Direct Mail Case Study - May08

Redirecting the power of direct mail

Getting HP Indigo going.

What happens when a new product is just not penetrating the market as it's supposed to? What can you do when demand that should be there is negated by a general lack of awareness? Could we possibly reach out to a bigger audience simply by changing the direction and shifting the focus of our marketing efforts?

When Hewlett-Packard launched its Indigo Digital Press some years back, expectations were high. Targeted mainly at commercial and industrial printers, the Indigo technology allowed offset-quality prints digitally, with greater customisability and greater savings for small print runs. It offered high-quality prints at lowered costs, reproduced just about any colour on a wide variety of materials, and it would revolutionise print possibilities.

However, as with all pioneering technology, introduction into the market represented inevitable challenges. Commercial printers are a prudent lot who are perfectly content to stick to traditional offset print machines. They are understandably reluctant to invest in relatively new machines without an existing demand from their customers, and the customers, in turn, were simply unaware of the existence of any new services.

This presented an especially thorny situation - how could marketing and awareness efforts be directed to generate a demand for the Indigo digital prints?

A little insight proved most helpful. With the understanding that a majority of commercial printers' jobs involve marketing and advertising collateral, we knew we had to demonstrate the potential and capabilities of the Indigo system to the very people who commission these jobs - marketing departments and design houses. As creatives ourselves, we knew that if we could innovatively showcase the capabilities of the Indigo system to these groups of influential consumers in a manner that connects directly with them, we could get them excited at the possibilities.

The ‘Talk direct. Print direct.' personalised direct mailer kit contained a set of cards and a fold-up poster splashed with bold imagery of various portraits, with messaging that highlighted the unique and personalised advantages of the Indigo system. To further engage readers, the mailer included several interactive elements such as mirrored portions that reflected a reader's face (depicting personalisation), and a call to action that directed them to a microsite where they could receive a free personalised T-shirt each.

All of these were printed on an actual Indigo Digital Press.

The mailer did astonishingly well. Of the 5,000 mailers delivered, over 80% visited the microsite to learn more about the service, and stock for the free personalised T-shirts ran out within eight days. HP was so pleased with the results that the campaign was replicated in both Australia and New Zealand - with the same levels of success. Less tangibly, but more importantly, industry awareness and appreciation for Indigo press printing was greatly elevated by this example of refocused communications.

BOX OUT

Objectives        To introduce, and raise awareness and demand for HP's new print technology

Approach         The campaign's message and distribution were focused on key market consumers and offered a customisable premium

Results             Of the 5,000 mailers sent out, more than 80% responded by visiting the microsite. All stock for the personalised T-shirts ran out within eight days. Campaign was adopted by HP Australia and HP New Zealand.

 

Anthony Chin

Creative Director

Notion Creatives