From commodity to service

Transforming a paper brand

into a new category

MSC. THESIS BY NICK POLDERMANS

B1
MSc. Thesis of Nick Poldermans
TU Delft, Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering
Strategic Product Design Master's Program
Chair of the supervisory team: Prof. dr. ir. J.A. Buijs
Supervisory mentor: MSc F. Secomandi

Company:Tan Brand Communication Consultants

Company Mentor: Kyle Talbot
Client: Hello Paper

Nick Poldermans, December 2010

Student number: 1222821
nickpoldermans@gmail.com
Glossary
Commercial Printer - A company which business revolves
around the professional printing and production of print
products (“Drukkerij”). Production may also include: binding,
folding and more functions.
Commodity - The term commodity is used for lowly
differentiated products. Commodity markets are characterized
by increasing homogeneity of products, higher price
sensitivity among customers, lower switching costs, and
greater industry stability (Reimann, Schilke, et al. 2009).
Classic examples can be found in: salt, nails or sand.
Communication Platform - A meeting place designed
to facilitate interaction and collaboration among people who
share common interests and needs. It can be both physical
(e.g. a fair, event) or digital (e.g. website, online videogame);
it can even be a combination of both. The communication
platform is a tool to support a community.
Community - A social network of individuals who interact,
whether in person or through online media, in order to
pursue mutual or shared interests or goals.
Holding Company - A type of parent company that exists
primarily to exercise control over other firms, often without
significant operations of its own. The control is exercised
through ownership of a majority of the controlled firm's
shares.
Merchant - A merchant is a company which buys in and
sells products which were not produced by them, in order to
earn profits.
Operating Company - An operating company falls under
a holding company. In this report the term will be used when
discussing the operating companies of PaperlinX, yet it
should be noted that the operating companies in this context
perform the same tasks as a merchant.
Paper - There are several details related to paper, which
define the product on a technological level that is relevant to
commercial printers. This is discussed in Appendix 1.
Print Buyer - A print buyer is in this report defined as a
person or company which orders/buys print products at a
commercial printer.
Print Product - In this report a print product can be
defined as a product which has been produced by a commercial
printer. This can be a magazine, a flyer, packaging and many
other applications.
Printing - Printing is one of the main topics throughout
this report. The context is always focused on the professional
printing performed by commercial printers. There exist many
types of printing, of which off-set and digital printing are the
two main methods. Due to the complexity of these printing
methods they are further explained in Appendix 1.
Ser vices, Products, Solutions - In Appendix 2 an
introduction to these three topics can be found to define them
theoretically.
Social Media - Primarily internet and mobile-based media
that enable people to share and discuss content among each
other. Examples are Facebook, twitter, linkedin, myspace,
blogs and more. A communication platform can incorporate
social media.
Preface
Graduating at a consultancy company was one of my main
goals during the search for a proper (i.e. the perfect) project.
I wanted to experience the atmosphere and the specific way
of working, feeling it would be an interesting professional
context for my own future. From the project I expected it to
require strategic thinking and to challenge me in ways I had
not yet experienced during my years at the Industrial Design
faculty. I set out to find a matching project and company,
which proved to be troublesome in a market suffering under
the after shocks of the financial crisis.
When I contacted Tan Brand Communication Consultants
I received immediate positive reactions. During my first
meeting with Kyle Talbot we discussed my experience and the
Strategic Product Design master and what possibilities this
would offer within Tan. Tan had a number of active clients
with whom we could do a project together. One of them was
PaperlinX and their brand Hello Paper.
Hello, a paper brand which wanted to extend into the field of
services. My knowledge on paper did not reach much further
than the common stereotypes of it being white and made from
trees, and services were still a vague and undefined concept in
my educational experience. After the initial exploration of the
company and market a world of challenges quickly exposed
itself; and a challenge was exactly what I was looking for.
Many thanks go to Kyle Talbot for the opportunity to do this
project and his advice during the entire process, Margreet
Sloot for her advice and insights from the view of PaperlinX
and of course, everyone at the Tan Brand Communication
office for their support, participation in the brainstorms,
delicious lunches and mainly their fantastic company.
I would like to thank my supervisory team, Jan Buijs and
Fernando Secomandi, for the clever remarks and stimulating
questions. Keeping a critical eye on the project, which was
very valuable when I buried myself in paper.
Last but not least, my friends, family and girlfriend for their
understanding, support and contributions to this project.
Enjoy reading this thesis,
Nick Poldermans
Executive Summary
Hello
Hello Paper is a brand of paper aimed at commercial
printers in Europe. Since 2001 they have been the number
one in their market, by offering a strong product available
in a broad number of specifications, combined with proper
marketing. Hello starts to realize their brand is slowly losing
its advantage. The competition is catching up, by following in
their footsteps. Hello needs to innovate.
Hello is a product of PaperlinX; an international Holding
of paper merchants. Within Europe PaperlinX owns
merchanting companies in 18 different countries, which they
call operating companies. Each of these operating companies
is responsible for the sales and distribution of the products
and Hello is one of their most important product brands.
Internal Structure
Through the commoditization in the market, Innovation
within the product paper is not an option. Hello spotted the
possibility in moving towards offering services around their
products and clients. Hello has pursued this in the past,
yet to no avail. An exploration of the paper industry and
PaperlinX' structure revealed that Hello innovated based on
the technology and resources of the operating companies,
which were not directly linked to Hello. These innovations
were therefore credited to the Operating Companies. It was
concluded that Hello would have to innovate independently
from them, in order to succeed.
Throughout its existence Hello has positioned the brand as
The Answer to the needs of the commercial printers. As of this
moment their actions do not fulfill this vision beyond their
marketing message. It was concluded that this vision should
be the guideline for service innovation under the Hello brand.
Accordingly the commercial printing market became the main
focus for the project.
Commercial Printers
Building on these insights the project focused on the needs
of the commercial printers, and their clients, the print buyers.
The communication market, in which commercial printing
plays a role, is changing. Online media like websites and social
media are increasing in use while printed media is decreasing.
Currently the offer is greater than the demand for printing.
Commercial printers can be divided in two types; printers
focused on capacity and printers focused on service. Due to
the difference in demand and offer the market became focused
on price, and printing was considered a commodity. This
change lead to the fact that service focused printers started
competing on price, which in its essence is the field of capacity
focused printers; a lost cause.
Service focused printers are having trouble distinguishing
themselves in this market. It was discovered that their
approach towards the print buyers was outdated and the
main cause of this. A technological mind-set and technology
driven innovation does not match with the print buyers. Print
buyers are creatives; active in marketing, communication and
graphic design. Commercial printers need to change their
approach towards their clients. Three different issues were
acknowledged to improve the approach of the commercial
printers.
Improve the transparency of the Printing Process, Instigate a pro-
active approach towards the print buyers and Create print buyer
centered touch points, were the three search fields which were
concluded from the analysis. These three search fields were
used as the starting point for the generation of new concepts
for Hello, aimed at the commercial printer.
Idea Generation
Creative sessions lead to several ideas and five of these ideas
were selected. Each of the concepts had market potential, yet
it was concluded that the they are too ambitious to implement
under the current Hello brand. The concepts would first
demand a re-positioning of the Hello brand. This lead to the
creation of a complete strategy for Hello, to move the brand
towards new product categories.
The Strategy
One of the selected concepts covered the creation of an
online Hello Communication Platform, aimed to help the
commercial printers strengthen their position. This concept
was taken as the starting point to re-position the Hello brand.
Building on Hello's the answer, it is named Hello Solutions.
Hello Solutions is an online communication platform
through which Hello provides the commercial printer with
information to help them with their business. For this a
conceptual design of a communication platform was designed;
including the many factors surrounding it.
As the community grows, Hello will re-position itself in the
minds of the commercial printers and the brand will become
accepted as a provider in categories beyond paper. Through
the community Hello will be able to have dialogues with
their clients. Hello will leverage this central position in the
community to gain insights into the market. These insights
will lead to opportunities for new products, services and
applications.
Once Hello has gathered enough research, their brand has
re-positioned itself and the communication platform has
a sufficient amount of members, Hello will be able to use
Hello Solutions as a sales platform for new products, services
and applications; profitable solutions. In this report three
conceptual applications and services are provided, to give
Hello an insight in the possibilities this could offer the brand
in the near future.
Conclusion
With this strategy Hello will be able to extend its brand into
new categories. Due to the troubling predicted future of paper,
this will provide the brand with new fields to pursue growth
and revenue.
Index
Reading Guide I
Introduction II
Section 1 5.3 The Role of Print 23
Ch1. Paper Industry 6
1.1 The Market 2
1.2 Market Structure 3
1.3 Merchanting 4
1.4 Commercial Printers 4
1.5 Print Buyers 5
Ch2. PaperlinX 6
2.1 Structure 6
2.2 Product Brands 7
2.3 Services 9
2.4 Marketing 9
2.5 Sales 9
Ch3. Hello Paper 10
3.1 Brand & Product 10
3.2 Sales 12
3.3 Marketing 13
3.4 Competition 13
Ch4. Focus 15
4.1 Product Innovation 15
4.2 Differentiation in Brands 15
4.3 Diffusion in Structure 16
4.4 Brand Extension 17
4.5 Target Group 18
4.6 Focus 19
4.7 Conclusion 19
Section 2 Section 4
Ch5. Communication 22
5.1 Broadening of the Market 22
5.2 Dynamic is Convenient 22
5.4 Conclusion 24
Ch6. Print Market 25
6.1 The Market 25
6.2 Commoditization of Print 26
6.3 Commercial Printers 28
6.4 Print Buyers 30
6.5 Print Job Cycle 31
6.6 The Gap 35
6.7 Search Fields 36
6.8 Conclusion 37
Ch7. Communities 38
7.1 Communication Platform 38
7.2 A Community 39
7.3 Independent or Branded 40
7.4 Online Business Models 41
7.5 Partnership 42
7.6 Conclusion 42
Section 3
Ch8. Ideation 46
8.1 Introduction 46
8.2 Method 46
8.3 Concepts 47
8.4 A Strategy 49
8.5 The Concept Strategy 50
8.6 Model 51
Ch9. Strategy 54
9.1 Foundation 54
9.2 Strategy Roadmap 55
9.3 Vision & Brand 56
9.4 Business Model 58
9.5 The Operating Companies 59
Ch10. Comm. Platform 60
10.1 Objectives 60
10.2 Road to Success 61
10.3 Content 61
10.4 Design 63
10.5 Organization 68
10.6 Marketing 70
10.7 Finances 72
10.8 Roadmap 74
10.9 Platform for Sales? 75
Ch11. Solutions 76
11.1 Objectives 76
11.2 The Concepts 76
11.3 1. Printer Improvement 78
11.4 2. Update 81
11.5 3. Print Store 83
11.6 Portfolio Management 85
11.7 Conclusion 85
Ch12. Evaluation 86
Ch13. Recommendations 88
References 90
Epilogue 94
Reading Guide
Report Structure
This report describes the graduation project carried out
within the Strategic Product Design master programme at the
Delft University of Technology.
The report has been structured into a logical sequence, to
provide the reader with a clear foundation leading up to the
final strategy. The actual process used an iterative approach,
repeating and re-evaluating steps throughout the progress of
the project. In figure 0.1 is a graphic model of the report.
The report is divided in four sections. The first will cover an
exploration of the paper industry and an internal analysis of
Hello and PaperlinX. The second section will explore the
communication industry, the commercial printing industry
and the topic of communication platforms. The third section
will cover the ideation of concepts for Hello. The fourth
section will describe the selected final Strategy.
Research
For this report both literature and emperical studies have
been conducted. Informal interviews, case study research,
a shortlist of professionals formally interviewed, and more.
To pursue clarity, the conclusions of these studies have been
implemented throughout the entire report. Therefore the flow
of the report for the reader does not have to be interrupted
to discuss research methodology. Literature references
are mentioned in the text and the list of interviewees are
mentioned in the references chapter (page 90). The results
and methods of the formal interviews and case studies can be
found in the appendices.
Appendices
The second report covers the appendices. In many occasions
these will provide background information or visual
representations of issues discussed in this report. It will be
noted in the text when an appendix is of interest.

Ch1. Paper Ch5. Commu-

Industry nication
Ch10. Phase 1
Community
Ch6. Printing
Ch2. PaperlinX Ch4. Focus Ch8. Ideation Ch9. Strategy Ch12. Evaluation
Market
Ch11. Phase 2
Solutions
Ch3. Hello Ch7. Community
Paper Research

Section 1: Paper Section 2: Printing Section 3: Concepting Section 4: The Strategy Evaluation

Fig 0.1 The structure of the report

I
 Introduction
This project was a cooperation between a number of different
parties. The assignment was conducted together with Tan
Brand Communication Consultants, a marketing and
brand strategy agency from Utrecht. The project was done
for PaperlinX, a large international merchant of paper and
communication materials. It entails the development of a new
business and service strategy for one of PaperlinX' brands:
Hello Paper, therefore the client of this project.
PaperlinX
PaperlinX is an international group of merchants of paper
and communication material; for example, in the Netherlands
they own the well known BührmannUbbens. PaperlinX'
focus lies in four different strategic areas; commercial print
paper, office paper, signs & displays and packaging material.
The company’s main aim is with commercial print paper,
paper aimed at commercial printers. A commercial printer
is a company which business revolves around professional
printing; to create brochures, magazines, business reports
and many other products. Within the European market
PaperlinX' biggest brand is Hello Paper.
Hello Paper
Hello Paper is a premium paper brand aimed at commercial
printers. The Hello Brand started its life in 1997, initiated by
BührmannUbbens. BührmannUbbens had many sales offices
throughout Europe; in the UK, The Netherlands, Germany
and many more. Each of these local offices were running their
II
own lines of paper. BührmannUbbens wanted to improve
the coherence within the market, by creating one single brand
which would be sold at all the local sales offices throughout
Europe. This brand would have three different types of paper,
available in a wide array of specifications.
Hello was officially launched in six European countries in
1998 and it replaced well over 10 existing brands. It became
one of the first cross-country paper brands. Whether one
would order it in Germany or Great Britain; the brand and
product would be the same. This new strategy within the
paper industry lead them to become the number 1 brand in
their market in 2001, a position they hold to this day. The
brand and its related marketing were originally created in
cooperation with Tan Brand Communication Consultants.
Tan Brand Communication
Consultants
Tan was started in 1997 by Kyle Talbot and Annelies Nagel.
Tan offers strategic advice and creative communications to
help companies develop their brand identity. Their clients
range from business-to-business software developers, to
bed manufacturers, clothing brands and paper merchants.
One of Tan's main clients is the paper merchant PaperlinX.
Since 1997 Tan has been involved with many of PaperlinX'
brand launches and marketing campaigns. In fact, Tan was
responsible for the initial launch in 1998 of the Hello Brand.
Since then Tan has been one of the main sources for creative
input for PaperlinX.
Due to Tan's longlasting relationship with Hello Paper
and their extensive knowledge on branding, this project
was conducted at the office of Tan. At Tan it was directly
supervised by Kyle Talbot, co-owner of the company, in
close contact with Margreet Sloot, the Category Manager
responsible for Hello Paper.
The Project
Hello Paper has always positioned itself as an innovative
brand; innovation based on the needs of their clients, the
commercial printers. Hello’s tagline is The Answer, they
envision to be the answer to the commercial printer's needs.
Due to a combination of reasons; branding, product quality,
range of specifications and a broad distribution network,
Hello Paper took the number one position within several
years of their introduction. Yet, for the past couple of years
this position has begun to crumble. Competing brands are
catching up to Hello and Hello is no longer the defining
brand in the market.
Problem Description
Differentiating a paper brand is difficult within the
Commercial Printing Paper market. It is a crowded Business-
to-Business market with up to a hundred competing brands.
Though Hello Paper is the biggest, they only have about
four to five percent of the market; leaving ninety-five for the
competition. A troubling issue is the lack of differentiation
in the product. Differentiation on a product level is close to
zero,; the product is a commodity.
Hello Paper notices it is slowly losing ground to competitors.
The possibilities to define Hello through its product and
branding are shrinking. In order to distinguish themselves,
Hello realizes they should take a next step in a new direction.
Hello would like to focus more on the creation of services
surrounding their business and their clients. A field which
they explored in the past, yet to no avail. Driven by the
possibilities the internet and online communication offers,
Hello sees opportunities for their brand to extend in this field.
They spotted a possibility in creating a professional online
communication platform; useable for both the commercial
printer’s and Hello’s own interests. Yet, the specific objective(s)
or service(s) are still unclear.
The initial insight by Hello to move further into services
surrounding the commercial printers seem justified, related
to the lack of opportunities in product differentiation. What
this service should entail remains to be unclear. Hello is
considering creating an online communication platform for
its clients, yet the exact reasons behind this need to be further
explored. This lead to the creation of the following broad
objective for this project.
Objective
“Design a strategy and service to elevate
Hello Paper’s role within the commercial
printing market, providing a path to move
Hello Paper from a product brand to
becoming a service brand.”
III
 Section 1
Paper & Brands
The initial objective, described in the introduction to this project, is of
a broad nature. In this first section the focus will be on paper.

Chapter 1 will explore the paper industry. In this chapter the state of
the market will be researched, including the two main trends affecting
the sales of paper. The structure of the market and its stakeholders
will be defined, in order to generate an overal view on the industry
and the power structure. Accordingly the following chapters 2 and 3
will dive deeper in PaperlinX and Hello; to discover the possibilities
of both and to find out what the underlying reasons are for Hello’s
unsuccesful (for them) attempts in the field of services were.

In the fourth chapter the conclusions from these analyses will come
together to create a focus for the project.

1
 CH. 1

Paper Industry
A steady future of paper has been questioned since the introduction of the personal computer in the
1970s. In actuality it turned out better than expected; up until several years ago the future of paper was
still strong. Yet, throughout the past years the industry started to show cracks. In this chapter the focus
will be on the analysis of the paper market for commercial printing.

1.1 The Market initiated by The Stationers Company (NLK Associates,

It is estimated that the entire paper Industry will decrease
over the following years (table 1.1). These tables sketch the
current and future market for paper. Hello is Wood Free
Coated paper (see Appendix 1); a market which will be the
least affected in the coming years. The least affected obviously
doesn’t mean the market will be fine; sales in Wood Free
Coated paper will decrease.
Even though this is a business-to-business industry, ultimately
demand for paper comes from consumers. Two recent
research studies, “The Future of Paper and Print in Europe”
Table 1.1 Estimated decreas in sales (NLK Associates, 2008)
2008) and “World Graphic Paper” by EMGE Paper Industry
Consultants (EMGE, 2010), both acknowledge two main
important trends in this market leading to this change.
1.1.1 Trends
Sustainability
Society’s concerns for the environment goes up and down,
affected by many different influences like the fluctuating
economy. The issue that continuously keeps rising is the
concern about the negative environmental impact of paper
and print (Carli, 2010). Even though reading on a computer
or any digital device may not actually be more environmental
friendly, it doesn’t change the bad image of Paper. More
importantly, it doesn’t change the fact that every product or
service can and should be made more sustainable.
This has a growing effect on the use and purchases of
paper by many corporations, institutions and governmental
organizations. In general this means a shift towards buying
recycled paper and policies which reduce the usage of paper*.
The reduction of paper usage is one of the easier steps,

2
 Fig 1.1 The structure of the commercial printing market
making it a starting point for many companies.
Within the paper industry this has been an important topic
to approach. All of the large merchants and manufacturers
have put efforts into improving their corporate sustainability;
both internally and externally. Internally the recycling of paper
has become the rule, instead of the exception, and the same
goes for re-forestation. Externally many paper merchants
and manufacturers have started creating campaigns to make
people aware of the misconceptions which are existing around
the sustainability of paper (EMGE, 2010). A difficult, already
lost, battle since reducing the use of paper is always better.
Many merchants have introduced high quality recycled brands
over the years and for PaperlinX this is the brand Revive
aimed at commercial printing (see chapter 2).
Change in Media
The most important cause for the decrease in the paper
industry is the change in the entire communication field. The
innovations of the past two decades done in the digitalization
of communication have an increasing effect on the sales of
paper in the long run. The changes are difficult to grasp in a
single sentence. The internet, social media, smart phones, the
development of E-readers and iPads; it keeps on changing the
*Please consider the environment: Do you really need to print this report?
market environment for the paper and printing industry. It
leads to publishers, advertisers and, basically every company,
to move into digital media; further away from printed media.
Though the effects of this change are noticed in the paper
industry, they are most relevant to the print industry. Paper
is the medium, but printing makes it a communication product.
This topic will be further elaborated on in Chapter 5 and 6.
1.2 Market Structure
In figure 1.1 is a simplified representation of the direct value
chain in the commercial printing market.
The manufacturer develops and produces the paper. They
distribute the products towards the many merchants groups.
Through the operating companies of the merchant group,
the product is sold towards the commercial printers. The
commercial printers process (e.g. print, bind) the paper into
printed products, in assignment of their clients; the print
buyers. Print buyers can be divided into two groups; creative
agencies and corporate end-users.
3
1.3 Merchanting
1.3.1 Product
Merchants are dependent on a small group of Manufacturers
to supply the product. Throughout the years these
manufacturers have been able to streamline the entire
production process of paper. Paper has reached the end of its
development stage. Since a small number of manufacturers
supply ten merchanting groups, it leads to a product
differentiation of close to zero. One manufacturer might use
a double coating technique while another uses a special triple
coating. The differences in use are neglectible; in some cases
it is even the exact same product. When the paper for Hello
comes out of the paper manufacturer, it will be wrapped and
branded as Hello. Yet, the exact same paper will also be sold
under the competing brands Garda, Magno and Triple Star.
1.3.2 Service
The Merchanting of paper is a service. Merchants are
constantly trying to add and improve services, to build
stronger relationships with their clients. An example of this
is the improvement in the online ordering system; improving
usability of the software, and customization possibilities for
ordering paper. Another example is quicker delivery or the
customization of product orders (per paper, instead of per
pallet). Anything to remove the discussion further away from
the focus on price, which has become more relevant again
in this day and age (See chapter 6). The fact remains that
advantages, on services, are always short lived. Within months
after the introduction of a new service, competitors will have
picked it up too. Then it depends on the relevance and quality
of the additional service whether it is attractive enough to
switch merchants. Even though switching costs are low, the
industry is very stable; many of the merchant’s clients have
4
been with them for years or decades. This strong bond exists
due to the personal approach: the personal relationships is
very important.
Looking at Reimann, Schilke, et al. (2010), they define
four main characteristics of commoditization: product
Homogeneity, High Price Sensitivity, Low Switching Cost
and Industry Stability. All of whom match perfectly to this
field; the paper and merchanting industry is a commodity
industry. The key-success factors in this business follow out of
this: one is price, two is the distribution channel and three is
the personal relationship.
1.3.3 Marketing
The commoditization of the market reflects itself in the
marketing of the merchants and paper brands. Marketing
within this field can be “Old Fashioned”. To keep or obtain
clients, it is common to offer free gifts: dinner, golf trips,
manufacturer visits, educational weekends and so on. Since
the financial crisis this has started to decrease, but it remains
to be a normal approach. A common factor in many business-
to-business markets (Dwyer & Tanner, 2005).
1.4 Commercial Printers
The main target group for Paper Merchants and Paper Brands
are the commercial printers. The second group are the print
buyers; creative agencies and corporate end-users.
There are a handful of large printers per country, but an
incredible amount of small and medium sized regional
printers. The large printers have to be innovative (or their
equipment suppliers have to be) to remain on top of the
market. The smaller regional printers are more conservative,
offering a basic strong product. There are tens of thousands
of printers in Europe alone. To put it in perspective, there
are around 2000 commercial printing companies in The
Netherlands alone, of which only 20% has more than 10
employees (CBS Centraal bureau voor de statistiek).
Commercial Printers can be viewed as Print Manufacturers.
They combine a number of ingredients to create a printed
product; paper, ink, printing plates, toner and more. For
commercial printers paper is therefore an important
ingredient. Commercial printers are dependent on merchants
to supply them with this input of paper; it’s the merchant’s
service that makes the commercial printer’s business run
smoother. Whether that product is Hello or one of its direct
competitors, the commercial printer will not notice. It’s the
relationship between a merchant and a commercial printer that
counts.
1.5 The Print Buyers
The clients of the commercial printers are an enormous
group; basically it can be assumed that every company needs
(professional) print work, which makes most of these a
possible client of commercial printers. Print Buyers can be
divided in two different groups, based on who is in direct
Figure 1.2 Reasons to Switch brands (Opticom, 2007)
contact with the commercial printer. In some cases this is
handled by a creative agency hired by company X, in other
situations it is directly handled by company X.
In its pure basics, Print Buyers will hire Commercial Printers
for a print project. The Commercial Printer will produce
the print work and deliver it to the Print Buyer. In this
relationship the Print Buyers have an enormous amount of
power; if they want a specific type of paper, or a specific paper
brand, the commercial printer will use that brand. In figure
3.5 are the five main reasons for commercial printers to switch
between paper brands (Opticom, 2007); lead by the needs of
the print buyer.
For Hello this can be viewed as an important opportunity.
The fact of the matter is; print buyers care very little about
paper brands. What matters to them is the final product
and that it fits their expectations; it basically depends on the
performance of the commercial printer. It is extremely difficult
for experts to tell the difference between paper brands; let
alone the print buyers. Print buyers will of course have a
preference for a specific kind of paper: if you are making a
fashion magazine, you want a glossy paper for the cover. But,
whether that glossy paper comes from brand A or brand B,
does not matter.
In most situations the Print Buyers will select one or several
commercial printers as approved suppliers, and the choice
for paper brand is left up to the Commercial Printer. It is
estimated that between 5-10% of the print buyers specify a
paper brand.
5
 CH. 2

PaperlinX
PaperlinX is a young company. In 2000 it demerged from Amcor, a large packaging company from
Australia. Over the years they have grown by acquiring many paper merchants from around the world,
like Spicers Paper in Australia. PaperlinX acquired the Dutch company BuhrmannUbbens in 2003,
immediately making Europe PaperlinX’ most profitable market.

Today the PaperlinX Group is one of the largest paper many merchants, or Operating Companies as PaperlinX
merchants in the world, selling over four and a half million addresses them, each work under their own flag (figure 2.1).
tons of paper and packaging materials worldwide.
2.1.2 Operating Companies Regional Focus
Clients for the PaperlinX group range from small companies
2.1 Structure to large international companies; a local printing company
The headquarters of PaperlinX are located in Australia. The buying commercial printing paper or a multinational like
company is active in three different international markets: Shell buying office copy paper, and everything in between.
Europe, America and Australasia (i.e. Australia and Asia).
In this project focus will be on the European market, and
therefore the European division of PaperlinX. PaperlinX
Europe’s head office is in Amsterdam. A small office of around
50 employees which mainly focuses on the Finances, IT,
management and marketing of the entire group.

2.1.1 PaperlinX Europe

PaperlinX is a Holding company. Within the European
market the PaperlinX group owns local merchants in 18
different countries. BührmannUbbens is one of their main
sales channels in The Netherlands, Robert Horne in the
United Kingdom and Deutsche Papier in Germany. These
Fig 2.1 PaperlinX Structure

6
In order to serve these local companies a local approach
is likewise used. For example, BührmannUbbens in the
Netherlands has three regional offices (figure 2.2) which
each serve a specific area in The Netherlands. This method is
used by each Operating Company in the PaperlinX Group
across Europe. This leads to a highly regional focus from the
operating companies, and to some extent each Operating
Company has their own agenda (e.g. making their sales quota
for that year).

2.1.3 Outsourced manufacturering

The fact that the PaperlinX Group focuses completely
on merchanting, mean that they do not actually make the
products themselves. The paper is produced by external
paper manufacturers. Within this industry this is the
logical structure; there is a division between merchants and
manufacturers. Hello Paper for example is made by one of
the world’s largest manufacturers; Sappi. There is a short list
of around ten large manufacturers, which make the paper for
around a hundred different brands of paper in the European
commercial printing market. PaperlinX uses several of these
manufacturers; some products are even produced by a list of
manufacturers.
PaperlinX focuses on the distribution, sales, branding and
marketing of it. PaperlinX pursues a House of Brands
strategy (Rao, Agarwal, et al., 2004) and it functions as a
managing holding for its operating companies (e.g. the local
merchants).
2.2 Product Brands
PaperlinX Europe and its Operating Companies distribute a
long list of different products. The core of their offering can
Fig 2.2 Regional Offices BührmannUbbens
be divided in four different strategic areas; commercial print
paper, office paper, signs & displays and packaging. Due to the
structure of the PaperlinX Holding, many local merchants
offer various other additional products. The additional
products range from printing press equipment, ink and even
printing work flow software. In reality this means that the
portfolios differ per operating company.
PaperlinX distributes both a mixture of in-house brands and
external brands. PaperlinX aims to generate 35 percent of its
profits from the in-house brands and have them available at
each of their merchants, all across Europe. PaperlinX earns
65 percent of their profits through the distribution and sales
of external brands. These are brands developed by companies
outside of the PaperlinX Group. Some of those brands

7
even compete with PaperlinX’ in-house brands. This is the
common approach in this market, due to the separation of
merchants and manufacturers.
PaperlinX has a portfolio of their own brands in each of the
four strategic areas (Appendix 3). The focus of this project lies
with the strategic area Commercial Print.
2.2.1 Commercial Print
There are three main brands in Commercial Print, Wood Free
Coated paper portfolio: Hello, Core and Revive (figure 2.3).
Hello
Hello is the premium Wood Free Coated paper brand. It is
available in four different surface finishes; matt, silk, gloss and
fat matt. The product is produced by one single manufacturer
(Sappi), which creates a higher level of consistency in the
paper. The product is available in an incredible range of
variants: grammages (weight and thickness of paper), sizes
(size of each sheet) and volumes (amount of paper per order).
The customization possibilities make it a broadly applicable
product, the single manufacturer promises consistency which
combined makes it the premium brand.
a new age in recycled paper
Sales Price
Utility/Quality (as positioned in Portfolio)
Fig 2.3 Wood Free Coated Paper Brands
8
Core
Core is positioned as the basic brand. It is available in two
different surface finishes; silk and gloss. The product is
produced by four different manufacturers leading to a lower
level of consistency (whether this difference is discernable may
be questioned). The product is available with less specification
than Hello; only in the most commonly used grammages,
sizes and volumes. Core is therefore aimed as the basic
solution to the commercial printer’s day-to-day printwork.
Revive
Revive is positioned as the recycled brand. The product is
available in the three different surface finishes; matt, silk and
gloss. The product is further more available in different levels
of recycled paper contents; 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% recycled.
Though the product is within the same market as Hello and
Core, it can be viewed as a subcategory. The product is more
interesting for the End User (e.g. Philips, BMW), with an
elaborate CSR plan, due to the sustainable nature of the
product. Revive is therefore positioned as the high quality
sustainable solution aimed at large corporations and printing
companies for which sustainability is an important issue.
The price difference between Hello and Core is marginal; 2
to 5 percent depending on the agreement between operating
company and client. Revive is on average 20 to 25 percent
more expensive than Hello and Core.
2.2.2 UplinX
An additional company, part of the PaperlinX group, worth
mentioning is the company UplinX. UplinX is a premedia
solutions group.The group consists of a number of different
products and companies which offer software solutions to
the print industry (Appendix 4). The company is one of
the largests in its market. They have several brands in their
portfolio and operate in the United States, Australia and
Europe.
2.3 Services
Up until now the structure of PaperlinX and the product
portfolio have been explored. To understand the full aproach
of PaperlinX it is necessary to know how they supply their
services, marketing and sales.
It is a competitive field and distinguishing a merchanting
company in services is difficult. The focus for the operating
companies of PaperlinX lies with making their clients life
easier, by reducing their costs and reducing their workload.
For BührmannUbbens and Proost & Brandt. An example of
this is the possibility to customize the size of the paper or the
quantity down to single sheets.
2.4 Marketing
Within the market, and with the right target group, the
PaperlinX brand is known. Yet, in actuality clients are
mostly familiar with the brand of paper and the operating
companies that sells it. PaperlinX is the global holding and
their marketing and promotional resources are spent on the
marketing of the exclusive in-house brands of their portfolio.
PaperlinX focuses on the europe wide marketing activities
of each of the in house paper brands. Yet, even though Core,
Hello and Revive all function in the same market place, their
target groups are of course different. Though both Core and
Hello are aimed at commercial printers, Revive is aimed at
the end user; the group for which sustainability is high on the
agenda. In the following chapter the efforts for Hello will be
discussed.
Since the local sales representatives are responsible for the
sales of the products; a large section of the campaign is spent
on the promotion of the brand internally.
2.5 Sales
2.5.1 Personal Sales
With most clients the operating company has a long lasting
relationship; clients do not switch merchants often. In most
business-to-business service provision the management
of relationships, between customer and employee, is an
integral element (Bitner et al., 1994). The foundations for
the customers’ perception on quality are formed during the
personal contact, and are largely based on emotion. Though
the products and technological systems backing up the service
(e.g. product delivery), are of great importance; the service
encounters between client and employee are the face of the
services (Yastrow, 2007). The management of relationships
is the single most important factor in the business of the
Operating Companies; the sales representatives make or break
the company.
2.5.2 Online Sales
One of the main changes within PaperlinX’ operating
companies for the past decade has been the move towards
online sales channels. Currently around 15 to 20% of sales
are through an online sales website, without interference of
employees. Yet, related to the previous mentioning of the
importance of personal relationships between employee and
client, an average of 80% is ordered by a personal phone call or
by an e-mail to the usual sales representative.
9
 CH. 3 Fig 3.1 Hello Mission, Vision, Values, products

Hello Paper
BührmannUbbens, which originally started Hello, wanted to create a brand and a product with a vision
based on the wishes and needs of their clients. Hello was officially launched in six European countries
in 1998 as one of the first cross-country paper brands, replacing well over ten existing brands. In 2001
they became the number 1 paper brand in their market, a position they hold to this day.

When Hello was launched it created a stir within the
commercial print market, a highly competitive market in
which sales were led by the price of the product.
“For PaperlinX Hello is the most
important brand, a brand with a lot of
potential.”
Roberto Cavicchia, Category Director PaperlinX
3.1 Brand and Product
3.1.1 Cross-country Brand
The main reason for the succes of Hello is the fact that it was
one of the first europe wide brands; previous to Hello most
merchants (i.e. operating companies) each had their own line
of brands. Hello replaced a number of those brands and made
it known across Europe.
3.1.2 Brand Vision
Hello Paper was created with the vision that it was the
response, the answer, to the needs of its customers. This
vision is strongly pursued through Hello’s complete identity;
marketing, advertising and promotion (see Appendix 6). This
vision is one of the core values that made Hello the biggest
brand in its market. Hello was the first paper brand that
talked and listened to their clients; and used that throughout
their branding.
3.1.3 Product
One of the main strengths of Hello has always been the
quality and diverse specifications of its products; the different
papers (Figure 3.1). In the previous chapter it has been
discussed how Hello compares to the other brands in the
PaperlinX portfolio. All the paper for Hello comes from
one single manufacturer, which therefore creates the highest
consistency in the product. Furthermore, Hello is available
in a broad range of grammages, sizes and volumes. The paper
can be ordered to the exact specifications of its client; making
the job of their client a lot easier. A study by Hello Paper with
2500 printers from thirteen European countries, confirmed
that the Consistency in quality of Hello’s products was most
noticeable. (PQR, 2007). Today, the products of Hello are

10
The Answer

11
 Trouble Shooting Representative
Traveling Sales Representative
Office Sales Representative
Operating
Companies
Delivery of orders
Online Ordering and website
Training Courses and Special Events
Fig 3.2 The division between service touch points and brand touch points
basically as good as they can be.
For the last couple of years Hello has therefore focused on
adding new product lines to its portfolio. This year Hello
will launch Hello Hot Silk to the market; a paper with
an improved silk surface quality and faster ink drying and
runnability. Hot Silk is more expensive than Silk, yet due to
its improved printing speed it can actually become cheaper
for specialized printing companies (which want to run the
maximum amount of print jobs per day). To make things
clear, Hot Silk was developed by manufacturer Sappi, and is
already sold under the Sappi Tempo brand.
These products extend the Hello brand into niche areas. They
are more expensive and specialized products; and are either
only used for special print jobs or by commercial printers with
specific needs.
12
Sample Book
Promotional Website
Product & Packaging
Advertising (Magazines, online)
3.1.4 Service
Hello has always distinguished itself through its products
and services surrounding those products. For example, when
the Hello brand was introduced they promised a 24 hour
delivery service, which at the time was desperately needed
by the commercial printers. Yet, over the years these services
started to lose its value and recognition. The regional
operating companies which were basically responsible for
the provision of these services (they distribute and sell
the product), started offering them on all the brands they
distributed. For the operating companies this was a necessity,
due to the fact that competitors also started offering the same
services on all brands. Once both the basic brand and the
premium brand are delivered within 24 hours, Hello loses its
advantage. Hello’s clients see the brand as a steady and reliable
player within the market; good price, broad offer and useful
catalogue.
Hello was not recognized as a distinctive brand and clients do
not know what services they offer (PQR, 2007).
 3.2 Sales tools. The tools used for marketing by Hello Paper range
from advertisements, folders, magazine inserts to gifts for
Up until 2005 Hello Paper had a steady yearly rise in the sales clients. The marketing is smart, clear and promotes the
of their products. Yet, since then sales have stalled and during values of Hello: Fresh, Pioneering, Sophisticated and Active.
the financial crisis they decreased heavily (figure 3.3). Each year the brand has one or more marketing campaigns,
300.000
depending on whether a new product is launched or if sales
are decreasing.
250.000

200.000 The touch points between Hello and their clients are mostly
Tonnes

150.000 related to branding. Due to the structure of this industry, the

100.000 role division between PaperlinX, Operating Companies and
Paper Brands, Hello focuses on promotion and marketing.
50.000

0
3.4 Competition
98
98/99
99/00
00/01
01/02
02/03
03/04
04/05
05/06
06/07
07/08
08/09
09/10

Fig 3.3 Sales Figures of Hello Paper
The reasons for this decrease are multifold. First of all
there is a decrease in the entire sales of paper products due
to the change in the communication industry. Paper has an
increased competition from other communication mediums,
which are expected to grow throughout the following years
(EMGE, 2010). Secondly Hello has been dealing with fierce
competition, both through improved branding and marketing
from competing paper brands. A third factor is caused by
the mergers of competitive merchants, which increased their
distribution channel(s) beyond that of PaperlinX (and Hello).
3.3 Marketing
When Hello Paper was introduced on the market they
showed that a lot could be obtained with proper marketing,
promotion and branding in this market. Over the years
they organized many marketing campaigns, using various
Competition to a paper brand can be viewed on a number of
levels. On a product level it can be compared to competing
paper brands; even to competing merchants. On a broad level
paper is competing with many communication mediums. This
will be further explored in chapters 5 and 6, this paragraph
will provide an insight into the competition of paper brands
and merchants.
There are around eight to ten large merchanting groups in
Europe and each of these merchanting groups has a number
of Paper Brands in its portfolio. As the analysis in chapter
1 (see figure 1.1) showed; this leads to a high number of
competitors. Competitiveness between merchants is low. Most
commercial printers remain loyal to their main merchants;
leading to longlasting relationships.
Due to the commoditization in the market there is little
competition on products or services. Antalis/Arjo Wiggins
are the main competitor of PaperlinX; they are the largest

13
 merchant with the biggest distribution channel. But, all 3.4.1 Service
merchants offer great services and have great personal After an extensive analysis of the market, it was concluded
relationships; two of the key-succes factors. The distribution that offering services around Paper brands are an uncommon
channel is the third key-success factor through which approach. The largest part of the paper brands focuses
merchants can still define themselves. exclusively on marketing. There is a clear division in this
between merchant and paper brand. The merchant provides
The paper brands, as discussed in chapter 1, mostly define the services relevant for the commercial printers, the paper
themselves through their branding. Again, due to the brand focuses on the product and it’s marketing; Hello’s
commoditization, it can be stated that there is no competition approach is no exception in this (see figure 3.2). There are
on a product level (with the exception of niche markets). Due little to no services which are paper brand-specific. Some
to the regional focus of the entire market there are many local marketing efforts might be viewed as a service in the broadest
brands available and there are a lot of competing brands to sense of the word: the organization of design contest, a
Hello Paper. In table 3.2 the top 15 of European Brands is company magazine; yet they never add honest practical value
given, researched by Opticom (2007). Hello is the number to the commercial printer.
one brand, yet PaperlinX estimates the gap between Hello
and number two is continuously decreasing every year. 3.4.2 Marketing
Due to the lack of product and service differentiation,
Table 3.2 Most Well Known Brands
marketing becomes the defining factor important factor for
The most well-known brands in Europe 2009 the brands within this market. Most of the largest brands
An analysis of the brand awareness of Wood Free (e.g. Novatech, Garda, Lumi) focus heavily on marketing and
Coated Paper brands in Europe (Opticom, 2009)
branding. Each of the brands position themselves through
Brand Merchant Group a specific brand identity. Sticking to the earlier mentioned
1 Hello PaperlinX brands; Novatech’s identity is driven by technology, Garda
2 Maine ArjoWiggins
3 Profi Igepa focuses on Fashion and Lumi focuses on nature. Though the
4 Novatech Antalis products don’t differentiate, the brands do. Yet, as was already
5 Satimat ArjoWiggins mentioned a number of times; the merchant (e.g. operating
6 Garda Lecta Group
7 Luxo Papyrus company) makes the difference. Brands are of lesser value,
8 Magno Sappi which is no surprise considering how they are used in this
9 Creator Lecta market.
10 Lumi Stora Enso
11 Condat Lecta
12 Galaxi Inapa In Appendix 7 a more in-depth analysis of the competition
13 Claro Antalis can be found.
14 Chromomat ArjoWiggins
15 Burgo Burgo

14
 CH. 4

Focus
Hello is in a difficult position. Their sales are decreasing and the market is becoming more competitive.
Hello has proven in the past that it is possible to add services to a paper brand. Yet, due to the complex
structure within PaperlinX these services are often short lived. Something must change. Building on the
expertise which was gathered in the previous three chapters a number of conclusions has been drawn to
give focus to the project. These are discussed in this chapter.

4.1 Product Innovation
The products of Hello are of high quality and on this level
there is no doubt from the clients point of view; Hello is a
premium paper brand (PQR, 2007). Within this area there
is little room left for further innovation. Each paper could
have even faster ink drying and other improved features, yet
it is not a necessity for the commercial printers. The expected
introduction of Hot Silk, a paper which allows for faster print
production, is a product aimed at a niche in the commercial
printing market. Only printers with an incredibly productive
printing process will benefit from using the more expensive
Hot Silk.
“To define Hello in its products
Niche markets are currently a field in which many paper
brands are heading, because there is little to gain with the
core products. This decreasing need for product improvement
shows in the fact that it has been well over four years since
product innovation was introduced within Hello’s paper.
More importantly, the product is developed by an external
manufacturer and the formula for the product is not restricted
to Hello. For example, Hello Gloss is the exact same product
as competitor’s Antalis’ Triple Star and Hello Fat Matt is the
exact same product as competitor’s Garda Cartiere’s GardaPat
13. The to be released Hello Hot Silk is the exact same
product as Sappi’s Tempo paper. A product portfolio can be
extended into niches, but a paper brand can hardly define
itself through its products. This leads to a focus on branding.

would mean moving to a higher level.

That just does not match the Hello Brand.
Products like Hello hot silk are never
a replacement for the standard Hello
products; they are in a niche.”
Ralf de Jong, Price Benchmark Coordinator PaperlinX
4.2 Differentiation in Brands
Within the portfolio of PaperlinX the differences in the
products of Core and Hello may be neglected. Where Hello
does distinguish itself is through it’s broad offering. Hello is
available in a large amount of different formats (grammages,

15
 size, volume; Appendix 5), which makes it versatile brand.
That is what makes Hello a premium brand. The brands do
not differ much in product quality. Branding makes it possible
to position them in PaperlinX’ portfolio and in the minds
of the commercial printers. It improves market coverage by
providing commercial printers with a choice, even though the
differences are marginal.
Opticom (2007) does a yearly Brand Equity analysis on the
paper market. It focuses on the Brand Awareness of the paper
brands. Comparison of the products itself does take place,
but the outcomes differ very little due to the commoditization
of the products. Yet, to what extent the paper branding
makes a difference within this market remains to be difficult
to pinpoint. Most research on branding, brand awareness
and brand equity has been focused on the the Business-
to-consumer market. In Business-to-Business the levels of
importance have always been questioned. Interestingly, Fern
and Brown (1984) question whether organizational buying
(i.e. buying in a Business-to-Business context) is in fact that
different from consumer buying. They found that the risk for
the organization is most important, while personal preference
and the risk of personal failure are also two very important
factors in the selection of a brand. This is similar to Business-
to-Consumer markets, as Bernoff & Li (2008) summarize
it in a single sentence: “Businesses are people too”. Hutton
(1997) further explored brand equity in an organizational
buying context and actually found that brand equity exists in
business-to-business. It was found that buyers were indeed
willing to pay higher prices for certain brands. Yet, higher
levels of commoditization in a market decrease the value of
brand equity; and this makes a difficult issue in the paper
industry. What is the level of commoditization in a specific
product category like Wood Free Coated Paper?
16
Interestingly enough, the Opticom (2007) research report
focuses mainly on Brand Awareness. In fact, the analysis of
the market showed that most paper brands focus exclusively
on creating brand awareness. Davis et al. (2007) found that
within B2B commodity businesses, company resources are
better spent on programs assuring a consistent product brand
experience through a higher level of value, service or employee
training, than investments in building brand awareness, such
as advertising. Currently, all paper brands including Hello
focus exclusively on creating awareness. Whilst research
proves the value of building services around the brand. Yet,
most literature focusses on services which are offered by the
supplier, not the product brand itself (Hill, McGrath, et al.,
1998).
The fact remains that focusing on creating awareness is an easier
solution than actually adding value to the products brand equity, if the
product is a commodity (Reimann, Schilke, et al., 2010).
4.3 Diffusion in Structure
It is not that Hello has not pursued services surrounding
its products throughout the years. The effect of it has often
been overshadowed by the Operating Company’s brand. The
PaperlinX group grew to a large holding within a marginal
time period of ten years. The fast growth of the group shows
the power and strength of PaperlinX, yet it also leads to
many internal organizational issues. The operating companies
are largely responsible for their own wellbeing. PaperlinX
is constantly in the process of aligning their operating
companies, to maximize the value chain. It confuses the
clients; within the Netherlands both BührmannUbbens and
Proost & Brandt fight for their business. Odd considering
they are both part of the PaperlinX group.
This all has an effect on the in house brands of PaperlinX.
Due to the complexity of the group, one of the most
important factors is internal marketing. PaperlinX develops
a new product line extension or a new product brand, yet
thousands of local sales representatives from 14 different
countries have to sell it. PaperlinX puts great efforts in
streamlining this internal marketing process, yet it does
cause problems in the creation of product brands which are
dependent on one strong coherent message throughout the
organization.
It is a troublesome issue for Hello to pursue services
surrounding the brand and products. Simply because the
client does not recognize or acknowledge them as Hello’s
services. This is a common issue in Business-to-business
markets. The branding of products and their services is
difficult due to the issue that the product brand comes second
to the firm brand (Gordon et al., 1993). Hello suffers the
same consequences. The quality of service, the people offering
the service and the relationships between brand and client are
linked to the operating company selling the product, instead
of the product brand itself (Berry 2000, Gordon et al. 1993).
In this market the product brand is mostly used as a logical
way to distinguish between the different products that are on
offer (Sinclair & Seward, 1998, cited by Davis et al., 2008);
Core is basic paper and Hello is premium pape . The defining
brand in this equation is the operating company, not the
product brand.
This is the main problem which diffuses Hello’s positioning
as a brand which adds services to its products. Hello’s touch
points with their clients are completely focused on branding
(e.g. marketing, advertising), whilst they are dependent on
the Operating Companies for their services (see Figure
3.2). Hello can promise 24 hour delivery, but the Operating
Company delivers on that promise. For Hello to pursue the
improvement of their service offering and become a service
brand, it is of upmost importance that the client is able to
relate the services (exclusively) to Hello.
Hello needs services which are completely their own and for the largest
part not dependent on the Operating Companies. It will allow for Hello
to pursue a strong and consistent message, without diffusion caused by
the operating companies.
4.4 Brand Extension
This change in the market and a decreasing demand for
innovation in paper, has made Hello’s current vision to slowly
start losing its value. Hello has build a strong vision, to answer
the needs of their clients. Yet, they only offer the answer
through marketing and through their paper products. Which
is completely logical , yet clients needs in paper have been
answered. Roscam Abbing & van Gessel (2008) acknowledge
this shift from creating compelling brand promises (e.g. the
answer to the printer’s needs) to fulfilling on those promises
in a meaningful way. The latter has become the possible next
step for Hello. Hello is a strong brand, their product has
reached its potential; how can they maintain this image with
their clients by fulfilling their needs?
Due to the lack of innovation in its products, Hello will have
to extend its brand in a new (product) category in order to
pursue this vision. Brand Extensions are very common; more
often than not they are a financially effective method with
a higher chance of succes for companies to introduce new
products or services; compared to introducing a new brand
(Aaker & Keller 1990, Ries & Trout 1981). Estimating the
17
 vision to build on. Yet, Hello is currently completely focused
on paper; to find similarity in a new service will be near to
impossible. Furthermore, services often lead to a higher
perceived risk of purchase, due to intangibility and non-
standardization of services (Zeithaml, Parasuraman, et al.,
1985). The brand has also been losing its value. Hello’s clients
no longer view them as innovative in the market (PQR,
2007).

There are opportunities for Hello to extend its brand, yet it should be
properly analyzed whether the extension matches the current brand. A
re-positioning strategy might be a necessity to move into a new category.

Figure 4.1 Commercial printer Robert Bosch

4.5 Target Group
success on beforehand is difficult, due to the dependence on
From the analysis it could be concluded that the print buyers
many untangible factors (Hem, Chernatony, et al., 2001).
have a lot of power in the choice for paper brands. If a print
Most research confirms that brand extensions are more easily
buyer has a preference, the commercial printer will comply.
accepted if the brand has a reputation of high quality (e.g.
The emphasis in that sentence should be on if. The initial
Aaker & Keller, 1990). Ambler & Styles (1996) found that
research shows that there is little interest in paper brands
brand extensions are more successful if they are more similar
from the print buyers side. The print buyer will have a
to the core product. Sinek (2009) argues that the core vision
preference in type of paper (glossy, silk, matt, white, ivory,
of a brand is the defining factor in proper brand extension.
etc) yet brands have usually little value to them. Though this
Sinek mentions Apple as an example, whose vision is aimed
provides an opportunity, to get Hello embedded in the minds
at the creation of beautifully designed, innovative and user
of print buyers, it is held back by the fact that their interest
friendly products. This vision has lead Apple successfully
is low and they are a difficult group to approach. In 80-90%
into several product categories, straying from their core
of the cases it comes down to the commercial printer for the
focus on computers. Something that Dell for example never
choice of the paper brand.
succeeded in. The acceptance of brand extensions is a highly
psychological process in which; the level of quality, similarity
Both the commercial printers and the print buyers will be explored
to the core product category, the brands vision (and reflected
in the following section, but the general focus will remain with the
brand image), the risk of purchase (related to the expected
commercial printer.
quality) and the innovativeness of the client are all combined.
Building on these insights Hello has advantages for brand
extension. The brand has a high perceived quality and a great

18
 4.6 Focus
Based on this analysis the focus for this project will be directed at the following.

1. Innovation independent of the 2. Services focusing beyond paper 3. Adding value to the business of
Goal

operating companies the commercial printers

Hello has always been dependent on the
operating companies for the delivery of
their services. The client therefore does not
see these services as Hello’s and the
operating company receives the (justified)
credit. Hello should innovate independently
from the operating companies, without
Summary
The analysis has showed that needs of
clients related to paper have been answered.
Building services around paper, might not
directly lead to higher paper sales.
Hello positions itself as The Answer to the
commercial printer’s needs, yet currently
Hello is a premium paper brand. The
operating companies focus mainly on
decreasing the costs for their clients by
offering smart logistical services for example.
A highly relevant issue for the clients, yet
more difficult to implement for Hello, if they
wish to be independent from the Operating

becoming dependent on the operating
companies resources. Hello should be in
control.
A solution could be found in an online
platform. This would allow Hello to remain in
control; through online platform regional touch
points become less important.
Focus Vision
this is just a promise. It is time to fulfill this
promise, and use it as a vision for Hello’s
services in the future. Hello should extend
their brand beyond paper, and be the
answer to the needs of the commercial
printers.
Given the negative projected growth of the
paper industry, entering more promising
markets can also reduce risk for Hello.
Companies.
Hello has the opportunity to focus on
services which add value for the commercial
printers; by improving their position or
revenue. In this the role of and the
relationship with the Print Buyer is essential
to explore.

Hello needs services which are, for the In order to move towards becoming a Hello must innovate through adding
largest part, independent from the service brand, Hello will have to value to the commercial printer’s
Operating Companies. Hello must be in innovate based on the needs of their business; value which improves their
control. clients. position and revenue.

4.7 Conclusion
Based on this Focus the next section of the report will dive
into the commercial printing market. It will explore the needs
of the commercial printers, the relationship with their clients
and their role in the communication industry.
The vision that Hello should innovate and approach services
independent from the Operating Companies lead to an
exploration of online services and communication platforms.
An online platform would allow Hello to act independently
from the operating companies, due to the fact their business
would be online and not directly dependent on the operating
companies for delivery of services.

19
 Section 2
Printing
Though Hello had initiated a number of interesting services in the
past, up until now Hello has always been dependent on Operating
Companies to deliver them. In this divergence between paper brand
and operating company, the latter wins in power. It was concluded that
Hello should therefore develop innovations which are for the greater
part independent from the Operating Companies.

It was found that Hello’s strengths lay in it’s high brand awareness
across Europe, and their image of consistent quality. Hello wants to
be The Answer to the needs of their clients. This provides an excellent
platform for innovation, which should therefore be driven by the needs
of the commercial printers and their clients, the print buyers.

In this section the printing market will be further explored, to find out
in which areas Hello can support their clients, to spot opportunities.
Chapter 5 will discuss the communication industry, chapter 6
the commercial printing market and chapter 7 will explore online
communities; due to the fact this has been considered an opportunity
by the author of this report and Hello.

21
 CH. 5

Communication
The paper industry is basically dependent on the printing industry. The change in the
printing industry is a big one, lead by the fact that the entire communication industry has
changed. Before the commercial print market can be further discussed, it is essential to
understand the changing role of printed communications, the print product, within the
entire communication industry.

The communication and information market is changing. This
change has had its largest effect on paper and printed media.
Overall sales in commercial printing are expected to decrease
2 to 5% each year for the next 10 years (EMGE, 2010). Most
commercial print communication is used for marketing,
advertorial and promotional use. Advertising expenditure
is a common meassurement linked to commercial printing
sales and advertising expenditure is expected to fall 22% in
magazines and 25% in newspapers; while ad expenditure is
expected to rise 8% in internet, all during the next 3 years
(ZenithOptimedia, 2010). Everything points towards a
difficult future for commercial print and paper.
the different communication channels which are currently
available. Fifteen or twenty years ago print was always the
logical direction; it was much easier and relatively cheaper
than Television or Radio. Today there are many more media
available and people are scattered, using many different types
of communication (Anderson, 2006). Yet, communication
budget within companies are not increasing with this change
(ZenithOptimedia, 2010). The same budget which a number
of years ago would be spend on TV and Print, suddenly needs
to be spread across six, seven or eight different communication
mediums (Webb, 2010) (see figure 5.1).

5.2 Dynamic is Convenient

5.1 Broadening of the market
One of the main changes is the move towards online
communication; annual reports can be downloaded from
corporate websites and newsletters and magazines are, for
example, turned into online content. The focus has moved
from the, for example, company’s brochure to the company’s
website as the main focus point. A logical effect looking at
A further movement away from print communication
is the fact that communication is increasingly becoming
more dynamic. Where we would obtain our news through
a television news program or a news paper, fifteen years
ago, today many have shifted towards the internet and free
online websites for their news. In fact, today we even obtain
news from around the world within seconds through twitter

22

Television Print
Radio
Fig 5.1 The spread of the communication budget during the 1990s and the communication market of today
(Anderson, 2006). Information and communication have
become dynamic instead of static. People can read, watch,
listen, react and share within a single medium; the internet
offers the opportunity to create a dialogue surrounding
communication (Kagan, 2008). Another practical example can
be found in E-mail marketing. Many companies have included
E-mail marketing in their structure; all because it’s an easy
and fast tool to deliver a message. An E-mail campaign can
be created and distributed in a single day, even within hours.
This change of dynamics in communication has been making
“Paper is very static, and the website
is dynamic. And that’s the future, constant
change… Paper will take on a supportive
role.“
Els Teunissen, Graphic Designer.
print less and less relevant. More importantly, print is a static
product; once it is created it cannot change.
Print
Future? Website
Search Print
Marketing
Mobile Television
Social
Radio
Media
The choice for a certain communication medium has always
come down to the convenience of it. The convenience of the
time, price and reach of a medium (Leonhard, 2010). Today
communication takes this convenience a step further due to
the ability to constantly adjust it. The website can be adjusted
at any moment of the day and with twitter, Linkedin and
facebook companies can have conversations with their clients.
Paper cannot do this.
5.3 The role of Print
This change from static (Print, TV, Radio) to dynamic
(Website, Mobile, E-Mail, Social Media) has lead to the fact
that print is no longer the main focus of communication. It
has become a once-a-day medium, for example; a magazine,
book or news paper. The internet (e.g. social media, website,
mobile) is used throughout the day, for many different needs
in many different contexts (Microsoft Advertising, 2010).
Print is simply losing relevance and becoming secondary.
23
 Fig 5.2 The Kindle, The iPad and the QUE ProReader. What will it mean for the printing industry?
“We get more jobs, but in smaller
print numbers. For example; Of this pop-
up book only 300 were printed. Within the
clients budget they could have easily printed
3000, if they would have chosen a simpler
design.”
Peter Lagerweij, CEO Printer Libertas.
This change leads to a new focus for print. It is not
dissapearing, of course. Print will become increasingly more
extreme in its role, since its role as the common medium
will decrease. Print will be used as a highly low budget
product and, the other extreme, a luxury product (Microsoft
Advertising 2010, Webb 2010). The latter being interesting for
a premium brand like Hello. The change can already be noticed,
simply compare a current copy of your favorite magazine to
one from five years ago (e.g. Autoweek); most likely it will
have become better produced with better paper.
5.4 Conclusion
The communication market will continously keep on
changing. 70 million people in the European Union were
24
born after 1995, the year the internet was introduced to the
public; they grew up with the internet. Facebook opened its
digital doors in February 2004 and today* Facebook has five
hundred million active members which have been online in
the past 30 days (Facebook, 2010). It shows the fact that the
communication market is changing incredibly fast. It is near
to impossible to predict what will have changed in another five
“We sell luxury, and at the moment
print is the only medium that can truly,
tangibly express the level of luxury and
quality of our actual products.”
Danielle Sala, B&B Italia
years. What the market will look like in 2015 or even 2020.
It is expected that the market for commercial printing will
decrease. The change in the role of the print product, will
demand a change in the role of the commercial printer.
This will be further explored in the following chapter,In the
following chapter the expected decrease within commercial
print is further explored and the effect it has on the market
and the commercial print companies.
* 13 September 2010
 CH. 6

Print Market
The importance of the printed product is decreasing within the entire communication
industry. This change has had enormous effects on the commercial print market. Increasingly
the product is becoming a commodity and many printers have been forced to file for
bankruptcy. In this chapter the print market will be explored, leading to opportunities for
Hello Paper.

6.1 The Market
Commercial printers are businesses which offer printing
services to the market. A research from 2005 showed that
there are around 78.000 commercial printers (Ernst&Young,
2009) in Europe; these are the possible target group of Hello.
Therefore there is a relative high number of small companies.
These many small companies focus on specific regions (e.g.
Delft has ten commercial printers, which mainly focus on
Delft and the surrounding area). These are the main target
group of the merchants and Hello paper. Most large printers,
focusing on big productions quantities like magazines and

This is in fact an estimation, because the number of printers 80%

is decreasing. The printing market has been under a lot 70%
of pressure by both technological and social changes in
60%
the world. The need for printed communication is simply
decreasing and the role of the printed product has changed. 50%
40%
Within Europe the market consists for 72% out of
30%
Small Printing Enterprises, of less than 50 employees
(Ernst&Young, 2009). In fact, the total number of employees 20%
working in this field rank around 552.000 (statistics from 10%
2005; Ernst&Young, 2009); this includes both large and
0
mid-sized companies, and it means an average of around 7
< 50 50 - 250 > 250
employees per company.
Employees per company
Fig 6.1 Number of employees per commercial printer

25
 Fig 6.2 impression of a commercial printer, inspired by Competitiveness of the European Graphic Industry (Ernst&Young, 2009).
news papers, buy their paper directly from the manufacturer
or they have large contracts with a few merchants. Next to
this they have a lot of knowledge in house (and therefore
are less likely to look at Hello for special services). They
work without much interference of a merchant or leverage
of brands. Therefore the focus will be on small to mid sized
enterprises.
6.2 Commoditization of Printing
The Impression of a Printer (figure 6.2) shows the way
commercial printers experience the change in their industry.
The commoditization of paper is a logical conclusion after the
analysis of the paper market (Reimann, M., O. Schilke, et al.,
2010). Due to the changes in the communication market the
sames is happening in printed communications.
6.2.1 Decrease in Sales
Chapter 5 on the communication market showed the change
and the effect it is having on print communications. Basically
paper and print are a static communication medium; once
it is printed it does not change. The entire communication
26
market is broadening, while the percentage of printed media
is decreasing. Viewing this as a percentage of the United
States Gross Domestic Product, as one of the largest print
market, gives a broader idea of the extent of the decline
(ERC Research, 2010). In 1993 the printing industry was at
its peak with a total of 1,22% of the American GDP. If this
trend of 1,22% would have continued through the years, the
print industry would now total 176,2 Billion Dollar. Today it
is only 88,2 Billion Dollar, or 0,61% of GDP. The total sales
of today are almost equal to those of 1993. The production
capacity of today’s commercial printers is simply higher than
the demand for printed products.
6.2.2 Automation
The difficulty to define oneself can be linked to the
automation within the print industry. Fifteen years ago, even
ten years ago, printing was more of a technological craft.
Separating the colors Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Key/Black
in a full color document to be able to print it through offset
(see appendix 1), would take over an hour. Today one of the
many Adobe programs can do this at the click of a single
button. The craft is decreasing in the process. Almost each
printer can now do the exact same kind of work as any of
its competitors. The effect of this is that many printers have
started to focus on perfecting the printing process in order to
lower the prices. Leading to the commoditization of print.
6.2.3 Technological Mind-set
This focus on automation rolls out of the technological mind-
set of the printers. Printing has always been a manufacturing
business. The ones that distinguished themselves usually did
this on technological advantages. In today’s market this is
no longer valid (Ernst&Young, 2009). Commercial printers
should be pursuing innovation driven by the customer and
the market. Though the mechanical life of printing presses
is still twenty to thirty years, the relevant marketing life of it
might not even be five years (Webb, 2010). Most printers are
“We used to buy the biggest, the
longest, the fastest, the most powerful
printing press we could get our hands
on, and that would be our set-up for the
following ten to fifteen years.”
Robbert Bosch, CEO Royal Printer Callenbach
still stuck with high investments in printing presses which
are no longer relevant in today’s market; or they simply don’t
realise how to make it relevant in this market. Printers are
still approaching their company from a technological stand
point, whilst the technology has become the commodity in
the equation.
6.2.4 Printing in the East
A side effect of this is the threat of emerging Asian and
Eastern European competitors (Ernst&Young, 2009). The
lower labour costs in these regions make it even cheaper and
many large print jobs are increasingly outsourced to these
countries. The eastern European market is in fact one of the
few currently on the rise within Europe (EMGE, 2010).
This added level of competition to the (Western) European
printer increases their problems even further. Though Hello
sells their product in both western and eastern Europe, the
commoditization of print can never be a good thing if you are
a premium paper brand.
6.2.5 Financial Crisis
In 2008 the Financial Crisis hit the world. The printing
industry was already suffering, yet this lead to a large sudden
decrease in sales; estimated between 15 and 20% (EMGE,
2010). This sudden change exposed many printers to the
issues currently harming their market. Desperate to keep
their presses rolling, many started to decrease their prices.
A three hundred thousand euro press working against cost
price costs less then one not being used. Offering printing
against cost price partially destroyed the price benchmark
of printing. The reasons why many printers started lowering
their prices is related to the fact that they found it difficult to
define themselves within this market in any other way (Webb,
2010).
6.2.6 Conclusion
The technological mind-set and related approach, is the most
important reason for the increasing commoditization of this
market. Through the years the printers have stopped adding
value. In its basic form the product and service of printers
hasn’t changed over the last decade(s). Many of the printers
have not sufficiently grown with the total development of
the communication industry, instead they almost boycotted
the entire change in the market. Viewing the internet as the
enemy of print.
27
 6.3 The Commercial Printers
Treacy and Wiersema (1995) defined three fundamentally
different types of business disciplines; Customer Intimacy,
Operational Excellence and Product Leadership. Allthough
companies must pursue all these disciplines in order to be
succesful; the main focus usually lies with one. The Customer
Intimacy discipline focuses on adding value through building
on the customers specific needs and demands. This usually
leads to the creation of value added services and high
customer relationship management. Operational Excellence
on the other hand focuses on streamlining the operations
of the company to reduce costs and improve profit margins.
Product Leadership focuses on the creation of innovative and
premium products.
Commercial Printers are mainly focusing on two different
directions; operational excelence and customer intimacy. This
leads to two main types of printers, respectively; Capacity
Focused Print Providers and Service Focused Print Providers.
6.3.1 Capacity Focused Print Providers
Through the constant streamlining of their printing process
Capacity Printers are able to offer print work against lower
prices. It is an intense market; in order to keep profits coming
in, the presses need to be rolling all day. It is focused on bulk
(quantity). This market is ruled by medium to large sized
printers; companies with the resources to be a capacity printer.
Due to the trouble within the commercial printing market
(see paragraph 6.2), many commercial printers have been
enticed down this path. The last couple of years even smaller
printers have started to enter this market, just to keep their
presses rolling. This field of printing has become an (online)
28
price war, in which simple standard print jobs (e.g. flyers,
business cards, folders) are offered against minimal prices.
Many printers have been unable to survive in this competitive
market. But by now, even the price benchmarks for capacity
printers have been broken down.
The focus within this market is on operational excellence.
Yet, due to the lower price benchmark and demand, this does
not necessarily mean that it gets your company more print
work; unless you are incredibly succesful at it and are able to
reduce your prices severely. Reimann, Schilke, et al., (2010)
found that Operational Excellence and Product Leadership
are becoming of less value once a market is moving towards
commoditization, an issue that shows in commercial printing
(Ernst&Young, 2009). There is little value in focusing on
operational excellence.
6.3.2 Service Focused Print Providers
In chapter 5 it was stated that print is becoming a luxury
product. This is the field in which (Western European)
printers can and some currently are distinguishing themselves;
innovating on the product and service (See figure 6.6).
Service Focused Print Providers will offer: storage, graphic
design, customized lay-outs, distribution, packaging and more.
Some printers are even expanding into web design or E-mail
marketing. Printers can basically make more profit with
services than presses. Some printers are expecting it to even
move further; that printing companies will eventually become
marketing service providers which offer a broad line of
marketing products (from E-mail marketing to social media
marketing). In this scenario it is expected that print will be
sold below cost price and that profits will be generated by the
additional services (Webb, 2010).
Fig 6.3 Target Group Definition of Commercial Printers

Though becoming a marketing service provider sounds like

an interesting venture, building services is a difficult task
for the commercial printer, as paragraph 6.2 elaborated on;
otherwise the product would not have so easily turned into a
commodity. Some printer are calling themselves marketing
service providers, yet most are failing; they are viewed as
production companies, which have little knowledge on
marketing services. Simply changing your name does not
change your image.The main reason for this downfall of the
commercial printer lies with the changing needs of their target
market; the relationship with the print buyer.

6.3.3 Conclusion
Based on these assumptions it becomes possible to further
define the target group. The service focused commercial
printers have difficulty to redefine themselves in today’s
market. Though troubling for the printers, it offers
opportunities for Hello to support the commercial printers
with these issues. Hello is a premium paper brand and their
vision is to be the answer to the needs of the commercial
printers. The capacity printers focus on cost reduction; a
field on which the operating companies of PaperlinX also
focus. Based on these assumptions the service focused print
providers will be the target group. It was already stated that
Hello is focused on the European print industry and that
small to mid-sized companies are their main target group.
So far the commercial printer has been viewed as the target
group; yet a commercial printer represents an entire company.
To define the target group the definition in figure 6.3 (left)
will be used; this will be the main focus.

In the following paragraph the relationship with the clients of

the service focused printers will be explored; the print buyers.

29
 Fig 6.4 Graphic Designer Els Teunissen

6.4 The Print Buyers

6.4.1 A Changing Role
Ten to fifteen years ago a print buyer would focus completely
on what its job description says: buying print. The print
buyer was highly knowledgable about paper and printing.
In large companies with a printing budget exceeding one
million Euro a year, a dedicated print buyer will save enough
costs in order to be valid. The fact that the communication
market has broadened has also lead to a changing role for
the print buyer. Literally hundreds, even thousands of print
buyers lost their job (Dana, 2010). Budgets are spread across a
broad range of communication media, and the role of printed
media in this has sunk (see chapter 5). In many occasions the
responsibilities of the classic print buyer have been absorbed
by the marketing manager, communication manager or
publishing manager (O’Brien, 2010). This blurs the role of
print buying. Two main groups of print buyers can be defined;
Creative Agencies and Corporate Buyers.

Creative agencies are a large group, and increasingly becoming

more important in their role as print buyers. Creative agencies
can be companies from 1 to well over a 100 employees; yet in
most situations there’s only one print buyer (e.g. the desktop
publisher or communication manager). For corporations
with an internal marketing or communication department
the buying of print is usually done by the communication
manager. Yet, let’s not forget that many small businesses
also buy print (brochures, flyers and folders). Though these
companies usually hire an external creative agency for
this work, there are occasions when they will organize it
themselves.

30
6.4.2 Relationship with the Printer
The diffusion of the role of print buyers is hard to handle. In
the old situation the print buyer would be on the same level as
the printer. It was a technological, organizational and financial
role which matches the mind set of the printer (O’Brien,
2010). Today in many situations the print buyer has a creative,
communication or marketing background. the services and
approach they expect or would like to see are different from
those of the classic print buyer.
The main difference between the classic print buyer and
today’s print buyer is the fact that they are increasingly
becoming more driven by emotion. There’s a mismatch
with the commercial printer. Due to this increasing lack of
technological knowledge print buyers make a decision based
on price and gut feeling (Webb, 2010). Yet, this is difficult to
grasp for the technologically focused printer.
6.4.3 Conclusion
In the current commercial print industry, the print
buyers primary need is focused on price. Due to the low
differentiation between printers it is the only clearly
recognizable issue that distinguishes one printer from the
other; it can come down to literally tens of euros on a a
twelve thousand euro print job (taken from interview). A
research with print buyers has also indicated that an increase
in the service level of printers, and additional services will be
appreciated (Ernst&Young, 2009), but are simply not offered
to the level and needs of today’s print buyer.
Todays print buyer has different and broader needs than
before and commercial printers need to transform their
services to fit these needs. Basically, many of today’s print
buyers aren’t as educated in print as they used to be. These
new print buyers can in some scenarios almost be viewed as
common consumers. Commercial printers are currently not
adapting their business to this.
The main conclusion that can be drawn from this paragraph
is the fact that there is a gap between the commercial printers
and print buyers; on a social and professional level. In
paragraph 6.5 this gap will be further explored through an
analysis of a typical printing job process, and the relationship
with the print buyer in that process. In paragraph 6.6 this
will be outlined through three main reasons, leading to three
search fields and opportunities for Hello.
6.5 Print Job Cycle
To further explore this gap, and the tangible issues it brings
with it, the process of a print job was analyzed. On the
following page is the printing cycle of a typical printing job
(Figure 6.5).The model is based on the Service Focused
Print Providers as was discussed in the paragraph 6.3. These
printers will involve themselves in projects and aim to help
their clients with all the steps through the process, since it
will often be a demanding print job (imagine for example a
children’s pop-up book, a high quality magazine or a number
of varying products part of one single marketing campaign).
The cycle is based on interviews with printers, print buyers and
the experiences within the TAN Brand Communications office.
Please view figure 6.5 for an understanding of a typical
printing cycle.
31
 Final
Print
Pro-
Job
duct

C C

q
C

Final
Final
Final
Final
Print
Print
Print
Print
Job
Job
Job
Job

al
Fin s
De
ign
Proof

q
Print
C

?
Job
C P

Fig 6.5 The Print Job Cycle of a typical print project

32
Table 6.1 A number of the touch points between the typical commercial printer and the print buyer.
6.5.1 Touch Points
During this cycle there are many touch points between the
commercial printers and the print buyer. In Table 6.1 is
an overview of a number of these for a typical printer (see
appendix 12 for more background information). To relate
this to the previously explored social and professional gap
between commercial printers and print buyers, three of these
will be briefly discussed. This will provide the reader with an
understanding of the issues.
In the ideation (chapter 8) each of the touch points and steps in
the print cycle will be further explored, to find opportunities for
Hello.
Website
Research studies show that over 48% of print buyers always
checks the website of a printer before starting a new job,
45% does this frequently or sometimes and only 7% never
does this (Dana, 2010). In Figure 6.6 and Figure 6.7 are two
examples of websites from commercial printers. Moo is an
example of a successful printer which has adapted its business
to the market. Drukdrukdrukker is an example of a typical
printer; not an exception, but sooner the rule in this industry.
Commercial printer Moo has created an approach, focused
completely on their target group; creative professionals. For
Druk Druk Drukker the main target group is the same,
yet the approach is completely different. First of all, the
obvious difference lies in the design of the website. Though
a subjective topic, most of us will value Moo.com above
Drukdrukdrukker.
More interestingly is the practical way they approach their
clients. On a technological level both commercial printers
would be able to offer the same products (see paragraph
6.2.2). Yet, the difference with commercial printer Moo is the
fact that they have applied their product to the needs and
wishes of the target group. Druk Druk Drukker would also be
able to print a different image on each business card, yet they
have not translated this opportunity towards the client. Moo was
simply created with today’s print buyer in mind. Druk druk
drukker was created from the own view of the commercial
printer.
33
 http://www.moo.com

started in 2004 in the United Kingdom. Their business focused

completely on the printing of Business Cards. What made their
product special was the fact that on the back of each business
card a different image could be printed. Technologically not a
difficult process, yet a simple innovation which spoke to the
market.

Recently Moo.com opened an office in the united states. Their

sales reach all over the world, with four main products; normal
business cards, small business cards, postcards and stickers.
Moo.com is mainly used by people from a creative profession, to
whom this approach has proven very attractive.

Fig 6.6 Moo.com a commercial printer focused at business cards, postcards and stickers

http://www.drukdrukdrukker.nl

Commercial Printer Druk Druk Drukker is one of the top ten search
results in google when looking for “Drukkerij” (Commercial Printer
in Dutch); most of the existing websites of other commercial
printers have a similar online approach.

Druk Druk Drukker offers an incredible variety of products; from

business cards,to flags, to books in all sizes, and the list goes on.
This commercial printer focuses on price; yet their prices do not
differ from the competitors.

The website is difficult to use, and the amount of products which

one can select from make ik difficult to select. The website was
obviously designed from the view of the printer, not aimed at the
view of his clients.

Fig 6.7 Druk-druk-drukker.nl an average Dutch printer offering its services online

*To get an understanding of this issue, please take a look around on these websites online.

34
 “I have a big job coming up. I’m
probably working with the new printing
company and we’re thinking about using
digital printing...But, this last bad
experience, with him and digital printing,
puts me on edge... on all levels. Once I
hand in the files, I have to trust him. I can
never be sure until I actually receive the
work.”
Els Teunissen, Graphic Designer
Marketing
Due to the current market conditions many clients easily
switch between printers, making the Pre-Print Process touch
points incredibly important. Yet, research and market expert
opinions shows that too few printers pay attention to this
area (Dana, 2010). Promotion and marketing are below
standard; especially if you realise that their clients are mostly
working in the communication, marketing and graphic design
(Webb, 2010). First of all, too few commercial printers do
active marketing. As the previous paragraph showed, many
websites are years behind in design. The same is true for the
marketing touch points. Flyers and brochures are outdated
and social media is out of the question. In various situations a
flyer or the website will be the very first touch point with the
commercial printer's business; this can not lack in quality.
Printing
After the entire project is discussed between commercial
printer and print buyer, and the project is signed off, the actual
printing and processing will commence. Though, currently
actually not a touch point in the eyes of the commercial
printer, it can often be a troubling time for the print buyer.
Due to the lack of transparency during this time, print buyers
are often unsure what is happening in the process. If any delay
occurs during the printing, this can be of great importance
to the print buyer. For commercial printers this would be an
excelent point in the process to show the value which they are
adding to the project, yet no such thing occurs.
6.6 The Gap
The print industry has, similar to the paper industry, become
a commodity market. This can be explained through a number
of reasons; the drop in overall printing sales, the technological
focused mind set of the commercial printers and the
continuously changing role of their clients; the print buyers.
Commercial printers don’t speak the language of the the print
buyers, which makes it difficult for print buyers to distinguish
between commercial printers. The main way print buyers
currently differentiate between commercial printers is on price.
6.6.1 Why did it come this far?
One may wonder why this has happened. There are numerous
resources available to the commercial printers; industry
magazines, industry associations, suppliers and more. Yet,
there are very little resources directly available that tackle
these specific issues (see Appendix 10 for an exploration of
“...Print Associations have certainly
done their part in failing their own
industry by turning a blind eye to media
and communication trends— Certain
associations have done very little but
defend printing—that is, defend the status
quo from encroaching new media and now
no one knows the value of print anymore.”
Joe Webb, Disrupting the Future
35
 these resources). Whattheythink.com is an American website
aimed at commercial printers. Joe Webb, one of the managers
at whattheythink.com, released an e-Book (Webb, 2010)
past september which’ following quote sums up the problem
perfectly (see quote on page 35).
The Commercial Printers were never stimulated by their
associations or industry resources to re-invent their business.
The associations focused on keeping Print alive, while they
should have focused on keeping the Printers alive (see page 44
for an example).

6.7 Search Fields

Based on the analysis in this chapter three main opportunities can be defined to improve the role of the commercial printers within
the communication industry. In the Ideation phase of this project the following three search fields will be used as a starting point
for the generation of ideas.

1. Improve theTransparency of the 2. Instigate a Pro-Active approach 3. Create Print Buyer centered
Search
Field

Process towards the Print Buyer touch points

Today’s print buyer do not share that mind
set of the commercial printer; they are
creative and driven by emotion. There is
little interest in printing for print buyers,
focus lies with the end result. Commercial
printers realize this and therefore focus on
the end result, by taking as much out of the
Summary
Commercial printers still do business based
on principles from when the printed
product was still going strong. In those days
print buyers would find commercial
printers, relationships were longlasting and
service was just as important as price. Today
this approach is no longer valid. The
Currently there is a need for translatation
between commercial printers and print
buyers. They simply are not speaking the
same language, and printers are missing out
because of it. The communication channels
(or touch points) of the commercial printers
whether it is; the website, the personal

hands of the print buyers. Though this
improves the process for the print buyers, it
also leads to the commoditization of the
product. Print buyers don’t realize what a
commercial printer does for them, because
the process and the entire market is highly
nontransparent. Furthermore, commercial
printers have not added value which is
noticed by the print buyer.
Commercial Printers are still print contact or the E-mail contact, is not up to the
manufacturers, working in assignment of standards of the print buyer. Each of these is
print buyers. Yet, this wait-and-see, reactive, initiated from the view of the commercial
approach has driven the focus towards price, printer, not from the view of what the print
instead of service and quality. For commer- buyer would like to see.
cial printers to become relevant in this
market they will need to step away from the
print manufacturer image, and focus on
becoming pro-active members of the
communication industry.

The Commercial Printer should adjust The Commercial Printer should be more The Commercial Printer should design
their services in order to make the pro-active in their approach to the each of their touch points to the needs
process more transparent to their own market. They must take the lead in and wishes of the print buyers.
Goal

advantage. projects, actively approach clients and

create a new name for their company.

36
6.8 Conclusion
6.8.1 Change in the Market
The change in the commercial printing market has proven
to be a chain reaction of several factors. The demand for
commercial printing decreased due to increased competition
from other mediums. The commercial printers had difficulty
in handling this. Suddenly the offer was greater than
the demand. Commercial printers needed to distinguish
themselves and approached this they way they were used to;
innovate based on technology. Yet, the technology is advanced
these days, and the differences between most commercial
printers in technology are marginal.
The clients of the commercial printers, the print buyers,
were at the same time also changing in role. Due to the
decrease in demand for print, many professional print buyers
lost their job. The task got increasingly taken over by the
communication manager, the marketing manager or the
publishing manager. For this new print buyer, buying print is
just one of their many duties; certainly not at the top of the
list.
Based on these new print buyers, combined with the
technological commoditization and decrease in demand,
commercial printers had to distinguish themselves in new and
innovative ways. A difficult issue. Many commercial printers
had difficulty in coping with the change and they started
focusing on price. Yet, distinguishing in price is war within
this market.
6.8.2 The Search Fields
These insights lead to an analysis of the printing process, to
find out whether commercial printers could improve their
business in other fields instead of price. The analysis of the
Print Job Cycle showed a number of issues, and opportunities
for the commercial printer to improve their business. Based
on this analysis three search fields were defined to create new
concepts for the commercial printers: improve the transparency
of the process, instigate a pro-active approach towards the print
buyers and create print-buyer centered touch point.
“...they are not proactive towards
us. It’s a traditional industry and they
wait to be asked.”
Daniele Sala, Communications Manager of B & B Italia
A number of functional design directions was also already
recognized in this process, these are the areas in which
the business of the commercial printer could be improved.
Examples of these are: the website, the marketing, the printing
production process, and more. These were briefly discussed
in this chapter (see paragraph 6.5.1), yet they will be further
explored in the idea generation. They will lead to a several
concepts (see Chapter 8).
With this the groundwork for the new concepts for Hello has
been laid. In chapter 8 this will be further discussed.
6.8.3 Trends
The generation of concepts will be driven by the search fields and,
the analysis of the print job cycle and the related touch points. Yet,
throughout this chapter a number of trends has been discussed,
yet without clearly defining it as a trend. To clarify the trends
which are of influence of this project, please view appendix 9
for an insight. The main trend which will be taken into account
is the focus on online business for commercial printers; online
communication, online sales, and more.
37
 CH. 7

Communities
In chapter 4 it was concluded that an online communication platform would be a valid possibility for
Hello to approach their prospective clients. In the research described in Chapters 6 it was found that
their is a gap in understanding between commercial printers and print buyers. To make commercial
printers aware of this an online communiction platform is a relevant idea. In this chapter the
possibilities of this will be further explored.

7.1 Communication Platform
An online communication platform defines itself as: “A
meeting place for people on the Internet. Designed to
facilitate interaction and collaboration among people who
share common interests and needs.” To most people the basic
Discussion Forum will come to mind. Today’s communication
platforms often offer much more. From platforms which allow
people to co-create online, online sales platforms, platforms
for product research, platforms for live customer support,
and more. A platform is often an integrated system of many
functions like: blogs, industry news, white papers, videos, a
classic forum, real life events and of course all integrated with
social media like twitter, facebook, linkedin or myspace.
Allmost all existing companies have a website. This website is
often used as an online brochure, focused on push marketing;
promoting the benefits of the products. Yet, when a consumer
wants information on a new television, they do not go to the
Sony or Panasonic websites. More often then not, they will
go to a website like CNET.com, which compares televisions
and offers independent reviews by users. Enticed by the luring
success of online communication platforms, most companies
feel the need to take action. As Bernoff & Li (2008) mention:
“Companies know they have to be there, they just do not
know why.” Online communication platforms are simply a
great and relatively inexpensive way to reach a large number of
people, if you know why.
In the internal analysis it was concluded that Hello should be
less dependent on the operating companies for the delivery
of services. Yet, without the operating companies Hello has
little reach; they miss their regional distribution channels. An
online communication platform could provide Hello with
the proper medium to reach their clients, while minimizing
the necessary resources and financial investments (Anderson
2006, Porter 2008). In fact, the opportunities spotted in
Chapter 6 provide a proper reason to use this approach.
Based on these insights communication platforms are
explored in this chapter. The focus will be on the proper
method to create a platform, to explore the possibilities it

38

Fig 7.1 The Beer Business Daily, an online industry news platform aimed at upper management in the beer industry
could offer Hello (for profit) and learn from a number of case
studies. This chapter will not discuss the technologies (e.g.
Twitter, Youtube), due to the fact that these are subject to
constant change and the initial strategy to move online will be
independent from the technology to be used.
7.2 A Community
A communication platform is dependent on the amount of
visitors it receives. The communication platform could be
deemed the software or the technology, whilst the group of
visitors or users is called the community. As Porter (2008)
describes “When you support an activity, when you make
people better at that activity, by either supporting them
directly or helping them support each other, then you gain
the opportunity for that group of people to call themselves
a community”. Being the company behind this community
offers great benefits and power (Bernoff & Li, 2008).
Most of today’s successful communities started out as a
simple online blog or news website and in a process of one to
several years they grew into large groups of people. And this
http://www.beernet.com
Don’t let the name fool you. Beernet is a website focused on
exclusive news for the american beer industry. Every week a news
letter (the Beer Business Daily) is send out and articles are posted
on the website. For this simple offer its members pay $499 for a
one year membership. Furthermore they offer special research
report starting at $499 per report.
Beernet started as a simple blog, yet within 9 years it grew to a
highly profitable business with revenues rating over a million.
It is estimated that out of a targeted 3000 possible users in this
industry, over 2000 are a member of the Beer Business Daily.
The name and the design might confuse you due to its simplicity
and humour; but this is exactly what speaks to the people in this
industry. It is finetuned to the needs of the target group.
is exactly where the value lies of communities. A community
is defined by its number of active users; users which actively
read, participate in discussions and add content (Bernoff & Li,
2008). Whether a community is used for support, marketing
or innovation, it can only become valuable in those areas once
there are enough members. Yet, communities do not sprout up
by coincidence. People will need a strong incentive in order to
become a user of a communication platform.
“Any plan to monetize content must
start with first attracting faithful users by
constantly providing a stream of attractive,
relevant and timely, targeted values, and
to then convert this attention into money.”
Gerd Leonhard (2010)
7.2.1 Community Objectives
Wu (2009) acknowledges three main objectives for
communities: support, marketing and innovation. Three
separate goals, yet in practice they will be overlapping and
pursued all three. A support community offers knowledge.
Dell has a large online community which support each
39

Fig 7.2 Dell Idea Storm, a research and innovation platform aimed at Dell’s core users
other with technological and software problems. Marketing
communities are aimed at improving the brand awareness and
equity of companies. Starbucks has a community through
which people simply discuss the brand and products. The
last is innovation. Usually the community exists of motivated
users of a company’s products. They possess a wealth of
information for the company, which the company can tap into
to improve their products. Rowland (2009) found that the
main reason for B2B users to use a community is support; or,
a knowledge community.
For Hello to build a community they will need to create great
value for their target group. Galliford (2010) argues that there
are three main functionalities of content in order to make
it valuable for its target group: the level of exclusivity, the
amount of time it saves and the amount of risk it reduces. In
chapter six an opportunity was spotted to help commercial
printers with their business activities; this can consist of
knowledge content (e.g. information) or even specialized
services. Within this area Hello has the opportunity to offer
content which is not yet available (see paragraph 6.6.1). An
interesting concept, yet it leads to a number of issues: Is the
Hello brand strong enough to carry this communication platform?
40
http://www.ideastorm.com/
Dell Ideastorm is a platform for research and innovation for Dell.
Users of Dell computers can post product and service ideas and
from time to time Dell organizes a special Storm Sessions. An
online brain storm in which Dell offers the users a dilemma or a new
innovation to discuss and brainstorm on. Dell validates each idea
and let’s the author know what will happen to it. Currently out of
the 14,867 posted ideas, Dell has implemented 425 of them.
The platform is build on the altruism of its users. The users can
vote on each others ideas and they get (online) recognition for this.
There is no financial or other tangible benefits involved for the
users.
Sadly for Dell the platform is decreasing in popularity, its last storm
session reading: “What can Dell do to make IdeaStorm better?”
and; What business model can be applied to make it profitable?
7.3 Independent or Branded
If Hello was to pursue an online communication platform
aimed at commercial printers, this will most likely be branded
under the Hello name. The issue with branded communities
is the relation between wanted and unwanted interference
from the Brand, which in the end all depends on the
expectations of its users (Bernoff & Li, 2008). Re-calling the
statement from Porter (2008) at the start of paragraph 7.2;
communities can only exist if everything is aimed at the needs
of its users.
For Hello and their customers the goals differ, which is the
case in most situations (Razorfish, 2010). As a brand Hello
might want to talk mainly about paper, yet the research has
proven that the commercial printers do not. Research has
shown the main, untouched, need of commercial printers
(see chapter 6). Hello has the opportunity to support the
commercial printer in their process to adapt their business
to the new print buyers. Yet, if Hello would subsequently use
the community to market their paper products, this might
affect the growth of the community. This is a delicate issue,
which should be approached with care. Hello will need to
approach it properly and this will not be an easy process.
Hello currently focuses exclusively on marketing; and the
commercial printers know this.
7.4 Online business models
Part of Hello’s aim with a new service was that it would earn
profits. In 2009 the market for paid online content in the
united states was estimated at 15 billion dollar (Galliford,
2010). This number shows the opportunity in this market, yet
many companies still fail to pursue it successfully. It demands
a change in mind-set to build a business model around online
content. The trouble with making money on online content
remains the fact that it’s often plagued by free copy or free
substitutes. The news paper industry is probably the best
example of this change.
As Miles Galliford (2010) notes, people are not eager to pay
Fig 7.3 Stompernet, a platform aimed at businesses in need of internet marketing knowledge and advice
for online content. Worth will first need to be proven, before
people will be willing to pay for it, or for additional content.
Online consumers are not used to paying anymore (Anderson,
2009). Services like Google or Skype are free to its users.
Online business makes this possible. Once the content (e.g.
information, software) is produced, distribution and sales
costs are close to zero. Anderson (2009) recognizes three
online profitable business models:
Direct Cross-Subsidies
In one of the most familair business models free products
(e.g. a community) are cross subsidized by paid products,
software, services or knowledge. The following examples
all have a community (see Appendix 11); Threadless sells
T-shirts (products), MarketingProfs sells research articles
(knowledge), TED sells conferences (networking) and Ebay
sells online auctions (listings). All of these companies have a
large online communication platform, yet they generate the
revenue to support this community from cross subsidized
sales.
http://www.stompernet.com/
Stompernet is a platform aimed at internet marketing. The platform
has an enormous collection of articles, tutorials and videos on
the topic, a collection of downloadable applications to aid with
the management of online marketing (e.g. to meassure website
statistics, etc) and stompernet organizes special live events and
video conferences. Furthermore, it includes an active community
of over 250.000 members which can help each other out.
Memberships run up to 200 $ a month plus extra costs for special
features, services and applications.
Stompernet started with articles and the possibility to ask
questions to stompernet’s experts. The platform was able to extend
its portfolio in a number of directions over time, now a successful
multi-million dollar online business.
41
 Three Party Market
Advertisements and sponsorship fall in this category. Users
obtain products, services, software or knowledge for free, due
to the third party which subsidizes them. Existing platforms
in this market, for example whattheythink.com (Appendix
11), partially exist due to a large number of sponsors; in most
cases large printing press manufacturers (e.g. Xerox) or paper
merchants (e.g. Sappi).
Freemium
Freemium is a model which fits between the previous two.
In the freemium model a fraction of the users subsidizes the
free users. Ebay or Flickr are well known examples of these; a
number of users pays (for a premium membership) to obtain
a number of extra services.
“The time-honoured approach — “if
you want this content you’ll have to pay,
first” — is collapsing and won’t come back.
The new paradigm is: “It seems like you like
my content. Here are a few options to have
an even better experience.”
Miles Galliford (2010)
For Hello three party markets are most likely not a possibility.
Advertisements or sponsorships of a branded community
is considered unlikely (Nicholson, 2009). A branded
community with advertisements from other products
seems questionable. Depending on the development of
the community, opportunities might present themselves
in the future to focus on sponsorship. During the start of
the community Hello should focus on creating value for
themselves; the cross subsidies and freemium business models
42
provide opportunities in this area.
It should also not be forgotten that profits can be generated in
areas other than financial benefits. Communication platforms
can offer businesses opportunities to do research and acquire
knowledge from their clients. This can subsequently lead to
innovation and revenue.
7.5 Partnership
So far it has been assumed that Hello could create a
communication platform of their own, yet they could also
invest in an existing platform or create a partnership with
another brand (to spread the cost). Within the Wood Free
Coated paper market, Hello is the number one brand. Yet,
when one would view the entire printing industry, and all its
related stakeholders, Hello has strong brand competitors.
As the internal analysis showed, Hello is currently behind
the operating company’s brand in importance. Working
together with external stakeholders, for example printing
press manufacturers or existing content platforms (e.g.
whattheythink.com, printweek), brings a great risk of being
overshadowed by that stakeholder. Hello’s intentions could
suffer the same consequences as those within the structure of
PaperlinX.
7.6 Conclusion
The main conclusion which can be drawn is the fact that it
will not be an easy process to create proper communication
platform to support and stimulate the growth of a community.
It could offer Hello a great platform to manage its own direct
channel with its clients. But, people in general are sceptical
towards paying for online services. The case studies prove that
there many possibilities, it is a matter of what Hello will be
able to offer its clients.
7.6.1 Branding
Hello has the opportunity to create a proper communication
platform. Based on this analysis the communication platform
should be initiated under the Hello brand. This will
allow them, as one of the first paper brands, to create their
own communication channels with their clients; without
interference from internal (e.g. operating companies) or
external (i.e. an external partner) stakeholders. Hello has the
vision and brand identity (chapter 2), the answer, to build on.
They can and should use this benefit.
7.6.2 Growth comes first
The value of a communication platform lies in the number of
its visitors or users, the community. Hello would have to first
focus completely on growth. The commercial printers will not
easily be convinced towards a Hello branded communication
platform and Hello will have to prove its worth. Hello has
stated that they would prefer a profitable platform, but this
simply is not possible during the first phases of its existence.
It takes time and effort to start and grow a community
(figure 7.4). This is one of main reasons many communities
never take off; it usually demands more time and effort than
expected.
Increasing activity is an iterative cycle of many factors which
each affect one another. Creating more content will lead to
more visitors. More visitors will lead to more community
members. More community members will lead to more
discussion. More discussion will lead to more content. And
so on. To get people towards the community, and to get
them actively involved, the community should offer foremost
Growth Community
Time/ Value Added by Iniatior (Hello)
Fig 7.4 Starting a community takes time and resources
valuable content. Yet, once the ball gets rolling, it will start to
take on a growing life of its own.
7.6.3 Use & Content
Branded communities in the business-to-business field
are focused on support or, research and innovation for the
company. Yet, the commercial printers do not need support
for their paper needs and Hello currently does not pursue
extensive product innovations which would benefit from a
community. Innovation through the community to extend the
brand in new categories could by very valuable.
7.6.4 Revenue
Once an online community of faithful user is created
Hello can start focusing on generating profits through the
communication platform. The most often used and least
demanding business models, sponsorship and advertising (e.g.
Three Party Model), are out of Hello’s reach. This means
Hello will have to focus on the sales of content, whether it is
knowledge, products, services, applications or events, in order
to gain revenue through a platform. The research in chapter 6
and the case studies show there are plenty of possibilities.
43
 I

AM A

T
his poster is part of a European
campaign to promote the Power of
Printed communications. Research
has proven that printed communications
are still one of the most persuasive types of
VERY
PERSUASIVE

ALLY
communication.

Institutions and printer associations are

often focused on keeping print alive; whilst
they should have focused on keeping the
printer alive. There is no use to promoting
the old paradigms around print, because
these no longer exist in todays society.
Television, the internet and social media
reign. Printing is not dead, it just needs to
adjust its position within the market, to
match needs and wishes from todays print
buyers.

One may wonder whether a poster like this
will persuade people working in marketing,
advertising or related fields to actually focus
more on printed communications.
44
I am the power of print. By adding print to TV and online, brand awareness
and consumer purchase intention is increased by 50%. Learn more about print
media at printpower.eu.
To order the brochure, download the reader
at www.upcode.fi on your mobile
and scan the code using this reader.
Add print, add power
 Section 3
Conceptualization
An exploration of commercial printing exposed that the industry was
suffering under the existing market conditions. Printing had been
driven towards becoming a commodity. After pealing away a number
of layers it was discovered that the covering issue was a gap between
the commercial printers and their clients (i.e. The print buyers); on a
professional and social level. An analysis of the printing process and
the relationship between the commercial printers and their clients
lead to the creation of three search fields to improve the position of
the commercial printer. These are: improve the transparency of the
printing process, instigate a pro-active approach towards the print
buyers and create print buyer centered communication (e.g. Touch
points).

Within these three search fields a number of opportunities was

already recognized throughout the project. Yet, in the following
section this will be further explored. Based on the search fields and
the analysis of the printing process an idea generation phase initiated.
The process and the selected concepts will be discussed in this section.
The section will end with an analysis of the selected concepts and the
conceptual creation of the new strategy for Hello.

45
 CH. 8

Ideation
The initial research in the first two sections of the report lead to a number of opportunities for Hello.
The conclusions from these studies were taken as a starting point for the generation of concepts. During
the this phase a number of creative techniques were used, covering brain storms, creative sessions
and discussions, In this chapter of the report a number of the most promising generated concepts are
ilustrated, leading up to the selection of a final strategy for Hello.

8.1 Introduction 8.2 Method

In the first section of this report the paper market, Hello
and PaperlinX were explored. It lead to the conclusion that
Hello will have to focus on the creation of concepts which
could function, for the largest part, independently from the
operating companies. It was concluded that Hello’s resources
are currently, yet their brand and vision offered potential to
use as a platform for brand extensions. Hello’s vision, to be the
answer to the commercial printer’s needs, lead to the focus on
the needs of the commercial printer.
Throughout this project it was expected that the
opportunities may be limited, due to the size and state of the
market, and therefore the scope has always been kept broad.
In the second section the role of print in communication and
the commercial printing market was analyzed. It was quickly
discovered that the market was in trouble, yet this also offered
opportunities for Hello. After further exploration the gap
between the commercial printers and the print buyers was
defined. This lead to the definition of three search fields.
The analysis of the market and target group (see chapter 6)
lead to the following three search fields:
1. Improve the transparency of the Printing Process
2. Instigate a pro-active approach towards the print buyers,
and;
3. Create print buyer centered touch points
These three search fields were used as a starting point for
the creation of the concepts. They were combined with
the analysis of the printing process (the Print Job Cycle;
see paragraph 6.5), to search for opportunities in the
current process. Accordingly through creative sessions;
mostly individually and, with fellow students and with the
employees from Tan Brand Communiction Consultants, a
number of ideas was created and explored. These ideas were
discussed with the supervisors at Tan Brand Communication
Consultants and the TU Delft, to come to a selection of
concepts.

46
8.3 The Concepts
On the following two pages the most promising ideas are
briefly presented. The purpose of this chapter is not to give
finished concepts, but to show the possibilities that would be
interesting to explore further.
For the sake of simplicity this chapter focuses on the presentation
of the selected concepts. For an insight in the idea generation
process, and other ideas, please refer to Appendix 13.

Update

Update

Update

q
P Improve Service C
Improve Loyalty

Printer X

Made by

47
 Free
and/or
€€€

q
P C

q
C

A B C

€€€

q
P C

48
8.4 A Strategy
Each of these five selected concept answers to one, or more, of
the designated search fields. Yet, it became troubling to match
the concepts to the Hello Brand.
8.4.1 Matching the Brand
Due to the broad nature of this project, the idea generation
was approached on varying levels. Hello Knowledge (Concept
3) was already acknowledged when researching the market.
A more in-depth look into some of the deeper problems,
exposed the other four practical and relevant concepts.
The problem with these other four concepts is the fact that
they do not match to the current Hello brand, being too
ambitious. If we would take the first concept as an example:
Hello Update. Hello Update solves the issue that little contact
exists during the printing process. Hello Update solves this
with a software application, useable on mobile telephones and
computers. Through the application the commercial printer
can send updates to the print buyer to update them on the
status of their work.
An interesting tool, yet Hello is not a software developer and
the idea strays far from the current products and vision. This
is problematic (see paragraph 4.4). Hello would first have to
adjust their position in the market. They could work together
with a software developer, preferably PaperlinX’ UplinX,
but who would get the credit in that scenario? Most likely
UplinX. Hello update just stands too far from the current
brand and this is true with all four other ideas too. Each of the
concepts would demand a transformation of the Hello brand,
to re-position it in the minds of the commercial printers, in
order to be implemented.
8.4.2 Hello Knowledge
There is an exception in this, in the shape of Concept 3 Hello
Knowledge. Hello Knowledge does match the current brand.
If Hello were to start an online platform and start providing
knowledge (e.g. articles, tutorials) to the commercial printers;
they would simply start providing The Answer (Hello’s
tagline). A perfect match to the brand and relevant and viable
within the market. Hello would use the online platform to
make commercial printers aware of the issues in their business
(chapter 5 and 6) and provide them with advice on how to
improve on this.
The issue with this concept is the difficulty in making profit
on knowledge. The analysis in chapter 7 showed the difficulty
for many (branded) communication platforms to generate
profits. The examples which are able (e.g. Stompernet,
Beernet), evolved over several years in order to become
profitable. In short, the content of the Hello Knowledge
concept would have to be very strong in order for commercial
printers to start paying for it. And creating high quality
content takes time and experience; for Hello to become an
expert in it and for the commercial printers to accept it.
8.4.3 Concept Choice
After discussion of the issues of these concepts with Tan
Brand Communication Consultants and the TU Delft the
following decision was made. Inspired by the example of
Stompernet (see chapter 7) it was decided to create a complete
strategy for Hello, with Hello Knowledge as a starting point.
A strategy which will re-position the brand, to be able to
endeavour in the development of software applications aimed
at commercial printers. This conclusion lead to the following
final concept strategy.
49
 8.5 The Concept Strategy
The final concept is a combination of various factors to create a single strategy. The created conceptual strategy allows for Hello to,
at their pace, transform themselves from a product brand into a service brand.

The explanation of the strategy will be brief, since it will be further developed throughout the rest of the report.

Step 1: Communication Step 2: Research on the Step 3: Sales on the

Platform
The first step will be focused on the re-
branding of Hello. Hello’s position will
be strengthened by making it a brand
which listens to their clients and provides
them with content to help them develop
theirselves. A brand which thinks with,
not for, the commercial printer.
Hello will start with the creation of an
online communication platform (Concept
3), a website, aimed at the commercial
printers. Commercial printers can become
a member of this platform, which will give
them access to knowledge to help them
with their business. Hello will provide the
members with content to improve their
understanding of the print buyers and the
communication market, as discussed in
chapter 6.
Communication platform
Once Hello has a sufficient amount
of members on the communication
platform, Hello will leverage their
central position in this network to
gain insights into the market. Through
these insights, or research, on the
communication platform Hello will
be able to spot opportunities for
new products, services, software
or applications. These will be called
solutions.
Accordingly Hello can use these
opportunities and turn them
into actual solutions aimed at the
commercial printers, to generate
revenue.
communication platform
Once the communication platform is
succesful, with a high enough member
count, Hello can extend the use of it
towards becoming a sales platform. Hello
will, together with external companies
(e.g. UplinX, Tan), develop new products,
services and applications. These solutions
will be sold towards the commercial
printer through the platform. Hello will
be able to provide the commercial printers
with more than knowledge content, they
will provide them with the actual tools to
improve their business.

50
8.6 Model
Below (figure 8.1) is a graphical representation of this strategy.
In this model the funnel can be observed as the scope of
Hello.
Currently (Now) Hello is simply a paper brand, focused on
the marketing and promotion of that product. In this state
it is difficult to extend a brand; the vision (the answer) is not
strongly supported by their actions (Sinek, 2009) and the
concepts lack similarity (Ambler & Styles, 1996). The scope
is narrow.
Fig 8.1 The strategy will focus on providing a road map for Hello to becoming a service brand, to broaden their business
By starting with concept 3, Hello Knowledge, Hello will build
a communication platform to help the commercial printers.
With this platform Hello will re-position itself, creating a
brand with a vision for growth. Once Hello is accepted by
the commercial printers as a brand with a new vision, which
understands them and actually answers to their needs, Hello’s
scope will broaden.
As time, moves on and Hello develops itself, the scope
will broaden, and new opportunities in categories which
previously would not have matched to their brand and vision,
will become possible; including the concepts discussed in this
chapter.
? ?
?
?
?
51
 Section 4
The Strategy
The analysis in the first two section lead to a number of conclusions.
In chapter six three search fields were created which, together with
various other factors, were used to guide the idea generation. The
ideation phase in the previous section lead to the creation of numerous
ideas; of which five were selected.

Upon further exploration it became clear that the Hello brand would
have to re-position itself before most of these coneepts could be
implemented. This lead to the creation of a complete strategy, through
which Hello will re-position itself and accordingly will start extending
its brand in new categories. This strategy will be developed in this
section.

Chapter 9 will cover the overall strategy. The strategy has been
divided into two main phases; The implementation of the Hello
Solutions Communication Platform (i.e. providing the answer) and
the development and sales of products, services and applications (i.e.
providing the solution). Both will be discussed in chapters 10 and 11.

53
 CH. 9

Strategy
The aim of this project was to transform Hello from a product brand towards becoming a service
brand. Currently Hello is completely focused at its product lines of paper and a shift like this does not
happen overnight. The successful implementation to become a service provider requires an integrated
approach. This chapter will discuss the overal strategy; the initial foundation, an introduction to an
implementation roadmap, the vision and business model.

9.1 Foundation
The market of Hello is changing; and not to their advantage.
Paper sales will keep on decreasing and combined with the
commoditization of the product, it will only increase the
competition levels in the industry. Competitors have already
been catching up to the brand. Hello has always positioned
itself as the answer to the needs of the clients. Up until a
number of years ago, Hello had an innovative positioning in
their clients minds. Currently it is just one of the many brands
available.
Roscam Abbing & van Gessel (2008) describe an opportunity
in this by starting to fulfill the promises a brand makes.
Currently Hello only promises to be The Answer. This core
vision is only aimed at paper products, yet it provides a great
platform to move it into a new category. Fullfilling the vision
to be the answer to the clients needs. To be truly innovative
Hello will need to thread outside of its comfort zone to create
a new concept towards the industry.
From the analysis of the commercial printers it was found
that the gap between them and their clients provides an
opportunity for Hello. Hello will help printers adjust
their touch points towards the print buyers to improve
the businesses of Commercial Printers. Hello will develop
tools based on the three initial design directions; improve
transparancy, improve pro-activity and a print-buyer focused
approach.
In here lies the opportunity for Hello. Hello can help the
commercial printers to understand the print buyers and they
can help to improve their marketing, website and services;
to reshape the commercial printer’s touch points in order to
improve their business.
Hello can provide the commercial printers with the answer
(information, knowledge) and the solution (services,
applications, etc) to support them in the improvement of their
business.

54
9.2 Strategy Roadmap
9.2.1 Providing the Answer
Hello will become an online provider of
knowledge to help the Commercial Printer
Hello will start a website, an online communication platform.
Through this platform Hello will help the commercial
printer to understand the print buyer. They will offer
practical information for Commercial Printers to improve
their business and relationships with their clients. With this
knowledge the commercial printer will be made aware of the
issues that are troubling their business. On this website Hello
will tackle important issues for commercial printers; how to
improve the commercial printer’s website, how to improve
their marketing, how to improve their knowledge on design,
and more. Helping commercial printers adjust their business
to today’s, and tomorrow’s, market environment.
Hello will be able to apply the platform for their own benefit
by using it for practical research and to start debates with
the commercial printers. It provides Hello with a platform
to improve their own knowledge of the market and to spot
opportunities for new products and services.
This first phase of the strategy will be further explored in chapter
10.
9.2.2 Providing the Solution (Chapter 11)
Hello will become a provider of applications and
ser vices to help the Commercial Printer.
Once Hello has re-positioned itself as a brand which is
knowledgable on the market, a brand that knows how to
improve the commercial printer’s business, a brand with
their own online community, they can use the website as a
sales platform to launch new services and applications. Hello
will become a provider of Solutions. The term solutions has
been chosen based on the fact that the products can come
in varying ways; an application to remain in contact with a
client during a project, a set of tools to define the strategy of a
company or a total integrated solution of service, application
and product (i.e. paper).
Using this new position, Hello will start with the sales of
simple applications to improve the Commercial Printer’s
business. The technological development of these solutions,
will be developed with smart use of partners and sister
company UplinX.
This second phase of the strategy will be further explored in
chapter 11. In table 9.1 is a summary.
55

Table 9.1 Objectives, Audience and Method
9.3 Vision and Brand
9.3.1 Vision
This change that Hello will undergo needs to be supported
internally. For this service to properly grow, and to be
accepted and supported within the company, it will need a
strong vision. A strong vision will show the people within
PaperlinX what the plan is for Hello, and it will inspire them
to support the change (Sinek, 2009). The vision is based on a
methodology proposed by Sinek (2009).
Sinek argues that the most successful and innovative
companies start from “why”, the core reason for a company
or brand to create its services or products. Of course most
companies aim to create revenue, yet this will never be a
motivational vision for employees to follow. If Hello wants
to grow and improve its position in the market they will
need to believe in this vision; it needs to be embedded in
the company’s culture before it can grow to its full potential
(Roscam Abbing & van Gessel, 2008).
56
Fig 9.1 The vision and Brand of Hello Solutions
In Chapter 10 the necessary internal marketing activities to stimulate
the succes of the communication platform will be further discussed.
9.3.2 Brand Name
Hello will expand its brand into a new direction. This
communication platform should not be seen as a marketing
platform for Hello paper. It will be a separate platform,
hence the creation of a new name. The chosen name is Hello
Solutions. Hello has always promised to answer to clients
through their paper products. Hello Solution matches to The
Answer, yet it shows that Hello will live up to their vision.
The name is broad enough to both cover the initial online
communication platform and it has the abillity to extend itself
into a sales channel for online services and software solutions.
The logo of Hello has been slightly altered to express the new
vision.
57
 9.4 Business Model
9.4.1 Investment
The strategy consists of two main phases. Phase 1 (providing
the answer) of the strategy will focus on the creation of a
communication platform; a website which will support
Hello’s clients with valuable information through which Hello
will be able to have a dialogue with their clients. In phase 2
(providing the solution) of the strategy Hello will be able to
distribute and sell specific applications and services through
the communication platform.
Before Hello will be able to move to phase 2, they will first
have to establish a successful communication platform with a
steady community of commercial printers; you simply can not
sell anything if nobody is there to buy it. This communication
platform will demand investments in people, resources and
time, before Hello can generate revenue in phase 2.
It should be noted that the communication platform will lead
to indirect revenue through a number of factors. in marketing,
PR and research. In chapter 10.7 these investments and
benefits will be further Discussed.
9.4.2 Revenue
Once Hello will start with the sales of applications and
services, (Solutions) they will be able to generate direct
financial revenue. The business model of this strategy is called
Cross Subsidization (Anderson, 2009) and it is shown in
figure 9.2. In chapter 7 a number of different business models
was explored. Based on the intent of the strategy and Hello’s
experience this business model fitted best. It should be noted
that untill Hello will start with phase 2, there will be no
profitable business model in place; beyond indirect revenue
(chapter 10.7).
58
Phase 1 Phase 2
Communication Platform Hello Solutions
• Community
€€€ • Applications
• Knowledge Content • Services
• Discussion
Commercial Printer
Fig 9.2 The Business Model of Hello Solutions
9.5 The Operating Companies
The analysis in section 1 of the report lead to the conclusion
that Hello should innovate independently from the operating
companies; or, at least they should have final control. With
this strategy Hello will create this.
This does mean a change in dynamics for the first time,
between Hello and the Operating Companies. Hello will need
to handle this issue delicately. The operating companies might
view the new strategy as an invasion of their field. Up until
now all services beyond the product have been executed by the
operating companies, not the paper brands. Hello will have to
face it head on, before the new strategy will be implemented.
The goal should be to involve the operating companies to
a level that will satisfy them, yet will not make Hello lose
control. Throughout the development of the strategy this role
may change, depending on the direction Hello Solutions takes
further in the future.
9.5.1 The communication platform
To stimulate the acceptance by the operating companies of
the communication platform Hello will have to involve them
positively in the platform.
Hello will offer content on the platform which is of main
interest to the commercial printers. This content will in fact
also be valuable to the operating companies; information
they can use in their daily conversations with and sales to
the commercial printers. Hello will be able to share extended
information with the operating companies. Hello will
instigate a separate section on the platform especially for the
operating companies. This could contain information which is
not interesting for the commercial printers, or it could mean
advanced access to information before it is published on the
communication platform.
9.5.2 Solutions
The second phase of this strategy will explore the
opportunities to venture into new categories. Hello should
focus that these new directions do not interfere with the
business and services of the operating companies. Though
chances are high that these solutions will not interfere with
the operating companies, in fact Hello will meet challenges
in new competitors, every new solution should be partially
evaluated on their match with the operating companies.
Due to the complexity of the strategy, this topic is discussed separately.
In chapter 10 the communication platform will be discussed, and this
topic will be touched.

Once the platform develops itself further, Hello will be able to

cooperate with the operating companies in the organization
of special events; through which both parties could benefit.
Hello would be able to publish videos from the events online.
There are many opportunities to cooperate with the operating
companies.

It should be brought to the attention of the operating

companies that the main goal of the communication platform
is to support the commercial printers; it should not be viewed
as sales platform for the operating companies. The operating
companies can participate on the platform, yet their focus
should be on helping their clients,. This will create a positive
Halo effect towards their own business.

59
 CH. 10

Communication Platform
An online community provides a brand with a platform to easily distribute their brand message,
thoughts, new ideas and new products with their specific audience. It is not only a great way of sharing,
but also of obtaining knowledge. An online community can create word of mouth, which is a powerful
medium. The larger the community, the larger the power one has in an industry.

An active online community does not sprout up and grow on
its own. It demands continuous effort from Hello to create a
proper communication platform for the commercial printers.
In this chapter the objectives, design, content and organization
amongst others for the success of the communication platform
will be discussed.
10.1 Objectives
10.1.1 Re-positioning Hello
From a brand point of view Hello has pursued to be
the answer to the clients need by listening to them and
starting up conversations (Chapter 3). Yet, in actuality this
communication has mostly been a one way street. Hello
focused on marketing messages and these were not the result
of the engagement in conversations with commercial printers;
marketing messages do not answer to their true needs. Hello
is a paper brand, nothing more, nothing less.
Hello can not simply start extending its brand in new services,
without first re-positioning itself. In order for Hello to re-
position itself as a brand that does understand the needs of
their clients and supports them beyond paper, Hello will set
up a communication platform. This platform will allow Hello
to grow from a marketing focused, one-way communication,
brand into a brand which has a dialogue with their clients, and
provides them with answers to their problems (figure 10.1).
Eventually the communication platform will make Hello the
brand that even links customers to one another. Providing one
of the first proper communication platforms for the European
commercial printer market.
10.1.2 A Platform for Research
The community platform is part of a strategy to pursue
growth in new categories under the Hello brand; to eventually
use the communication platform as a sales platform. For Hello
the communication platform will provide them with a tool to
gather knowledge on possible new concepts in new categories.
They will come in contact with knowledgeable people which
can provide them with information and feedback.

60
 Fig 10.1 From one way communication to a dialogue; moving towards a community
10.2 Road to Success
For these objectives to be reached Hello will first need to
create a successful communication platform; a community.
Communities, like plants, don’t just grow on their own. They
demand (tremendous) effort from its initiator (Nicholson,
2009, Bernoff & Li 2008, Strauss 2009). Hello must
offer value to the commercial printers in order to build a
community. This expresses itself through (see chapter 7):
content on the platform, design of the platform, the marketing
of the platform and the network (i.e. people) on the platform
(Leonhard, 2010).
Each of these topics will be discussed in the following
paragraphs. The network on the platform is a difficult topic to
discuss; getting the right people towards the communication
platform demands for a large part on the content, design
and marketing. In this report the focus will be on the
organizational team behind the communication platform; the
community management team.
10.3 Content
Even though an online communication platform consists
of various important factors to make it successful, next to
proper user-focused design the single most important one
remains the actual content. What content will be of value to
the commercial printer which is not already widely available?
(Strauss, 2009) The issue to keep in mind is the fact that in
many situations the goals of the company and the customer
differ (Bernoff & Li, 2008). For Hello the most obvious
topic would be paper and the paper industry, yet this is not
the main interest for the comercial printer (see Chapter
6).The exploration of the print industry has shown the main,
untouched, need of commercial printers is knowledge on
print buyers, on design, marketing and strategy; knowledge
to improve their overall business in applying itself to today’s
print buyer.
10.3.1 Content Vision
In the analysis sections of this report the market of paper,
61
 communication and print was analyzed. The overall
conclusion from the analysis is the fact that there is a
communicational, relational and business gap between the
commercial printers and the print buyers. More importantly,
many commercial printers are not aware of this; and the
possible business they are missing because of it. Three main
design vision opportunities were discovered (Chapter 6) in
order to improve the printer’s business:
Commercial printers need to improve the
Transparency between them and the Print Buyer
Commercial printers need to pursue a Pro-Active
approach towards the Print Buyer
Table 10.1 The content directions and examples within each direction
62
Commercial printer should design their touch
point from the needs of the Print Buyer
10.3.2 Content Directions
These three search fields have been translated into three
main directions for content; to make it tangible for both
target group and initiator (Hello). The content on the
communication platform will focus on: Strategy, Marketing
and Design. In table 10.1 is an exploration of each of these
three content directions.
An example is the website. Success in today’s market simply
depends on being found, and the internet is the first place
over 90% of the printer’s clients uses to find information on
Commercial Printers (Dana, 2010). It should be an integral
part of the commercial printer’s strategy. Yet, many printers
still use websites as a simple promotional brochure with very
little actual content (Webb, 2010) and lacking any marketing
value to attract the print buyers; no portfolios, no prove of
quality, etc. The website is one, if not the, most important
touch points beyond the personal relationships; and the design
will reflect the quality of the commercial printer. Yet, more
often than not the website looks like it is well over 5 years old.
Today’s website offers so much more opportunities to elevate
the commercial printer’s role in the market. The website is just
one of the many examples where commercial printers could
increase benefit, all other touch points should be designed
in order to match the demands of print buyers: Online
Sales Channels, Marketing Tools, Sample work/portfolio,
Packaging, Prototype design and more.
10.3.3 Conclusion
These three fields, including the given examples, are an
indication of the opportunities for this platform. Currently
commercial printers have few resources to turn to for
information on these three topics; neither from commercial
printing associations nor existing magazines and websites
aimed at commercial printers (see appendix 10). Throughout
the development of the platform new directions and
opportunities for content will present themselves, and existing
ones might disappear in due time; it is the role of Hello
Solutions to apply these changes throughout the existence of
the platform.
10.4 Design
The design of the platform should be aimed at the needs and
wishes of the target group; the commercial printers. The
objectives of the communication platform have been set.
A large part of the success of the platform depends on the
content. The content discussed in the previous paragraph
reflects the research on the target group. The next step is to
translate the needs and wishes, the personality, of the target
group to the design of the platform.
10.4.1 Design Vision
The power of making a successful communication platform
lies in tailoring it to your specific target group. The content
has been discussed in the previous chapter, now the design
of the communication platform will be discussed. For the
design of the community platform three personas have been
created. A persona is a fiction person, or a user archetype,
that can help to make decisions about the features a system
should have in order to meet users’ needs, both on a functional
and visual level (Adler, 2005). The Personas can be found in
Appendix 14. Based on this analysis of the target group the
following design vision attributes were created.
Visually Attractive without distracting
Many of the existing platform in this market use an old
fashioned, news paper like, approach in its visual design. The
platform should reflect the current communication market.
It should be noted that a visually attractive design should
not distract from the actual content, or the purpose of the
platform. Form follows function is the key in the design.
Quality through Simplicity
The design should be of a simple and practical nature. This
63
 should demonstrate itself in the creation of an open and easily
approachable communication platform of which the goal is
immediately clear.
Digital intertwined with Physical
For most commercial printers their main source for
information are the industry magazines and talking to
colleagues and clients. Their industry creates physical
products. The internet may in ocasions even be seen as the
enemy. The platform should incorporate physical aspects.
Informal, yet professional
A personal approach is used throughout their entire business;
with clients, suppliers, colleagues and consultants. Even
through their existing magazines and websites. Humor is
even often part of it. The overall design should radiate an
informal and down-to-earth image. Yet, this should not turn
to unprofessional levels.
These attributes will be used in the visual design of the
communication platform. For a clear understanding on
how these attributes reflect themselves, please explore the
conceptual design of the platform on the following pages. It
should be noted that these attributes can also be used as a
guideline for the creation of content.
10.4.2 Functional Design
Combining the design vision and the objectives of the
strategy lead to the design of a number of functions. These
function will be roughly explained. On the following pages is
a conceptual design of the communication platform, including
detailed design features.
64
Public Knowledge
Public knowledge is the function through which Hello can
share articles, features, interviews, case studies and webinars
(online videos of seminars) on the platform. It is basically
the main page of the communication platform, including a
number of sub-sections, making it user friendly to navigate.
Print Debate
Many existing research platforms use diverse techniques for
research. Print Debate was inspired by Dell’s Storm Sessions
(see Chapter 7); a research (and branding) tool of Dell to
discuss their products and services. Print Debate is a function
through which Hello can open up focused discussions
between their experts and the users of the community. Hello
can use the Print Debates to gather qualitative research. This
qualitative research can be used to create new services for
Hello. See page 67 for a graphical representation to clarify the
goal of this function.
Community
The community is the area on the communication platform
through which users can ask their own questions or share
their own thoughts; it’s a discussion forum. In this area there
are no restrictions; if people prefer to discuss a printing
method, or a printing press, this will be allowed. It is the area
on the communication platform that will allow for direct
conversation between the users.
News Letter
A News Letter, though to most considered a simple
and un-exciting element, it is for most companies and
their communities one of the most important means of
communications (Forootan, 2010). The target group may
not be easily convinced towards the online communication
platform. Providing a monthly or bi-monthly E-mail
newsletter will keep them up to date. The newsletter could
contain parts of the public knowledge section and the
print debates; motivating the reader to become part of
the discussion. Furthermore it will provide Hello with a
function to do quantitative research amongst its members by
integrating it in the news letter.
Membership
For Hello to create a proper community, commercial printers
will have to become members. Of course this is for free. If
people become a member, they will have to provide certain
contact information. This information allows Hello to create
a database of its members. Next to the basic information (e.g.
Name, E-mail Adress), Hello has the opportunity to discover
more of its members (e.g. profession, size of company, type
of (printing) company, etc); information which can be used for
future research activities from Hello.
To attract people in the first place to the platform parts will
Fig 10.2 A map of the information flow on the communication platform (Stakeholders and Platform elements)
have to be open to the public (people simply do not become
members, without knowing exactly what that membership
will get them). For this it has been chosen to make parts of the
content of the Public Knowledge open, accessible to everyone.
10.4.3 Conclusion
These functions have been discussed seperately, yet they
will be intertwined in use. Content provided by commercial
printers on the Community may be picked up by an employee
of Hello and turned into a Print Debate. In the end, Hello
will have the opportunity to gather knowledge through all the
different elements of the platform.
In Figure 10.2 is a systematical map of the communication
platform. In this map the information streams are made clear
between Hello – The Platform – The Commercial Printers. It
also shows the connection between the different functions of
the platform. On the following pages are conceptual designs
of the platform to provide a tangible insight in the design;
covering the main page and the Print Debate function.
65
 Hello Solutions Membership
In this conceptual design Hello Solutions is a separate website Memberships allow the user
Conceptual Design from Hello Paper. This will improve the reliability from the access to the community,
Main Page commercial printers; this is more than marketing. It can be print debate and possibly
expected that there will be a positive Halo effect on Hello Paper extended knowledge.
through Hello Solutions (Kwon & Lennon, 2008).

Visually Attractive Content Format Printable Content

High visual appeal, yet The content will mostly consist of written content. The content can be easily
supporting the content. Throughout the development of the platform Hello may printed (in a magazine-like)
Everything should have a be able to offer video content. If Hello would start with format, for commercial
clear goal. the organization of seminars these could be recorded and printers to read exactly the
placed online. way they wish.

66
 Print Debates
Hello will focus on topics which are affecting the commercial printers on a practical and
Conceptual Design regional level; the big debates on the future of communication will not lead to useful
Print Debates implementable insights. The PaperlinX market research department will be able to provide
relevant topics for discussion; relevant for Hello and for the commercial printers. Through
the Print debates Hello will be able to explore the needs of the commercial printers and spot
opportunities.

Experts Debate Format Print & Social Media

Hello will need external expertise for the organization of To provide a low barrier Debates can be easily
the platform (see paragraph 11.6). In this example a Web to join discussions, shared, to improve its reach
Designer provided his insights in a specific topic. the focus is on textual and increase the number of
communication. members.

67
 10.5 Organization
In the introduction of this chapter the importance of the
network was discussed. The network being the people the
communication platform provides access to. This will consist
out of the Organization Team and the user network. The
user network are the users of the platform. Though the
entire platform is aimed at Commercial printers, in an open
community there is always a chance of people from other
fields joining in; this all depends on how the organization
team positions the platform. The Organization Team is
responsible, from Hello’s side, for the organization of the
entire platform; including frequency, quality and maintenance
of the content, the interactive contact with the users, building
a network of experts, etc. An important role which demands
a proper team with the right qualifications (Bernoff &
Li, 2008). The organization has been divided in two: the
community management and the network of experts.
10.5.1 Community Management
The Hello Solutions community platform will demand a
community manager to manage it. The community manager
is largely responsible for the success of a communication
platform. The role of the community management can be
divided into two (Kloos, 2008); Community Strategist &
Expert. The strategist is responsible for the successful strategic
implementation of the communication platform. It covers the
pursuit of community growth and constantly matching the
community and its content to the vision of the company.
The community expert focuses on the social side of the
community; the management of the dialogues between users
and brand and managing the creation of the content.
The community manager will be responsible for the
constant development of the communication platform. It
68
will demand proper knowledge on the printing industry and
its stakeholders combined with knowledge on marketing,
communities and social media.The community manager will
have to take on an active role, highly social. It is important
to realize that with this platform Hello is giving up part of
its control to the users. It is not expected of this target group
that they will miss-use is it; it is a quality a community
manager must be able to deal with. The management of a
communication platform is almost similar to the management
of a restaurant. It’s a combination of content, presentation,
social interaction; A complete experience. The community
manager will become the personality, the face, of the
communication platform.
10.5.2 Network of Experts
The creation of the content will have to be (partially)
outsourced and Hello will need the support of experts to do
this. To build the proper content the right resources have to
be found; both internally and externally. Experts on specific
topics. Godes & Mayzlin (2004) define these experts as Key
Influencers; people with an in depth knowledge on certain
topics, great communication skills and the network to reach a
large group of people.
To find these people a number of models has been created, yet
it is stated that in most companies it will be based on personal
opinions to recognize the key influencers (Godes & Mayzlin,
2004). Verganti (2008) advises to seek people within the
same field, dealing with similar problems; how have graphic
designers handled this change towards online and social
media, what is the view of the print buyer at a multinational
or which commercial printers currently are thriving and
how have they done this? Hello needs to know these people,
whether they are: Sales representatives, commercial printers,
print buyers, graphic art professors, marketing experts,
bloggers or designers. Key influencers can and should be
found anywhere (Godes & Mayzlin, 2004).
Internal Expertise
The PaperlinX Group is an enormous holding with
thousands of employees. There’s a chance that a number of
those employees fall in the Key Influencer category. Hello will
use the PaperlinX group to find the right experts internally.
This may be a highly positioned merchant manager, the CEO
of PaperlinX or maybe even a new young sales representative.
Bernoff & Li (2008) state that it can be people from all levels
within companies. PaperlinX will need to find and cherish
these people because they will have the opportunity to take
an important role on the new communication platform. They
may not be able to lead the community, but they are incredibly
valuable in helping to build and support it.
External Expertise
Hello, and the internal experts part of the community, are just
beginning within this area. Their knowledge on changes in the
market, ability to do research, are available. Yet, information
related to communication, marketing and web design might
not be. External experts are needed to provide the community
with relevant information outside of the scope of PaperlinX.
The core of the PaperlinX business is based on the building
of personal relationships. With these networking skills at
hand it should be feasible to find a number of experts to help
Hello with the creation of this communication platform.The
important thing is to attract diverse people.
Depending on the expertise Hello can use these influencers
in many ways. A marketing expert, with its own blog
could write a number of articles. A graphic designer could
provide information on her best and worst experiences with
commercial printers. A social media expert could record
one of its talks on video and distribute it through the Hello
platform. The possibilities are endless, dependent on the
community team responsible for the organization.
10.5.3 Development of the Platform
The development of the communication platform will be
outsourced to a professional web design agency. It is of the
upmost importance that the communication platform will be
developed from a user point of view (Bernoff & Li, 2008); it
is more than a promotional website and it will be heavily used.
There are a number of companies which focus completely on
the design of communication platforms (communities) and
social media strategies, like Ning and Communispace. Once
the communication platform is designed, the management
will be done in house. PaperlinX has an extensive IT
department and they will become responsible for the technical
development of the platform.
Conclusion
Communities develop themselves over time. It is a constant
iterative design process in which functions and content
can constantly be adjusted. Hello can start small, with a
basic platform. This will allow the community manager to
familiarize his or herself with the management. The most
important advice is simply to be alive online. Use trends and
daily industry news items to guide content. If a user posts a
topic, make sure there is at least one answer that same day.
If there’s a special event on the industry, integrate it in the
community. Engage, challenge and interact on the platform
with the users. Simply make sure that not a single day goes
by when nothing happens on the platform; it should always be
alive.
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 10.6 Marketing
As consumers we’re used to communities easily evolving on
their own, even around brands; Apple, Lego, Polaroid and so
on. In Business-to-Business this is different; the target market
is often a specific population. This makes marketing an
imperative part to stimulate success (Rowland 2009, Strauss
2009). This chapter will be divided in two section: External
marketing and Internal Marketing. Internal marketing is an
important factor within the structure of the PaperlinX group.
10.6.1 External Marketing
Up until now the objectives, content and design of the
communication platform have been explored. Based on the
analysis in the first chapters of this report, it should provide
Hello with a formula to build a successful platform. Whether
people will keep on returning to the platform, will depend
on the actual implementation. The issue which remains; why
would commercial printers come to the website in the first
place? Marketing plays a role in this. The objective of the
external marketing is to create awareness of and interest in the
communication platform.
Promotional Marketing
Hello has a number of existing marketing tools, or touch
points, which it currently uses for the promotion of the
brand. Examples of these can be found in Appendix 6. The
current touch points are: advertisements in reading material,
direct mail, the sample book, website, gifts and the sales
representatives of the Operating Companies.
For the marketing it is essential to define Hello Solutions
above the rest. Most companies within this market have
started to realise the issues which are troubling them,
70
and most of them are approaching this Future of Print
in a questioning matter through their marketing, asking:
“What is the role of print in this digital world?” Hello will
distinguish itself by approaching the issues which affect the
daily business of commercial printers; not the big questions
bothering the entire industry. Commercial printers need to
be enticed by values that matter to them, making a fullfilling
and challenging marketing message; making the commercial
printer want to know what is available to him or her on the
Hello Solutions website. The touch points are not designed,
but an example is given in the figure above (the packaging of
Hello paper).
Hello has been creative with their marketing in the past
(Appendix 6) and in today’s market this mindset becomes
more relevant.
Social Media
Social media is mentioned under Marketing, yet it must be
viewed as much more. It should be an integrated part of the
community, using social media to increase the reach of the
communication platform.
Hubspot (2010) found that traffic towards company websites,
within B2B markets, on average increases over a 100% when
the company maintains a twitter account. Accordingly the
research shows that B2B users are most likely to use twitter
and linkedin and it shows that companies maintaining active
content on their website increase traffic with over 400%.
The Community Manager of Hello Solutions will become
actively involved with social media. Social media is a tool to
increase reach among the target group with little effort. The
goal for the social media will be to share information from
the communication platform (e.g. Latest Posts), to engage
with others from the industry and to promote others from
the industry (Bernoff & Li, 2008). Social media can only be a
useful tool when one acts social (nobody will like a brand or
person that only talks about themselves). More importantly,
similar to the demands of the communication platform, it is
of the upmost importance to be constantly “alive” online, every
day of the week.
The difficulty in maintaining a social media strategy is the
complete dependence on the person who manages it. This
becomes a larger issue in Business-to-Business markets
(Strauss, 2009); this person will need to be socially strong
and knowledgeable on the paper and printing market. This
person becomes the personality of the brand, not a role for
just anyone.
The author is currently following a concise 80 people on
twitter within the paper and printing industry; there are
thousands more active commercial printers out there.
Sales Representatives
The most important touch point within this field remains
to be the contact with the sales representatives of the local
operating companies. The sales representative are in close
contact with the clients through E-mail, Phone and in Person.
Yet, the marketing they will do for Hello Solutions will, for
the first time, not directly benefit their own company. Internal
marketing becomes a defining factor.
10.6.2 Internal Marketing
The internal marketing has always been an important topic
within the PaperlinX group. Everytime a new marketing
campaign for Hello is launched, a large section of the
campaign is spent on promoting the brand among the sales
representatives around Europe. For the upcoming Hello
Paper campaign all the sales representatives will receive a
flyer explaining the goal of the new campaign, a new sample
book and a gift in the form of a bright red Hello computer
Keyboard.
The objective of the internal marketing for the platform will
be threefold;
• To inform the operating companies of the new
communication platform;
• To motivate operating companies to market the platform
towards commercial printers;
• To find internal experts whom can contribute to the
platform.
Hello Solutions has been created with a vision to support
the commercial printers (see figure 9.1). Which makes it
a different situation from a new campaign for (new) paper
product lines. With the communication platform Hello is
not making empty promises, and this vision should be shared
throughout the PaperlinX group. In order to convince the
sales representatives within the company and to even get them
involved, Hello Solutions will need to prove itself and share
the goals for the platform with the sales representation (see
chapter 9.4).
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 10.7 Finances
10.7.1 Cost Structure
The cost structure of the communication platform depends
on a number of different variables. The most important
cost will depend on people; the management team. For the
organization Hello will have to appoint a community manager
(paragraph 10.5), which can be a part- or full-time function.
Part of the content will most likely be created by motivated
people from throughout the PaperlinX organization;
attaching an exact cost estimate to this is difficult. The
creation of the platform will depend on Hello’s preferences.
Will they purchase an existing system or have a specific
platform developed for Hello Solutions?
There are a number of variables related to the development
of this platform. To provide an insight in the related costs, an
estimate can be found in Appendix 17.
10.7.2 Return on Investment
The Return (increased revenue and reduced costs) on
the Investment (time, resources and people) may seem
problematic for communication platforms (Millington, 2010).
For the Hello Solutions communication platform the Returns
may be measured through the sales numbers of Hello paper,
yet a large part of its value will be missed if this is the only
measure. The most important factor therefore becomes to
translate the, perceived, non-financial impacts to measurable
values; financial impact (Blanchard, 2010).
The initial objective for this communication platform was
not aimed at generating direct profits through sales, though
there will be sales benefits noticed in Hello Paper. The focus
of the communication platform was to re-position the brand
72
and provide a platform for research. Both of these objectives
can be measured (Bernoff & Li, 2008). They can be translated
into return on investment fields for the Hello Solutions
Communication Platform; Brand Benefits and Research
Benefits (see table 10.2).
Sales Benefits
This strategy was created with the main goal to move the
Hello brand in new categories (see chapter 9). However, this
communication platform can positively influence the sales
numbers of Hello paper. Even though the internal analysis
(see section 1 of the report) proved the difficulty in improving
sales of specific paper brands (due to the commoditization of
the product), the research into the brand equity within this
market showed there is a definite effect.
Brand Benefits
One of the most important goals was to create awareness
and re-positioning the brand. Based on the topic of raising
awareness, the following can be measured (Bear, 2009):
Amount of Community Members, Web Traffic, Web Traffic
Referrals, Search Volume Trends, Social Mentions, time
spent on site, repeat visits, Recommendations, printed press
attention, etc. Bernoff & Li (2008) translate this into three
value measures Attaching estimated financial values to each of
these topics will make them measurable; advertising value, PR
value and word-of-Mouth value.
This will give an insight in the success of the communication
platform, and therefore the awareness it has created. There are
many existing software tools to measure these numbers, for
example The Online Community Research Network company
offers simple packages of software and online applications
which make it possible to measure the Return On Investment
of communication platforms. Hello will decide on the
(financial) worth of it.
Research Benefits
The second objective for the platform was the possibility to
allow quantitative and qualitative insights in the problems of
the commercial printers. Hello will be able to discover new
opportunities through this platform. In chapter 8 a number
of opportunities within the commercial printing market are
spotted, and the platform will allow Hello to test the waters
for these ideas with commercial printers.
Currently the brand is dependent on external companies for
most of their in-depth research. For example, in 2006/2007
Hello did a basic research in six different countries through
twelve different focus groups. The research was aimed at
getting feedback on a specific number of service concepts.
Table 10.2 Return on investment value and measurement
Research like this is a costly affair for the brand. The
communication platform will allow Hello to find experts
among the commercial printers, and use their intelligence in
the discovery and development of new concepts.
The problem remains that a number of issues are too
intangible to measure (Millington 2010). For example, the
communication platform will improve the sense of unity
amongst the clients of Hello, the commercial printers. Yet,
what is the worth of this community. Another issue may be the
improvement of the brand image. Hello can research whether
the view from the commercial printers on Hello has changed,
and how, yet the financial value is intangible. Hello will have
to decide what the value is of the communication platform to
their brand.
73
 Fig 10.3 The Roadmap towards the creation of the Hello Solutions Communication Platform

10.8 Roadmap 10.8.3 Platform Live

A month before the platform goes live Hello will start and
In figure 10.3 is a conceptual roadmap on the implementation of the
internal marketing campaign to inform and motivate the
Communication Platform.
employees with the PaperlinX group. Once the platform goes
live an external marketing campaign will commence.
10.8.1 Compiling a management team
Hello will start with the compilation of a management team.
10.8.4 Research
Let it be stated that these roles can be part-time, and that the
Hello will start, in cooperation with the internal market
network of experts should be constantly expanded. Once a
research team, with research through the platform. Based on
community manager and an initial number of team members
this research, and the analysis within this report, a number of
has been appointed, the planning can commence.
opportunities will be selected.

10.8.2 Development of the Platform 10.8.5 Sales of Solutions

During the planning phase the design of the platform will be
Depending on the research, the growth of the platform and
finalized and partners for the development will be attacted.
the needs of Hello, in 2012 they will begin with the sales of
At the end of the development the platform will be tested and
solutions (e.g. services, applications, products). See chapter 11.
adjusted.

74
 Members
Time
Fig 10.4 The three values to decide whether to start with the second phase: the Sales of Solutions through the Platform
10.9 Platform for Sales?
The main question which remains: when is the
communication platform a success and when can we move on
towards the sales of solutions? This relates to three different
factors; the brand image of Hello, the size of the community
and the (research) foundation for new solutions (figure 10.4).
10.9.1 Image of Hello
One of the main objectives was to re-position the Hello
brand in the minds of the commercial printers. Hello needed
to become a pro-active brand again, innovative within their
market and answering to the needs of their clients. Before
Hello can start with the sales of solutions, they will need to
be sure that their brand can support this task. It would be
advised to research the brand image among a the target group,
during the progress of the platform.
10.9.2 Activity on the Platform
In the benefit analysis in chapter 10.7 it was stated that the
success, or benefits, of the communication platform could be
meassured in a number of ways; which all lead to a view on
the activity on the platform. Acording to the 90-9-1 rule (Wu,
2009) a communication platform can be deemed successful
if it has 9% spectators of the total target group (visitors that
view the website, yet don’t participate) and 1% active members
of the total target group (visitors that actively participate on
the platform). These numbers are an estimate, since they differ
for each market and target group. In business-to-business
these meassures could easily run up to 84-12-4 (Wu, 2009).
Using the 90-9-1 rule as a meassurement, and based on the
target group, it could be stated that the community must
have 300 active members (0,3% of the target group) and 2000
different monthly spectators (2% of the target group). This
would provide Hello with a sufficient platform to start with
the sales of solutions.
10.9.3 Opportunity Recognition
In order for Hello to be able to develop solutions, they will
need to have sufficient (research) foundation. Hello will need
to plan the research carefully, in order to anticipate on the
development of new products. In the analysis of the market
a number of opportunities was recognized, which could be
used for further exploration. Once Hello has a sufficient
foundation, they can take the next step and start with the
development and marketin introduction of new solutions.
75
 CH. 11

Solutions
At this point in the timeline Hello has re-positioned its brand, and the communication platform has
a sufficient amount of activity. Through this platform Hello will be able to spot new opportunities in
the commercial printing market and they are able to research new application and service ideas. In this
chapter this process will be further explained and a number of conceptual ideas will be provided as an
inspiring starting point for the further development of the strategy.

11.1 Objectives develop potentially succesful solutions to be offered, sold

In the first phase strategy, the focus was with the re-
positioning of Hello, creating awareness through becoming a
knowledge provider and researching the commercial printing
market. Hello will enter the second phase, providing the
solution, when the communication platform has become
a success. In this second phase the focus will be on the
development and sales of the solutions.
11.1.1 Sales
In the first phase of the strategy, providing the anwser (Chapter
11), Hello created an environment for themselves in which
they could spot and identify business opportunities. In this
second phase of the strategy, Hello will develop and sell
Solutions for these spotted business opportunities. The term
solution is used, because the opportunities may be of different
types: a service, an application or an integrated solution
combining product, service and software.Depending on the
shape of the solution, Hello can partner with sister company
UplinX or specialized external parties. Together they will
and distributed through Hello’s own online platform Hello
Solutions.
What kind of solutions could Hello offer the commercial
printers through their platform? To be able to give Hello
an understanding of what they should aim for at this stage,
a couple of already identified business opportunities are
materialized in this chapter. These concept function as
example solutions and Hello is encouraged to develop their
own concepts when they enter this phase.
Therefore, to give Hello a more tangible insight in the goal of
this strategy, three of these concepts will be materialized in
this chapter.
11.2 The Concepts
The reversed funnel model in figure 11.1 shows the
development of Hello Solutions throughout its existence.
In 2011 Hello will introduce the Hello Solutions

76
 Fig 11.1 Throughout the development of Hello Solutions the brand will be able to endeavour in new product categories
communication platform. As the communication platform
becomes more succesful (chapter 10.9) Hello can start with
sales to generate profts. At the beginning of its existence the
new solutions will stand close to the Hello Communication
Platform; helping the commercial printers understand their
clients. Focused on creating awareness. As the commercial
printers become more knowledgeable on the market, the focus
for the Hello Communication platform will change from a
guiding role, into a supporting role.
In a supportive role Hello will start offering more in-depth
solutions in order for commercial printers to become more
transparent, pro-active and print buyer focused in their
business (based on the search fields: see Chapter 7). As the
platform and the commercial printers develop further, the
solutions will become more in-depth integrated solutions: the
funnel will become broader. The furter in the future, the more
elaborated the concepts can become (Hence, the reversed
funnel model).
The objective of this strategy is for Hello to start actively
researching the market and innovating on the opportunities
they will spot. Therefore, to give Hello an insight in this
development, three exemplifary concepts are created: Hello
Printer Improvement, Hello Update and Hello Print Store
(see figure 11.1). These concepts are located in varying places
of the reversed funnel model, ranging from close to the core to
far in the future.
On the following pages these three concepts are described. In the
paragraphs after this more information is offered on the
development of the portfolio.
77
 11.3 Hello Printer Improvement
11.3.1 Foundation • Improving your Ser vices
The first concept, the concept closest to the core, builds on • Improving your Strateg y
the knowledge content of the Communication Platform.
• Improving your Personal Contact
The communication platform is aimed at providing
knowledge to and sharing knowledge with the Commercial
The commercial printers can buy these tools on the Hello
printers. As Hello continuously refines the content and
Solutions platform and they will help the printers with the
the communication platform, their own expertise will also
given subject. A conceptual version will be explained through
continuously improve. An approach used by many similar
the first tool: Improving your Website (see figure 11.2).
platforms (see chapter 7) is to start generating profits through
the knowledge that is offered. If the content is exclusive and
11.3.3 Technology
valuable towards the commercial printers, it is an opportunity
The conceptual representation in Figure 11.2 is an online tool,
to profit from it.
integrated in the Hello Solutions communication platform.
The tool could incorporate a number of technologies;
11.3.2 The Printer Improvement Tools
depending on the needs of the commercial printer for each of
This lead to the creation of the Printer Improvement Tools
the different topics.
concept. The concept will cover a number of tools which will
help the commercial printers with issues in their business.
11.3.4 Conclusion
The tools will, depending on the subject, cover a range of
Generating profits through the knowledge Hello will offer
different approaches. Each tool could consist of a package of
is a logical first step after the communication platform starts
questionaires, documents, articles and more. These packages
to become successful. The quality of these tools will need
can be sold towards the commercial printer and they will
to be of a higher level compared to the (already available)
answer to a valid issue of theirs.
knowledge on the communication platform. Profits can be
generated through sales per tool, yet depending on Hello
Five different topics have been selected:
own goals it could also lead to yearly memberships which
provide access to extra levels of content (e.g. The tools) on the
• Improving your Website communication platform.
• Improving your Marketing

Solution Improving the business of Commercial Printers by offering packages of knowledge and
tools which can be easily used and implemented: the Hello Printer Improvement tools.

78
Fig 11.2 An exemplifary concept of a Print Improvement Tool aimed at website development

79
 Add Photo

Send

back Albert Leuven

Hi Albert,

The first 10.000 copies just

rolled of the presses.
They look fantastic! It did not
mess up the coating, so don’t
worry. Will send it off for
binding now.
Best Regards,

Add Photo

Send

Fig 11.3 A representation of a number of the functionalities of Hello Update

80
11.4 Hello Update
11.4.1 Foundation
In the printing process there is a gap between the commercial
printer and their clients. The commercial printers are keeping
this gap in existence, worried that more transparency in the
relationship will degrade their position. In the process of
print projects (see chapter 6), in most situations the print
buyer will provide the commercial printer with digital files for
the project and within a number of days the print products
will be delivered to the print buyer. Between the provision
of files and delivery of the print products there are little
moments of contact (i.e. touch points). Commercial printers
are often worried that more transparency will make their
work more troublesome, inviting uninformed print buyers
onto their printing press floor. Even though Print Buyers have
acknowledged that they would like more transparency and be
more informed (see chapter 6).
11.4.2 Hello Update
Based on these insights the Hello Update concept was
generated. Hello Update is an application which allows
commercial printers to inform their clients on the progress
of the print project; when, how and where the commercial
printer wants to. This application will transform the negative
view of the commercial printers on transparency in the
printing process into an opportunity; adding a new touch
point between commercial printers and their clients (i.e. the
print buyers).
During a printing process there are always essential moments
depending on each different project; the moment the cover of
a magazine has just received its coating, when difficult steps
Solution Improving the bond between commercial printer and print buyer by keeping print buyers
up-to-date on the progress of the print project throught the Hello Update application.
in the process are overcome, when the first complete print
product is done, and more. By communicating these towards
the print buyers, the commercial printers will improve the
transparency during the project. The print buyer will become
aware of the effort the commercial printer puts into the
project, and how highly the commercial printer values the
relationship with the print buyer.
Next to this main focus of Hello Update, the application
can be easily expanded with more features. The Update
system could also be used in more casual situations; when
a commercial printers comes across a graphic design or
an example of a specifically printed product. They can
easily photograph it and share this with their clients. The
application can include a printing handbook; a database
featuring clear explanations of terms and process methods
used in printing; which can be added to Update messages.
This would allow a print buyer to easily learn more on the
activities of the commercial printer, without them having to
go out of their way to explain this. A new feature could keep
a history of all sent updates and allow the commercial printer
to quickly attach notes to specific clients; for remembering
specific things about the relationship with a client.
The possibilities of this application are multifold and the
application could develop itself over time. Version 1.0 will
simply contain the update function, yet throughout its
existence new versions will introduce new functionalities.
81
 11.4.3 Technology
The conceptual representation in figure 11.3 is based on a
smart phone application. The smart phone allows for the
commercial printer to create an Update in any environment,
for example, right on the printing press floor. The smart phone
allows for updates to easily be combined with photographs
and to be send towards a broad number of receiving mediums;
from E-mail, MMS, to Twitter. The concept could be
supported through other mediums as well; a dedicated
software applications for computers or a plug-in application in
an existing computer program (e.g. Microsoft Outlook).

11.4.4 Conclusion
The application improves the transparency during the printing
process, it allows the commercial printer to become more
pro-active by stimulating them to take control and initiate the
contact, and both function and design of the application are
aimed at the needs of both the commercial printer and the
print buyer.

The application gives Hello a strong platform to create a

dedicated Hello application. It could evolve throughout its
existence and offer more extensive functionalities.

82
11.5 Hello Print Store
As the Hello Solutions platform keeps evolving, Hello can
broaden its view further and further. The first two concepts
stayed close to the initial focus of the communication
platform, this third one will be a more elaborate and
integrated solution.
11.5.1 Foundation
One of the main trends within this market is the move
towards digital printing and web-2-print services (see
appendix 9). Many large companies have already paved the
road and slowly small and medium sized printers are starting
to follow online. Moving business online requires a change
in strategy. The website can no longer focus solely on its
promotional value; it has to become an online store front for
the commercial printer.
Many of the larger commercial printers have, through
cooperation with software developers, created their own
software system for this online store front. Often these
systems are rather complex, due to the many tasks they have
to fulfill. There’s a long list of different products which can
be ordered, many specifications, and so on. In today’s market
there are a number of professional software developers,
PaperlinX’ UplinX being one of the largest, which offer
software created specifically for the commercial printing
industry.
This software is advanced and well designed. Yet, it is often
too expensive for small commercial printers to purchase. An
Solution Improving the online sales channels of small commercial printers through an integrated
solution of products, services and software in Hello Print Store.
online store front would be an excellent addition for copy
shops, or other small local commercial printers. Many small
commercial printers which are venturing online are therefore
currently creating their systems in-house with the help
from an external ICT company, based on low cost software
packages and software plug-ins. Though these systems work,
they do not radiate high quality, neither are they user-friendly
designed. A few companies have been explored which offer
store front software towards small commercial printers, yet
again it is of low quality. There is an opportunity to develop
well-designed store front software for small commercial
printers.
UplinX is one of the main suppliers of this software, and a
sister company of Hello. UplinX has a number of software
packages that covers this field: software for the basic store
front, templates to brand this online store front for each
different commercial printer, software to streamline the back
office organization, software which creates a digital prototype
presentation of an uploaded PDF, and various other services
and applications (see Appendix 13). Through a partnership
with UplinX, Hello has an opportunity to move into this in-
depth field of the commercial printing industry.
11.5.2 Hello Print store
Based on these insights the partnership of Hello and UplinX
can develop an online Storefront specifically for small
commercial printers. UplinX will be mainly responsible for
the creation of a specialized software package aimed at small
83
 A module which integrates the
printer’s website with a
prototype (dummy) service
from Hello.

Fig 11.4 A systematical representation of the concept

commercial printers. It is advised that this is done on co-
operation with a team of user focused designers. The existing
systems has show that they can often be of a technological
nature, in which a certain amount of knowledge on printing is
desired to order print work. The clients of small commercial
printers (which eventually will use the software) are often less
knowledgeable on printing.
The system will be a simplified modular system. The amount
of functions should be concise at the start, yet it should
provide the possibility to grow throughout its existence. If the
commercial printer becomes more successful they will need
to be able to extend the system. In figure 11.4 is a conceptual
systematical represenation of this idea.
In this cooperation Hello will be able to provide the Hello
Print Store clients with the proper paper for their online
venture. In this way Hello will be able to link their product
(paper) to a service and application (Hello Print Store) and
create an integrated solution. Hello will furthermore be
the trusted face of the venture and able to supply the Print
Store clients with key information (from the Hello Solutions
community) to stimulate their business success.
11.5.3 Business Model
Most software systems in this field will have high start-
up costs which makes them unattractive to most small
commercial printers; you do not even know whether you will
be able to turn it into a profitable business at that moment. If
UplinX would be able to develop a simple modular system,
to keep start-up costs at a minimum, then the system will
develop itself over time. If, for example, a commercial printer
wants a system they will start with the basic functionalities.
If the commercial printer is successful, they are able to extend
the system with new functionalities. Through this business
model the profit of the Hello UplinX Partnership will
increase as the sales of their clients increases.
11.5.4 Conclusion
This integrated solution, Hello Print Store, is still in a
highly conceptual stage. Based on the initial explorations
of the market there are definite opportunities within
this field. In this concept Hello will be able to put all its
experience gathered during the development of the Hello
Solutions platform into work, though it will demand careful
preparation. An interesting field to explore in the future of the
Hello Solutions platform.

84
11.6 Portfolio Management
As these three concepts show, there are diverse opportunities
for Hello in the future. As the Communication platform will
progress, Hello may find that there are a number of directions
they can take. To maintain a solid strategy throughout
the development of the Hello brand, proper portfolio
management is a necessity. Cooper and Edget (2008) define
three goals for the management of portfolios.
Strategically Alligned to the Vision
Each new solution should match Hello’s main strategy and
vision. Hello should pursue the creation of a solid portfolio
of solutions which do not negate each other, they should and
carry out the vision of Hello. The brand vision (see chapter 9)
will be used as a filter to guide innovation (Roscam Abbing,
2010).
Maximize the Value of the Portfolio
To maximize the value of the portfolio will demand
constant mapping of each of the different products and both
strategically and financially make sure they maximize the
value of the portfolio. Resources are not unlimited and must
be divided well. Too many project at the same time will lead to
difficulties in the development process and, possibly valuable,
projects will go lost.
Seek Balance in the Portfolio
The portfolio should be balanced in a number of ways.
Cooper & Edget (2008) mention the division between
longterm and shortterm project, or low risk and high risk. It
even moves into the different product categories and target
markets; balance should always be maintained to spread the
risk.
This paragraph simply provides an insight, but due to the
broadening scope in possible categories (represented in the
reversed funnel model, fig 11.1) Hello will need to thread
carefully in the development process of the solutions. Each
project to the main strategy and vision of Hello Solutions.
11.7 Conclusion
Though these three concepts are not definite, they have
the opportunitity to be developed by Hello throughout the
growth of the Hello Solutions platform. The objective of these
three concepts is to stimulate Hello and PaperlinX to take
a new look at their clients, to look beyond the client’s basic
needs into the relationship between commercial printer and
print buyer. The commercial printing market is going through
a transition and Hello should use this chance to become part
of the solution.
The strategy discussed in chapters 9, 10 and 11 can be used
as a blue print and road map for Hello Solutions. Due to the
complexity of building towards a complete strategy, and the
implementation within Hello and PaperlinX, a number of
issues has been left out and will need to be further explored
by the company itself. The development and innovation of
concepts are two of these factors. These, among others, will be
briefly discussed in the recommendation chapter (see chapter
13).
85
 CH. 12

Evaluation
Through the progression of this project decisions were made and directions were chosen. The strategy
was the final combination of all these results. During the course of the project the progression and the
choices that were made, were discussed with Tan Brand Communication Consultants, TU Delft and
PaperlinX. For the evaluation of the complete strategy it was discussed with the department focused on
Hello Paper, at PaperlinX.

The project is appreciated by PaperlinX. The research and the
final strategy appealed to the management of Hello. Though
the project lead to numerous results, for this evaluation the
following three topics were deemed most interesting by the
author, based on the discussion with PaperlinX; innovation,
client focus and the strategy.
12.1 Innovation
The Operating Companies are a powerful stakeholder in
the Value Chain. Though Hello had initiated a number of
interesting services in the past, up until now Hello has always
been dependent on Operating Companies to deliver them.
For Hello’s, and the Operating Company’s, clients this made it
unclear what value Hello was specifically adding, if they were
not delivering it. In this divergence between paper brand and
operating company, the latter wins in power. Hello should
therefore develop innovations which are for the greater part
independent from the Operating Companies.
The operating companies have mostly focused on adding value
by reducing costs for the commercial printers. For a premium
paper brand the focus should be on adding value by improving
the position or revenue of the commercial printers. It was found
that Hello’s strengths lay in it’s high brand awareness across
Europe, and their image of consistent quality. Hello wants to
be the answer to the needs of their clients. This provides an
excellent platform for innovation, which should therefore be
driven by the needs of the clients.
These insights will demand a change within the approach of
PaperlinX, and Hello. The brand manager of Hello agreed to
the importance of this change, yet Innovation has never been
supported to these levels within PaperlinX. Innovation is
technology (e.g. Resource) driven. Yet, most of these resources
aren’t Hello’s; they are the Operating Company’s. Hello has
already started with the internal preparation of an integrated
new strategy for the brand. These results will provide them
with an insight in how to approach innovation under the
Hello brand.

86
12.2 Client Focus
Building on these insights the project focused on the needs
of the clients; the commercial printers and print buyers. The
print industry is suffering due to the commoditization of
the print product. Unable to properly adjust business to the
changes in the communication market their product started
to lose value. The offer is greater than the demand, and focus
moves towards price. Due to the current focus on technology
and price by the printers, they do not spot the possibilities.
The commercial printers are held back by their lack of
transparency in their business, their focus on technology and
their re-active approach. This vision was translated into a
number of opportunities for Hello.
The analysis of the print industry was highly appreciated by
PaperlinX. It was admitted that a number of the issues were
known, yet the reasoning behind it and the opportunities it
offers were never clarified or thought of. Previous innovations
usually evolved from practical issues offered by commercial
printers. This research provides Hello with a number of tacit
needs in the market, which show a lot of potential to them for
further exploration.
12.3 The Strategy
The opportunities spotted in the analysis of the printing
industry were translated into concepts; a number of
applications, services and integrated solutions of both.
Though a number of ideas showed promise, the difficulty
was found in the implementation under the current Hello
Brand. Though Hello is a strong, high quality, brand name
in paper, there was little base to promise quality in new
categories. The concepts stood too far from the current brand.
Accordingly a strategy was created to transform the current
Hello brand into a platform for growth; growth in variety
of categories. The strategy builds on one of the concept to
create a community under the Hello brand for the commercial
printers. By creating a communication platform, to support
and stimulate the growth of a community, Hello will have
the chance to create their own relationships with their clients
and therefore re-position its brand. Though the important
relationship with the Operating Companies will always be an
integral part of any venture Hello undertakes, it will no longer
make them fully dependent. Hello will accordingly have their
own platform, one which through proper development can
transform itself to a sales channel for services and applications
in the future.
The strategy was well received within PaperlinX. The overall
strategy fitted properly with the previous research, and
provides them with a roadmap to pursue growth within
the brand. It was appreciated that the strategy seemed
manageable; financial costs grows as the strategy evolves.
Their worries were with managing the relationships with the
operating company; they may be offended by this new service
coming from a paper brand. Yet, a proper strategy which starts
small and evolves in time could prevent this from becoming a
issue according to the brand manager of Hello.
The new strategy for Hello is currently under development within
the walls of PaperlinX and Tan. The communication platform is
taking shape and a new marketing manager has been appointed
to manage the platform. In January the first official steps will be
taken in Hello’s new direction, in which this project will have a
role to play.
87
 CH. 13

Recommendations
The strategy provided in this report deals with many of the most important issues. Due to the length of
this project, the author was unable to tackle all of the opportunities and challenges. In this final chapter
a number of recommendations is made on the further development of Hello’s new strategy.

13.1 Research shift in the company’s structure and mindset. Currently

It has been stated that Hello will be able to use their position
in the communication platform for research purposes. Both
qualitative research and quantitative research is possible. The
exact methods Hello will use have not been explored in this
project. PaperlinX’ and Hello currently have a market research
department in place. This department should be able to create
innovative methods to do research through the platform.
Currently a lot of research could be more easily done through
the communication platform, of which focus groups would
be an example. It should not be forgotten that not all research
can be done through the platform, it is also advised to perform
more in depth studies with the print buyers; which are not a
part of the communication platform.
13.2 Innovation
Researching the market is one thing, transforming this into
opportunities and product innovations is the next step. The
approach this project presents, would require a fundamental
Hello has already started with the implementation of the new
strategy and it would be advised to continue this innovative
trend. Hello needs to stay ahead of the competition.
Innovation will become a central role in this. This project
takes a new look at this market; working from the view of
the commercial printer and print buyers, instead of driven
by technology and existing resources. The concepts provided
in chapter 11 could for example be further developed. They
should be aimed completely at the (tacit) needs and wishes
of the commercial printers and their clients the print buyers.
Hello will need the advise and knowledge of partners within
this field. In the PaperlinX group Hello could for example
seek advice from UplinX. More interestingly would be to seek
help in specialized product and service innovation companies;
companies which have a user-focused approach.
Another great opportunity lies in cooperation with
universities. During this project a number of application
and service opportunities have been recognized, which

88
could be further explored and eventually designed.There
are possibilities to create interesting internships and design
projects out of this; for example with the Industrial Design
Faculty.
13.3 International
At the start of the project it was decided, in discussion with
the supervisors from Tan and the TU Delft, to leave the
international and cultural issues out of the scope during
the development. This would focus on the language barriers
between the different countries. In the past Hello has usually
started in a low number of countries, and through time
implemented it in new countries. In this industry the United
Kingdom and Germany are two of the most important
markets. For this platform Hello could start with English
and/or German, and accordingly spread to other languages. It
depends on the financial possibilities of Hello and how they
would like to implement the system themselves. The designed
services and applications could be more easily developed in
different languages.
13.4 The Platform
The first steps of the platform have been conceptually
designed. Accordingly, This has to be translated into a final
website. The success of the platform is dependent on a proper
execution of the design. It is advised to have it refined and
developed by a company with experience in the design of
communication platforms. An example would be the company
Communispace, yet there are also many (smaller) companies
in the market with expertise in this area. The design of
the usability, user friendliness and aim at the needs of the
commercial printers, can have a great effect in the success of
the platform.
13.5 Iterative Process
Entering this new field will come with a change in method.
The management of the communication platform demands
a constant iterative approach, lead by the platform’s manager.
An online platform allows for constant design; even platforms
like Facebook and Linkedin change their functionalities on a
weekly to almost daily basis. Though this strategy has been
well prepared, there are always chances that things will turn
out different. This should not be seen as a failure, but as an
opportunity to improve and change the functionalities of the
platform. The main goal should always be to keep the it alive,
and the only one who can keep it alive is Hello. Hello will
always need to offer a valid reason for commercial printers
to come to the communication platform, and this reason will
change throughout the existence of the platform.
89
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Interviews
Internal
Margreet Sloot, Category Manager, PaperlinX
Ralf de Jong, Price Benchmark Coordinator, PaperlinX
Roberto Cavicchia, Category Director, PaperlinX
John Tibbe, Market Intelligence Manager, PaperlinX
Ayolt Pruim, Manager Fine Paper at Proost & Brandt
George Knijnenburg, Regional Manager at BührmannUbbens
External
Peter Lagerweij, General Manager at commercial printer
Libertas
Robbert Bosch, General Manager at commercial printer Royal
Callenbach
Mart Dijkstra, Owner at commercial printer Dijkstra & De
Bresser
Els Teunissen, Graphic Designer at Elsewise
Vikas Sonak, R&D Communication Manager at DSM in
Delft
Employees of Tan Brand Communication Consultants
Inter views by Tan
Anthony Thirlby, Managing Director at commercial printer
ESP Colour
Barbara Kuhr, Head of Strategic Marketing at Epson Europe
Costin Mahalia, Client Service Director of Mediacom
Damiano Polcaro, head of design at Brandnation
Daniele Sala, Communications Manager of B & B Italia
Nicola Simioni, managing director at commercial
GRAFICHE SiZ S.p.A
Job Stuijt, Senior Communications Advisor of
Rijkswaterstaat
Lucas ten Brinke, Head of Sourcing for Reed Business
These interviews were executed by Tan Brand Communication
Consultants for Hello. A number of quotes was used in this report.

Websites
http://www.printingnews.com/
http://whattheythink.com/
http://www.printweek.com/
http://www.fespa.com/
http://www.printerslounge.com/
http://www.printplanet.com/
http://www.colorprintingforum.com/
http://www.graphicdesignforum.com/

93
 Epilogue
In general I am satisfied with the final result of this project.
It was my goal to work at a consultancy company, which
proved to be a great experience; a professional context I can
honestly see myself in the future. From the project itself it was
expected, even hoped, that it would be challenging process.
Afterwards it can honestly be said that those expectations
were accurate.
At the start of the project it felt like being dropped in
an ocean of information. My experiences in Business-to-
Business, commodity markets, the paper industry and the
printing industry were all limited. I soon found out that
Business-to-Business is a different ballgame. In consumer
markets I could more easily turn to my own experiences
as a customer or user. In this specific Business-to-Business
market basically each stakeholder is an expert, or at least
highly knowledgeable. To design a new strategy and service
concept(s) meant that I would have to aim towards becoming
an expert myself in these fields.
The assignment of the project was vaguely described at the
start of the project. It involved transforming Hello from a
product- to a service brand. At the start of the project Hello
had the idea of a customer intimacy platform as a starting
point. After the initial explorations it was decided to take
the initial assignment as the main goal: to provide a route
94
to transform Hello from a product brand towards a service
brand. This broad scope created many challenges. It took a
long time before I was able to get a firm grasp on the market,
constantly digging deeper and deeper. For future reference it
would be clever to sooner set my boundaries, and accept that
there are limits in every project. Different directions, issues,
ideas and plain old hunches were explored throughout the
project. Some were dead ends and are not discussed in this
report, while others finally lead to the creation of this strategy.
The project allowed me to dive into new creative areas, among
others, social media and service design. The potential of
social media as a tool in one’s strategy was very convincing. I
also explored service design, a constantly developing field of
which I was only able to touch the surface. A topic with an
interesting relation to brand development, which demands
further exploration and attention in the future.
Though it can not be expected that this graduation project
will be identically implemented, I am proud that my results
will reflect itself in the future plans of Hello. The Industrial
Design methodologies were of great use during this project;
the combination of creative thinking and a technological
background. It allowed me to have a new take in a
conservative market. The results of which Hello will hopefully
pursue in their strategy.
Nick Poldermans
One has to draw the line somewhere.
97