It’s fairly obvious which the majority of marketers would choose. And this, reports chief executive of printer Easibind International Harry Skidmore, explains the instant success of Easibind’s new range of magnetic paper products.
Fridge magnets, he explains, have proved a particularly popular product since the company started offering magnetic paper printing last September. So light weight is Antalis’ MagneCote magnetic paper, says Skidmore, that the magnets can be included as part of direct mail packs, containing other items like mailers and coupons, at no extra postage cost.
Another popular fridge magnet application is for event invites or ‘save the date’ notes. “A lot use them for invitations now, so you’re not sticking it in a drawer and forgetting the date,” says Skidmore.
And fridge magnets are in fact just one of the many products MagneCote is now being used for. The substrate is also popular for retail shelf stickers and posters where a label would leave a residue when removed.
“We do A3 and A2 posters as well because they stick to anything that is a standard metal. In retail stores magnets will fit easily onto a stand’s metal shelf on the sides where there’s a lot of space,” says Skidmore, adding: “We’ve done some for boilers, so it has a nice business card on it or date for when the next service is due.”
All of this ties in nicely with Easibind’s position in the market.
Although the company was established 30 years ago as a stationery printer, Easibind has since diversified into a wide range of branded products for corporate stationery, packaging, promotion, point-of-sale and display, direct marketing, security recognition and identification cards, tags and tickets, using a wide range of substrates, such as non-adhesive, peelable plastics for window graphics.
“I think we’re known for our diversity of materials,” says Skidmore. “So we’re printing directly onto dome-shaped lenses that go into the lit areas of beer pump handles. We’re printing up to 5,000 micron thicknesses on inkjet machines and up to 1,000 micron on litho machines. We’re experimenting with lots of new materials and they’re all convenience products. They don’t leave residue on the windows and are easy to remove without any mess.”
Skidmore decided Litho 450x640mm 688gsm and HP Indigo 320x460mm 688gsm MagneCote were the magnetic substrates for him because it dispensed completely with the laminating-paper-to-magnets stage traditionally associated with producing magnets. Crucially, unlike competitor products, it can be run through a press just like any other paper.
“We reviewed a whole range of substrates. Some were quite good, but often there’s a lot of messing around trying to optimise the paper because of the feeding,” says Skidmore.
“The thing about MagneCote is it has a unique feature that means it feeds through all our machines without stopping. Normally you have to de-magnetise a magnet to put it through your printing machine, then you have to magnetise it with a little device you have to buy as well. But MagneCote comes to us as a paper – we print it as a paper, we deliver it as a paper, so it’s exactly the same processes of production as with paper,” continues Skidmore. “We’re printing several tonnes of this so we don’t want to be stopping and starting. We have to print and die-cut very quickly.”
Bedding in
Getting used to working with the substrate was simply a case of a three-week trial working with Easibind’s Manroland Roland 500, HP Indigo 5600 and s2000 and KBA Genius 52UV press. “With that trial we were able to get the substrate in the right sheet sizes for maximum efficiency. Because it’s a premium material we obviously tried to make sure it was very efficient in the way we could produce it,” says Skidmore.
The support from Antalis in these initial stages was exemplary, reports Skidmore. So too has been the merchant’s support in quickly sourcing large quantities from the US, where it’s produced, to meet tight turnarounds.
Since this three-week trial, Easibind has had absolutely no issues working with the stock. “To us it’s no problem: it comes off dry, because with our UV presses everything comes off dry; we can print and die-cut and everything the same day,” says Skidmore.
Being able to run the substrate through its digital equipment as easily as its litho kit is key, reports Skidmore. This way the company can produce short runs of the product for marketers to test its effectiveness, and then do longer runs later if required.
“We mainly started on HP Indigos doing short-run production samples, prototyping, and then production runs as well up to about 1,000 magnets,” says Skidmore.
He adds: “We do a lot of what we call break-out magnets, like in an A5 mailpack. It’s nice to keep the pack to A5 size but then have different shapes in the break-outs, so you have three or four magnets the user breaks out when they get them.”
Premium product
MagneCote products do cost more than standard paper products, says Skidmore. But so far the company is nonetheless finding plenty of appetite for them.
“You’re probably paying double the price but it’s just so convenient for people,” he says. “It is a premium price but then you’ve got to think how you stick a poster up and take it down. Lots of customers are seeing this as worth the price.”
For those who do feel a fully magnetised poster is a bit pricey, Easibind can add ‘magnetic tags’ to poster products.
“We’ve got a range of other products, so we have ‘mag-tags’ where we just put a magnetic tag on a paper poster if someone wants something a bit cheaper,” says Skidmore. “So you can just do these as a tag that would go on the boiler but still be a brochure or poster too. Even a 75x25mm tag will hold an A4 poster.”
But many customers, particularly in light of the MagneCote not entailing higher postage costs, are happy to pay a “premium” price for stand-out results.
Skidmore cites an NHS Change4Life Snack Swapper campaign as one that’s been a resounding success. “We did glass shapes, cheese shapes, cereal bowl shapes, all based around healthy snacks you might want to swap into your diet,” he says. “Snack Swappers was a very successful campaign. They mainly did digital media the previous year, but found it wasn’t connecting with all the family, so they decided to try something more physical.”
“This has surpassed all expectations,” he adds. “We did a really good production run and have done several make-up runs, subsequently. Demand has exceeded expectation.”
Other MagneCote campaigns have proved similarly successful, to the point where the company has now used over 12 tonnes of the stuff in total, with Skidmore commenting that “for that type of product that’s a nice level”.
“It’s won us a lot of new business, particularly from existing customers wanting new things. People want things that have campaign value but that can be integrated into things like POS and direct mail,” says Skidmore.
“The fact we can take people from proof of concept to final production in a very short space of time, gives us the edge every time,” he adds.
SPECIFICATIONS
Thickness 330 micron
Brightness 93 ISO
Gloss 72%
Basis Weight 688gsm
Opacity >99%
Shade Blue-white
Prices £2,235-£3,302 per 1,000 sheets
Contact Antalis 01530 505150 www.antalis.co.uk
Company profile
Established 30 years ago as a manufacturing stationer, Easibind International has diversified to produce a wide range of branded products for corporate stationery, packaging, promotion, point-of-sale and display, direct marketing, security recognition and identification cards, tags and tickets. The firm installed an HP Indigo 5600 in 2012 to complement its Indigo s2000. The company also runs a KBA Genius 52UV press, Manroland Roland 500, Kongsberg cutting table and Viking and Bobst die-cutting machines.
Why it was bought...
Easibind started using Antalis’ MagneCote magnetic paper last September for a range of products including branded and promotional fridge magnets to go in mailing packs; invitations and save the date magnets; and A2 and A3 poster magnets. The company has an “excellent” relationship with Antalis, with the vendor often suggesting new innovative substrates Easibind may want to trial. The printers decided to go for this magnetic paper over competitors’ as the substrate can be run straight through a press with no magnetising required afterwards.
How it has performed...
Easibind has been able to print with the substrate just as with any other, reports chief executive Harry Skidmore, who adds that these products have been very popular so far with a wide range of customers. “We’ve run several tonnes now and had no issues, it’s just like a standard material to us,” he says.
