When Sun Chemical’s sales and marketing teams needed a paper piece to showcase the company’s printing inks and pigments, it found a solution on Sappi’s coated paper Opus—and reached a whole new audience in the process.
Sun Chemical had already developed a 48-page spiral bound Innovative Solutions Book full of haptic creative inspiration for printers and brand professionals. The book featured 24 printed sample pages utilizing Sun Chemical UV ink and coating special effects that help product packaging stand out on store shelves.
The book was highly effective and won a Gold Leaf Award from the Foil and Specialty Effects Association; however, Sun Chemical needed something else that was more flexible as a leave-behind for potential customers.
“We didn’t want them to pull a page out of our Innovation Book,” said Heather Buchholz, Sun Chemical marketing program manager. “We also wanted to open the discussion of our products further.”
The Sun Chemical team concepted and produced a condensed companion piece with 10 perforated tear off cards that highlighted examples of special effects possible with Sun Chemical products—a citrus scent wafting from a photo of an orange juice carton; a glitter coating to bring out the golden flecks of a sugary cereal on its product packaging; a soft touch coating to lend a sensory experience to an ad for leather boots.
The specialty card piece is smaller and more lightweight than the full Innovation Book, making it easier to take to meetings, print jobs or trade shows. Being able to tear off a page that features a specific effect allows Sun Chemical representatives to leave a relevant example in the hands of potential customers.
“When we’re talking about innovation or a special coating or something more abstract,” Buchholz said, “if we don’t have samples, it’s difficult to move that discussion forward.”
Working off the suggestion of its printer, Sun Chemical printed the foldable piece on Sappi’s Opus paper. With its unrivaled versatility and the traditional benefits of coated paper, Opus could deliver a consistent experience across multiple touchpoints.
As the team tracks leads through its CRM tool using a QR code on the back, it’s seen a new audience open up beyond the traditional scope of printers. The specialty cards have become a sales enablement tool for designers, brand managers and members of the supply chain.
“The audience has really widened as we’ve moved forward and opened up a bigger opportunity for us to highlight our offering,” Buchholz said. “Designers can look at these samples we’ve shared when they’re coming up with ideas. Did they know they could use rainbow glitter on something?”
They do now.
“They can see what’s possible to achieve,” she said. “Really a picture is worth a thousand words. Being able to touch, feel, interact with something really has helped us move forward. It turned out to be a win-win on all sides.”
