And yet, regardless of this knowledge gap, customers are beginning to demand things of their printer when it comes to paper. And the general push is for a higher quality product.
“There is an acceptance from clients that if you are going to commit to investing in a print product, the quality had better be good,” explains Justin Hobson, marketing director at Fenner Paper.
Peter Harrison, creative papers product manager at Antalis UK, says this has resulted in a boost for luxury paper brands.
“The market for luxury, or ‘creative papers’ as we call them, has increased in the last two or three years because firms are more aware of the need to produce print that reflects their corporate standing and attracts people to their communication.”
“Great news”, you might think, “we’re happy to buy it in if they are willing to pay.” Yet here is where the problem occurs. We are in the era of Aldi and Lidl where luxury has been made affordable (Aldi regularly beats luxury brands in taste tests of products, for example). The consumer expectation is now not just that luxury brands should be accessible to everyone, but that they should be affordable, too.
“I’ve had several customers come in and ask for a certain paper type and then look shocked when you tell them the price,” says one printer, who wishes to remain anonymous. “They can’t see why it should be so expensive and usually they are not willing to pay that money so you either soak up the costs to lessen the blow – eating into your profit – or you pass on the job.”
Of course, these papers are expensive for a reason.
“Sometimes they are using expensive raw materials such as cotton rag (pulp) or Mica for a pearlescent coating, and often they are made on slow narrow-width machines, which is the best type of machine to make these papers,” says Hobson. “All this contributes to a higher cost base. The other factor that should not be overlooked is that the prices of mass produced ‘commodity’ papers have been decreasing year on year. Faster, wider machines that have been built in recent years means that white commodity papers are now cheaper than ever and this has the effect of making these other special papers look even more expensive.”
Bang for buck
Once these higher costs are explained, some customers will be persuaded to part with the extra cash.
“As with any luxury item, people will only pay the prices associated with them if they feel they are getting something that makes a difference to them personally or to the way others see them,” says Harrison.
For the majority of clients, though, the budget is fixed so explanations will not make much difference. So are there any other ways printers can cater for a taste for luxury paper at a lower cost?
The most logical step would be to access a ‘basics’ range similar to that provided by the supermarkets – slightly less quality for less price, but still something that looks and feels high class. Most merchants say, however, that they do not offer such a clear ‘Plan B’ product.
“Many of the creative papers we offer are unique and don’t have an ‘own-brand’ lower-priced equivalent,” advises Harrison.
Julian Long, national key account manager for Arjowiggins Graphic, adds that, in most cases, manufacturers are producing the papers at as low a cost as they can already.
“Continually, manufacturers strive to improve the whiteness, brightness and surface aspect of their papers but do so while making efforts to absorb cost increases,” he explains.
This is not to say there is nothing a manufacturer or printer can do about the price of luxury papers. In fact, both can do a lot to make these papers more affordable for the client.
On the manufacturing side, there appears to be predictable wiggle room on price if you are buying in large quantities.
“Within our standard offering there are plenty of ways to make paper fit the budget, as when a project becomes large enough there are multiple tools available to alter the characteristics of a paper to ensure the paper fits the project,” explains Rob Mannix, director of sales at GF Smith. “Colorplan, for example, is extremely versatile: for certain projects the furnish and finish can be altered to achieve the best technical needs (usually in packaging applications) while satisfying the investment the client can afford to make.”
“If there is a large enough quantity required then it is worth speaking to a paper merchant and seeing if there is an unbranded alternative that can be supplied,” adds Hobson. However, he warns that there may be disadvantages to unbranded alternatives.
“They should be cheaper than buying a branded product but the disadvantages are many! There won’t be proofing stock available. There won’t be extra sheets available to order if the job increases. The other big issue is getting a customer to commit to a large order without being able to see a finished sample of the product – it can be an issue trying to get an order placed showing a sample of shade, a sample of texture and a sample of weight. Some clients cannot make the mental leap.”
Some manufacturers have also started offering better buying options to printers.
“We offer all of our papers in 25 sheets packs and printers are able to buy by the sheet: this reduces the impact on wastage and can be critical,” says Mannix.
Short of giving the stuff away for free, that is about it for general cost reduction options on the manufacturer side. However, all the merchants will offer bespoke advice if required.
“Our helpdesk is able to advise on alternative products that can offer some of the benefits of luxury papers if a more cost-effective option is required,” says Harrison.
On the printers’ side, there are more things that can be done to reduce costs.
“The obvious, commercial answer is to buy all your specialist paper from one supplier so you can improve your buying power, or more simply you can reduce grammage,” says Mannix. “In addition, printers are always offering different impositions and slight changes to the format to enable a more economical use of a sheet. We offer the majority of our papers in multiple sizes to allow room to move a job around on a sheet reducing the wastage.”
Hobson suggests this multiple size offering is rare, but there are still things that can be done: “One issue is that many of these luxury papers come in a B1 size, which is wasteful if the job size is A4. If possible, it’s a good idea to explain this to the customer and consider the size of the end job to see if you can maximise the usage of the sheet by either making the job smaller or possibly making the job larger (and at no extra cost but equally no wastage).”
Harrison says that printers also have to view the project as a whole – reducing the overall costs, not just that of the paper.
“A good printed piece starts with the design and therefore printers should work very early on with designers to make sure all parties can get the best out of the communication they are producing,” he says. “Printers bring an awful lot to the table and can advise on making the most economical use of the sheet size they are using, perhaps by suggesting a change in size of the finished piece in order to avoid wastage, on the finishes to use to bring the best out of the paper or if digital print would be a more economical way to go. Many more creative papers are now available for use on both liquid and dry toner presses and the resulting print can be outstanding.”
A final option is for printers to change the way they view paper in terms of how they sell it to the client.
“The more a printer promotes a different solution to a client away from the standard specification the more they distance themselves from their competition. Understanding premium paper is relatively easy, grasping paper as another sales tool is not as common place,” says Mannix.
Harrison adds that merchants and paper manufacturers are more than willing to help in this area.
“We have come a long way in recent years to build awareness among the print and designer communities as to the advantages of using creative substrates. However, there is still more to be done to bring these brands and their unique advantages to the attention of printers,” he says.
If you want to offer your clients luxury papers at affordable prices, then, there are options out there more palatable than eating into your profits to secure the job. The good news is that manufacturers and merchants are recognising there is an issue and they are willing to help, but it will require printers to ask for that assistance in the first place. And the upshot if they do is there will be more high-quality print in the market and that can only be good news for the industry as a whole.
