What are the benefits of large format print?
Cath Riley
At Northern Print Solutions, we’re big fans of large format print. So much so, that we recently invested in some brilliant large-format presses, so you can get your print made bigger (and better) than ever before. Not only are they faster, but they’re more efficient, meaning our turnaround times are shorter… which in turn makes you happier!
There’re more to large format than just the size. In this blog, we take you through our top benefits of large format print.
Large format print is fast!
Your desktop printer might be relatively quick, but it can’t compare to the speed of an industrial large format printing press. A large format press is designed to work quickly and efficiently even when printing wider items like banners and posters.
Don’t fiddle with feeding multiple sheets of paper into your Epsom, hoping that when you tape them together they form the image you’re trying to display. Use our large format printing service instead.
Large format print offers high quality on larger prints
There’s a common misconception that printing something bigger reduces its quality. With large format printing, this isn’t the case.
These presses are designed to handle higher quality, larger images, meaning that regardless of whether you choose digital or litho – your print is going to come out looking sharp as anything so long as your artwork is set to 300dpi and ideally logos are vector.
Large format print replicates colours accurately
Again, we’re here to dispel the myth that printing using a large format digital press means the colours in your images aren’t going to be reproduced accurately.
Most companies stick with digital large format print as their cornerstone offering, and it makes sense – digital print is quick; tends to be more affordable for you, the customer; and can easily reproduce CMYK colours with accuracy that is constantly improving in line with technology.
We also offer large format lithographic printing, which has a longer turnaround because it involves more pre-press setup. Lithographic printing is extremely high quality and uses pre-mixed inks applied to print plates to achieve accurate reproduction of your chosen image.
For those larger prints that you want to last a while, large format lithographic printing can really add value to your product.
Large format print supports a range of substrates
Substrates – the ‘base material’ that you print on – vary greatly. One project might involve a simple cardstock, whilst another might benefit from aluminium sheeting. The fantastic thing about large format presses is their ability to print on more unusual substrates, thus broadening the choices you can make in the design phase of your print project.
Whether you’re looking to print signage, wallpaper, or just a simple outdoor poster – a large format printing press will be able to deliver fantastic results.
Has our large format piqued your pr-interest?
We offer a range of large format products such as A1 posters, outdoor banners, roller banners and signage in our online shop. However, at Northern Print Solutions, we’re dedicated to thinking outside of the box. So, if you’ve got something bespoke that you think our large format presses could handle… get in touch with an expert member of our team today.
Time to read more
Top tips for creating a personalised print marketing campaign
Cath Riley
Print marketing can take many forms – flyers, posters, catalogues, brochures… the list goes on. Whether you’re looking to send direct mail leaflets through doors, or display posters across the country, your print marketing campaign could benefit from a spot of personalisation.
Unlike digital marketing, you can’t automate the personalised attributes of a print marketing campaign. This might sound limiting, but really it means you have the opportunity to be more deliberate with your choices.
We’ve compiled our top tips for creating a personalised print marketing campaign so you can get the best out of your print and do the best for your customers.
What is personalisation in print marketing?
In print marketing, personalisation is using customer data to customise the content you send your recipients.
Let’s say you’re planning a direct mail marketing campaign and you’re advertising offers for your nationwide group of stores. You can use an existing customer’s address to personalise the printed materials with local offers, discounts based on previous purchases, and even offer directions to their nearest branch of your business.
If you were looking to target new customers, you could use more generalised data specific to the location of your printed marketing materials. For example, bus stop posters are a fantastic way to grab the attention of local commuters, and they will be more likely to be receptive to in-jokes about the community and the use of colloquialisms in the copy.
Location-based personalisation requires coordination and planning, though – this example from HSBC, who put up a proud ‘You are Newcastle’ poster… in Nottingham, shows how important it is to get localisation right.
Why use personalisation in print marketing?
Personalisation in print marketing can be a fantastic tool if used correctly. It can improve the attractiveness of a product by making it more applicable to the recipient, and subsequently increases usability – offering directions to a local store is more likely to be successful than simply supplying recipients with a generic nationwide website.
Personalisation in print marketing is also proven to increase enquiries, orders, and ROI. By involving the customer from the outset, they feel as though they have already made a decision to affiliate themselves with your brand, products, or services. This makes conversions more probable.
How can I implement personalisation into my marketing campaigns?
Basic personalisation can be achieved using a simple database with names, addresses, and a few other additional bits of information, as well as an agreement with a top-notch printer capable of turning round your print marketing campaigns on time, every time (hint: that’s us!)
If you’re working with a relatively small marketing budget, we can print names, addresses, and other information taken from your database straight onto a carrier sheet, envelope, or cover page of a catalogue. Usually, this is printed using black inkjet or laser onto a blank area left behind on purpose during the litho colour printing of the main product.
But with variable data printing (VDP) software, we can do both at once. Use any profiling data you have on your customers – such as those related to buying history, product preferences, or choices tied to product metadata – to print fully personalised, full-colour pages advertising products and services specific to the individual.
How much does personalising my print cost?
As with all print, the cost will vary depending on how far you want to go. It’s going to be cheaper to inkjet names and addresses onto plain white carrier pages slipped inside a folded leaflet than it is to fully personalise entire full-colour brochures, even if you choose digital over litho.
Still, it’s up to you to perform a cost-benefit analysis and work out which level of personalisation will offer the best returns on your print marketing campaign. Struggling? We can help.
Time to read more
Fresh Fruit Delivery - Pumpkin Squash
Cath Riley
The Project:
For new company, Pumpkin Squash, a direct to door organic wholefood provider, sustainability was at the heart of everything they did and critical to their brand.
So, when they approached us to create all their promotional literature with recycled materials alone, we took their brief one step further.
The Solution:
Working closely with our own suppliers we sourced earthy and textured 100% recycled papers that were in keeping with their guidelines and, where possible, utilised vegetable-based inks that are kinder to the environment. And because we are a certified carbon offset company, we were also able to offset the carbon used in the production of all their collateral, enhancing the sustainability of their brand at the same time.
The approach to our brief regarding sustainability and the quality of the end product was outstanding, overall providing exceptional value. Speak to Northern Print Solutions, you find it’s an easy decision to work with the team.”
“The entire process with Northern Print Solutions was quick and painless. They offered sensible advice to help me get the most from the print job and the end results far exceeded our expectations.
It has been great to find a reliable local business who I can turn to as I grow my own company, whose values are very much in line with my own.
— Tom Frizell-Shackley, Owner
Time to read more
Fifth colour printing brings new benefits for our customers
Cath Riley
Here at Northern Print Solutions, we like to stay ahead of the game and that’s why we work closely with original equipment manufacturers in the industry with research and development. Last year, we became the first printers in the UK to install our equipment manufacturers new digital printing press with an inline fifth colour unit, giving us the capability to print CMYK (Cyan Magenta Yellow Black), White, Neon, Clear and Invisible Red ink. Not only does this allow us to be more efficient within our print room, but it also enables our customers to be more creative with their designs.
Vibrant Signage
One feature of the fifth colour printer is the use of white toner which can achieve a metallic effect. In traditional printing, creating a metallic feel would come with an expensive price tag, but it is now easier to produce at a lower cost.
Whether it’s for enticing in-store displays or attractive leaflets, the toner can be used to add value to marketing materials in a way that wasn’t possible before. We’ve found that many players from the hospitality industry are interested in this feature, using it to make special offers stand out to prospective customers.
Premium, Polished Photographs
The clear toner option gives photography print a premium edge by adding a glossy shimmer. Ideal for attention-grabbing window displays, we can print large signage in high definition so it is clearly seen by passers-by. It can also be used to add a luxury-feel to photography, perfect for store catalogues and look books. The clear toner showcases fine details in elegant products such as jewellery, fashion pieces and art.
Revolutionary Colours
With neon yellow and pink extending the colour gamut of the new press, radical colours can be printed at a reasonable cost. The new colours jump off the page, encouraging design creativity with retail packaging and marketing mailers.
The neon pink is perfect for brands leaning towards lively graphics. It can be used at 100% for a solid, lively pink or mixed with other colours in CMYK to create a brand new colour palette. We can also now produce a neon yellow which enhances images, generating a bold impact. Both of the colours are reflective under UV light, making it a popular option for business cards and event invites.
Secure Documents
With the invisible ink, the press also enables us to help prevent illegal duplications of important documents. When tickets or event credentials are printed with invisible red ink, the secure information can only be seen with UV LED light.
If you want to protect your assets and media, clear toner can be lightly mixed with another ink to create a watermark.
Delivering the exceptional benefits of the five colour printer to our client base, Northern Print Solutions are five colour specialists.
Time to read more
A Guide to Standard Roller Banners and Premium Roller Banners
Cath Riley
Here at Northern Print Solutions, our standard and premium roller banners really do “stand out” in a crowded room. Bold, attention-grabbing, self-supporting and highly portable, our banners provide you with a flexible, temporary display. They are essential marketing kit for any business. Not only are roller banners great for events, but they are fab for creating a professional back drop to online calls from the home office or for letting your customers know you are still open for essential business and delivering!
We often get asked what the difference is between our standard and premium roller banner options. Our guide gives you the low down to help you decide which is right for you.
What is the specification for our standard and premium roller banners?
We don’t “do average” and strive to provide the best products available at great value prices. That is why we offer the following gold standard features on our ALL our banners;
- A great choice of widths: Standing proudly at 2 meters tall, our banners come in a choice of 3 widths. Our 80cm and 85cm wide banners are ideal for use in areas where space is tight while our wider 1000cm banner maximises your brand’s visibility.
- A superior print on the highest quality material: We print on specialist material that has been tried and tested for durability and has an anti-slip coating. It’s perfect for producing a vibrant, colourful eye-catching design, blocking out light reflection and reducing glare and it is tear-resistant too.
- A reliable banner fixture: We only use a snap rail fixture to secure the banner to its It is robust and doesn’t rely upon self-adhesive glue that often loses its stickiness over time.
A premium carry case. With added padding to protect the banner, all our cases come with a comfortable handle for easy carrying.
So, what ARE the differences between our standard roller banner and premium option?
Both of our roller banner options offer many of the same great features, and you may be wondering what really is the difference between the two? Well, it’s all about the base!
The standard roller banner base:
Our standard roller banner comes with a lightweight, aluminium base with black side panels and stabilising swing out feet. It’s great for occasional use and a superb option if you are looking for:
- An easy to carry portable display.
- A more affordable roller banner solution.
The premium roller banner base:
Our premium roller banner base is both stylish and long-lasting. It’s self-stabilising and thus doesn’t require swing out feet that can sometimes get in your way. More contemporary and sleek in design than our standard option, it is finished in chrome with side panels on the base to match. This premium option is a strong contender for your marketing if you are looking for a banner that is :
- Representative of a modern or luxury brand and service.
- Robust and can stand up to regular and long term use on the marketing circuit.
- Less of a trip hazard when in a confined space due to the absence of swing-out feet.
Can you use our standard and premium roller banners for outdoor display too?
We often get asked whether our roller banners are suitable for outside display. Whilst our premium roller banner is more versatile because of its sturdy base, we are happy to say that both our options are suitable for outdoor use. The only exception being, however, days when the wind requires everything and everyone outside to “batten down the hatches”!
What do our customers say?
“We have used Northern Print Solutions over the years for most of our print. We highly recommend their premium roller banners to customers who regularly market at events and require longer-term reliability for their stand displays. The print is always clear, sharp and of the highest quality, whilst the overall premium banner structure itself is sleek, extremely robust, and quick to assemble. It provides exceptional value”.
– Marc Gorden, Fresh Style Events.
Want to find out more or place an order? Don’t hesitate to get in touch with one of our specialist print advisers today.
Time to read more
What are the benefits of direct mail?
Cath Riley
If you’re looking for a simple, professional way to distribute your printed marketing materials, direct mail and fulfilment is your number one choice. It capitalises on the longevity that printed products have always enjoyed but can also be a driving force behind an integrated marketing strategy.
In this blog, we take you through what it is, and the benefits it can offer you.
First of all, it’s important to understand what direct mail and fulfilment is. At NPS, we provide a full-scale printing service, and our products are known for their innovation and high-quality finish.
But once they’re printed, where do they go? With this type of service, we’re able to take your mailing list, then print, close, fulfil, and send your mail. The hassle is out of your hands.
It is a specialist service because it requires specialist equipment and skills. Without it, you’d have to source envelopes, manage mailing lists, utilise mail merge software, and warehouse your printed marketing products on your own.
What are the benefits?
Turning to a professional print company like NPS for your direct mail and fulfilment needs not only saves you time, money, and resources but also offers several additional benefits…
Environmentally friendly
Direct mail and fulfilment is an environmentally process if controlled correctly. You can provide us with GDPR compliant data – also referred to as “clean data” – to reduce the amount of print necessary to target the customers interested in your company.
You can also partner with NPS for your print – we are a carbon capture certified company and consistently take steps to ensure all of our processes are carbon neutral.
No opt-in required
To give consumers more control over how their data is used, the GDPR introduced a double opt-in requirement. This means that if you have someone on your mailing list, you need to double check that they want to receive emails. Great for consumer control, not so great for maximising the reach of your email campaigns.
You don’t need a recipient’s permission to send them correspondence. Of course, they can choose to be taken off your physical mailing list, but this is a great opportunity and bypasses the far stricter rules involved in email marketing. Email marketing 0, direct mail and fulfilment 1.
Won’t end up in the spam folder
Direct mail won’t infect your computer with a virus, ask for your bank details in order to transfer you a princely sum, or try and steal your information. It’s designed to be seen, and although some mail is sorted through by a gatekeeper, approximately 70% of direct mail is opened, whilst 79% is read for one minute or more.
Can’t be deleted
A great advantage of direct mail and fulfilment is its longevity. Some recipients will leave your mailing sat on their doormat for weeks until they chance to sort through the pile, others will tack it to their fridge, and if you find your print sat in pride of place on someone’s desk – well, you’ve outdone yourself.
The point we’re making here is that people tend to keep direct mail items around for longer than they would an email, which can be deleted as soon as it’s opened.
You can link direct mail and online marketing
Ever heard of multichannel or omnichannel marketing? Both are buzzwords floating around in the marketing sphere at the moment. Basically, customers are expecting a seamless experience across all channels – whether they visit you in store, log onto your website, tap into your app, or receive a coupon through the door.
As part of a multi-channel marketing strategy, you can use direct mail and fulfilment to provide your customers with completely integrated customer experience; transcending the barriers between print and digital. Direct mail and fulfilment sets the standard for all communications with the recipient thereafter and gives your customer a bit of your brand to keep.
In an age where consumers are bombarded with marketing emails and notifications day in, day out, being able to link your online and offline strategy offers you a significant advantage.
Choosing a direct mailing and fulfilment service allows you to distribute high-quality, personalised print in a professional manner, ensuring the same high standards are kept across all areas of your business.
Personalisable
Perhaps one of the most important benefits of this service is that it gives you the option to personalise the products you’re sending out. Using mail merge software, for example, we can correspond sections of your design with fields of your mailing list.
You can personalise things like names and locations, or other information provided by the customer and stored within your mailing list database. This advantage goes underrated – after all, customers are far more likely to hang onto a piece of print with their name on it than they are a generic copy.
Take our work for Elf for Christmas, for example. With our help, the Big Little Toys company is able to send out completely personalised advent calenders as direct mail products to children all over the world each Christmas.
Orders go through their website, where the customer is able to personalise the product by filling in details such as the child’s name, the elf’s name, the location, and who the child lives with. The product is printed and fulfilled by NPS and sent by Royal Mail to the customer.
The products receive 5-star reviews every year, and are a prime example of how direct mail can offer efficient, personalisable, and high-quality results for complex applications. You’re able to send out highly targeted materials that really grab the attention of your recipients.
Better results
Though we print and fulfil Big Little Toys’ products for their customers, you can use similar tactics to create impressively creative mailings as part of your marketing strategy. The possibilities are endless – forget postcards, plain-looking letters, and boring leaflets!
We can get creative with cut-outs, foldouts, spot colour printing, and all manner of special finishes to make your mailings stand out. The reality is, using direct mail properly gets better results, especially if you’re targeting your mailings to the right people, and using the right content to speak to them.
At NPS, our direct mail and fulfilment service is designed to be flexible, professional, and cost-effective. We work with you to make sure your message gets into the right hands, so you can rest assured you’re communicating as effectively as possible.
Time to read more
'Elf for Christmas' - Big Little Toys
Cath Riley
The Project:
Durham company, Big Little Toys, produce and sells a range of award-winning toys designed to create moments of magic for many families around the world at Christmas time.
The company were selling beyond 30,000 units of their famous products in worldwide stores and online each year and had plans to expand further. They looked to our team at Northern Print Solutions to help fulfil growing print needs for products including personalised elf books, advent letters, reward cards and other merchandise.
The Solution:
The print of approximately 1000’s of orders, each containing on average 28 personalised products and requiring exact delivery times during the advent run up to Christmas was a challenge that our team thrived on.
We designated a contract manager to work closely with Big Little Toys before, during and after production. Their role was to ensure systems were in place and working effectively for the secure transferal of customer data and order placement, accurate production and fulfilment, all vital to creating those magic moments for thousands of children on the run up to Christmas.
I was looking for a reliable partner to help me meet the demand for our latest product and I knew Northern Print Solutions would be able to help me.
With the team behind us at Northern Print Solutions, we can deliver even more elf magic at Christmas.
— Sarah Greenwell, Owner
Time to read more
Business cards aren’t going anywhere!
Cath Riley
Business cards are the calling card of professionals everywhere and have been for years. But is their future really safe? In an age of rapid digitisation, many would say no.
Plus, it doesn’t matter how many times you ask the question “do business cards still matter?” someone is always going to say they’re irrelevant, and someone else is going to jump to their defence. And yet print companies are still taking orders for business cards …….by the thousand!
Maybe, to see the future of business cards, we need to look more carefully at their history.
Visiting Cards
As early as the 15th Century, Meishi Chinese lords would send ‘visiting cards’ ahead to whomever they were visiting to announce their impending arrival. Design choices were just as important back then as they are now. The recipient could gauge just how ‘lordly’ their visitor actually was based on the weight of the visiting card, the brushmanship, and the age of the messenger.
Calling Cards
Once the 17th Century rolled around, ‘calling cards’ were in widespread usage across Europe. Used in a similar manner to visiting cards, they’d be used to promote an individual’s arrival to a town or even their home. Aristocratic families and public figures were renowned for using gold engraving and fancy typefaces to cement their individuality with a card design.
If you visited the house of another high-class friend, you’d leave your calling card in their card tray. Without high-class connections, the elite were at risk of losing their social standing. Calling cards helped solidify their networks.
Courting Cards
The romantic period peaked at the end of the 18th Century. But even prior to that hopeful suitors looking to catch the eye of a fair lady of the manor would leave a ‘courting card’ with the keeper of the house. Ladies would either reciprocate or ignore it. Harsher than a left swipe? Definitely.
Trade Cards
Businesses soon cottoned on to this fairly inexpensive and already widely adopted form of promotion and began using ‘trade cards’ to form networks between customers, suppliers, and peers alike. And since signatures were legally binding, they could also be used as contracts.
Modern Day Business Cards
The 19th Century saw people starting to introduce themselves using their position at a company rather than their personal affiliations. Calling cards and trade cards began to merge in terms of function, and it was at the time of the Industrial Revolution that the ‘modern business card’ became popularised.
The 21st Century saw a loss of traditional business card etiquette, and they became widespread in informal society (to the distaste of upper-class British families). A new set of rules began to emerge – business cards shouldn’t be written on, carried loose, or presented in anything other than brand-new condition.
So, what’s the future of business cards?
Researchers have been telling you that technology is going to change printed business cards forever. “They’ll be 3D,” they say. “Watch out – holograms are next!”
Whilst the recent covid pandemic has accelerate the use of digitalisation, we think it’s important to focus on the concept of a business card – it’s a small packet of data that one person passes to another in order to enable ease of communication in the future, and to signify a willingness to get in touch.
Technology can replace this concept with ease and already has. Instead of asking for a business card at a trade show or networking event , you can type your contact’s name into LinkedIn, and less than a second later, there they are.
So why are we interested in the future of printed business cards? Marketers know better than anyone that although the general public wants integration and digitisation, there’s still a general reluctance to let go of the physicality of printed materials entirely. That’s why direct mailing works better on average than an email marketing campaign.
Business cards are so ingrained in our working culture that switching entirely to digital communication can sometimes feel somewhat disingenuous. You have to put effort and money into getting professional business cards printed, but anyone can set up a LinkedIn account.
It almost harks back to the visiting cards of the 15th Century Meishi Chinese – you can feel the weight of the stock between your finger and thumb, examine the embossing, the font choice, the design… all of which can lead you to decide whether the person you’re speaking with is worth your time or not.
Business cards offer a more personal first impression than an online profile. They set you apart. And as a working generation, we’re not ready to move away from them just yet.
