The director of the US-based industry analyst, Vince Naselli, said there were more than 50,000 digital presses installed worldwide, but only 500-1,000 commercial printers were capable of offering "complex variable data applications".

"The need/demand [for variable data] is apparent to any qualified marketer," Naselli added. "Yet our most recent research indicates that only 11% of commercial printers view variable data as a sales opportunity.

"The good news is that this number rose from 4% in 2000."

The report, entitled Variable Data Printing: Where are we in 2002?, notes that personalisation can enhance response rates to marketing material by up to 10 times more than "traditional blanket offerings".

It includes advice on who should be offering variable data, whom they should be targeting and which applications are making money.

Naselli is also promising "some of the most candid conversations youll ever hear on variable data printing".

Priced at 810 ($1,295) the report can be downloaded from the Trendwatch website, www.trendwatchgraphicarts.com, in PDF Acrobat format immediately after purchase.

Story by Lauretta Roberts