Sydney water programme increases response rate by more than 200 % with HP Indigo

Sydneysiders are becoming all too aware of how limited their city’s water supply really is. Drought and declining rainfall are forcing Sydney along with other parts of Australia to cope with a tough reality — either curb water usage or face a dire shortage.

But convincing a whole city to decrease water consumption isn't easy. The previous campaign for Sydney's WaterFix program, which offers low-cost installation of water-saving filters and professional repairs of plumbing leaks, was yielding unsatisfactory response rates. The utility knew it needed to make a greater impact and began looking for a new strategy. An HP Indigo press 3050, combined with the expertise of a local firm, offered a personalized campaign that made a splash.

A personalized approach
Sydney Water hired Group Momentum, a Sydney-based marketing and communications agency specializing in personalized campaigns, to attract more of the community to the WaterFix program. Research showed that more people would participate if they were aware of the impact they and their local community could make.

"Water conservation is not just about you — it's about everyone," said Group Momentum's managing director, David Minnett. "The HP Indigo allowed us to take a community approach to this issue."

Momentum needed to target water consumers street by street, house by house. The agency had just the solution with the HP Indigo press 3050 and HP's personalization software, which allows individual prints to be customized with variable data, such as a client's name and water usage.

Momentum used the press to create vibrant, personalized letters and brochures that addressed residents by name. These custom mailings informed each household of the specific amount of money and water their street could save every month and year by participating in the WaterFix program. The campaign also included a message that encouraged customers to join their neighbors in the effort.

"We sent out follow-up postcards telling customers who else in their suburbs and neighborhoods had taken part in the WaterFix program," said Minnett (pictured).

The HP Indigo press 3050 helped Momentum deliver these customized direct mail pieces with a quick turnaround. The press works at impressive speeds — producing up to 4,000 4-colour, letter/A4-size images each hour. Prints are instantly dry and can be immediately fed to offline finishing, making the press ideal for fast, targeted campaigns.

The targeted mailings successfully caught the attention of Sydney Water's customers, increasing the WaterFix response rate by more than 200 percent.

Sophisticated colour

Momentum uses the HP Indigo press 3050 for a range of other clients, including financial institutions and telecommunications companies. The firm also assists clients in industries such as fashion, which require highly specialized print jobs.

"The fashion industry is very concerned about colour management and skin tone," said Minnett. "The HP Indigo provides superior results."

The HP Indigo press 3050 features high-definition imaging, delivering 812 x 812-dpi resolution on both smooth and textured surfaces. Unique liquid HP ElectroInk creates the rich, vibrant colours the fashion industry demands. HP ElectroInk enables the control of even the smallest particle sizes at the high speeds required for top-quality colour and productive printing. Optional 5-, 6- and 7-colour inking stations let operators add HP IndiChrome special colours to the four process colours to deliver materials with a wider colour range and better colour matching. The finished product boasts incredible image sharpness, colour stability and colour consistency.

HP Indigo's Ink Mixing System (IMS) delivers customer-specified spot colours. Operators can also use specialty inks to add sophistication to photo products. The ink is used while jobs are on-press and in-line, so it won't slow the process.

The final image quality speaks for itself. "I love it," Minnett said.

Enhancing offerings

Momentum often creates campaigns for clients from inception to delivery. Along with the HP Indigo press 3050, the firm also uses another printer from the HP Graphic Arts portfolio — the HP Designjet 5500 Printer. The HP Designjet 5500 offers high productivity and exceptional image quality. "It allows Momentum to design and produce campaigns for our clients fairly seamlessly," said Minnett.

Minnett finds having in-house HP printers beneficial when working on campaigns that require confidentiality before launch. Most agencies send their designs and projects to outside presses for test prints and final productions. This exposes additional people to campaigns that need to be kept under wraps until final release.

"Having the Indigo press internally reduces the number of hands that touch our projects," Minnett said.

Minnett looks forward to pushing the HP Indigo press 3050 to new limits. Momentum will continue its running success with HP presses and printers by installing an additional HP Indigo press this year.

"We've found the Indigo to be highly reliable," said Minnett, "and it's enhanced our business offerings."