The Norfolk-based commercial and publication printer has over the past four months been one of several printers around the globe to trial a new print-to-mobile system, similar to QR codes and NFC (near field communication).
To access extra online content, readers download a free Ricoh app and scan the page with their smartphone or tablet cameras. They then choose from up to six links, which could include links to buy online, watch videos or join a Facebook group.
The USP of Clickable Paper, according to Ricoh, is that activating the page for scanning, or ‘authoring’, is carried out after the PDF is created, with the digital technology built to respond to the printed design rather than the other way around.
"The good thing is we can print the pages any time, we don’t have to wait for Ricoh to enable it, so it doesn’t hold up production," confirmed Julian Barnwell, managing director at Barnwell Print.
The first stage of the trial has involved Barnwell customer, magazine publisher Just Regional, adding interactive content to both advertising and editorial pages. Both Just Regional and its advertisers have responded extremely positively, reported Barnwell, as have other potential users of the system.
"New clients just want to know when they can start doing this. The demand’s there," he said. "It gives a lot of life to the printed page and more importantly it gives you accurate information on what people are using Clickable Paper for, which is great for advertisers."
Key learnings from this first stage have centered around finessing the technology, reported strategic marketing manager at Ricoh UK, Gareth Parker. The importance of educating all parties about the importance of the quality of PDFs, and the need to re-author repeat adverts with slight changes and avoid similar images in different adverts, has also emerged.
The second stage of the trial will involve "taking a closer look at how the system performs in a commercial environment," said Parker, with Barnwell rolling Clickable Paper out to other projects, including a fishing book and East Anglia Ambulance magazines.
"One of the other things we are looking at in stage two is how viable it is for printers to do the authoring themselves. We need to understand how we can support that."
He added that Ricoh hoped Clickable Paper would become commercially available to other UK printers in the first half of 2014.
