HP Partners with Hearst Magazines for Personalized Advertising Campaign

PALO ALTO, CA—Dec. 19, 2011—HP and Hearst Magazines announced the publishing company’s first venture in fully personalized advertising content in a magazine, representing a new approach to creating more effective and measurable marketing campaigns.

Developed exclusively for Hearst, the high-volume marketing campaign used HP digital printing technology and was managed by Strategic Content Imaging Inc. Launched as part of the November issue of Popular Mechanics, 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 made it possible to combine 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. “HP has invested in digital printing assets such as the Inkjet Web Press to transform direct marketing, effectively bridge online and offline media, and help companies engage with their customers in a more meaningful way.”

The campaign in Popular Mechanics is HP’s first significant application for Inkjet Web Press magazine publishing. The HP Inkjet Web Press serves as a popular digital printing solution for the book publishing industry. Companies in the insurance, finance and other industries also use the technology for transactional statements, personalized direct mail and commercial printing applications.

HP digital printing systems – including HP Inkjet Web Presses, HP Indigo digital presses and HP Print Module inkjet imprinting solutions – enable magazine publishers to create high-response, data-driven marketing, including:

• Customer- and channel-specific coupon promotions.
• Integration of mobile offers with geo-coded content.
• Integration of social strategies based on past ad responsiveness.
• Inclusion of broader drive-to-web content extension programs.

These techniques can increase the value of print advertising and offer magazine publishers new ways to capitalize on their content and subscriber relationships.

About Popular Mechanics
Popular Mechanics empowers readers to navigate the increasingly complex, technological world around us. The magazine, published monthly by Hearst Magazines, inspires, instructs and influences 9 million curious readers. The brand is a 21st-century must-read, with a robust website http://popularmechanics.com and an award-winning tablet edition.

About Hearst Magazines
Hearst Magazines is a unit of Hearst Corp., one of the nation’s largest diversified communications companies. Hearst Magazines is the largest publisher of monthly magazines in the United States (ABC 2011), reaching 87 million adults (Spring 2011 MRI) with its 20 titles. In addition, the company publishes more than 300 editions around the world.

About HP
HP creates new possibilities for technology to have a meaningful impact on people, businesses, governments and society. The world’s largest technology company, HP brings together a portfolio that spans printing, personal computing, software, services and IT infrastructure to solve customer problems.

Source: HP.