After email and browsing the web I would guess that printing is the task businesses do the most.
We get an email, with the fine print that reads "please think before
printing" and we print the document 2 or 3 times. When we are going to
a client meeting we prepare the nice little Power Point but also print
out copies of the presentation. Printing is what we do day in and day
out. When we get home, go to softball practice, put the kids to bed and
go back to work in our home offices for an hour or two or three, we print that long spreadsheet from our boss or colleague over seas.
Many business also do their own "marketing printing", this is
printing not for personal consumption but sales proposals for clients,
brochures and other things. This type of printing request two things a)
a well designed product and b) a low cost and efficient way to get the
material printed. Do you need 10, back to back, single sheet flyers or
500 double stapled brochures.
I've found that there is not one right answer for printing
solutions. You can stick your own logo on a sheet of paper and put
information about your company. Print it in color and I'm sure it will
look pretty nice. On the other hand, asking a designer to do it, will
look much better. As I highly recommend every business owner have one
or more technology consultants on board, I highly recommend every
business owner have one or more designer they can call upon for print
design help.
How things are printed is also important. You can print smaller
quantities in your office, but if you need to print hundreds of copies
of a 20 page brochure, the only option you have is to print it
commercially. HP's services help you design and print what you need.
HP
continues to make strides in making ti easier for customers to not only
print but also ensure that what they print is well design. Over the
years it's put together a network of printing services and products. As
an outgrowth to HP's Print 2.0 campaign, HP recently launched a new web
site service, MarketSplash.com. I interviewed HP about this below.
Q: Please review HP's various printing services. I know there is
Logoworks, MarketSplash, and at least one other announced some weeks
ago that I can’t seem to remember.
>A: Specific to the small business audience, HP’s key
online marketing resources include MarketSplash, Logoworks and the HP
Creative Studio.There are key distinctions to each.
Almost two years ago, HP acquired Arteis, a company that operated
Logoworks which offered web-based graphic design services that helped
small businesses get a “big business” look and feel without needing a
big business budget. The intent behind the acquisition was to expand
and enhance these technologies, leveraging both companies’
capabilities, to deliver even greater value to customers and additional
business opportunities for IPG. These efforts culminated in the
transformation of Logoworks and our recent launch of MarketSplash by HP
(www.marketsplash.com).
MarketSplash builds on the Logoworks custom design solution and
offers the small business customer the ability to create marketing
collateral and business stationery themselves. MarketSplash
incorporates the Logoworks offering, but also offers a broad range of
DIY (do-it-yourself) marketing products and services, provides a choice
of print fulfillment options and complements the affordable custom
solutions with low price DIY solutions. MarketSplash will roll
Logoworks services within its larger framework, while still leveraging
the technologies, professional design services and large network of
design experts from Logoworks and use the same unique web-based service
model to reduce cost barriers typically associated with professional
design.
The HP Creative Studio - For Business (www.hp.com/print) is
primarily a gateway that provides small businesses with a single entry
point to access HP’s many web services, including MarketSplash by HP
and Logoworks, and also third-party experiences for creative content.
The HP Creative Studio is another way to access MarketSplash.com. Free
templates will continue to exist on hp.com and under the HP Creative
Studio. For customers who desire more than what the existing free
templates offer, MarketSplash gives small businesses premium DIY online
templates and custom design offerings for a range of marketing products
and services from business stationery, brochures, logos and website
design to one-on-one brand design consultation services.
Q: How much of these offerings are from HP direct and how much are from vendors
A: MarketSplash and Logoworks are HP offers. Both the DIY
design solution and the custom design solution that enable the creation
of the designs for our customers have been developed in-house by the HP
MarketSplash team. However, MarketSplash and Logoworks are not
printers. Rather, HP has built partnerships with PSP’s and retailers
for print fulfillment. Logoworks and MarketSplash also leverage other
third party solutions to ensure we offer a complete portfolio of
products and services to meet the marketing needs of the small business
customer..
The HP Creative Studio - For Business acts more as a gateway,
providing a single entry point to access HP’s many web services,
including MarketSplash by HP and Logoworks, but also includes connects
visitors with a wealth of third-party offerings as well.
Q: From what I see, these moves are indeed direct competition to
Vistaprint, 48hourprint, and other online printing services. Correct?
Even - Kinkos and Staples to some degree, although I think HP is
working with Staples in some areas
A: While there are other online services/printers offering
printed products such as business cards, there is a distinction between
MarketSplash and these vendors. MarketSplash’s intent is not to be a
printer or print provider. In fact, MarketSplash is actually looking to
work in a complimentary manner with print service providers (PSPs).
MarketSplash enables and promotes printing for PSPs and partners such
as Staples. MarketSplash gives customers the convenience of choosing to
complete and print their projects how and where they want. They can
choose to print from their own printers, receive their order via mail
delivery or pick it up at any Staples Copy and Print center in its
retail stores in the United States. In the option for mail delivery,
MarketSplash is currently working with PSPs for print fulfillment. The
PSP network for MarketSplash is not exclusive and HP expects the
network of PSPs to grow as MarketSplash and its customer base grows.
MarketSplash is print agnostic; the greater priority is to provide
customers the convenience and freedom to choose how they want to
fulfill their orders.
Q: From the start of HP's Print 2.0 it’s clear HP wants to be and is more than “just printers” - with this new announcement how does this reinforce this message?
A: As you’ve probably heard VJ mention, we are moving deeper
into a content consumption category, and he calls this shift Print 2.0.
Print 2.0 expands HP’s strategic focus from the PC-enabled world of
printers towards a more open, Internet/Intranet enabled one, leveraging
all forms of personal and professional digital content. MarketSplash is
part of HP’s strategy to leverage the power of the Web as a gateway for
customers to create, communicate, collaborate and publish content in
ways they couldn’t before.
Just as Snapfish was key to enabling and driving digital photo
printing for HP and its retail partners, MarketSplash and Logoworks
will play a similar role for small businesses. With MarketSplash and
Logoworks, HP is now expanding its role as a marketing partner to small
businesses and further driving the shift from analog to digital
printing for this segment, as well as growing digital printing
opportunities for HP’s partners.
Specifically, by leveraging the assets that both HP and Logoworks
bring to the table, we will be able to achieve two objectives. First,
MarketSplash is defining a new standard of quality and service for
small business marketing services. In one place, businesses will be
able to easily create essential marketing materials at some of the
lowest prices and fastest delivery times available in the industry.
This is currently a fragmented category with no one doing a great job
of meeting all the customer’s needs.
Second, our graphic design services can help enable other HP
businesses add value and differentiate. By expanding the quality of
marketing materials available, more customers will be printing using HP
printers and supplies -- whether MarketSplash customers choose to print
in their home office or through a PSP within the MarktSplash network.
Q: Related to my earlier question, is traditional printing as important to HP as online printing services?
A: The introduction of MarketSplash does not diminish the
importance of “traditional printing.” In fact, our longer term vision
for MarketSplash includes efforts to provide value add offers within
MarketSplash for HP printers and supplies that may help further
differentiate HP products from the competition.
For example, cross promotional activities could include offering
free products such as business cards or special access to reserve tools
and templates when customers purchase HP printers or supplies.
MarketSplash creates a vehicle for us to differentiate, lift and add
value to the HP print value proposition through cross promotions and
product innovations. We see great opportunities to further expand the
business by partnering right inside our own company
Q: HP has been pushing small businesses to DIY printing. Is HP now suggesting to outsource printing to HP’s online services?
A: First and foremost, MarketSplash is trying to address real business challenges for small business customers.
Small businesses are extremely limited on money, time and resources.
They also want to stand apart from the sea of competitors but don’t
often have the know-how to create a strong and professional image or
know where to go for affordable help.
MarketSplash is working to address these issues while delivering a
great customer experience. In order to provide a great experience,
MarketSplash is delivering on great prices, easy to use tools but also
offering customers flexible options to fulfill their orders.
MarketSplash realizes that one size does not fit all and that customers
need choices to match their unique needs.
Again, MarketSplash itself is not a printer or PSP; MarketSplash is
print agnostic. It is more important to match the needs of the customer
by allowing them to print how and where they want. MarketSplash
provides for the option to print at home/home office, receive orders
via mail delivery or pick-up at retail.
MarketSplash would welcome customers to print at home if that option
is the best fit for them. Additionally, as mentioned, MarketSplash’s
longer term goal includes packaging up value add offers within
MarketSplash for HP printers and supplies to further help and incent
DIY-minded customers to continue to use HP products.
