HP and Hearst Magazines announced a publishing venture in personalized advertising content in magazines.
Content Imaging Inc. developed exclusively for Hearst as part of the November issue of Popular Mechanics, a high-volume marketing campaign using HP digital printing technology. The campaign was managed by Strategic.
The campaign included:
– Personalized "onserts" produced on HP digital presses advertising HP consumer inkjet printers. The onserts featured full-color name and address variable-data imaging with photography of regional landmarks, such as San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge and a New York brownstone. Brown Printing bundled the onserts, which were delivered to 300,000 subscribers in the nation's 12 largest metropolitan areas.
– Sixteen-page regionally customized inserts featured information about HP technology and product innovation, and provided subscribers with details on where to buy HP products locally.
-Text links and QR codes throughout the two advertising pieces to drive readers to an online sweepstakes and additional web content.
The customized content was produced on HP Inkjet Web Presses, which combines one-to-one personalization with localized content and online information.
"HP's technology allows us to offer another level of personal engagement, and we're thrilled with the results we've seen from this first phase of the partnership," said Michael Clinton, president, Marketing, and director, Publishing, Hearst Magazines. "It places a new premium on the value of print advertising."
By delivering relevant content to specific users, the campaign drew strong reader interest, generating more than 15,000 sweepstakes site visits and more than 10,000 unique sweepstakes entries within the first 28 days of the campaign. That level of response to magazine advertising — 3 percent of the total recipient base — exceeded than the typical 1- or 2-percent rate for direct mail.
The program also had exceptional conversion rates for sweepstakes entries, with 86 percent of visitors entering additional information and completing an entry.
"Unlike more generic campaigns, this type of personalized advertising delivers specific metrics, so companies know what return they're receiving on their campaign spend," said Vyomesh Joshi, executive vice president, Imaging and Printing Group, HP.
