Print4UK is working on educating its client base about the value of personalised colour printed envelopes, following an investment in an Intec envelope printing solution.
The personalised, colour printed envelope is an opportunity for printers and their customers, and Enfield firm Print4UK is seeing a definite increase in interest in the concept since installing an Intec HPP550 high productivity envelope printing system a year ago.
The search for a new envelope printing solution began at drupa 2012, and eventually led to the Intec dealer Continua. Print4UK’s joint managing director Chris Brady explained: ‘We do large and small mailings, and we were printing envelopes on a little desktop black and white printer. Demand was coming more and more and jobs were taking a long time to print, so we looked at the market, saw a couple of different machines, the Intec came along and everything fitted the criteria.’
The company runs two HP Indigos – a 3050 and a 5000 – so the Intec is generally only really used for envelopes, with the Indigos handling the high quality marketing material that goes inside them. Speaking of which, Print4UK ran a nice little marketing campaign of its own to promote the Intec printer when it was installed, putting a personalised, colour printed envelope inside the addressed envelope. The message on the inner envelope read: ‘(Name), have you thought about the extra impact you could have if you branded and personalised your envelopes in full colour like this?’ Beneath the Print4UK logo was a further strapline: ‘Envelopes are the last thing you think about, but the first thing people see!’
When the inner envelope was opened, recipients found a sheet with more information about the Intec HPP550, including a QR code that linked to further information on the Print4UK website. The mail piece was sent to 600 customer contacts, with variable imagery and colours used where there were multiple recipients within a single company.
‘The response was good,’ said Mr Brady. ‘We had a few enquiries and people wanting quotes on campaigns with personalised full colour envelopes. Also, when you do these kinds of campaigns, it will prompt someone to have a new idea. We also had about 165 hits on the web page from the QR code.’
The Intec has made quite an impact at Print4UK, enabling it to turn around DM work more quickly and reducing the amount of hand-working that needs to be undertaken. Based around the Intec XP2020 engine, it can print colour on DL envelopes at a rate of 3300 per hour, and can handle substrates up to 600 microns thick. A Fiery XF RIP provides for advanced colour management. Either side of the XP2020 are a friction feed delivery system, which delivers from the bottom so that the envelope stack can be refilled at the top, and a shingling conveyor with variable speed settings.
Mr Brady continued: ‘The running of the machine is so easy. The hopper that you put the envelopes in is so smooth and easy. With other machines we had some bad demoes where it was not feeding properly. We also sent the same samples through to each company to see what the colour was like and the Intec was just better there as well. The main thing was it was easily usable though. It has made our lives so much easier. Before, if we got a job for 3000 black and white envelopes it would take two days to do on the desktop printer; now it is done within three hours. We used to print out address labels four-up and hand-workers would come in and stick the labels on the envelopes and insert the marketing letters. Now all the envelopes are pre-printed so we are saving labour costs there.’
After the initial capital investment, the Intec is paid for through consumables purchase and a maintenance contract, rather than through a click charge, and Mr Brady said the company has been pleasantly surprised at how cost effective the system is proving to be. He concluded:
‘The machine ticks every box and, touch wood, we have only had one engineer out so far. There’s a bit of maintenance you have to do but if you look after it, it looks after you. We are getting more enquiries for colour printed envelopes. The way we sell it is through brand awareness. If an envelopes goes out with no branding on, it is misused white space. Use the space – it’s an opportunity to show your brand and get it out there.’
