Snap back on the box with new ads

SNAP Printing is gearing up for the launch of its first television advertising campaign in several years.

Spearheaded by former BankWest director of communications and brand strategist Don McLean, the new two-month campaign screens on television nationwide from September 21 and is designed to increase Snap’s share of the small to medium-size business segment.

The 30-second TV commercial was developed by 303 Advertising and delivers the key message of extraordinary service and profess-ional expertise, according to Mr McLean.

“The principle behind the ads was something that came out of research, which said that in this business the market is looking for someone who goes the extra step,” Mr McLean said.

“The SME market has been our focus and it is a strong part of the business. The ad is targeted at them and says ‘whatever it takes we will do whatever it takes to make you look good’.”

The Snap Printing board employed a market research firm a year ago to identify future opportunities for the business.

Mr McLean has joined the company, after nine years with BankWest, to help execute the branding and marketing decisions made by the board.

“The brief was managing or implementing some of the decisions that had been made, but also to work with all of our franchise owners and supporting them,” Mr McLean said.

“Market Equity had been involved and put together research about where Snap stood in the market and where future opportunities existed.

“From an industry perspective Snap is the number one brand in Australia in terms of awareness. The opportunity for us is in the conversion from brand awareness to using us.

“We are the number one in market share and there are opportunities to build that; we could double it.

“We are strong on prompted awareness of the brand but we need to build unprompted awareness and we need to build that so someone who knows us will actually consider us as a printer.

“It is like buying a new car. People look at Ford and Holden but nobody looks at a Lada but they know who Lada is.”

Snap Printing has adopted new corporate logos for its Australian and international franchises in an effort to update and reinforce its image.

“We want to be seen as a professional business printer and recognised as being a company that can cope with the small business market but [one that can] move right through to the corporate market,” Mr McLean said.

“We’ve just won major contracts with Westpac and RSM Bird Cameron and we want that segment to grow.

“Snap has in place the best technology and Snap has continued to move from being an instant printer to a professional business printer; that is about the technology and the equipment but also about the training, and it is about the professionalism of the staff and our corporate image.”

He said marketing initiatives would focus on winning new business.

“It is about taking advantage of a large portion of the market that is relatively uncommitted and there is a bit of consolidation in the printing market,” Mr McLean said.

“The number of players is dropping and the strong will survive.”

The TV campaign will be reinforced by a direct mail campaign starting in October.

While currently only one ad has been developed, Mr McLean said he planned to look at further developments of the TV commercial.

While the printing industry was in decline, he said, there were significant business opportunities and growth areas for Snap Printing, including the use of existing technology for digital asset management.

“We store hard copies digitally. Everything is stored on a disc and that is a significant thing for many businesses,” Mr McLean said.

“For a company with a lot of marketing material, business cards, flyers, brochures and whatever, we store that digitally.

“So when they want to find a brochure they did three years ago they have it on the disc instead of wondering where it was filed and going and pulling it out.”