Multichannel Marketing Developer Comosoft Expands Its Presence In Latin America

Lima-based Luis Ayarza appointed as Business Development Manager for Comosoft’s Latin American operations.

Plano (Texas), October 2022 – Comosoft Americas is pleased to announce the appointment of Lima, Perú-based Luis Ayarza as the company’s Business Development Manager for its expanded operations in Latin America. Ayarza, a twenty-two-year pre-media veteran, will work with the region’s top retailers, using Comosoft’s LAGO system to help them streamline their print and online marketing operations. 

“Luis is a perfect addition to our team,” said Comosoft Americas President Randy Evans. “We are investing in and expanding our operations in Latin America, to meet the growing demand by the region’s retailers and catalogers for content production automation. His knowledge of the industry, and of the latest technology, will help provide support to transform their multichannel marketing efforts.”

Ayarza has 16 years of experience supporting the LAGO system. As the Head of Systems and Support for Litho Laser SA, a leading pre-media firm, he oversaw the implementation of LAGO at Belcorp, multinational cosmetic and beauty product company. During his tenure, Ayarza worked with over 250 Belcorp staff members supporting thirteen countries helping optimize catalog and collateral production. Using the LAGO system, he helped automate the process of using complex data to create cost-effective, well-designed catalogs and other marketing campaigns.

“From the beginning,” Ayarza said, “I worked closely with Belcorp to transition from a semi-manual catalog process to an automated process. This lets them produce more catalogs in each country where they have a presence, in less time and without mistakes. From this experience, I know that LAGO can help other companies optimize their marketing and production processes, not only in Peru but also throughout Latin America.” He added, “Many retailers and catalogers are looking to implement a digital marketing transformation. LAGO is an invaluable tool for achieving that success.”

Comosoft opens new office in Valencia (Spain)

Using the potential in one of the biggest upcoming tech areas in Europe.

Hamburg, August 2021 – Comosoft is happy to announce the opening of another company location located in Valencia (Spain), additional to the valued locations of the Comosoft Inc in Plano (Texas) and Chicago (Illinois).

In the past years the city of Valencia laid its focus clearly on forcing innovation – especially in technology and software development. This found expression in a broad base of technology specialists and highly skilled professionals in the valencian area and all around Spain. To meet the expectations of Comosoft´s fast growing customer base, Comosoft decided to open a new office full of experts in Valencia.

“Well trained people, a good infrastructure and of course a very interesting market made the decision for Valencia very easy.“, says Peter Jozefiak, CEO of Comosoft. „We were able to assemble a very good and passionate team within a few months and integrate them into Comosoft.“

The Comosoft Technology Spain team consists of Professional Service Consultants, Software Developers and Sales Managers. With this team of experts Comosoft is also ready to enter the spanish and latinamerican market with full force, making the marketing material production more efficient with their unique multichannel solution LAGO.

“Betting on an international project in the IT sector has been a great challenge for my career but I could not be more satisfied with the decision, bringing a software to Spain and Latin America with so much added value for the retail sector is just fascinating!“, states Jennyfer Diaz Hidalgo, Sales Manager at Comosoft in Valencia.

Start With the Basics

Untangling and optimizing all that data often begins with something all grocery retailers have but few utilize to its full potential: the lowly printed insert or circular. In the last article, we described how the Comosoft LAGO system is used, in connection with Adobe InDesign, to produce hundreds of regional variations from a single, “master” circular. As impressive as that is, it’s only the tip of the marketing iceberg.

In his October 2018 blog, content marketer David Kindervater noted that the “print is dead” trope is a fallacy. When it comes to marketing, print and digital are inseparable partners, not zero-sum rivals. Not only does print appeal to our sense of touch, it can also be highly customized, through the “magic” of data-driven, variable data printing. Today, grocery circulars can be customised to the individual store level, creating variants for almost any local situation. In the not-so-distant future, customisation of a mailed flyer can reflect an individual’s shopping preferences.

A major step in that direction is Comosoft’s Direct Individualized Marketing (DIM) module. Acting as a sophisticated traffic controller, LAGO DIM can take basic customer information (e.g., names and addresses) as well as preferences and purchase history, combine them with PIM and DAM information, and generate multiple, “one-to-one” campaigns for both print and digital media.

The Integration Challenge

No matter how well-designed a print or online campaign may be, the key to success will always be a retailer’s integration of complex data. Mobile shopping apps, in-store kiosks, and loyalty programs all rely on the same basic data as the lowly circular. If the basic data infrastructure is sound for print campaigns, it will give retailers a leg up when expanding their digital footprint.

Unfortunately, there is no out-of-the-box solution for creating a grocery retailer’s ideal data marketing system. There are simply too many variables. However, both vendors and major retailers are embracing the integration challenge. One prominent grocery chain recently re-vamped its data operation with the help of Comosoft specialists. “We integrated four robust systems into LAGO,” one senior IT executive remarked. “We were able to streamline marketing for produce and accelerate time to market across our regional and national brand’s print and digital platforms.” The chain was also able to streamline and reduce costs for both print and digital marketing campaigns. “Gone are the days of multiple deadline extensions,” he said.

Making the Connection

In the pre-digital, pre-industrial days, the local general store had just about anything a shopper might need. The owner also had a direct, personal relationship with individual customers, whose needs and preferences were known. Those days are gone, but the desire for an intimate, personal connection still remains. The grocery retailer who can make that connection, virtually and with the aid of well-integrated data, will succeed at making their brand a trusted destination.

The Eversfrank Group wins IKEA Tulip Award

Sweden, October 2019 – On the evening of 9 October, the Swedish furniture chain IKEA hosted its annual Tulip Awards. Year after year, IKEA awards the prize in the form of a wooden tulip for the best printing performance in the production of its current catalogue. The Eversfrank Group is one of the prizewinners and scored highly with its sustainable print production concepts. Now the Scandinavian colleagues of the Eversfrank Group have brought the prize to Germany, where it was happily received by Managing Director Axel Polei. 

As a member company of the Healthy Printing Initiative, the Eversfrank Group is committed to working towards healthy print products in the long term by actively supporting positive impacts rather than just minimizing negative ones. “For example, we are working to ensure that all ingredients and materials in the printed paper cycle become a useful biological or technical resource for other processes,” explains Hauke Klinck, Environmental Manager of the Eversfrank Group. “Our long-term goal is to produce printed products that contain 100% defined biocompatible components that are safe to compost, can be used in other products, or can be incinerated without a contaminant filter. For IKEA, a catalogue production was made possible, among other things, by changing the sheet and roller colours to the Cradle to Cradle® standard with improved and sustainable properties.”

Axel Polei, Managing Director of the Eversfrank Group in Meldorf, emphasizes that the award is due to all employees who have worked energetically with IKEA and contributed to this success. “It is highly motivating to be honoured by such a renowned customer and it shows us that the environmentally conscious path we have been taking for years is the right one,” he concludes.