HP has introduced a breakthrough printing technology, new web-based printing services, an expanded portfolio of printers and imaging products, and a host of alliances and relationships that serve the growing markets outlined in the company’s Print 2.0 strategy.
In conjunction with the announcements, the company unveiled a $300 million global marketing campaign, called “What do you have to say?,” that enables users to mash up their content with free, exclusive content from singer/fashion designer Gwen Stefani, Burton Snowboards founder Jake Burton and celebrated graphic designer Paula Scher.
HP’s Print 2.0 strategy focuses on three areas: delivering a next-generation digital printing platform that increases print speeds and lowers the cost of printing for high-volume commercial markets; making it easier to print from the web; and extending HP’s digital content creation and publishing platforms across all customer segments.
HP is executing Print 2.0 while continuing to drive innovation across its core printing business – an overall strategy designed to accelerate the company’s ability to capture a more significant portion of the 53 trillion pages expected to be printed by 2010.
“Today we’re igniting growth across every single part of our business and introducing market-leading imaging and printing solutions for consumers, small and medium businesses, the graphic arts community and enterprise customers,” said Vyomesh Joshi, executive vice president, Imaging and Printing Group, HP. “With Print 2.0, we’re leveraging the power of the web as a gateway for our customers to communicate, collaborate and publish their content in ways they could not before.”
Powering Print 2.0 – “What do you have to say?”
To engage customers with Print 2.0, HP launched its largest, global interactive marketing campaign to date. The “What do you have to say?” campaign helps customers express themselves with online tools to easily mash, create and publish digital content in new, exciting ways.
The campaign opened with three web-based “achiever” experiences designed to inspire and empower customers with exclusive printable content. At hp.com/gwen, people can combine their personal content with free designs inspired by Gwen Stefani’s Harajuku Lovers line and print greeting cards, CD labels, fun paper dolls and more. Leveraging HP’s Tabblo technology, fans also can mash up their photos and text into a book of exclusive pictures from Stefani’s current Sweet Escape tour.
Small to medium-size businesses will find tools to build their brand at hp.com/burton and also free customizable templates to print business cards, letterhead and brochures based on Paula Scher’s unique designs at hp.com/paula. For each site, people can easily print customized content at home, at work and eventually via a network of print service providers.
As an extension of the achiever experiences, HP also established two print communities for consumers (http://expressioncenter.wetpaint.com) and small businesses (http://expressioncentersmb.wetpaint.com) – a first for the company. These wikis enable customers to collaborate on print projects across the globe, share ideas and access tips and “how-to” information in subjects ranging from printing, crafts and digital photography to small business marketing and branding.
In October, the company plans to add the HP Print Studio to its portfolio of web experiences. This site will feature free, evergreen templates and designs for making greeting cards, letterhead, business cards, invitations and more.
These robust web-to-print experiences serve as the hub of the marketing campaign with a mix of traditional, out-of-home, online and viral marketing elements driving people to the sites. The first television spots will debut Sept. 6.
More information about “What do you have to say?” is available at www.hp.com/go/2007/powerofprint.
Next-generation digital printing platform
HP introduced HP Scitex X2 printhead technology, the company’s first piezoelectric printhead, which increases print speeds and lowers the cost of printing for high-volume commercial markets.
This new technology will deliver unmatched quality for commercial and industrial printers and enable these customers to offer new printing services to grow their businesses. HP leveraged its thermal inkjet expertise and manufacturing to design and produce the technology, which will first debut on the HP Scitex XL2200 Industrial Wide-Format Printer.
Enabling easier web printing
With Print 2.0, HP is embedding print services in popular websites, making it easier for people to print usable pages. To this end, HP has formed alliances with Flickr, Windows® Live Spaces and Yahoo!. Highlights include:
Flickr plans to integrate HP’s Tabblo technology with its site this fall to help members create highly customized print “products” such as photo books, collages and photo cubes. Flickr members will have the option of repurposing their photos for quick and convenient home printing or ordering their own high-quality book or poster through a service provider that uses the latest HP Indigo digital press technology for offset-quality professional results.
Snapfish has been selected by Microsoft to provide online printing capabilities for customers of Windows Live Spaces, part of the Windows Live suite of services. Through this alliance, Snapfish and Spaces customers get the best of both worlds – all the community sharing features in Spaces combined with Snapfish’s superb online printing capabilities. Windows Live Spaces users will be able to easily print both their albums and their friends’ albums posted on Spaces with their Snapfish accounts.
The HP Yahoo! Printing Toolbar gives users “one click” access to free online classes, printing tips, creative projects, customer support and special offers as well as the ability to download the HP SmartWeb Printing utility, which makes it easier to print from the web. The toolbar is expected to be available for free download in September and included as an option on the driver for HP’s consumer inkjet printers, cameras and scanners beginning this spring.
Additionally, the company unveiled the HP Print It! button, a visual cue to web surfers everywhere that a superior printing experience is available – thanks to free HP technologies like the Tabblo Print Toolkit. When users click the HP Print It! button, they can expect an attractively formatted document designed for printing – with content that is relevant, organized and positioned in a way that maximizes space on the page and minimizes waste.
Leveraging the web as a premier publishing platform
HP introduced several web-based services in an effort to extend its digital content and creation publishing platform across multiple customer segments. Highlights include:
The HP NextDayTV service makes current and local event television and sports programs available to retail customers on DVD shortly after the event or broadcast. This service is made possible via HP’s digital supply chain and DVD manufactured-on-demand services. HP is currently running NextDayTV pilots with retail partners and working with Major League Baseball to provide recent titles on DVD within two days of the event. HP also announced an alliance with Ascent Media Group to co-develop and market digital media services for major Hollywood studios and leading broadband portals.
The web-based HP Imaging and Printing Open Extensibility Platform enables developers to create applications for industry-specific needs, such as security, compliance and capture, in a flexible and device-agnostic environment. It allows all supporting HP solutions to provide a common, consistent user experience while increasing partner and customer productivity.
Designed for pharmaceutical companies to address the growing global problem of counterfeiting and product diversion, the HP Smart Labels & Packaging Solution provides a secure serialization process with traceability, tracking and authentication capabilities throughout the pharmaceutical value chain – from the unit level all the way to the pallet level.
To further simplify the web printing experience for architectural, engineering and construction professionals, HP introduced the HP Instant Printing Toolkit 2.0. This web-to-print toolkit, available now to web developers, enables any user of the website to easily print construction documents in-house, while saving time and minimizing costly outsourcing.
HP signed an agreement with Meijer, the Grand Rapids, Mich.-based supercenter retailer, to provide a complete, digital HP Photo Center solution, which includes the HP Photosmart Studio and Microlab products. As part of the agreement, Snapfish by HP will host Meijer’s online photo site, including the capability to have online orders for prints and creative photo products mailed directly to a customer’s home or sent to a Meijer location for fast, high-quality printing and convenient in-store pick up.
Greater flexibility with HP Halo
With HP Halo Collaboration Studios, HP continues to deliver the most robust business collaboration and social connection experience for its users, now boasting more than 120 studios in operation or being installed worldwide. New studio configurations and enhancements to the Halo managed service include:
The Halo Collaboration Meeting Room – specifically designed for installation within an existing conference room space, this new configuration offers new and existing customers exceptional flexibility;
The HP Halo Gateway – through HP’s alliance with TANDBERG, Halo meeting participants now have the option of connecting to ITU H.323, H.320 or SIP standards-based video conference meetings from within the Halo studio;
Encryption, localization and enhanced multimedia capabilities – all included at no additional charge.
Driving innovation across the core printing portfolio
HP introduced a range of new products for consumers, small and medium-size businesses and the graphic arts community. For the back-to-school and holiday season, HP unveiled a series of new consumer printers – counting the industry’s first touchscreen on a compact photo printer – and a variety of unique photo books.
HP also expanded its portfolio of office printers for small and medium-size businesses, introducing the world’s fastest mobile printer(1) and HP’s smallest, most compact LaserJet printer.
Additionally, the company unveiled the HP Designjet T1100 MFP for graphic arts technical professionals and announced the new HP Graphic Arts Capture Business Development program, an expanded offering of business development tools, training and services to help customers grow digital page volume.
A Print 2.0 conversation
Patrick Scaglia, chief technology officer of the Imaging and Printing Group at HP, launched a Print 2.0 blog, which is designed to cover all topics related to the company’s imaging and printing strategy. The blog is available at www.hp.com/go/print20.
More information regarding these announcements and other materials related to HP’s Print 2.0 strategy is available in an online press kit at www.hp.com/go/2007/powerofprint.
