Printing is on-demand

Mimeo.com, a six-year-old, privately owned print shop, has always had 
an online approach to the print medium.
It provides clients with customized printing with a one-day 
turnaround time, on items approved by 5 p.m. The company claims its 
1,500 corporate clients, including Citigroup, Burger King, Jenny 
Craig and Heineken, save money by controlling print amounts, not 
requiring storage and seeing better results with targeted creative.
"It a cliché to say that the world is moving ever faster," said Jeff 
Grill, vice president of marketing at Mimeo, New York. "But digital 
printing is bringing down the costs usually associated with print."
Mimeo revenue increased 68 percent in 2005 versus 
2004 to about $50 million. The company projects extensive growth for 
2006, too.
"We've taken a work process that was labor intensive and made it 
easier," Mr. Grill said. "You could decide today to do a new 
promotion tomorrow."
The ability to provide more personalized collateral is attractive to 
a corporate parent that has several stores or franchise owners but 
requires compliance.
Mr. Grill said that Internet marketing was not a direct threat to 
print advertising.
"Within the same person there is someone who has a preference to view 
and see some things over the Internet and a preference to view and 
see some things via mail," he said. "At the end of the day, you still 
need intrusive media to grab someone's attention and if it's 
customized, you have better odds at grabbing their attention."