Well, what we were betting on was the concept that, as a professional lab, we are obligated to provide the best tools to our studio customers. So we looked at the current standard for spring proofing and here is what we found:
- 60 lb uncoated offset paper
- 8.5 x 14 with a money envelope
- Smallish proof image
- In-house design
- Not enabled for e-commerce (most of the time)
So what we decided to do was try to each one of the above things differently or better. Here's where we ended up:
- 60 lb gloss coated stock
- 11 x 17 in size with a money envelope
- Room for larger proof images
- Professional graphic design
- E-commerce ready
We don't have comparative data from one year to the next, unfortunately. Anecdotal feedback from studios and parents was universally positive, though. The coated stock gave every proof a really professional look to it that uncoated stock couldn't touch. It had the added benefit of boosting the contrast and quality of the proof image as well.
Customers commented that the larger size was a great feature. The two most commonly cited benefits were that they had more room to market to their customer and also that it made the proof flyer more prominent and harder to lose track of at home.
Finally, the e-commerce ready ordering was a huge boon to those who took advantage of it. In the case of our in-house photo studio, orders are being accepted and fulfilled today, months after jobs were photographed. The data we have shows that buy rates and total dollars spent are both up in the online space when compared to traditional ordering.
If you would like to learn more about how we made this project go, just contact us.
