Dialogue re-equips and turns focus to account management

Dialogue Solutions has completed a 400,000 refurbishment of its premises and launched two cross-media software platforms to combine personalised print with SMS and online communications.

The firm, which was known as Howitt Digital until a rebrand during the summer, has revamped its Edenbridge, Kent, site to create an expanded mezzanine floor for account management and sales functions, as well as a streamlined production workflow.

It has also unveiled two new cross-media products, Infrastream and Market­Power, which are designed to allow organisations to simplify their customer

communications and advertising activity across a range of media.

Nick Dixon, Dialogue Solutions chief executive, said the ethos of the firm was now to focus on “customer communications management” and that, while it would offer production and some print management, the main thrust would be in account management and its cross-media software.

“Print management is all about making your print cheaper. What we’re doing is giving a saving on print, but making that spend much more effective,” he said.

MarketPower, which is already used by a number of clients including LA Fitness, is a web-to-print tool that enables firms with multiple branches to devolve print buy­ing and marketing responsibilities to local managers while retaining brand control.

As well as ordering standard or personalised print such as point-of-sale material and brochures, MarketPower can be set up to order other promotional resources such as leafleting staff and press ads.

Infrastream, meanwhile, offers event-driven direct marketing through a range of channels including print, SMS, email and online, as well as data management.

Jeremy Walters, Dialogue Solutions managing director, said the software could also be used to produce management information on customer behaviour, budgeting and staff and was easily adaptable depending on clients’ needs. “Because we’ve got our own developers, we are able to move very quickly,” he said.