VistaPrint uses print on demand technology to mass customized business cards, wedding invitations, and other printed ephemera. They are easily one of the largest mass customization businesses with revenues of close to $750MM. They have recently started to dabble in television advertising and the subject of their commercials are the small and medium sized businesses they serve. The commercial embedded below highlights a small company called “YouBar” which will customize a granola bar to your taste from a list of fixed ingredients.
It is a neat milestone in that it is one of the first major mass customization companies to utilize mainstream marketing (the custom M&M’s are the only other example that comes to mind). It is also great to see them focusing on another business that combines the internet and physical production to customize products for end users. Hopefully, the campaign will continue and many more interesting businesses will have a chance to draft of Vistaprint’s pioneering success.
