PRINTERS&PRINTING
25
THE Q1 COMES
THORNTONS INNOVATES
TO TOWN
WITH SPRING POP CAMPAIGN
A
provider of point of sale or purchase
products (PoS, PoP) and related
services, SP Group has produced
innovative, retail promotional materials for
Thorntons’ spring campaign.
The material included PoP and window
displays to mark and remind consumers of
the three main occasions for the spring season
– Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day and Easter.
By installing one display that encompassed all
three calendar events, SP Group (part of St
Ives plc) was able to provide the retailer with a requirements for over eight years now, and have
Specialist printer manufacturer, Custom ¾ exible, cost-effective solution that successfully frequent and open communication with the
has introduced a new compact, thermal communicated the dates, while also driving sales team when it comes to making our campaign
receipt printer that is speci½ cally designed for its chocolate gifts. concepts a reality. SP Group is always very
for retail applications. “Research shows that a good proportion proactive in sourcing the best solution to meet
A small footprint and eye-catching of UK consumers do not associate the 14th our requirements, and we value their input
gloss ½ nish ensures that this printer is February with Valentine’s Day, or know when throughout the production process.
suited to counter-top printing in even Mother’s Day and Easter fall. As such, our brief “For this particular campaign, we had to
the most image conscious of retail for the Thorntons spring retail campaign, was consider that some elements of the window
environments. to create retail promotional materials to more displays would not be on show all of the
In order to suit their surroundings, effectively communicate the dates of these time, and that each retail outlet would need
the Q1 printers are available in a gloss three events,” explained Sarah Bell, SP Group to store various pieces. This posed a problem
black or gloss white design ½ nish, with a account director. “To achieve this, Thorntons’ particularly for the bulky number units, but SP
chrome trim. Accommodating an industry creative team designed the initial concepts, tying Group ensured that these units were designed
standard paper width and roll dimension in packaging designs for the seasonal products, and produced in such a way that they could be
of 80mm and a paper thickness from 65 and we then worked with them to develop easily packed into a box and stored neatly until
to 100Ým, the Q1 has a compact outline these ideas and put them into practice.” required. It is this kind of exemplary customer
with dimensions of 140mm x 150mm Lisa Kesterton, Thorntons consumer service, attention to detail and practical solution
x 117mm (WxDxH) to save valuable communication executive commented: “We’ve that we appreciate when working with SP
workspace. been working with SP Group for our PoP Group.”
With a front paper exit and slightly
curved top, the Q1 is ideally suited for
retail and hospitality applications by
PAYPOINT TRIALS NEW
ensuring that items cannot be rested on
RECEIPT MARKETING TOOL
or dropped in the top of the printer. And
any spillages are kept from reaching the
In 2008 PayPoint trialled a new marketing tool, TAG – a marketing message printed on
paper roll, thus protecting the printer
customer receipts as they are generated from an in-store PayPoint terminal.
TAGs allow companies to promote their messages and campaigns in a way that can be tailored
from damage by liquids improving
to transactions as they are printed. At the bottom of the customer receipt, the TAG displays a
reliability and uptime.
marketing message that can include a barcode, logo or simple message. It allows companies to
With a print speed of up to 150m/sec
promote new product launches and seasonal messages and is ideal for targeting speci¼ c customers.
and a resolution of 8 dots/mm, the Q1
Clients during the test phase included Orange and British Gas, who have taken advantage of
produces clear and precise receipt print-
the service to promote discounted deals within PayPoint stores. One example offered discounted
outs. An automatic cutter with rotating text messages when customers redeemed receipts.
blade guarantees service life of 1,000,000 The David Sands retail group wanted to increase sales of milk in all stores after Christmas by
cuts, and a black mark sensor has been
raising awareness of the category with PayPoint customers and to drive impulse sales.
added to ensure easy auto alignment
The TAG consisted of a redemption barcode offering 50p off any two-litre milk purchase,
when using pre-printed receipt stationery.
which was printed on every receipt produced by the PayPoint terminal over a two-week period,
Equipped with a cash draw kick out, Serial
and valid for redemption until 31 January.
The average redemption rate across all stores was over 13%, compared to the usual 2%
and USB interfaces are available with
redemption rate for traditional untargeted money-off coupons. While some stores reported over
the corresponding drivers for Microsoft
25% redemption rate and that ‘word of mouth’ drove customers into stores asking about the
Windows 2000 and XP.
money-off vouchers for milk.
APRIL/MAY 2009 RETAIL TECHNOLOGY
20-25 Printers.indd 25 6/5/09 9:53:37 am
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