EFI Acquires DirectSmile, Broadens VDP and Cross Media Capabilities

EFI has announced the acquisition of DirectSmile GmbH, a provider of software solutions for cross media marketing automation. Based in Berlin, DirectSmile invented image personalization in 2001 and today makes media personalization and automation software that streamlines sophisticated marketing and production tasks for corporations, agencies and printing companies. DirectSmile’s technologies extend EFI’s offerings and will give customers expanded, fully integrated capabilities with data-driven digital print, web, e-mail, social media and mobile marketing workflows. DirectSmile employees, including co-founders and former principals Christoph Schacht and Christoph Clermont, have joined EFI’s Productivity Software Web2Print Solutions Group. EFI will continue to develop, sell and support DirectSmile products as standalone software for the agency, enterprise and print industry markets. DirectSmile’s technology also will be integrated into EFI’s web to print and eCommerce offerings, EFI Digital StoreFront. EFI is currently incorporating DirectSmile technology into a new variable-data printing product that will make its debut this fall.
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