand message and communications strategies that generate incremental results by using a cross-media personalization approach. Attendees heard a keynote address from Steve Lance, Emmy-Award winning creative director and author of The Little Blue Book of Advertising: 52 Small Ideas That Can Make a Big Difference. Lance explored the “language disconnect” between creatives, marketers and print producers, as well as offered advice for more effective communications.

Commercial Printers: Driving Profits with Short-Run and Variable Print Production Thought Leadership Workshop, Oct. 17-18: Commercial print customers gathered at the Gil Hatch Center to learn how “The Right Business Model, The Right Workflow, and The Right Technology” make it possible to offer value-added services such as Web-to-print, personalized and cross-media communications and digital book printing. Attendees heard from keynote speaker Joseph Truncale, president and CEO of the National Association for Printing Leadership (NAPL), who has been responsible for NAPL’s marketing strategy and sales development, including major tradeshows, direct mail and electronic promotions.

Profiting from the New Business of Photo Applications Thought Leadership Workshop, Oct. 10-11: Digital print technology has enabled a cost-effective way to produce short-run books, making it an area with tremendous growth potential. Combine this with the explosion of digital cameras and the result is an incredible market for photo publishing applications. Workshop attendees - a mix of print providers and those in the photo business, retail and photo labs – heard how to create a digital photo book from start to finish, and learned about current market opportunities, photo book software solutions, digital photo print technology, photo media solutions and finishing options.

Direct Marketing: Boost Profits with Digital Thought Leadership Workshop, Oct. 4-5: The workshop, focused on the direct marketing segment of the graphic communications industry, demonstrated how new variable information strategies and digital print technologies are transforming traditional direct mail into powerful, effective personal cross-media communications that get noticed, read and elicit action. Attendees learned how corporations, print providers and advertising agencies are incorporating these programs into their marketing mix, as well as how to develop and implement successful color print programs that deliver results. Branding expert Karen Post delivered the keynote address, passing on her wisdom of how to build memorable brands that sell products, create loyalty and add value. The workshop examined relevant direct-marketing programs, how direct marketers need to evolve to prosper and cross-media personalization.

For more info, go to http://www.xerox.com