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Find over 450 other case studies on digital print applications at www.podi.org/casestudy. Š 2011, Caslon, a PODi Affiliate. Terms of Use: PODi members can distribute the case study in hard copy form or may post up to two case studies on their Web site as long as PODi is attributed as the source and a link to www.podi.org/casestudy is provided. Mass distribution or other usage is restricted as defined in the Terms of Use on www.podi.org. Š 2011 PODi, the Digital Printing Initiative
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AlphaGraphics Wins the Day with Super Heroes Campaign
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Project:
AlphaGraphics Wins the Day with Super Heroes Campaign
Vertical Market:
Printing Services
Business Application:
Direct Marketing/Lead Generation
Business Objectives AlphaGraphics Cary (AG Cary) wanted to showcase a variety of new and innovative marketing tools while educating customers and prospects on their full range of products and services. A campaign was needed that would:
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Increase sales penetration within current customer companies Generate awareness and interest within a select group of prospective companies Highlight a toolbox of economical marketing services with trackable results and proven return on investment Demonstrate the power of campaigns incorporating Personalized URLs
Results To accomplish its marketing objectives, AG Cary developed the cross-media “AlphaGraphics Super Heroes” campaign.
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28% of recipients visited their Personalized URL 16% of recipients completed an online survey at their personalized micro-site Over 150% ROI New information about the needs of customers and prospects was collected that will guide future sales efforts Educated clients by incorporating leading marketing tools in campaign Fans, followers and subscribers were acquired as a result of the Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube social media components of the campaign •
YouTube videos generated over 700 views
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© 2011 PODi, the Digital Printing Initiative
3 Campaign Architecture AG Cary developed a comprehensive campaign incorporating multiple touches to ensure customer and prospect engagement. Email A “teaser” email was sent to a targeted list of customers and prospects alerting them to the upcoming campaign. The email included a link to AG Cary’s website. Over 40% of the recipients viewed the teaser message. Oversized Mailer AlphaGraphics-branded 3D glasses and a 3D poster asking recipients to visit their Personalized URL were mailed as the next portion of the campaign. The 11” x 17” poster was mailed in a catalog envelope with a Quick Response (QR) code on the mailing label. The QR code directed recipients to AG Cary’s website. Personalized Micro-Site The Personalized URL on the poster directed recipients to a micro-site with the following pages: •
Welcome Page: Recipients were introduced to the AG Cary sales staff with a short YouTube video and asked to complete a short survey for a chance to win a cash prize.
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Survey Page: The survey page outlined each of AG Cary’s product and service categories. For current customers, these areas were pre-populated with their current sales mix -- Press, Digital Printing, etc. Recipients were invited to indicate areas that they would like to learn more about.
© 2011 PODi, the Digital Printing Initiative
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AlphaGraphics Wins the Day with Super Heroes Campaign
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YouTube Videos: AG Cary created short YouTube videos for each of their major product and service categories. The videos featured members of each department giving short overviews and samples of the following areas: • Graphic Design • Promotional Products • Offset Press • Large Format Printing • Digital Printing • Custom Online • Bindery & Finishing Ordering Sites • Green Printing Options • Web Design • Social Media • Marketing Service
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Verify Information: The next page was pre-populated with the customer’s contact information. They were asked to verify that the information on file was current or to correct as needed. They were also asked to refer someone else within their organization who should be contacted.
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Thank You Page: The final page thanked the recipients for their participation and informed them that an AlphaGraphics representative would be contacting them based on their survey answers. Participants were also encouraged to keep an eye out for upcoming seminars based on the results from the collected surveys.
Through the use of the Personalized URL, AG Cary was able to monitor the results of the campaign in real-time and distribute leads immediately to the appropriate sales person. Dimensional Collateral The next step of the campaign featured a 3D “Superhero in a Box” that was delivered to a select group of major customers and targeted prospects at Fortune 100 companies. The box featured: • • • •
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Personalized die-cut pop up box insert directing the recipient once again to their Personalized URL Logo imprinted, bendable, magnetic super hero in a logo imprinted box Business card for sales representative Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Certified brochure highlighting some of the unique aspects of AG Cary’s digital printing capabilities QR code on the box’s sealing label directing users to AG Cary’s web site Brochure provided seven signature pages of various substrates available using the Indigo press
To increase the impact, the boxes were hand-delivered by sales representatives.
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© 2011 PODi, the Digital Printing Initiative
5 Postcard Reminder Personalized postcards were sent approximately one week after the initial poster mailing. The postcards reminded recipients about the prize offer and encouraged them to visit their Personalized URL. Recipients were also invited to follow the campaign results on AG Cary’s Twitter feed. A QR Code was also included that directed users to AG Cary’s YouTube page. Final Email Blast A few days before the drawing for the cash prizes, a final reminder email was sent. Recipients were invited to follow along with the updates posted on AG Cary’s various social media outlets: Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube. They were also encouraged to make sure that they completed the survey for a chance to win the cash drawing. As a result of this email blast, over 40% of the respondents revisited their Personalized URL a second time in order to complete the survey with an opportunity to win a cash prize.
Target Audience and Messaging The target audience for this campaign was current AG Cary customers and select prospects. The cohesive messaging of all the campaign pieces focused on how the AlphaGraphics team could help beat marketing challenges and deadlines.
Offer Cash prizes were offered to encourage recipients to visit their Personalized URL and complete an online survey.
List The list of 545 recipients consisted of current customers from AG Cary’s database and prospective customers from an outside list.
Creative and Outbound Pieces The creative for this campaign was created by the AG Cary design team and was consistently carried through on all the communication pieces. The response to this campaign was so favorable that AG Cary repurposed the superhero theme for an ongoing series of communications including:
© 2011 PODi, the Digital Printing Initiative
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AlphaGraphics Wins the Day with Super Heroes Campaign
A replay of the multi-touch “Super Hero” campaign to an additional 240 contacts Promotions for AG Cary’s “lunch and learn” seminars which encouraged recipients to attend and learn how to “Be an action hero in your own company”
Reasons for Success Months after the initial campaign AG Cary is still seeing business come in as a result of this program. Best practices learned from this campaign are:
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Communicate many times, in many ways. By reaching out through multiple media AG Cary increased the impact of its message and earned the attention of its target audience. Practice what you preach. A cross-media self-promotion campaign is a very effective way to illustrate to customers and prospects the marketing techniques that are available to help them achieve their objectives Design once, use frequently. AG Cary successfully repurposed the “Super Hero” theme for marketing efforts months after the original campaign. This established a continuity of message and created instant recognition among its target audience.
This campaign won an Honorable Mention in the Self-Promotion category for PODi’s 2011Best Practices Awards.
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© 2011 PODi, the Digital Printing Initiative
7 Client
Self-promotion
Service Provider
AlphaGraphics Cary www.cary398.alphagraphics.com AlphaGraphics Cary is a locally owned and operated full service printing and marketing services company and one of the leading businesses within the worldwide AlphaGraphics network. Serving the Triangle area and beyond, AlphaGraphics Cary partners with people to plan, produce and manage their visual communications, enabling them to achieve their goals more effectively and confidently. AG Cary is ISO certified and Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Chain-of-Custody certified.
Hardware
HP Indigo 5000, Pro-Cut 320, Challenge saddle stitcher
Software
Composition engine: Printable FusionPro Personalized URLs: MindFireInc
PPML
Produced using PPML
Target Audience
Decision makers at current customers and prospects
Distribution
Original distribution: 545 recipients Repeat campaign: 240 recipients
Date
Original campaign: April 2010 – May 2010
Š 2011 PODi, the Digital Printing Initiative
www.podi.org/casestudy