Page 8 - Print.IT - Autumn 2013

8 PRINT.IT 01732 759725
Bulletin
Businesses are being urged to look again at their print
strategies or risk losing customers, as a number of recent
surveys highlight the continued popularity and effectiveness of
printed communications.
A Direct Marketing Association (DMA) study, From letterbox to
inbox 2013, found that four out of five consumers act on direct mail
immediately; and that direct mail was more successful at driving
traffic to brands’ websites than email.
Nearly half of the 1,232 UK adults surveyed said they retain
printed items to look at again and 56% consider printed marketing to
be the most trustworthy of media channels.
Rachel Aldighieri, director of communications and insight at
the DMA, said: “People continue to value direct mail and printed
communications from brands, finding that it plays a seamless role
within their connected worlds, offers some qualities not found
in other comms and is an essential part of the overall ‘brand
experience’.”
She added: “Many people today easily could choose to conduct
their lives entirely online, but they don’t. For brands to market
effectively in a truly connected
world, they must fully recognise
the role that print comms play
and will continue to play for
many years to come.”
This doesn’t just apply to
marketing communications.
There is growing evidence that
consumers resent it when
service providers ignore their
preferences and force them
to adopt e-billing or charge for
paper bills and statements.
Earlier this year, Two Sides
published the results of an
international survey of 2,500
consumers, in which 60% said
that the option of paper billing
was an important factor when
choosing a new supplier. Nine
out of 10 consumers want to be
able to switch between paper
and e-bills without difficulty or
additional cost; 42% prefer to
receive financial services bills
by post only; and 37% prefer to
receive utility bills by post only.
Consumers continue to
value printed bills because they
are thought to improve record
keeping (69%) and are easier
to check (65%), more secure
(48%) and easier to read (46%).
A separate survey by Opinium for the Keep Me Posted campaign
in support of paper communications found that 84% of adults are
unhappy when companies take away their right to choose how they
are communicated with. Four out of 10 people say the removal of
paper statements entirely could seriously affect their finances, such
as missing a bill payment.
Keep Me Posted is funded by UK postal operators Royal Mail,
TNT Post and UK Mail. More information can be found at
www.keepmeposteduk.com.
From letterbox to inbox was sponsored by HP and produced by
the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) and fast.MAP. The report
can be downloaded from: http://dma.org.uk/toolkit/infographic-
letterbox-inbox-2013
According to Winning the
Paper Wars by AIIM, the
association for image
management professionals,
businesses are continuing
to waste time and money
on paper-based processes
unnecessarily, with almost 40%
of respondents to a recent
survey citing the need for
physical signatures and legal
admissibility as the biggest
obstacles to the adoption of
electronic workflows.
Wacom signature pads
provide a secure, legally
admissible solution for
banks, insurance companies,
healthcare providers and other
organisations that need to
capture handwritten signatures
as part of a business workflow.
Capturing signatures digitally
saves the time and cost of
printing, scanning, distributing
and storing hard copy
documents such as contracts
and consent forms.
Wacom’s latest models are
the STU-530, with 5-inch high
resolution colour screen, and
the STU-430 with a 4.5in mono
screen. Users can sign the
screen digitally using a cordless
battery-free pen that has an
industry-leading 1,024 levels
of pressure sensitivity. This
allows the pads to capture a
signature’s pressure profile as
well as its image.
When not being used for
signatures, the STU-530’s colour
screen can display advertising,
promotions or branding.
The pads offer a number
of physical security features
including an integrated pen
holder; security lock to prevent
theft; and an option to tether
pens. Customers can connect
external USB devices, such as
fingerprint readers, next to the
unit using the same USB cable.
www.wacom.com
Oki breaks new
ground with five-
colour desktop
printer
The graphic arts industry’s first
five-colour, A3 LED printer has
been launched by Oki at the
Viscom exhibition in Paris.
In addition to C, M, Y, K
process colours, the Oki ES9541
offers an extra spot colour
in white or clear gloss. This
capability was previously only
available on expensive digital or
lithographic printing equipment.
The introduction of the
Oki ES9541 enables creative
businesses and copy shops to
produce a greater variety of
material on demand, in short-
runs more cost-effectively than
ever before.
The white toner option is
ideal for printing on colour
paper, transparent film, T-shirt
transfers and promotional
merchandise; and the clear
gloss for producing high
quality catalogues, manuals,
photobooks and marketing
documents.
The ES9541 costs £17,000,
prints at speeds of up to 50
pages per minute and has a
consumables capacity of up
to 38,000 pages. It supports
paper sizes from A6 to SRA3;
banner lengths of 1.3m; and
media of up to 360gsm (single
sided) or 320gsm (duplex). An
optional EFI Fiery XF server
provides enhanced colour
management.
www.okieurope.com
Lose printed communications
and you risk losing customers
Sign up to
electronic workflows
with wacom
PL ANNING BUDGET
TARGET
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C R
E A T I V E P R O D U C T I O N
P O S T
RESPONSE A
PRACTICAL
GUIDE TO CREATING
EFFECTIVE
DIRECT MAIL
CAMPAIGNS
SMART IDEAS FOR
SUCCESSFUL COMMUNICATION
A new guide produced by
Neopost and the DMA provides
useful advice on how to
maximise the effectiveness of a
direct marketing budget.
A Practical Guide to Creating
Effective Direct Mail Campaigns
contains valuable tips on every
stage of a campaign, from
planning to response analysis.
The free guide can be
downloaded from
www.neopost.co.uk/dmaguide.