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said Hayes. "Upload a family photo to an iPhone case, and
they'll pay a serious premium."
These types of items also have a good deal of repeat
business. Every new iPhone version is a slightly differ-
ent size which means a new phone case. And with each
new version, Hayes said, "people are buying secondhand
phones. They have a lot of longevity." This means new
phone cases for new customers of older iPhones.
Web-to-Print Changes Everything
Getting into the ad specialties business is not as easy as
buying a Roland or a Mimaki UV fatbed and getting on
with it. Hayes stresses that a Web-to-print portal and a
high degree of workfow automation is what can make or
break the endeavor.
"The development of web-to-print and ecommerce, the
kind of model that Vistaprint is operating, has opened
promotional merchandise," he said. "The traditional
route of someone picking up the phone, asking for the
price of a product, sending in their artwork, having an
artwork team qualifying that artwork, verifying it…that
sales channel changed because of the implementation of
Web-to-print.
"Without a Web-to-print function to be able to handle
these small orders and automate the qualifcation and
verifcation of artwork, and process the order online,"
Hayes stressed, "there is simply no way to sell promotion-
al merchandise at these low quantities."
That said, the opportunities are certainly there. "Com-
mercial printers are going to have a an existing customer
base already," said Hayes. "That's a ideal place to start
fshing. They might be buying one set of prints, now
they've got an open conversation; 'Do you know we also
supply plastic pens or acrylic awards? We can also do
mobile phone cases.'"
And don't forget customization. "I'm selling a plas-
tic mobile phone case, 250 units, through a distributor
to HSBC or High Street Bank," said Hayes, "and we're
charging around $1.50 a case. With Web-to-print, there
really is no difference if you're printing 100 phone cases
with the same logo or 100 with a personalized logo. The
only difference is that when you sell a personalized case,
you can charge up to $20, $25 a case rather than $1.50."
This Year's Model
The old model still has a lot of value for businesses and
other organizations serious about implementing ad spe-
cialties into a marketing campaign. For smaller companies
looking to do limited runs, or for consumers, there is plen-
ty of opportunity for the commercial printer.
As they say, the pen is mightier than the sword—and
even mightier if it's printed.