The Impact of Digital Embellishments

If a print service provider (PSP) knew a customer would add embellishments to their job after seeing an embellished sample-of-one, would that be reason enough to invest in digital enhancement technology? Although there's no single answer for every business, Matt Blue, president of Denver, Colorado-based Hampden Press, says showing a customer an enhanced sample is a strategy that works “virtually every time.”

“The sales cycle for a project is much easier,” he says. “You can produce samples in an instant. It’s sometimes hard to sell a product that you can’t touch and feel. … The value is tremendous just because of the ease of producing prototypes and making changes on the fly.”

Hampden Press, which recently became an all-digital PSP, installed a Scodix Ultra 2500 SHD digital enhancement press a few months ago. Prior to the installation, Blue explains the company began to “dip its toes in the waters of digital embellishments.” Now, it’s using the Scodix device to try to grow that side of the business. Although it’s been mostly marketing materials and some direct mail, Hampden Press has already started to see some customers move to embellished work.

“We just did a mailer that was historically just flat printed with soft touch aqueous,” he says. “We showed them samples of a spot gloss with some dimension to it and they loved it. It became a very nice project.”

Making the Case for Embellishments

Jeff Peterson, executive director of Foil & Specialty Effects Association (FSEA), explains that the organization has done studies with Clemson University on the impact of embellishments using consumer eye-tracking devices, and recently completed an embellished versus unembellished A/B test with a direct mail campaign.

“We’ve been able to show that when something is embellished, people’s eyes go to that sooner,” he says. And although they aren’t new to the printing industry scene, embellishments are still a “very hot topic,” he notes.

“Digital has driven growth in embellishments,” Peterson says. “But what’s happened is it’s increased the pie overall. More conventional embellishment techniques and processes have also seen growth.”

Ultimately, it’s a way for print buyers to differentiate their product from the competition and give the product a more premium feel. Peterson points out that printing processes were at one time used to differentiate from the competition. However, now that “most of the processes have gotten to a high-quality level,” he says, embellishments are a new way to offer that differentiation.

Deciding on Digital

For PSPs moving into embellishments, it’s not necessarily obvious if digital technology is the right choice. Paul Hudson, CEO and owner of Salt Lake City, Utah-based Hudson Printing — which installed a Scodix Ultra 6000 SHD digital enhancement press almost a year ago — notes that for some segments, such as packaging and dust jackets, digital enhancements are a natural fit. But for other segments within traditional commercial printing, the opportunities might not initially be that obvious.

“Inside of our book of business, I wasn’t entirely sure,” he says. “For example, we do a lot of magazines and I wasn’t sure how magazines would approach it. We also do a lot of direct mail, which is price conscious. I wondered if they would adopt it. Honestly, I have been pleasantly surprised.”

What typically happens, Hudson explains, is that customers see the technology and love it, but might not know how they would use it. It can take time and consideration to decide how embellishments might apply to a specific project. Take, for example, a Utah construction magazine client of Hudson Printing. Although it might seem like embellishments wouldn’t be a natural fit for a construction magazine, the brand had a special issue in the works that planned to recognize architects. It turned out that adding embellishments to the cover of that issue aligned with the project perfectly.

There is, however, the concern of cost when it comes to adding any enhancements to a printed product. Blue explains that’s usually the first reaction from customers, especially when they see a sample. And although digital embellishments are more cost effective than traditional means of adding enhancements, it still needs to be addressed with customers.

“Their instant reaction is that it must be very expensive,” he says. “Our sales staff are learning to walk them through that to make them understand that it is 20% more [cost], but this is the value.”
Hudson points out that because there is an additional cost, it’s important to make sure the result will benefit the customer.

“If it doesn’t create lift, I shouldn’t try to sell to them [and] they shouldn’t buy it, right?” he reasons. “It has to be effective and it has to help them sell more product. … It’s not in anybody’s benefit to sell them something that’s not useful. It has to justify the cost.”

In comparison to conventional embellishment techniques, though, digital has its advantages in terms of equipment and labor costs.

“You’ve eliminated a lot of upfront costs with the tooling engravings and setup for the machine,” Peterson says.

Additionally, Peterson points out that traditional embellishment techniques typically require more training for the operators, which can be challenging in today’s labor market.

Just as the cost should be justified by the potential benefits, the design needs to align with the brand.

Take, for example, a project Hudson produced for Sotheby’s. The large real estate firm, which sends out a magazine twice per year, asked for Hudson Printing’s opinion on an upcoming cover. It featured a sophisticated black-and-white photograph of a woman printed seven-color. Hudson took the design and created several mock-ups of the cover with different color foil accents on the magazine’s cover type. The team loved the premium look and feel of the silver foil, which took the design to the “next level,” Hudson says. Because digital enables quick turn prototyping, Hudson Printing was able to put samples in the customer’s hands easily and at no cost to them.

“Because it’s digital, I can take [them] four or five things to look at the next day,” he says. “It didn’t cost them anything and they didn’t have to imagine what it would look like. They could touch it, feel it, and pull in all of the team to make a decision. … That’s the magic of digital print. Otherwise, they would have been guessing on what the cost benefits are, whereas when you see the elegant image with silver foil, it’s compelling.”

Blue reasons that in addition to the reduced cost from traditional methods of embellishment, the ability to do ultra short runs, and the versioning made possible by digital technology, the biggest advantage is the “result” of the technology.

“You show somebody a flat stamped foil, and it’s pretty cool,” he says. “But you show them something that’s off of a [digital embellishment press] that has raised dimensions, maybe with polymer on top so it looks embossed and you did it in a 100-piece run. That’s a game changer.”

Weighing the Challenges

Although digital embellishment technology comes with the advantages of reduced cost, decreased turnaround time, and increased flexibility and variability, it doesn’t come without some challenges.

One of the biggest challenges is designing for digital enhancements. Peterson explains that the most successful companies he has seen work with digital embellishments are those that have someone on staff who understands design.

“I recommend having someone that has a design sense with the products they are producing,” he says.

In the case of one particular project Hudson Printing produced (see sidebar below, "Illustrating the Value with Storytelling," for more details on this project), Hudson says in order to create a distinct water and net feature on an image of a fish in a stream, the design necessitated the layers be created by hand, which takes design skills.

Illustrating the Value with Storytelling
Creating a beautifully designed marketing piece can be a powerful way to showcase embellishment capabilities to your customers. A great example of this comes from Hudson Printing, which recently produced the book, “TOPO: A Topographical Design Journey.” It was the brainchild of company CEO and owner Paul Hudson, with the aim to marry the beauty and topography of the company’s home state with its digital embellishment capabilities.

Each spread in the book features a story and a complementary image, which are all related to Hudson Printing’s location in Salt Lake City, Utah. Each of the spreads includes an accurately and intricately executed topographic map that relates to the story. When the recipient flips open the folded page, they are greeted by an embellished version of the image. What’s helpful, Hudson notes, is that this strategy presents a side-by-side comparison of the two versions of the image.

Click here to watch the video for more information.

“Even experienced designers need to be taught how to create these layers,” he advises.

Another challenge is the limitations in materials.

“There are limitations,” Blue says. “We have to be in a dyne level window to get the polymer to perform like it’s supposed to. That is the biggest challenge when you’re experimenting with substrates. Most work, but you end up with some that don’t and, unfortunately, you’ve already printed the product and you’re back to square one.”

Digital enhancement technology has its advantages, just as there are challenges and considerations to be made. As with any enhancement, it should be done with intention to be successful.

“The effects have got to be real and have a meaningful impact,” Hudson says.