Delivering the value of a photo print service in smartphone era. A printing firm’s brand promotion for the USA
- Client
- Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd.
Summary
Aiming to raise brand awareness for the photo business of Dai Nippon Printing (DNP), we planned and executed photo merchandise sales promotion films that were used during sales seasons. Going beyond just contributing to sales promotion, the executed films successfully touched the hearts of end users and helped strengthen trust from business partners in the USA.
Task: Raising brand awareness through the promotion of photo merchandise
DNP’s dye-sublimation printers are all targeted toward business users instead of general consumers. While awareness is high within the photo print business world, it is rare among general consumers who purchase photo merchandise.
The request came to K&L to raise awareness of DNP’s deep involvement in the photo business through photo merchandise promotion during the USA’s Holiday Season.
We were also requested to focus on the themes of "smiles" and "peace of mind" included within the purpose set by DNP Imaging Communications Operations.
Today, most people take and look at photos with their smartphones. When consumers don’t necessarily have to take the trouble to print photos to enjoy them, K&L had to tell a story that they could sympathize with.
Approach: Finding inviting reasons to print photos among a sea of smartphone photos
“Photo prints by DNP put a smile on your face” alone does not work as a message that connects with consumers’ emotions. We needed to understand the difference between digital photos and photo prints.
Photos stored on smartphones can be seen anytime but cannot be touched physically. Your connection to the memories preserved in the photos is somehow interrupted by a smartphone screen. However, print photos are something you can touch, directly and physically. We discovered that the value of print photos was the ability to offer a direct and deeper connection to your important memories. Print photos can touch your heart.
CREATIVE
Turning the brand message into a narrative you can sympathize with
We introduced a sense of newfound value in photo prints into stories consumers can sympathize with, retaining the tone of “smile and peace of mind”. In these stories, families discover their own smiles, looking at print photos and connecting them with the memories that feel important to them.
We showed a range of each family members’ emotions — not only positive ones. When children grow up, they experience sad as well as happy moments, but each moment is equally important for a family.
By keeping them as photo prints, the family members can experience those important moments again. And doing so brings smiles naturally to their faces.
OUTCOME
Reinforced business partnership and raised brand presence in the USA
Running 3 different commercial films, each targeted toward different sales seasons, helped increase DNP’s business partner’s sales and raise confidence in DNP products, making for a more reliable basis to build a continuous business partnership. Throughout the 3 sales seasons, each commercial film gained more than one million views, contributing to raised awareness of DNP’s photo business.