How Hemlock Sells Itself
By Mark Vruno -- graphic arts online, 4/1/2007
To keep conventional offset cylinders churning during the February/March annual report season, Canadian firm Hemlock Printers turned to unconventional, digital color technology. Its HP Indigo press 5000 printed all the components for two versions of a variable-data self-promotion mailed to presidents, CFOs and marketing VPs at British Columbia’s top 100 public companies. Fifty-five were companies with which the printer had previously worked; 45 were new prospects.
“We won 80% of the jobs we quoted on as a result of the mailing,” says Hemlock marketing coordinator Heather Tryon. “Thirty percent of those were completely new clients for whom we had never printed anything before.” With annual reports’ premium pricing, the $35-million (USD) family-owned printer reports an excellent return on investment for the campaign.
Tryon notes that with the corporate focus on sustainability, “green” materials were a prerequisite. Hemlock, which earned its Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) chain-of-custody certification in mid-2004, specified FSC-certified paper for the entire job. A 13×9´´ (6.5×9´´ folded) pamphlet was printed CMYK using HP Indigo liquid inks on 80-lb. Luna matte No. 2 cover. The four-page brochure, which contains annual report production notes and tips from Hemlock, was bundled with four actual report samples run in its sheetfed pressroom of eight Heidelberg presses, including four 40´´ Speedmasters.
The contents were wrapped in a belly band that’s environmentally friendly, too—printed on 80-lb. Domtar Proterra uncoated cover, itself a popular annual report paper containing 40% post-consumer waste. All Domtar paper is manufactured acid-free. Proterra is part of the EarthChoice line, which is certified to FSC standards, endorsed by the Rainforest Alliance and approved by World Wildlife Fund Canada and ForestEthics.
“Even the 99 wooden boxes sent to the presidents were FSC-certified cedar,” Tryon says. For an elegant, finishing touch, each box was wrapped with a non-printed, eggshell-colored belly band (also FSC Proterra cover).
The socially responsible Hemlock garnered two gold prizes at Canada’s Print Action Magazine 2007 Environmental Printing Awards for firms with more than 100 employees. For the second consecutive year, the company was named Canada’s Most Environmentally Progressive Printer. It’s also the only printer member of the Canadian Business for Social Responsibility group.
Premier Print Award judges appreciated the annual report project’s green and digital/variable combination. PIA/GATF presented Hemlock CEO Dick Kouwenhoven with a coveted “Benny” statue last fall in the “On-Demand and Digital Print Campaign” category. (The company won a second Benny in the “Electronic Manipulation” category.)
Portions of the job were created in Adobe InDesign and QuarkXPress, employing HP Indigo Yours Truly Designer software for the variable-print elements. In the bindery, trimming was done on a Polar cutter, creasing and folding on a Stahl folder; both distributed by Heidelberg.
Final finishing required a lot of good, old-fashioned hand-assembly, including inserting each personalized, 5.75×9´´ cover letter into a diecut pocket that was affixed to the belly band.
Worth noting: The Benny-winning entry in the digital color “Customized/Personalized/Variable-Data” category is an HP Indigo-produced kit (with offset components) for the Lexus GS launch printed by Rastar Digital Marketing, Salt Lake City, UT.
