Over the past 12 months, print has continued to lead the way in innovative marketing solutions for a broad range of applications. The trouble is, printers are not the most forthcoming of people when it comes to shouting about these successes. Hence, we have collected four leading jobs from the past year and detailed the what, how and impact of those campaigns. Each, in its own way, proves what a dynamic, flexible and successful medium print continues to be for marketing professionals.

Suzuki Swift: Vehicle wrap

What was the job? Bromley-based vehicle wrapping specialist Creative FX helped car manufacturer Suzuki generate sales and a big marketing buzz for its Swift Attitude model by wrapping 500 of the cars in a unique "aggressively styled" livery. The 500 cars helped shift units, but also gave the model a marketing boost through press attention and by having the cars on the road.

How did they do it?  "Creative FX was commissioned with the visual ideas to create the Special Edition Suzuki Swift Attitude. We recommended using 3M 1080 Series carbon fibre to create the desired visual effects," says Creative FX director Sean Davis.

The work included applying a carbon fibre-effect roof as well as ‘Swift Attitude’ branding to the boot.

"Our team of six installed the roof graphics for 500 vehicles at the inspection centre and then wrapped 1,000 mirror covers at our own premises," says Davis "As racing fans know, carbon fibre is often used in the hoods and body panels of race cars to reduce weight without sacrificing safety. Since the advent of carbon fibre-effect vinyl, we are now able to recreate that racing car look for a fraction of the cost."

Despite strict time constraints and a large production run, the 13-staff company managed to fulfil the wrapping project without any disruptions.

What was the impact? Edward Norman, Suzuki GB product manager, says: "Suzuki GB launched the Swift Attitude special version on 1 April with a limited UK availability of 500 units. The final product was achieved through close co-operation between Suzuki and local suppliers in the UK. The model was intended to take advantage of the huge interest in the Swift Sport by offering a sporty, aggressively styled Swift at a more affordable purchase price and running cost in order to capture prospects on a lower budget. Suzuki GB’s dealer network received the model very positively, with all 500 units ordered and delivered to dealers within the second quarter."

Davis adds that Suzuki was extremely impressed with the job carried out by the team and said the project represented a wider collaboration between car manufacturers and the Kent-based business.

Roy the Redeemer: Wide-format piece

What was the job? The piece was a 30m tall structure in the style of Rio de Janeiro’s Christ the Redeemer, but with England manger Roy Hodgson’s face in the place of Christ’s. It was erected by betting company Paddy Power on the White Cliffs of Dover, and designed to lend moral support to the England team ahead of their Euro 2012 match with France, following numerous setbacks to the squad, including the loss of key players such as Gary Cahill, Frank Lampard and Gareth Barry.

Commenting at the time, Paddy Power’s Ken Robertson said: "Since Christ the Redeemer was constructed in Rio de Janeiro in 1931, Brazil has become the world’s leading footballing nation. We’re hoping some of that success can rub off on England in time for their Euro 2012 opener against France on Monday. Anyway, this is the closest Roy will get to Rio this month!"

How did they do it? The structure was printed continuously at Bugle Communications’ Sheffield plant for over 96 hours on to 160 2.5x1.6m 22ml HDF boards, each weighing 32kg. A team of engineers took two months to design the piece and a week to install it. The structure weighed eight tonnes, had an armspan of nearly 30m and needed two 40-tonne cranes to hold it up.

What the client said: The coverage achieved with such a dramatic piece of print was a huge triumph for Paddy Power, reports head of PR Claire Davies. "It performed very well in generating coverage for us," she says. "It got picked up by a lot of national newspapers. And that was quite unusual for us, getting into the front section of the papers as well as the sports section, where you’d more typically find betting companies mentioned."

Davies adds: "The piece developed a lot of buzz and visibility, and contributed hugely to the fact that, even though Paddy Power wasn’t an official Euro 2012 sponsor, we were one of the most talked-about companies during this period."

Assassin’s Creed Revelations: Packaging

What was the job? The Assassin’s Creed computer game series is a long-running action adventure game franchise. For the latest edition, Assassin’s Creed Revelations, developer Ubisoft wanted to create an innovative pack for the collector’s edition that would reflect the game’s story line, which features a man from the future being sent to the past by a colossal computer.

Thus the pack was required to resemble the computer interface, while the contents of the box, including an encyclopaedia, would be ‘aged’ to appear to be from the past.

How did they do it? "It was one of the most complicated, challenging but exciting jobs I have ever worked on," reveals Rudy Martinez, head of concept design at AGI-Shorewood, which designed and produced the packaging.

Complicated it may have been, but Martinez and his team came up with a design that met the brief perfectly. The whole front of the box mimics the interface of the futuristic master computer within the game. This is printed onto a lenticular substrate to create a 3D effect.

"It was an extremely difficult job trying to get the effect of immersion we wanted to create," says Martinez. "We did numerous print trials and had to really push the boundaries of what we knew was possible with lenticular print. The print quality had to be superb as people would be looking at it from close range. It took a lot of investment in time and a lot of people’s input not to mention a lot of print trials to be able to achieve that."

The box is also tilted to increase its impact. Martinez says that to get a box to tilt outwards and not fall off the shelf or cause any other issues was also very tough.

"Having something tilted hits people’s angle of view and so the overall impact of the lenticular substrate is amplified," he says.

The pack design was constantly being refined during development. Different materials were tested and the design was tweaked in order to achieve the desired effect without exceeding the budget.

"It was crucial we talked to the company on both a marketing level and an operational level, it meant we could understand the demands of both parties from the start so we did not have to make any last-minute compromises," says Martinez.

What was the impact? "The games market is incredibly competitive and so you have to ensure that the gamer is getting value for money," says Martinez. "This packaging is part of that added value."

He explains, however, that it also formed a crucial part of the marketing for the edition. Because of the unique packaging, gamers that bought the collector’s edition posted videos onto YouTube of them unboxing the packaging thereby encouraging others to purchase and creating a buzz about the game. Gamer review sites such as EGMNow.com added to this buzz by featuring reviews and blog posts calling the edition "one of the best collector’s editions of the year".

"On something like this, the packaging is the main seller for the product," says Martinez. "They will advertise the game itself, but for the collector’s edition, it is the packaging that creates the buzz, that gets the attention."

Ubisoft seems to agree, as it is already working on the next Assassin’s Creed release, following the same line that a special edition pack is key in the success of a franchise as it is considered as a ‘flagship’ for the release of the game, and is the best way to create the buzz through the core fan base.

Shortlist: The Amazing Spider-Man issue: Post-press

What was the job? Polestar helped the creative solutions team at Shortlist magazine to realise their vision of a textured finish for its The Amazing Spider-Man issue, which hit the streets and transport networks of London on 5 July. Shortlist wanted a finish that would mimic the rubbery texture of the superhero’s costume, while leaving the advert on the inside front cover unmarred.

How did they do it? Polestar account director Jeff White’s first instinct was to emboss the cover, but this would have created problems selling the magazine’s inside front cover space to an advertiser. So White went back to the drawing board and opted for an innovative Celloscreen high-build spot-UV varnish effect, applied on a Sakurai Maestro screen press.

"I thought about doing spot-UV, but this would just have given a glossy image and wouldn’t have given any kind of raised effect," says White. "So we printed it as a normal four-colour web offset at Polestar Chantry and then I took the process colour of the black only, so all the detail of the fine lines, and sent that to Celloglas trade finishers as an overprint. With Celloglas, we added some wax to the varnish to make it reticulate which is something you would normally try to avoid; you usually want UV smooth, but I wanted it cratered and feeling rough but still shiny."

What the client said: Shortlist was absolutely thrilled with the excitement this textured cover generated among readers. ShortList Media production director Ken Moreton reports that the magazine’s research department found this to be the most successful campaign the magazine has ever run, and that Swedish-based research company RAM found this to be the most successful campaign out of 2,500 they tested.

Backing this up was the rash of tweets the cover provoked from readers marvelling at the design. "Didn’t want to go watch Spider-Man but today’s @ShortList is making me want to go see it! #CantStopStrokingIt," said @SwiksP, while @whitniverse tweeted: "This Shortlist cover is textured, so I can pretend to know what it’s like to touch Spider-Man right? Right?"

"People liked the fact that it was just a bit unusual," explains Moreton. "The copies went very quickly. They’re on the streets usually for about three hours and they went within about two hours this time. There was just such a buzz about it."

"I guess the proof of the pudding is whether people went to see the film and they did in their droves," he adds. "It was a massively successful film, they did a roaring trade at the box office and we like to feel that our cover played a big part in that."

Peter Taylor, managing director at Sony Pictures Europe adds: "We have enjoyed a long and creative relationship with everyone at Shortlist and the work done on The Amazing Spider-Man not only consolidates this but with the tactile cover wrap takes it to a whole new level. We are delighted to once again partner with this great publication on one of our most important movies of 2012."