Soar Print - Blog

Make-A-Wish used personalisation to reactivate lapsed donors

Make-A-Wish New Zealand makes wishes come true for Kiwi kids who are battling serious illnesses, like leukaemia, rheumatic fever, brain injury and cystic fibrosis. The organisation relies on fundraising, grants and donations to deliver a much-needed burst happiness to up to 200 children every year.

Recently Make-A-Wish partnered with Soar Print to produce a booklet that was geographically personalised to every area of New Zealand. Potential donors who received the book could see how Make-A-Wish was making a difference to the lives of sick children in their local community.

Personalisation of the booklet resulted in 8% of recipients moving from the ‘lapsed or dormant’ donor category to ‘active’. This was significantly higher than expected and it means Make-A-Wish will have the funds to make more wishes come true next year.

Personalised print with Oce VarioPrint i300

The booklet was printed on Soar’s new Océ VarioPrint i300, a specialised digital press that can print and finish books and booklets in a single press pass. Paper goes in one end; a complete book comes out the other. For personalisation, database files are fed into the press. In a single run every output can have different text and image change outs.

“A bonus of printing with the Océ VarioPrint i300 was that we could geographically personalise our message and advertise key events to the right communities. This was significant progress for us. Making the message more unique and tailored has come with great results”, says Pam Elgar, CEO of Make-A-Wish New Zealand.

In addition to personalisation benefits, printing books, manuals and catalogues with the i300 comes with money-saving ‘print on demand’ benefits. Read more about no-waste book lifecycle printing.

For advice about how to leverage your database to create more meaningful and effective printed collateral, talk to Stuart Shepherd at Soar Print – 021 630 954 or stuarts@soarprint.co.nz

Neuroscience says hard copy print beats digital in many ways

A few years ago, everyone was predicting the demise of the print industry. The future was looking more and more digital. But recent neuroscience studies have shown that print communication often eclipses electronic.

What happens inside the human brain isn’t as mysterious as it once was. Now there are ways of seeing whether messages are getting through, which makes it possible to measure the effectiveness of print versus digital.

Here are some fascinating findings:

Hard copy DM requires 21% less cognitive effort to process than digital media, suggesting that it’s easier to understand and more memorable. In a study by Canada Post, when participants were asked to name the brand of an advertisement they had just seen, recall was 70% higher among those who were exposed to a hard copy direct mail piece (75%) versus a digital ad (44%).[1]

Paper communications affect the desire centres of the brain. Paper advertising activates the ventral striatum area of the brain more than digital media. The ventral striatum is known to be an indicator of desire and valuation.[2]

Physical material is more ‘real’ to the brain. Hard copy is better connected to memory because it engages with the brain’s spatial memory networks. Physical material involves more emotional processing, which is important for brand associations. And physical materials produce more brain responses connected with internal feelings, suggesting greater effectiveness of the ads.[3]

Brains process words differently when they’re on paper. There's a significant amount of research that suggests our brains process a book differently if we read it in paper format versus a small screen. A Norwegian study concluded that "students who read texts in print scored significantly better on the reading comprehension test than students who read the texts digitally.” [4]

B to B communications are better in print. Paper has been shown to be more effective for communicating detailed information. A B2B sales effort often involves important documentation to ensure the customer needs are met. Providing this information in paper format can increase the customer's comprehension and recall.[5]

Have you moved away from print for some of your most important communications? Maybe it’s time to swing back. While digital can be great for some communications, neuroscience says the tactile nature of print is more likely to engage your customer’s brain.

To discuss your print requirements, talk to our Customer Service team on (09) 302 9100

Read another article about print effectiveness.

[1] Study sponsored by Canada Post and performed by Canadian neuromarketing firm TrueImpact.

[2] Temple University Study

[3] Bangor University Study

[4] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0883035512001127

[5] https://www.forbes.com/sites/rogerdooley/2015/09/16/paper-vs-digital/#7786ea8c33c3

No-waste printing to match the lifecycle of your publication

As every publisher knows, the lifecycle of a book begins with a boom and ends with a splutter. To avoid obsolescence, which means waste to recyclers and wasted money, print runs need to match each stage of the book lifecycle.

Soar’s MD Fred Soar recently presented at the PrintHow symposium in Tokyo. His focus was using digital print, specifically automated book printing with the Oce i300, to accurately match publishing supply to demand. Fred used a tertiary education example to make his point:

“Tertiary education providers have an ongoing need to print prospectuses and course materials, typically near the start of each semester. While history can help them to predict print runs, fluctuations in student numbers often lead to print obsolescence. For a budget-conscious organisation, sending books to the paper recyclers equals money down the drain. Just as bad is not having enough books to meet student needs, which can negatively impact the university’s brand.”

Soar Print recently invested in an Océ VarioPrint i300, a fully-automated digital press for books and other multi-page outputs. With this press, you can literally press one button and have a fully-formed book come out the other end. For smaller runs (1 to 3000), the i300 is a cost-effective way to get a high quality result. For the PrintHow symposium, Fred used an infographic to explain how the i300 makes it easy to match print runs to the lifecycle of a publication.

“This diagram shows that 1750 copies of a book are required by students during its lifecycle. This was carefully managed by starting off with a run of 750 and setting dynamic minimum stock levels that drop down over time. Reprints were produced 150 at a time, then 100, then 50. It meant they had virtually no obsolescence with the publication. What’s more, the artwork files can be easily modified before each reprint to include new information. Every reprint can essentially become an updated edition.”

This type of digital-only print management model is ideal for publishers who know they will need up to 3000 books, but can’t predict demand with pinpoint accuracy. For publications that will sell more than 3000 initially, combining a primary offset run with subsequent digital runs can be an ideal strategy for avoiding obsolesence.

If you regularly print prospectuses, course guides or catalogues that have a limited lifespan, Soar can help you to master the art of accurate print lifecycle management. Our experts can also design a lifecycle model for other types of publications – everything from poetry and art books to travel guides and text books.

Email Stuart Shepherd about printing for books and booklets stuarts@soarprint.co.nz

From Cape Reinga to Bluff, we print for all of NZ

You don’t have to be based in Auckland or Hamilton to work with Soar or our sister company Fusion Print. We have happy clients up and down the country, including all of the provincial centres.

Richard Davy, senior print consultant at Soar, has become a dab hand at handling long-distance relationships.

“Looking after clients who aren’t in Auckland or Hamilton is straightforward. We have a call or video teleconference, then the details of the job are confirmed by email. Proofing is easy to manage by email too. It’s no more complicated that dealing with a printer who’s just around the corner.”

For corporate clients based in provincial cities and the other main centres – Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin and Tauranga – Soar’s sustainability credentials are a drawcard.

“As more organisations and businesses define their sustainability policies, finding a print supplier who can provide CarboNZero^(CertTM) printing is becoming increasingly important. Soar’s sustainability credentials are unequalled in the New Zealand printing sector, so we are often asked to pitch by corporate or government print procurement teams that aren’t based in Auckland.”

The range of print work completed for nationwide clients is broad – everything from short run large-format pieces to high-volume offset promo material. In some cases, multiple outputs are printed for a single campaign.

“One of our newest out-of-town clients was quite nervous about using an Auckland printer for a campaign they were running throughout the country. We essentially became the guinea pigs for a new approach. When it was all done and dusted, their feedback to us was overwhelmingly positive. For print quality and logistics, it was one of their best campaigns ever.”

Nationwide customers are welcome to contact Richard Davy or Brian Landry to discuss requirements and print costs. Soar can even assist with print storage, pick and pack, inventory management and nationwide logistics. Call Richard Davy on (09) 302 9106 or email Brian Landry brianl@soarprint.co.nz.

Read more about Soar’s sustainability credentials.

Prototype first, graphic design second. Always!

There’s a right way and a wrong way to design the functional aspects of a product pack. We strongly recommend the right way – prototype first!

Paper engineering is an unforgiving art. Get it right and your product pack looks fantastic on the shelf and feels like premium quality in the customer’s hand. Mess it up and you get a wonky pack that doesn’t do your product justice.

So how do you make sure your pack’s going to look a million dollars when it’s printed and assembled? Prototype first, graphic design second. It’s a strategy that ensures your design and print budget is spent wisely.

Pack prototyping should happen before graphic design

In our experience, very few graphic designers are expert paper engineers. So we recommend you work with us to get the foundation right before you brief your designer to develop pack graphics. If you want your designer to have conceptual input before we develop prototypes, that’s easy. We’re great collaborators.

Our prototyping and mock up service gets the underlying engineering sorted on the correct stock before graphic design titivation begins. We can print outputs one at a time and assemble a perfect sample pack that you can put to the test. Once we have perfected the prototype, the graphic design process can begin.

Direct mailers deserve a prototype too

Don’t you love direct mailers with cut outs, fancy folds and fiddly bits? We do. We especially love them when they work perfectly; folding and popping out exactly as planned.

With decades of printing, die-cutting and finishing experience behind us, we know the pitfalls of fancy DM pieces. One of the biggest is a huge price. If you have a great idea, talk to us before you get too far down the design path. We can make sure you achieve the result you want for the smallest print cost.

Need a pack or direct mail prototype? Talk to Brian Landry on (09) 302 9500 or email brianl@soarprint.co.nz

Find out more about pack printing.

Read a case study about prototyping.

Three containers, eight engineers, one almighty printer!

Things have been fizzing at Fusion Print, Soar’s sister company in Hamilton. Earlier this year, Fusion took delivery of three containers full of state-of-the-art digital print technology – the Océ VarioPrint i300…unassembled. Then it was simply a matter of putting it together.

Shortly after the containers arrived, eight engineers from Holland, Australia and New Zealand arrived at Fusion to begin the assembly and deployment process. The crates had to be carefully unpacked and every component checked before installation could begin. From end-to-end, the process took five weeks. Graeme Foote, general manager at Fusion, says it was fascinating to watch.

“We created a time-lapse video of the install and it’s compulsive viewing. Watching this monster digital press come to life was extraordinary over five weeks, but it’s even more amazing when you watch the whole process in four minutes!”

The end result is a printer that’s 16 metres long and 2.6 metres tall – longer than the average city bus and nearly as high. Already it’s pulling its weight at Fusion. The press was available for duty from March 22^nd and has completed several multi-page print jobs.

“Fred Soar and I first saw the i300 on a business trip to Holland last year. We were impressed by its ability to produce exceptionally high-quality digital print outputs – sheets go in one end, and a fully-finished brochure or book pops out the other end.

“At the time we agreed that if Océ could ensure our machine would produce that quality, we’d be happy. As it turns out, the quality we’re getting is even better than what we saw in Holland – our i300 is over-delivering!”

So what’s so special about this multi-million-dollar machine? Quite a lot! The Océ VarioPrint i300 is a next-generation sheet-fed digital press that revolutionises the printing of multi-page outputs.

You can literally press one button and have a fully-formed book come out the other end of the press.
Every output can be different, because the press accepts variable data. For example, you can print a personalised brochure or catalogue for a high-value customer, changing out text and images wherever you like.
For small runs (1 to 2000) it’s a cost-effective way to get a high quality result.
The i300 can fold and stitch (staple) a book in a way that creates a square spine up to 10mm wide – up to 180 pages plus a cover. Your get a perfect bound book, but without the high price that usually comes with perfect binding.

Talk to Graeme Foote about printing with the Océ VarioPrint i300 – call 027 2959224 or email graeme@fusionprint.co.nz

Watch the time lapse video of installation.

Calculating for carbon zero printing: how’s it done?

As more businesses and organisations recognise the value of shrinking their carbon footprint, the demand for carbon zero printing is increasing. At Soar, the job of calculating and offsetting carbon emissions connected to print jobs belongs to Jenny Carter.

French researchers studying Pacific coral reefs have warned that limits proposed in the Paris Agreement won't be enough to save them.

To establish the carbon emissions associated with a print job, Jenny uses a spreadsheet provided by Landcare Research, the crown organisation that manages the carbon footprint scheme known as carboNZero^(CertTM). Soar is the only printing company in New Zealand certified to offer carbon zero services and products under this scheme, which exceeds international standards and best practice for a carbon programme.

Jenny calculates the carbon inputs associated with paper, waste, finishing, transport and the electricity used by the printing technology. Once the carbon footprint of the print job is known, offsets can be purchased. Soar chooses to buy carbon offsets from New Zealand providers, such as forest regeneration schemes and windfarms. They cost more than some overseas schemes, but the benefits to New Zealand are greater.

“Digital printing usually comes with a smaller carbon footprint than conventional printing because it doesn’t require metal plates and there’s less paper waste during setup. And some digital presses are better than others. The revolutionary new press we’re about to launch for multi-page printing is more energy efficient than other digital presses, plus it lets you avoid wiro binding. When a booklet is wiro bound, it has a bigger carbon footprint that a stapled booklet”, says Jenny.

How to get the CarboNZero logo on your next print job

For any print job, Soar can offer CarboNZero ‘printing as a service’. It means the printed product’s carbon impact is measured and offset, with the exception of emissions associated with preparation of the artwork.

For simple print jobs where the artwork is created in-house at Soar Studio, Soar can offer CarboNZero ‘printing as a product’. It means the entire carbon impact of the printed product is measured and offset. This includes editorial emissions, which are the emissions generated by graphic design. Measuring the emissions associated with photography can be challenging, especially in the case of library photos, but not impossible.

According to NASA, the polar ice caps are melting at an alarming rate of 9% per decade.

Need evidence that reducing carbon is important?

In case you need proof that reducing carbon emissions is necessary, Soar’s newest calendar delivers a few sobering facts as well as some hopeful messages.

This calendar has been produced as a carboNZero certified service printed service in association with Enviro-Mark Solutions. Its carbon footprint is just under 1kg per calendar and these emissions have been offset with New Zealand carbon credits from schemes like the Hinewai Forest regeneration project.

The concept of this regeneration project is to increase the area of native forest on private land in New Zealand, while providing an income for landowners. This will reduce New Zealand's net greenhouse gas emissions, support native biodiversity, reduce soil erosion and improve catchment water quality.

The Te Apiti wind farm in Manawatu is a New Zealand carbon offset project.

If you’d like a copy of Soar’s new calendar, email reception@soarprint.co.nz

Read about Soar’s sustainability credentials.

Find out about a typical New Zealand carbon offset programme.

French researchers studying Pacific coral reefs have warned that limits proposed in the Paris Agreement won't be enough to save them.

New guide celebrates the best of NZ’s art publications

New Zealand’s art publications will finally be getting the recognition they deserve with the launch of Off The Press: The Art Book Directory. Artists and publishers from around the country are invited to submit their latest books, monographs and catalogues for the free guide, which will be available nationwide.

Helping shine a light on New Zealand’s arts community

With many art books in New Zealand being difficult to find and buy, the project will shine a light on these specialist titles – online and offline. The guide will curate over 50 recently published works and is a labour of love for Soar Print’s Stuart Shepherd.

“Most of the arts publications in New Zealand are printed in very short runs which makes it a challenge for people to find the publications created by our arts community,” said Stuart. “With only a few specialist booksellers remaining in this country, and little in the way of an online presence, there’s a real need for a guide like Off The Press to catalogue these works.”

Off The Press will be edited and designed by Katie Kerr, a graphic designer and co-founder of GLORIA and Strange Events.

“Arts publications tend to be carefully-crafted objects, and often experimental in both editorial and design,” said Katie. “Without a better platform for national exposure, there is a real possibility of this alternative realm of publishing disappearing in New Zealand. Through Off the Press, we hope to champion both the publishers and the books, showcasing a diverse body of thought relating to art, design, theory and practice – while also exhibiting the creative powers of New Zealand's specialist bookmakers.”

Ensuring arts publications can be found offline and online

Soar Print’s Partica digital publishing technology will be put to good use to create a free mobile edition for Off The Press. The guide will also have digital and print ISBN numbers, ensuring every publication included will be a full searchable database recorded offline and online.

Where you’ll find Off The Press

The first edition of the semi-annual publication will be launched at Artweek Auckland in October 2018. Copies will be distributed to selected independent booksellers, galleries, museums, tertiary education institutions and participating publishers and artists.

It also marks the first series of occasional publications, guides and directories by Soar Print in support of New Zealand’s arts community.

Keen to submit your arts publication?

Submissions are now being accepted for Off The Press: The Art Book Directory. Spaces are limited to recent and upcoming publications and will be accepted on the approval of the guide’s editorial team:

How Doc Edge sharpened up their printing spend

Soar’s holistic view of the print process has delivered some serious benefits for the organisers of the Doc Edge Festival, starting with making their marketing budget go (a lot) further.

Now in its 13th year, the Doc Edge Festival features more than 70 stunning films from around the globe, covering everything from pop culture to politics. Printed materials are key to promoting the events and driving ticket sales.

Soar is a long-standing sponsor of the festival and this year our team saw we could make an even bigger impact by assessing the entire process for their promotional collateral. The results of our review were reduced costs, improved efficiency, superb quality and greater reach to maximise ticket sales.

How Soar helped the Doc Edge Festival

Stuart Shepherd led our team in making some simple changes that made a big difference for Doc Edge. “It started with adjusting the size of one of the key printed materials – the programme – into a mini book. It saved cost and gives a far bigger impact.”

Mailouts are an essential part of the promo programme. This year, our team transformed the program distribution via a custom printed envelope that turned a labour-intensive process into a slick, automated mail-ready solution. What’s more, it achieved a discounted rate by meeting NZ Post’s stringent SOA standards. We’re also a familiar face at Bauer Media Group, making it easy to print and insert a leaflet into a number of their magazines.

Transforming a programme booklet into online ticket sales

Doc Edge’s 64-page programme is one of the key printed materials for the festival. Using Soar’s direct-to-mobile digital publishing platform, Partica, this once offline-only document is now also an online resource. It contains over 100 links for people to book their tickets on the spot using their mobile device.

Book your tickets for Doc Edge now

With tickets selling fast for the festival, don’t miss your chance to see some of the best local and international documentaries. Check out the range on offer (and try out Partica) using the online programme.

To learn more about Partica, Soar’s direct-to-mobile digital publishing platform, contact Stuart Shepherd on 021 630 954.

Why do we enter awards? It’s about benchmarking

Soar has been in the print business for nearly 100 years, so we know a bit about business survival. Through depressions, boom times and financial crises, one strategy has held us together – our commitment to print quality. Entering the Pride in Print Awards every year is how we make sure that commitment runs deep.

Benchmarking ourselves against the best printing companies in New Zealand takes nerves of steel; some years we do better than others. But even if our award haul is lighter that we’d like, we’ve never been tempted to give up the chase. As sports coach Vince Lombardi once said: “Winners never quit and quitters never win”.

This year has been a good one for us at the Pride in Print Awards. We’ve scored a total of six golds and 13 almost-golds (Highly Commended). We’re particularly happy to have gained two golds for our work with BLACK magazine, a global publication that lives at the sharpest end of fashion.

In fact, if you look at the list of golds below you’ll notice that we won three awards for publications, which is a growth area for Soar – especially now that we have New Zealand’s only Océ i300 VarioPrint automated book printing solution (more about that soon!).

Another highlight was the gold for Zealong tea labels, achieved by our digital-only offshoot Rocket Print. We didn’t print just one label for Zealong; we printed 12 variations – every one of them had to be perfect.

Gold awards

Client/Project	Category
BLACK magazine	Promotional Print
BLACK magazine	Publications
WMG Smart Move	Promotional Print
Bitter Fruit photography book	Publications
Leasing magazine	Publications
Zealong Tea labels (12 varieties)	Labels

Highly Commended

Client/Project	Category
Korda Mentha business cards	Business Print
University of Auckland donors annual report	Business Print
Phoenix Organic Energy	Labels
Paper Wrap	Promotional Print
SkyCity What’s On Guide (Z-Card & postcard)	Promotional Print
Huntley & Palmers food catalogue	Publications
Jo Malone Christmas catalogue	Publications
Dining with the Vikings 1	Specialty Products
Dining with the Vikings 2	Specialty Products
W-Freeman pad	Specialty Products
Chai Guy Chocolate flow-wrap	Packaging

Soar Managing Director Fred Soar wears the gold awarded to Rocket Print for Zealong Tea labels.

Soar Arts & Digital Media specialist Stuart Shepherd wears one of the two golds awarded for BLACK magazine.

Soar General Manager Brian Landry wears the gold awarded for WMG Smart Move.

Read more about Soar’s commitment to quality.

Free Techweek workshop about turning print into web apps

We’re running a Techweek workshop to show you how Realview's Partica seamlessly turns print PDFs into web content. You’ll also find out about the new syndication marketplace it makes possible.

The workshop will be introduced and moderated by Russell Brown, esteemed digital journalism innovator and founding board member of the Digital Media Trust. He’ll be supported by Realview CEO Richard Lindley and Soar’s own print-to-digital specialist, Stuart Shepherd. There are only 60 places available, so be quick!

Workshop: Partica: seamless print-to-web publishing and syndication

Where: The GridAKL, 12 Madden Street

When: Wednesday 23 May

Time: 2pm to 3pm

Register online now

More about Techweek

Introduction to the Partica workshop

Publishers are sitting on huge quantities of evergreen content – locked up in PDFs that have never been seen online. What if there was a simple, cost-effective way to find, extract, organise and monetise that content? There is. Welcome to Partica by Realview Technologies.

Partica's direct-to-mobile digital publishing platform instantly closes the gap between print and digital, transforming your PDFs into articles and delivering them to mobile, tablet, and desktop. Its unique AI-driven search and discovery engine finds, sorts and reports existing digital content from PDFs (or from a website, CMS or RSS feed).

Those capabilities underpin a new business platform: Partica Content Marketplace. Think of it as like a stock image library, only for articles. Partica Content Marketplace is a working syndication platform that brings together publishers, writers and customers in a world that's crying out for content.

TARGET AUDIENCE

People and businesses with new and legacy content to sell, plus businesses that need easy, effective and transparent access to high-quality content for digital publication.

Get a colour-perfect campaign, from wobblers to wall murals

Old-school print management thinking involved using a different printing supplier for every type of output, based on specialisations. The risk of colour reproduction differing widely across the campaign was high.

At Soar we don’t do old school. Because we have all the necessary print specialisations in-house, our customers can have every element of a campaign printed by us. The benefits are massive:

Superb colour-management. We use our world-class colour management system to ensure that every output – from pack labels and wobblers to trade presenters and recipe leaflets – looks like it belongs to your brand family. Technically speaking, that means we utilise the Heidelberg Prinect Image Control centre and PrinectColor Toolbox to meet ISO 12647-2 colour management standards.
Kitting and logistics. Once all your campaign elements have been printed, we can compile kits and dispatch them to any location in New Zealand. Material that isn’t required straight away can be stored at our print warehouse, which uses barcode technology for deadly-accurate pick and packing.
Cost benefits. When you choose Soar for every printed element of a campaign, you can expect some sharp pricing. Our cost-efficiency is backed by nearly 100 years of printing experience and we can offer a true print-on-demand service. In fact, because of our processes and systems, we can actually help you to reduce your print requirements. Read about print quotes with ‘secret sauce’.
Simplicity. You always know who to contact about your print work. There’s no thinking twice. Just call or email your Soar account manager.
Out of the ordinary. If your campaign includes an element that we can’t print in house, such as a customised pen or screen-printed tee shirt, we have a network of trusted partners on hand. In these situations, we handle everything, including ensuring their colour standards match ours. It’ll still feel like you only have one printer.

“The Soar team went above and beyond to deliver my short run, fast turnaround and quite tricky job - with great results, great feedback from my team and also a sharp price. I'd recommend giving Soar a go for any printing task and let them show off their skills.” John Alexander, Frucor

Is there a campaign on your horizon? Would you like to ensure a better-quality and less stressful result? Call Brian Landry on (09) 302 9500 or email brianl@soarprint.co.nz

Read more about printing for manufacturers.

Why did Techweek '18 want carbon neutral printing?

Soar is the only New Zealand company offering carboNZero^(CertTM) printed products, which is why Techweek chose us as their preferred printer. As a nationwide festival that’s all about innovation, Techweek recognises the growing importance of sustainable print practices.

Techweek started in 2012 as Tech Innovation Week. It’s evolved significantly since then and is now New Zealand’s leading celebration of new technologies. The purpose of Techweek is to nurture the growth of New Zealand’s technology and innovation sectors by providing a week-long nationwide calendar of events that encourage innovators to connect and cross-pollinate. This year events run from 19 to 27 May.

As official printer for Techweek, Soar produced sets of flyers, posters and information packs that were distributed throughout New Zealand. Every item printed was carbon neutral and the scope of work included compiling sets of materials for each location, then organising delivery.

“The theme for Techweek’18 is ‘innovation that’s good for the world’ and we really wanted to live and breathe that as an organisation. That meant we were actively searching for sustainable methods to tell New Zealanders about the festival programme for 2018”, says Courteney Peters, Marketing Manager for Techweek.

“Our carbon zero partnership with Soar Print was exactly what we wanted. It means we can get on with the job of telling people about New Zealand innovation success stories, safe in the knowledge that we’re also doing our bit to minimise the environmental impact of our collateral.”

What is carbon neutral printing?

Soar has environmental policies and accreditations that no other printer in New Zealand can match, including the ability to print certified carbon neutral printed products that live up to the PAS 2050[1] life-cycle standard.

Carbon neutral printing means that all greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the print production and the used materials (paper, energy, ink) are calculated and compensated for through carbon offset projects.

What happens at Techweek?

Techweek events come in all shapes and sizes. There are visits to research labs, IoT tours, art exhibitions, networking get-togethers, open days at tertiary education providers, ideation workshops, lectures, conferences and much, much more. There’s even a session called ‘Hogwarts of GIS and Web Mapping: Build your own Web Map’.

How can you get involved?

If your business is a get-ahead kind of enterprise, Techweek offers two valuable opportunities: You can attend events or you can exhibit at an event. Or both! Find out more about Techweek.Are you interested in switching to certified carbon neutral products to support your sustainability policies? Call Stuart Shepherd on 021 630 954 or email stuarts@soarprint.co.nz

7 print trends to amplify your communications in 2018

Surrounded as we are by printing presses, print artwork and print outputs, it’s easy to keep a finger on the pulse of the industry. Here’s a quick distillation of print trends for the year ahead. Caution: Reading these could seriously impact your marketing – in a good way!

Less offset, more digital

As digital printing presses get faster and cheaper to run, offset print volumes are falling. Digital print can be produced quickly, because set-up is fast and there’s no platemaking required. Time savings result in price reductions, making digital printing a cost-effective solution, even for biggish jobs. Better still, digital lets you print only what you need, preventing inventory obsolescence.

More print personalisation

You probably noticed the personalised Coca Cola ad campaign that ran a couple of years ago. It’s still going actually – you can go online and order personalised glass bottles of Coke. This kind of promotional gimmick is easier than ever with data-fed digital label presses – we have a couple of these at Soar.

Direct mail is becoming really meaningful

To make sure direct mail delivers results, marketers are creating more engaging and personalised campaigns. Printed pieces that change out names, chunks of text and images based on customer data can lift average response rates by 300%[1]. Talk to us about how it’s done.

Soft signage gets attention

Signs don’t have to be rigid. They can be printed on textile and fabric-based substrates. You can have branded banners, flags, tablecloths and point of purchase draperies. Our flat-bed large format printers can print on darn near anything.

Combining print with digital

Print and digital marketing don’t have to be enemies. They can collaborate to produce campaigns that work twice as hard. When you print a multi-page magazine, catalogue or brochure with Soar, you can ask us to turn it into a responsive phone app using Realview technology. We can even print QR codes that make app installation easier.

Extra texture at your fingertips

Studies have shown that haptic (touch) memory has a strong impact on the human brain. When we feel something, it reaches us on a deeper level. So if you choose a textured stock or add textured embellishment to a printed item, you’re helping your communication to work harder. Talk to us about embossing, debossing, raised ink and special stocks – it’s less costly that you think.

Matte rules over gloss

To be truly upmarket, glossy magazines need to become matte. Matte whispers luxury far louder than shiny. There are a few ways to achieve the perfect matte finish, including matte stock and matte over-gloss.

Need something printed? Check out our specialties.

Want a print quote right now? Call (09) 302 9100

[1] https://www.dpidirect.com/trends-in-printing-for-2018/

Soar Print's magazine guy: Stuart Shepherd

Our resident magazine expert is Stuart Shepherd, who knows fashion and arts publishing from cover to cover. He understands how paper weight and texture can influence sales and how careful use of embellishment (such as die-cutting or spot UV) can capture the attention of magazine buyers. Stuart can also help publishers carefully choose environmentally-accredited services from Soar Print, such as carboNZero^(CertTM), FSC and PEFC.

Stuart arrived at Soar Print in 2016, bringing with him a special focus on the arts, publishing and digital media. He has nearly 30 years’ experience in magazine and book publishing in New Zealand and internationally, as well as a wealth of knowledge in design arts marketing Stuart pioneered many specialist magazine and design book-related business ventures in New Zealand, including Propaganda Arts Distribution and Magazzino.

Talk short and long-run magazine printing with Stuart Shepherd on 021 630 954.

Soar wins Two Islands product label printing by digging deeper

When artisan food company Two Islands requested a quote for label printing from Soar, they got much more than a costing. Our label specialist Chris Agius went above and beyond to liaise with the product packing company and identify cost-saving alternatives.

Owned and operated by sisters – Julia and Libby Matthews - Two Islands produces a premium protein powder based on pea protein. It tastes great and is aimed at a niche market that wants a soy-free vegan protein source for smoothies. Demand for Two Islands’ protein is increasing daily, as the company’s social media campaigns spread through the health-conscious market.

On the lookout for a new label printer

Julia and Libby approached Soar about label printing after a less-than-perfect experience with another printer. While they knew a lot about producing premium lifestyle food products, their knowledge of label printing and application was light. This situation was soon remedied by Soar’s digital label specialist Chris Agius.

“Before we put a costing together for Two Islands, we consulted with the company doing their product filling and labelling. They confirmed the best sizes for the pack labels, as well as roll direction for the printing output”, says Chris.

Roll direction refers to how the label needs to be positioned on the roll for successful application. It’s not relevant for labels that are applied by hand, but it’s crucial for labels applied by machine.

Technically-correct colour-matched labels

“Doing this background work allowed us to present Two Islands with cost-saving alternative approaches to label printing, as well as technical assurance that Soar’s printed outputs would work perfectly for the pack filling company. We were also able to offer accurate colour matching to their brand palette, using our proven process for ensuring FOGRA 29 ISO colour consistency standards.”

Two Islands awarded the printing project to Soar and labels were swiftly printed on a synthetic substrate and finished with a matte laminate. The labelled pack looks every bit as premium as the protein powder within.

More about label printing.

Read a case study about label printing.

Triumphs, Twists and Tasty Treats – buy it now!

Storybooks for children in hospital, full of stories written by Kiwi kids and illustrated by famous New Zealanders – it’s a win, win, win! By purchasing a book for just $20, you can help to keep this fantastic reading programme going.

Soar Print has been involved with Barfoot & Thompson’s Magic of Reading programme for two years. Every year the scheme produces a hard-to-put-down book of fantastic original stories written by school kids from Auckland and Northland. The books sell for $20 and the proceeds go to the Starship Foundation, so that they can put a storybook into the hands of every child who stays overnight in Starship Hospital or Whangarei Hospital’s children’s ward.

Linked to the programme is the Barfoot & Thompson Young Authors Challenge, which provides the raw material for the book. Every year, primary and intermediate students from all over Auckland and Whangarei are given the opportunity to write a short story and submit it to a judging panel. The best stories are chosen for the next Magic of Reading storybook, turning the students into published authors.

Buy a Starship story book and encourage reading

The latest book in the Magic of Reading series is ‘Triumphs, Twists and Tasty Treats’, which includes a rollicking tale of how to get freshly-baked cookies out of Grenade Granny’s Holy Cookie Jar.

If there are keen young readers in your family, or you have grandchildren who like bedtime stories, this story and nine others will keep everyone giggling. The stories are humorously illustrated by Kiwi celebrities, including Keven Mealamu, artist Otis Frizzell and fashion designer Kiri Nathan. Buy the book online now.

10^th anniversary 'The Magic of Reading' compendium

2017 was the programme’s 10^th year, a grand occasion marked by the production of a linen-bound compendium of all the storybooks produced so far. Along with providing charity-rate printing for the latest book in the series, Soar printed and assembled the compendium case.

Find out more about printing for books and magazines.

See a case study about case bound book printing.

Contact Natalie Graham at Soar about book printing.

What smart people are doing for their skin this summer

More than 4000 New Zealanders are diagnosed with either melanoma in situ or invasive melanoma every year – that’s around 13 every day. Once it penetrates your skin by more than 2mm, it can quickly spread to other parts of your body.

New Zealand’s melanoma incidence rate is the world’s highest. We’ve pushed Australia off the top position. There are a few reasons for this. Firstly, we have higher levels of UV here; secondly, a lot of us are from northern European extraction, i.e. naturally pale people; thirdly, we love being outside. When all of these factors come together, it’s a perfect storm for melanoma.

Soar Print has been a supporter of Melanoma New Zealand for many years. Our managing director Fred used to be their chairperson and he’s still on the board. What’s more, a member of our team is currently battling melanoma. We’ve all got our fingers crossed for him.

We don’t want you to get melanoma, so here are our best tips for prevention. We’ve checked these with Melanoma New Zealand, so you can trust us on this.

1. Choose SPF 30 (or more) broad spectrum

There’s been some controversy about SPF ratings recently. Some products aren’t living up to their labels. Consumer New Zealand did some testing and came up with a guide to help you make good choices. They recommend broad spectrum, because that’s the only way to screen both UVA and UVB.

2. Use the teaspoon rule for application

You don’t want to be frugal with sunscreen. For proper protection, you need to use enough. Think in teaspoons. One teaspoon for your head and neck, one teaspoon for each limb, one teaspoon for your front and another for your back. All up, seven teaspoons of sunscreen will be required when you’re wearing your tiniest togs.

3. Check the expiry date on your sun products

Sunscreen loses its effectiveness with age, so check the expiry date on your products before you take them to the beach.

4. Take some shade to the beach

It’s hard to find an unoccupied pohutukawa tree during the height of summer, so pack sun umbrellas or set up a beach shelter. While you can’t avoid direct sun while you’re swimming, at other times you should gravitate to the shade.

5. Fake your tan

Being a bronzed god or goddess is easy these days. Fake it. There are some excellent moisturisers around now with a tanning component. They’re better than a real tan because they’re not likely to kill you. Never ever use a sun bed - it has the potential to increase your risk of melanoma by 75%!

6. Apply the Ugly Duckling rule to existing moles

The idea behind the Ugly Duckling rule is that you compare your moles with each other. If any mole stands out or looks different to other moles, it is an ugly duckling that should be checked by a doctor.

7. Visit Melanoma New Zealand’s site

In addition to sunscreen, hats, clothing and shade, Melanoma New Zealand’s prevention guide is a mighty weapon against skin cancer. Go there and read up.

Read about Soar’s other community sponsorships.

Visit Melanoma New Zealand’s website.

Read about Consumer’s sunscreen research.

Magazines for your hands and your smartphone

In the realm of magazine printing companies, Soar is really getting noticed. As well as traditional hard copies, our magazine printing services include the creation of smartphone-friendly digital editions.

BRITOMART magazine

With more than 21 issues published, Britomart is a magazine that’s much loved by its high-spending audience. Showcasing fashion, food and captivating local stories, it’s produced twice a year on behalf of the businesses that are based in the Britomart precinct of downtown Auckland. It’s printed on Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) paper and qualifies for Soar’s carboNZero^(CertTM) service.

In addition to printing copies, which are distributed and given away in the Britomart stores, Soar produces Britomart magazine as a digital mobile edition that’s distributed by text message.

BLACK magazine

Soar is proud to print BLACK, arguably New Zealand’s coolest magazine. Founded by Grant Fell and Rachael Churchward in 2006, this internationally-acclaimed fashion magazine is created by teams of contributors from New Zealand, Australia, New York, London and Paris. It’s published twice a year in hard copy and as a dynamic Realview smartphone app.

What is Realview?

Soar’s Realview service turns magazines and newsletters into mobile-friendly digital editions and smartphone screen apps. It means you can push your publication out to a wider audience and engage them online. It’s great for customer acquisition and to lift readership of your publication.

Our magazine guy

Are you interested in high-end or low cost magazine printing?

Talk to Stuart Shepherd on 021 630 954 or email stuarts@soarprint.co.nz

Proud to be the just-in-time print shop for My Food Bag

On so many levels, we’re proud to be the print company for My Food Bag. Recently they picked up another two gongs at the Westpac Business Awards in Central Auckland, including the Supreme Award.

The Soar team were cheering loudly when My Food Bag won the Excellence in Customer Service Delivery category at the Central Auckland Westpac Business Awards for 2017. And when they claimed the Supreme Business Excellence Award, we cheered even louder.

It was also great to see MOTAT (Museum of Transport & Technology) take out the Excellence in Marketing category, which was sponsored by us.

Why are business awards important?

We believe business awards are important for two reasons. First up, they give businesses proof of excellence, which helps with marketing. Secondly, they feed the competitive environment that drives business improvement. Of all the business excellence recognition programmes in New Zealand, the Westpac Business Awards carry the most weight.

We've been with MFB since the beginning

Our relationship with My Food Bag goes right back to the very first bags they ever produced. The labels, flyers and recipe cards we print every week are as fresh as the food ingredients inside every bag, because we provide ‘just in time’ printing services. Artwork is routinely received just one or two days before printing.

Here are the other amazing companies that won awards on the night:

Ricoh New Zealand, Employer of the Year
Crimson Education, Excellence in Innovation
Milk New Zealand, Excellence in International Trade
WOOP, Best Emerging Business
The Career Academy, Excellence in Strategy and Planning

Find out more about label printing or brochure printing.

Printing the Great Wall of Emirates

Auckland Airport is an ever-growing facility, fuelled by NZ’s consistent ranking in Lonely Planet’s Top 10 Countries list. While builders are busy behind the scenes, temporary walls provide a barrier between the construction action and passengers.

The Emirates Lounge at Auckland International Airport is the latest space to go into expansion mode. As with most airport facilities, it has to go through the rebuild process while still presenting a calm, on-brand face to lounge guests. To this end, Emirates called Soar Print. Large format digital printing expert Richard Davy explains:

“Emirates needed to cover their temporary construction wall with on-brand imagery, so that their lounge would still look good during the rebuild. However time was not on their side – we had a super-tight deadline, which was complicated by the fact that our people had to go through airport security, just like departing passengers, every time they went to the site!”

The ‘Great Wall of Emirates’, which is 27 metres long and 3 metres high, is wallpapered with a laminated vinyl photo mural printed at Soar’s plant in New North Road. The process included application of a matte laminate, to ensure the finished result looks sleek and sophisticated.

“After measuring up with the architect, we had four days to print and install the mural. But before we could start printing, the artwork files had to be approved and sent to us by Emirates head office in the UAE. It was a nail biter.”

While Soar’s large format digital presses can print widths of 1600mm and 2500mm, and lengths that are limited only by the substrate roll, the mural was produced in sections that could be easily handled. Installations of this size can be tricky because each piece has to be carefully applied without stretch to ensure accurate image match up.

Read another story about large format printing.

If you have a photo-mural project, temporary or permanent, talk to Richard Davy at Soar Print on (09) 302 9106.

Bringing Gisborne's Electric Village to life

If you’re in Gisborne this summer, plug into the Electric Village. It’s a community hub for information about solar power and other emerging energy technologies. Printing for the exhibits was handled by Soar.

For this public display project, situated in a historic building near the harbour, Soar’s large format digital specialist Richard Davy had to pull a rabbit out of a hat. Actually, several rabbits. He had only three weeks to manufacture all the exhibits, followed by just three and a half days for installation.

“Rees Morley of Morley Design Group did the design for the fit out, then we pulled out all the stops to make it happen. It was a high-pressure situation, because the deadline was so tight, but we got there.”

Conceived by the Eastland Group, the Electric Village is a ‘one-stop-shop’ for energy ideas and advice. Its interactive exhibits present important information about the past, present and future of energy technology. Electric bikes and vehicles are a highlight of the exhibition, because Gisborne has a historical connection to New Zealand’s first electric vehicle.

Way back in 1909, Gisborne mayor William Douglas Lysnar travelled to the USA to meet Thomas Edison, inventor of the world’s first commercial electric light bulb and a range of ground-breaking electric vehicles. Convinced that electric vehicles were the way of the future, Mr Lysnar brought an electric car back to Gisborne as a present for his wife.

At the official opening of the Electric Village, guests were thoroughly wowed by the exhibits. It’s hoped the village will inspire greater uptake of sustainable transport options by Gisborne’s residents.

“The exhibits look amazing and we’ve had such positive feedback already”, said Alice Pettigrew of the Eastland Group.

Soar was a natural fit for this project, because we have achieved more sustainability accreditations than any other printer in New Zealand.

Six print tips to take the silly out of the season

WIN! $200 Christmas Hamper

Order Christmas-related print before 5pm Wednesday 6 December and you'll go into the draw to win a hamper of Christmas goodies to the value of $200.

The Christmas holiday countdown has started and you probably have a list of printing tasks to get sorted before the end of the year. We’re here to help you through the silly season with some seriously good print tips.

Get your ‘tinsel’ jobs underway now

Do you want to send a branded Christmas card to clients? Or maybe you’re thinking of a Christmas-related print giveaway, such as peel-off gift tags, sheets of gift wrap or an advent calendar? The sooner you see us about these tasks, the better you’ll feel. If you need ideas and artwork before you can go to print, Soar Studio is at your service.

Brighten up your foyer for the New Year

LFD (large format digital) print is our latest specialty. We can print branded vinyl wallpaper to give your reception area, meeting rooms and offices an eye-catching point of difference. It hangs like wallpaper and can be anything you want it to be, from your company name and philosophy to a verdant rainforest or sunny beach scene.

Give your brand a boost with printed vehicle wraps

Vehicle wraps have become the best-practice way to brand your vehicle fleet. Not only can you cover an entire vehicle easily with show-stopping graphics, but the paintwork beneath gets a layer of protection.

Put an inspiring printed desk pad in front of your people

When everyone arrives back at work after the summer holidays, get them off to a great start with a desk planner pad that encourages productivity. By this we mean more than a calendar with space for notes. For example, you can have areas for ‘today’s top 5 priorities, ‘my ideas for saving time’, ‘this week’s goal’, ‘doodle space’, ‘why I’m wonderful’, ‘what I can do better’ and ‘quote of the day’. Have a think-tank with your creative agency, then get us to print the result.

Get your health and safety signage sorted

Safety signage in the workplace is mandatory, but running something off on the copier isn’t going to do it. To ensure compliance with Health and Safety NZ requirements, you need properly designed permanent multi-message signs. We can help with that.

Check your stationery inventory, then order now

Leading up to Christmas, things get pretty busy in our print shop. We’ll always do our best to pull a rabbit out of the hat for you, but pre-planning is the only way to be sure you’ll have stationery supplies stocked up for the New Year. To make this super simple, consider moving to online print ordering. Our customer service team can tell you all about it.

See all the things we can print.

For pre-Christmas and New Year printing, call Soar’s customer service team now on (09) 302 9100.

Soar Print named a finalist at NZ Innovation Awards

At Soar Print, we are always focused on offering our clients top-quality printing. Our commitment to continuous innovation is matched by exceptional customer service.

We are thrilled to have our efforts recognised with the announcement of our place as a finalist in the 2017 New Zealand Innovation Awards.

Our category of ‘Innovation in Systems & Performance Improvement’ sees us being in great company, with the likes of Fonterra Co-operative Group.

As Soar director Jenny Carter says, “Our entry, ‘100 years of evolution through innovation’, looks at how we have adapted and evolved into a thriving business in a sunset industry, through innovation around lean manufacturing, new technologies, efficient work practices and becoming an industry leader in sustainability.”

Being named a New Zealand Innovation Awards finalist is the latest in a long list of honours for Soar Print – including our recent win at the inaugural Enviro-Mark Solutions Awards.

The New Zealand Innovation Award winners will be announced at a ceremony on 19 October. We’re counting down the days!

Learn more about our awards for printing excellence.

Congratulations to the team at Green Meadows Beef!

Green Meadows Beef have just been announced as finalists at the NZ Food Awards in the Artisan Producer category. One of the sections of the judging was packaging. That's where the team at Soar Print worked their magic.

Under one roof, Soar can turn a packaging concept into printed reality. And, as Green Meadows Beef found out recently, we love a challenge.

Nick Carey of Green Meadows Beef came to us with a packaging problem. He needed a moisture-resistant cardboard outer for beef patties that would stand up and display itself nicely in the supermarket meat chiller.

“Our designer came up with a great packaging option, but it needed finessing to become a reality”, said Nick.

Always keen to embrace a puzzle, Soar’s packaging experts roped in their ‘knife guy’ to see what could be done. After various experiments and a couple of prototypes, they identified a cost-effective solution that did what it was supposed to do.

“We’re used to printing sleeves for chiller products, but this package required a foot as well, so that it stands up. By adjusting the design to make the outer lock together properly, we were able to make the package concept work. Plus we were able to avoid hand gluing, to make assembly faster”, said Brian Landry, who headed up the Soar team for this project.

The product, which is a beetroot and beef burger pattie made to a recipe devised by Michael Van de Elzen, is available in selected supermarkets and gourmet food stores. It’s the first of a whole range of artisan beef products, released with Van de Elzen’s ‘good from scratch’ quality mark.

Nick Carey is delighted with the result. “The team at Soar took our design concept apart and found a way to make it cost-effective and easy to assemble. Plus it still had the look and feel of the original concept.”

Learn more about Soar Print's packaging and labels expertise

Soar Print wins at inaugural Enviro-Mark Solutions awards

The first-ever Enviro-Mark Solutions awards were announced last week and Soar Print was a category winner in the ‘medium organisation’ division. We’re thrilled to receive this recognition and hope it will inspire other businesses to reduce their carbon emissions.

Soar directors Jenny Carter and Vicky Soar attended the awards, which focus on the environmental achievements of Enviro-mark members

“It was great news to hear that we were up for an award. To be eligible in our category, you had to have reduced your carbon emissions by more than 20% and been in the programme for a particular length of time. Enviro-Mark set the standard, so this is a significant achievement for Soar Print”, says Jenny.

In total, award winners achieved a net reduction of 10,385 tonnes of carbon over the past year – that’s the equivalent of driving from Cape Reinga to Bluff more than 20,000 times, flying from Auckland to London more than 1300 times or burning 5000 tonnes of coal.

Proud to be a carbon neutral New Zealand print company

Soar Print has been part of Enviro-Mark Solutions’ carboNZero^(CertTM) since 2009. When we embarked on our carbon neutral journey, our reported organisational greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions were 396 tonnes. We set a goal to reduce them by 15% within six years. In 2015 our GHG emissions were 256 tonnes - a reduction of 35%, and last year our estimated emissions were 167 tonnes - another reduction of 35%. This was helped along by our move to Ecotricity, New Zealand’s only carboNZero certified, 100% renewable electricity provider.

Soar was the first corporate printing company to achieve CarboNZero certification for company operations. We are also the only printer in NZ to offer carboNZero certification for printed products and print services.

In our category at the awards, the overall winner was one of our clients – Auckland Museum. Professor David Gaimster, current director of the museum, says sustainability is a core objective for the organisation’s 20-year strategy.

“We set ambitious sustainability goals back in 2010 and were proud to have reduced our carbon emissions by 50% just three years later. Becoming more efficient and by using renewable energy, via our solar panels on the roof, nearly 1000 tonnes of carbon emissions are no longer entering the atmosphere. It also means every dollar not spent on energy usage can be spent connecting our collections and programmes with our visitors, onsite, offsite and online.”

Outstanding Performance in Carbon Management, Medium Organisation

Overall winner

· Auckland War Memorial Museum

Other category winners

· Soar Printing Company Limited

· Emirates One&Only Wolgan Valley Australia

· Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA)

· Holmes Consulting Group Limited

· Waitaki Biosciences

Find out more about Soar Print’s sustainability achievements.

Red foiled art catalogue wins gold award for Soar Arts

‘Welcome to my world: The Art of Sam Taare’ was produced for graphic artist Martin Page, in conjunction with Gus Fisher Gallery. It was printed with Soar’s iGen digital press on Supreme Whiteback single-sided art board. The cover featured red metallic foiling. This catalogue won Gold at this year’s Pride in Print awards.

If you’re involved in an arts-related business or organisation, you’ll know that organising print and digital promotional material is a big task that eats time as well as money. But now there’s an easier way.

Soar Arts is transforming print wrangling in the arts sector. It’s an advisory, design and print management service for galleries, arts events, theatres, performance groups and every other kind of enterprise operating in the arts sphere.

Specialised printing expertise for the creative sector

Stuart Shepherd is the main man behind the service. Before starting up Soar Arts, which is a subsidiary of Soar Print, he was a book publisher and distributor of arts publications in New Zealand and overseas. His expertise with arts-related promotions and publications is proving invaluable to Soar Arts’ clients.

Recently Stuart has been working with two major art events – the New Zealand Outsider Art Fair and Open Studios Waitakere. Both events rely on gaining awareness within the arts-loving public, as well as providing event-goers with instant information about what to see and where.

Renee Tanner of Open Studios Waitakere says that Soar Arts has made a real difference to this year’s event.

“Stuart understood what I was hoping to achieve with the event and was able to apply his knowledge of print to help us with key decisions. I didn’t have to learn all about print promotion and production, because he was there to advise me. One of our publicity pieces is a pocket-sized brochure, and it’s working really well. I’m seeing it everywhere and our brand looks great. Now that I’ve discovered Soar Arts, I wouldn’t go elsewhere for print services.”

Making art look good in print

For the New Zealand Outsider Art Fair marketing collateral, which included a flipbook that works on mobile phones, Stuart worked closely with Erwin van Asbeck, managing director of Toi Ora Live Art Trust.

“Working with Soar Arts has certainly made the task of promoting our art fair easier and less stressful. With a 10-day programme across 35 venues, getting the promotional material together was a major task. Working with Stuart helped us to get it right across a whole range of material – catalogue, posters, postcards and tee shirts. A real benefit was being able to give our patrons a digital version of the catalogue, which they can read easily on their phone.”

As an adjunct to promotional material for the art fair, Soar Arts printed a catalogue featuring the work of the late Sam Taare, an East Coast artist. Designed by acclaimed graphic artist Martin Page and printed on Soar’s iGen digital press, this publication is titled ‘Welcome to my world: the art of Sam Taare’. Taare’s family travelled from East Cape to perform and sing at the opening of the art fair.

Every kind of printing for arts-related endeavours

The Soar Arts service covers newsletters and mailers, publishing services (including production of mobile-friendly flipbooks), posters, postcards and brochures. And because Soar Arts is linked to Soar Print, there’s easy access to graphic design services, warehouse storage, logistics and mail-house services. Pricing is pleasingly sharp, so that promotional budgets go further.

For more information about Soar Arts, email Stuart Shepherd stuarts@soarprint.co.nz

Find out more about Soar Arts, a print service for the creative sector.

RNZYS programme is helping NZ’s sailing talent to Soar

Soar Print is a keen supporter of New Zealand sporting success, which is why we sponsor the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron Youth Training Programme. One of the boats in the training fleet wears our logo and is known by its sailing team as ‘the Soar Print boat’.

The RNZYS Youth Training Programme is an 11-month course that helps promising sailors to excel on and off the water. It’s open to young men and women ages 15 to 23 and training is usually held in the weekends. The programme utilises the squadron’s fleet of Elliot 7-metre keelboats, which are ideal for youth development.

Celia Willison is into her third year of sailing with the programme. Previously a dinghy sailor with the Wakatere Boating Club (Narrow Neck Beach), she loves the experience.

“My crew of four sail the Soar boat and I’m on the helm. The programme has given me so many different kinds of sailing experiences that you just don’t get with dinghies. My sailing skills are improving all the time and I particularly enjoy the match racing.”

Recently two new coaches joined the Youth Training Programme – Reuben Corbett is the new training manager and Greg Dair is assistant coach. Reuben is a graduate of the programme who progressed to competing on the world match racing circuit with many successes in Europe and around the globe. Greg was born in Los Angeles and moved to New Zealand four years ago. He has been around sailing his whole life and recently worked as the director of the Santa Barbara Youth Sailing Programme.

The RNZYS also runs a performance programme with foiling catamarans, which is a pathway for top young sailors to develop skills required to compete at an international level.

Find out about applying for the RNZYS Youth Training Programme.

See other Soar Print sponsorships.

Gold award recognises Soar’s commitment to craft & pride

This year’s Pride in Print awards delivered a big surprise for Soar and Rocket.

In addition to receiving gold awards for printing, the Soar Print Group was named Training Company of the Year. What’s more, Rocket’s apprentice Ryan Fraser was a finalist in Apprentice of the Year and Chris Agius, GM of Rocket, was a finalist in Trainer of the Year.

For us, the 2017 print awards were all about the ongoing investment we make in keeping our people sharp. ‘Craft & Pride’ is one of our core values, so this is an important validation.

The Training Company of the Year award has only been around for a few years, and usually it goes to a company far larger than us. From what we know, the judges were impressed by:

Our commitment to lean manufacturing, which includes continuously upskilling our people at all levels of the company.
The Integrity Coaching programme we’re running, which involves supervisors, managers and leaders coaching individuals. Goal setting and communication skills are a particular focus for this programme.
Soar’s ‘train the trainer’ programme, which ensures supervisors and managers know how to educate the next generation of printers.

Of the other accolades we picked up, we’re particularly proud of the gold award for Valspar’s labels. This was one of only five awards given in the labels category.

If you’d like to pick our brains about training, feel free to drop me a line.

Need something printed? Visit our website, then talk to us about award-winning print.

Proud to be My Food Bag’s print partner of choice

We were there when Bill ‘Beef Wellington’ English cut the pasta ribbon that marked the beginning of My Food Bag’s next stage of development, and the company’s CEO Cecilia ‘Chilli’ Robinson personally thanked Soar account manager Andrew ‘Artichoke’ Light.

Soar’s team with Nadia Lim at the official opening of My Food Bag’s new premises.

Soar have been working with My Food Bag from the start of the company’s outrageous rise to fame. The recipe cards we print for them are as fresh as the food ingredients inside every bag.

“My Food Bag recipes are based on fresh seasonal produce and free-range meats, so they can’t plan a long way ahead. This means they need just-in time printing every week”, says Andrew Light, who manages the relationship between My Food Bag and Soar.

Just-in-time printing for just-in-time food bags

Recipe card artwork is received by Soar’s digital print team on a Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning. It’s then printed, collated, hole-punched, matched with relevant spice sachets, kitted, sealed and delivered on Thursday, all ready for insertion into food bags. The cards are printed on Soar’s state-of-the-art HP Indigo 7800 and Xerox iGen150 digital presses. To complement this activity, we also print small runs of recipe books, leaflets, packaging and supply chain labels for My Food Bag.

Since My Food Bag launched in 2013 their audience has grown to more than 50,000 customers – more than one million meals every month. At first there was a choice of two types of food bag; today customers can choose between 10 different bags, as well as lunch and fruit boxes. The latest bags to join the menu are the Fresh Start options, which are calorie-controlled to assist weight loss.

Digital printing that looks delicious

“Keeping up with My Food Bag’s incredible growth means we have to stay on our toes”, says Andrew. “We pull out all the stops to ensure their printed material is every bit as delicious as their recipes.”

The next era for My Food Bag will involve listing on the New Zealand sharemarket. The company recently moved into new premises in Parnell, where Nadia ‘Lemongrass’ Lim and her development team have an entire floor devoted to coming up with new recipes.

Read the Stuff story about My Food Bag’s new premises.

Read about Soar’s label printing services.

Discuss just-in-time-printing with Andrew Light.

Turn print into a mobile website. Free trial available now!

Soar’s new digital media service lets your print artwork do double duty. A beautiful brochure can become mobile-friendly screen app. A catalogue, newsletter or magazine can transform seamlessly into a responsive viewing experience on mobile, tablet and desktop.

Soar Print is the New Zealand service provider for Realview Technologies. With our help, your printed publications become responsive web content, making it easier to create campaigns that integrate traditional media with digital channels. We do this by converting your PDF files into interactive, mobile-friendly HTML5 web apps, e-books, e-catalogues and e-mags. Prices start at around $150, depending on what you need.

What is print-to-digital good for?

E-books: Capture information for customers in a user-friendly mobile format that can be downloaded from your website, then use blogs and social media to drive traffic to your e-book.
Tourism: You can convert travel guides and brochures from PDF to HTML5, so that travellers can view them easily on mobile devices.
Manufacturing: Turn catalogues and brochures into interactive flipbooks or mobile web apps that can be sent to customers by email or text message.
Education: Prospectuses, orientation guides and learning resources can become device-friendly apps for current and prospective students.
Magazines: Your mag can become an interactive flipbook or mobile web app. You can also use Realview to archive your magazines online.
Fashion collections: Every season you can send customers a new online publication to browse, with click throughs to your online store.
Events: Turn your hard copy programme into a user-friendly web app.
Recipe collections: Hardcopy recipes can become a flipbook, for cooks who like to use a tablet instead of a regular cookbook.

Want to talk digital media and see an app in action?

Any PDF can be published to mobile with Soar's new digital media service. To see some of the projects we’ve already completed, call Stuart Shepherd on 021630954 or email stuarts@soarprint.co.nz

Find out about our FREE TRIAL OFFER.

Why people can’t stop fiddling with a Z-CARD®

Soar recently became the official printer for Z-CARD PocketMedia® solutions. These nifty, interactive folded creations are great for business cards, maps, event programmes, guides and catalogues. People can’t stop fiddling with them, which is why they should be on your marketing horizon.

The printed phenomenon known as Z-CARD® is a card-size multi-fold communication invented by travel consultant George McDonald in 1992. Printed on a single piece of paper, it has a glued-on card cover and back.

If you want customers to keep your printed material – whether it’s a catalogue, event programme or map – a Z-CARD is the ace up your sleeve. People love the format because it’s intriguing to use and fits easily into a pocket.

Since our Z-CARD relationship kicked off, we’ve printed them for the University of Auckland, Lexus, Yealands, Toyota, University of Waikato, Fonterra, ACC and the World Master's Games 2017.

5 ways a Z-CARD works harder

People love them! When surveyed, 87% of respondents prefer a Z-CARD format to a regular leaflet
More than 93% said they would keep a Z-CARD that contains relevant information
65% of recipients keep their Z-CARD for six months or longer
Compared to traditional leaflets, 22% more Z-CARD recipients recall who produced the piece.
People with a Z-CARD are twice as likely to keep it ‘on person’ than a traditional leaflet

Want the ultimate business card?

If someone handed you a business card that was a Z-CARD, chances are you’d keep it for a long time. Not just because it’s a unique way of presenting contact information, but because the pages contain all sorts of useful stuff – a CV, business presentation or company profile.

Z-CARD: The Original

The original way to condense information into a retainable and highly portable format. Great for catalogues, maps and guides.

C-CARD: The single concertina

A great low-cost option for conveying smaller amounts of information. Great as a business card, internal communications piece or health & safety guide.

K-CARD: The Coupon King

An ideal format for delivering promotional coupons or vouchers. It incorporates a response mechanism, involving tear-off panels.

When you need a piece of print that punches above its weight, discuss Z-CARD with Stuart Thompson on 021 522 427 or email stuart@zcard.co.nz

Visit the Z-CARD website.

See the Z-CARD NZ Facebook page.

Australian companies enjoy the simplicity of printing in NZ

For Australian companies with branches or business interests in New Zealand, it’s much easier and quicker to get their NZ printing sorted with Soar. We’re getting an increasing amount of work from the other side of the ditch.

Printing in Australia and air freighting boxes of completed printwork to New Zealand is the expensive, time-consuming way to take care of Kiwi marketing material. A much quicker approach is to email the artwork to Soar, then get us to take care of printing and logistics.

Recently several Australian companies have made Soar their New Zealand printing company.

“We’ve been getting work from Trans-Tasman multi nationals who need brochures for their New Zealand businesses. We’ve also been taking orders from Australian printers who need a faster print service into the local Auckland market. They find us with a Google search, then drop us an email or pick up the phone”, says Peter Lloyd, Soar’s Sales & Marketing Manager.

The Australian customers are keen to make sure material printed in New Zealand matches their brand colours exactly, so they’re always pleased to discover that Soar Print is ISO 12647-2 colour management certified. In fact, we’re the only sheet-fed printer in New Zealand to hold this internationally-recognised certification, which provides surety of colour quality standards.

“Whether the job requires digital or offset printing, we can match brand colours exactly. Soar uses the Heidelberg Prinect Image Control centre and the PrinectColor Toolbox to achieve and maintain FOGRA 29 ISO standards for colour consistency”, says Peter.

Soar also has warehousing and inventory management services available, for print supplies that aren’t required immediately. Wireless barcode technology ensures that ‘pick and pack’ requests are handled efficiently. More about Soar’s print warehousing and logistics.

Are you an Australian company looking for a New Zealand printer? Email Peter Lloyd at Soar peter@soarprint.co.nz

Worried about H & S liability? Get a multi-message board!

Safety signage in the workplace is mandatory, but running something off on the copier isn’t going to do it. To ensure compliance with Health & Safety NZ requirements, you need properly designed permanent signs. We can help with that.

Following the Pike River mine incident in 2010, the Health and Safety in Employment Act has had a major overhaul and update. The updated Act, which came into effect in April 2016, aims to reduce New Zealand’s workplace injury and death rate by 25% before 2020.

The Act focuses on controllable factors, based on business risk and size. It’s not just about hazard spotting, it’s about reasonable actions that reduce workplace harm.

This means you need effective health and safety signs in and around your workplace. Your employees and visitors have to be made aware of risks, and nothing does that better than large format multi-message boards, also known as hazard board signs.

What’s a multi-message board?

Positioned near entrances and in communal areas, including visitor reception, multi-message boards let people know about all the major hazards on your site. We produce them on our large format latex press, which has light-fast ink to ensure messaging won’t fade. Safety signage can be printed onto vinyl or directly onto a rigid substrate, such as aluminium composite.

We can go a step further and arrange artwork for your multi-message board with our in-house design resource Soar Studio. Your company branding can be part of the design.

When it comes to H & S compliance, message boards aren’t the only thing we can help you with. We also print:

Wayfinding signage and directory boards. Help people to find their way safely around your site, so they’ll be less likely to end up in hazardous areas.

Large format posters. Wherever your people gather, you have a chance to make them aware of health and safety requirements. Posters are great for this task. They can be put up in lunch rooms, open plan areas and hallways.

Manuals. Capture all the risks, policies and procedures in an easy-to-update loose-leaf manual. You’ll need copies for every employee.

Training materials. You need to educate your people about safe practices. Fact sheets and work sheets can make training more effective.

Hazard stickers. Bright warning stickers to alert people about dangers in the workplace.

For advice about H & S print requirements, email Peter Lloyd at Soar peter@soarprint.co.nz

Read another blog about large format printing.

Soar prints giant wall stickers for Babich’s 100th birthday

For their 100^th birthday celebrations, Babich commissioned Soar to print two historic images onto large-format self-adhesive vinyl. Hung like wallpaper in their cellar door sales area, the result is nothing short of spectacular.

The old photographs, which come from the Babich archive, were given special treatment by Soar Studio to ensure definition was retained as much as possible during the enlargement process. Test images were printed for approval before the large format printing press went into action.

“The images were very old and quite small, so there was a certain amount of pixilation when they were enlarged, however our pre-production team were able to ensure a great result”, says Richard Davy, Soar account manager.

The vinyl stock used for the job is self-adhesive, so the Soar team were effectively printing giant stickers. The stock also has an inbuilt ‘crushed stone’ special effect, which contributes to the heritage look that Babich were after.

Brian Landry, Soar’s GM, explains how the job was printed.

“We used our HP large format latex press, which prints with lightfast latex ink that looks good for years. This press can produce outputs up to 1500mm wide and any length you want. It even produces vehicle wraps. For the Babich job, the horse image was printed in one piece. The other image was printed in two strips.”

As well as handling pre-production and printing, Soar also supervised the installation of the images, which were hung by GAS Graphic Application Specialists.

To see the result for yourself, you can visit the Babich Wines cellar door at 15 Babich Road, Henderson Valley.

If you’re interested in how you could use large format latex poster printing to breathe new life into your shop, brand a reception area or add excitement to workspaces, contact Brian Landry on (09) 302 9100 or brianl@soarprint.co.nz

More about Soar’s printing services.

Have you seen what Safekids are doing? Wow!

Soar Print has been a Safekids supporter for several years now. They get our not-for-profit package, which includes a generous discount and a pro bono allowance. Recently we helped them with a stand-out safety project.

In case you don’t know, Safekids Aotearoa was established in the early 1990s by Starship Children’s Health Trauma Service to help reduce the high rates of preventable injury to children. Every year they run a campaign focused on some aspect of child accident prevention, such as driveway run overs or getting parents to use the right car seats for their kids.

The latest Safekids production is an interactive safety exhibit called the ‘Safekids Safety Whare’. It’s made to look like a real house, but with digital , interactive and artistic activities that teach families about overcoming risks at home. The whare focuses on prevention of burns, button battery ingestion, cutting and piercing injuries, drowning, poisoning and driveway accidents.

Soar helped with the campaign by printing the resources that are used with the whare.

The Safekids Safety Whare will go on a roadshow in 2017, visiting 10 regions around New Zealand as part of Safekids’ three-year home safety programme, in partnership with ACC.

Did you know?

Every year, 48 Kiwi children are killed by an accident that happened at home
Every month 231 are hospitalised from injuries in the home.
20 children are taken to Starship each year after swallowing button batteries
Children need to stay in a car seat or booster seat until they reach 148cm in height
81% of child poisonings occur at home
More than 550 kids are hospitalised every year for a serious cut or puncture injury

More about Safekids Safety Whare

More about Soar Print’s work with not-for-profit organisations

Safekids’ director Ann Weaver with the Safekids Safety Whare.

The ex-customer who came back. A true story.

What makes a customer take their business elsewhere? And what brings them back again? This true story happened to us. It reveals why the customer experience is the new competitive battleground.

Early in 2015, we got some very bad news. One of our best-loved corporate clients announced they were taking their printing elsewhere. We were gutted.

To find out why this happened, we launched an internal investigation. Had we missed or messed an order? Were we late with a crucial delivery? Did we let ourselves down with poor quality outputs? Had our sales and customer service touchpoints lost their mojo?

We didn’t come up with a conclusive answer, even though no stone was left unturned. So we bid our client a polite goodbye, then retreated to heal our hurt pride and make double sure that other important clients were consistently happy with our performance.

Then, eight months later, we received a call from our ex-client. It went something like this:

“Hello, we’ve been having an internal review and we’ve decided that our move from Soar was a terrible mistake. We’d like to reinstate our printing relationship with you so long as you want to address a couple of small issues. The reason we moved our account last year was we’d been approached by another company who offered us such astonishing rates and unbelievable service that we really couldn’t ignore it.

“However, it has come to pass that these claims of higher efficiency and reduced costs just weren’t sustainable for them and they dropped the ball on so many fronts, so often, that it has really compromised our quality delivery our brand managers require.

“We’d have to say that not having you as part of our team has really left a hole in how we operate effectively. And we’ve missed you. Not only that, but we now appreciate all the other things you were trying to do to make our lives easier.”

The Soar sales team were gobsmacked, putting it mildly. After we’d picked ourselves up off the floor, we addressed the few issues raised and welcomed our client back with open arms and no hard feelings.

Learnings from this story:

Never burn your bridges. New Zealand is a small country and a “no” today could become a “yes” tomorrow.
If you focus on being better, bigger will take care of itself.
Think one customer at a time and take care of each one the best way you can.

Want a better print customer experience?

See how Soar Print looks after customers, talk to Peter Lloyd on 021 457 199 or email peter@soarprint.co.nz about engaging in a FuturePrint® audit to determine how we can add value to your business.

Read case studies involving Soar Print customers.

Online print portal as a membership benefit. Eureka!

Recently Soar Print created an eBusiness print portal for Physiotherapy New Zealand (PNZ), the industry organisation for physios. Now PNZ members are enjoying online print ordering, easy artwork storage and reduced printing costs.

Soar’s eBusiness service is a proven way to streamline printing for businesses that need print for their day-to-day business. And it’s a great ‘value add’ for organisations who want to offer something extra to their members.

Here’s how we set up eBusiness for PNZ:

All PNZ members can log into the print portal
The printing that goes through the portal gets a discount off Soar’s usual prices
Members can store their digital image and artwork files safely within the portal (so much easier to find!)
Members can upload PDFs of anything they need printed and order printing with a couple of clicks
They can access PNZ’s vast library of customer information materials, add their logo, then place a print order
Members can also access a range of generic designs – things like flyers, business cards and posters – that can be personalised with their brand and printed
Printing orders placed through the portal are delivered to the member’s door

This model could work for your organisation

If you’re running a professional association, sporting body or industry organisation that has paying members, adding a Soar eBusiness print portal to your member website can help you to maintain membership levels and help with attracting additional members.

Physiotherapy New Zealand has had great feedback from members since they launched their print portal. Like many industry organisations, they’re always on the lookout for ways to make membership more attractive.

“Partnering with Soar is just one example of how Physiotherapy New Zealand is finding new ways to help members with running their businesses. Soar even took a stand at our conference, so were available to answer questions and discuss specific requirements with physiotherapy business owners”, says Nick Taylor, Marketing & Communications Manager at PNZ.

To find out more about getting a print portal, email Peter Lloyd.

More information about eBusiness.

Read another blog about eBusiness.

Packaging decides whether your food product lives or dies

No matter how delicious your food product is, packaging is the magic ingredient you can’t ignore. And there’s no better place for a concentrated food packaging catch-up than FOODTECH PACKTECH, New Zealand’s largest food manufacturing, packaging and processing technology show – October 11 to 13^th at the ASB Showgrounds.

Held annually for more than 20 years, FOODTECH PACKTECH is where industry professionals and business decision makers get together to learn, discuss and build partnerships. All three days of the show are free to attend.

“There’s a huge pipeline of innovative new products being launched onsite at the show, in some cases southern hemisphere firsts”, says event manager Deb Haimes.

Soar’s an exhibitor at this year’s FOODTECH PACKTECH, because we’re producing an increasing amount of printed food packaging and labels for food products. We also print packaging for non-food products that need shelf impact.

Last year our digital division Rocket Print helped boutique breakfast brand Blue Frog to look exciting with ‘Color Logic’ food label printing, which involves printing onto metallised adhesive stock to create labels with spectacular metallic effects.

“If we’d gone for printed bags out of China, the lead times would have been up to 12 weeks. But by using plain white bags and digitally printed foil labels, we can have mixed runs of SKUs and turnaround in just a couple of days. It means we can react quickly to market demands and easily refresh our flavour range whenever we want to”, says Scotty Baragwanath of Blue Frog.

FOODTECH PACKTECH 2016 will showcase many new and proven packaging ideas used by successful Kiwi food and beverage producers. If you’re a start-up food company, or if you want to give an existing product range a new lease on life, visiting FOODTECH PACKTECH is a way to do a lot of research in a very short time. Make sure you drop in the Soar stand for a natter.

Here’s a quick summary of our food packaging capabilities:

Digital printing with variable data for labels, prototypes, cartons and flexible film
Offset printing for folding cartons, cardboard sleeves and high-volume labels. Specialty coatings can be added for ‘higher perceived value’, such as matte soft touch or super high gloss.
Continuous image printed pallet wrap rolls 30mm wide
ISO 12467-2 colour management for brand consistency

Visit Soar’s FOODTECH page.

Find out more about print services for producers and manufacturers.

Talk to Peter Lloyd about printing for food products.

How to get a print quote with ‘secret sauce’

So there’s a print job in your pipeline. You do the usual ring around of the usual printers, to bring in two or three quotes. But then you decide, on a whim, to request a quote from a printer you’ve heard about but haven’t used before. The results are surprising.

Instead of seeing your brief repeated back at you, along with the expected numbers, your outside-the-square printer has come back with ‘secret sauce’ - several alternative and innovative ways to approach the job. Each of these alternatives is up to 20% cheaper than the mainstream printers’ quotes, but all of them will still produce a quality outcome.

This story isn’t fiction. It’s based on a recount from marketing specialist Trevor Moodie, when he was CEO at Robbins Brandt Richter.

“We were never purely price driven when choosing a printer, however we were always concerned about getting value for our clients – that meant right price, great quality and good service. We’d quoted this particular job with our regular core printers, and the cost was looking a bit up there. So our print manager dug into the market a little deeper and requested a quote from a second tier printer. They came back to us with a bunch of different ways to approach the job, saving money but without compromising quality. They got the job, and they also inspired a changing of the guard for our core printers.”

Trevor’s experience backs up what we know at Soar. Printing is not a commodity; it’s both a science and an art form, which means one printer’s approach can be radically different to another.

Here are our tips for getting a print quote with secret sauce:

Don’t let your printer know how much you want to spend. A smarter way to work is to suggest a quality level for the outcome – economy, regular or premium. This will usually be tied to the importance of the piece and its intended audience.
Provide basic information, but be flexible. Jobs can often be produced faster and more economically using a method or materials that differ from what you have in mind. As your printer for ideas about stock, printing process, finishing and cost-efficient volumes.
Let your printer know whether the job is time sensitive or not. If you don’t have a specific deadline, you may get a better price if the printer can ‘gang’ your job with other similar jobs.
Request printed samples of jobs similar to yours. If you were choosing a kitchen designer, you’d look at other kitchens they’d designed. It’s the same for printers. Ask to see some of their stuff.

Want a print quote that thinks deeper? Call Brian Landry on (09) 302 9500 or email brianl@soarprint.co.nz

Read how Soar’s ‘out of the box’ thinking cut print costs by 25% for an Auckland charity. See the case study.

Request a print quote from Soar right now.

A leap forward for third party print logistics

Complete online integration of print ordering, warehousing, logistics and inventory management is Soar’s logistics advantage.

Generally, third party logistics services are about getting product in stores and on shelves. In the case of print logistics, the service usually involves storing printed items, then dispatching to locations around NZ when they’re needed.

Recently Soar took print warehousing and logistics to a higher level. Not only did we expand storage capacity by 40%, we also installed the latest barcode technology, which ensures accurate picking and real-time print inventory management. Now it’s easier than ever before to monitor inventory and avoid costly obsolescence.

Looking after routine business print requirements

We are the ‘virtual stationery cupboard’ for several large corporates. All their routine bulk print supplies are managed online, stored at our warehousing facility and dispatched to locations as required. Barcode identification of every item ensures administrators have a clear picture of inventory and stock runouts are avoided with pre-set alerts. Storage costs are calculated based on the space used monthly and we deliver using the lowest cost price option for each consignment.

Complete end-to-end service for marketing teams

For any kind of print campaign, Soar can now offer a fully integrated print management information system (MIS) that flows from job quotation, to job bagging and production, then into kitting and logistics. It means we can provide total support for marketing and sales teams, helping to maximise the success of their promotional initiatives.

Need something out of the ordinary?

When logistics requirements go beyond a standard pick and pack solution, we can tailor a solution that is exactly right. Our focus is always on delivering a quality outcome at an efficient price, on time every time.

Like an extension of your business

Soar’s account managers and dedicated online and logistics management team work in consultation with clients to identify requirements and budget limitations. If you use our warehousing and logistics services, you can look forward to insightful reporting, automated minimum level alerts and cost reductions through effective management reporting. We operate like a super-efficient extension of your business.

Talk to us

Customers using Soar Print’s logistics service are generally larger organisations, such as universities, insurance companies, franchise businesses and manufacturers. However, any business with complex print storage and kitting requirements is welcome to enquire. Call Brian Landry on 021 980 036.

Marketing guru is still a firm believer in print DM

A marketing columnist for the NZ Herald, Graham McGregor has 36 years’ of hands-on experience with sales and marketing. He believes print DM is still one of the strongest communication mediums.

Graham McGregor’s column in the Herald on 12 July discussed this question: Is print marketing dead or deadly? His answer is a profound vote in favour of print.

Graham maintains that print marketing (done well) is one of the most effective and profitable marketing strategies that you can use. He quoted these interesting statistics:

40% of consumers will check out a new business after receiving print direct mail. Repeat mailing pushes the response even higher. There’s something about print that creates a personal connection between the consumer and the marketer.
Only 2 people in 100 don’t open their mail the same day they receive it. Clearly hard copy direct mail has its place in the marketing mix. Emails are easy to delete, but real mail sits around.
Almost 50% of those who receive print marketing by mail keep it for future reference if the products or services are relevant to them.
And here’s an unexpected one. More than 90% of younger consumers prefer print marketing when they are in the research phase of a purchase. They like to flick through brochures.
According to the New York-based Direct Mail Association, companies companies direct marketing with print advertising get a 13 to 1 return on their investment. Pretty impressive.

Neuroscience report on the effectiveness of direct mail

Recently we also came across a fascinating neuromarketing study conducted by Royal Mail in the UK. The study reported that direct mail triggers more activity in the parietal cortex, which is associated with the integration of visual and spatial information.

“This research strongly suggests that greater emotional processing is facilitated by the physical material than by the virtual. The “real” experience that the physical media provides means it’s better at becoming part of memory. It generates more emotion, which should help to develop more positive brand associations. The real experience is also internalized, which means the materials have a more personal effect, and therefore should aid motivation.” Read the report online.

Want to discuss print ideas for effective direct mail? Call Peter Lloyd at Soar on (09) 302 9105 or email peter@soarprint.co.nz

Read a previous Soar blog about the effectiveness of print

Read Graham McGregor’s Herald column

In-your-face print to motivate retail customers

New Zealand’s leading retail chains didn’t get to where they are today without knowing a thing or two about point-of-sale print. By using large-format posters, banners, merchandise units and database mailouts to promote new products and special offers, they consistently drive instore sales activity.

Global magazine Advertising Age says that in-store displays remain one of the most effective sales tools for retailers. Research conducted by OgilvyAction indicates far more impulse purchases are driven by tactics like end-of-aisle cardboard displays than by temporary price reductions. It also reported that twice as many consumers said they bought impulsively because of a display or some other form of in-store promotion than because of price.

US trade publication Independent Retailer goes a step further and specifies that retailers need to use five major areas to inform, promote and sell in store. These are: windows, walls, ceilings, counters and floors. They say 52% of consumers are more likely to enter a store if there is a sale sign in the window. They also recommend using durable materials, such as vinyl, to produce instore signs that can be used many times.

Durable instore promotional print

At Soar, we’re experts at producing long-lasting large format digital printing, including window, floor and hanging banners, which retailers and event companies use over and over.

“Soar delivered what other large format printing companies said was impossible, all within a 24 hour deadline. The vinyl ceiling and stage banners not only looked bold and eye-catching, but also helped create a strong sense of brand awareness and recognition”, says DNA.

For long-term materials, it’s smart to think about the instore events that keep repeating:

· Summer – Back-to-school, Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day

· Autumn – Easter, Anzac Day, Mother’s Day

· Winter – Queen’s Birthday, Father’s Day

· Spring – Father’s Day, Halloween

· December- Christmas, Boxing Day, New Year

Short-term promotional print

Soar also assists retail clients with temporary promotional materials. For example, we regularly produce temporary window and instore large format posters for Number One Shoes.

“Our Soar account manager is a delight to work with. He’s never said ‘no’ or ‘can’t’ and we value his input on creative, stock or colours. He’s always in here dropping off samples, so we have a great face-to-face relationship that’s backed up with emails and phone calls”, says Francine McCormick, Marketing Coordinator, Number One Shoes

Database mailouts that make every customer feel special

For direct mail solutions, our HP Indigo presses work with variable data. You can change out names, images and text, so that every customer gets a one-off communication. Farmers are masters of this type of direct mail printing – you can be too, if you get Soar to give you a hand.

Read case studies about Soar’s work with retail customers.

Go to the retail page on Soar's website.

Talk to us about long and short term retail print solutions to drive sales volumes. Contact Peter Lloyd peter@soarprint.co.nz or call 021 457 199.

Why franchises have latched onto Ebusiness print ordering

A franchise system is like an octopus, except it might have 20 or more tentacles writhing about in the market. If franchise headquarters can keep the tentacles under control, especially when it comes to communications and brand compliance, the franchise glides smoothly across the rocky floor of the enterprise lagoon.

But if each tentacle is doing its own thing - particularly with the design and printing of promotional materials - the franchise presents a disjointed face to the market, undermining the whole principle of franchising.

Our solution is Ebusiness

Soar Printing works with several large franchise systems, including Barfoot and Thompson, to simplify and streamline printing. We do this by creating an Ebusiness online print ordering system that’s customised for the franchise brand. Users log into the platform to find approved online printing templates, such as business cards, marketing flyers, price lists and print ads. They can add their own details to the artwork, but they can’t mess with the design. Who these users are and what they can access is controlled by the headquarters administrator. Once their artwork file has the required detailed, they can order print with a couple of clicks. The orders come straight to our workflow and we get them underway.

Here’s what Barfoot & Thompson say about Soar’s Ebusiness platform for print procurement:

“Soar’s online ordering system is simpler and more intuitive than what our 67 branches had been using, so it's been a simple change. Soar Print have been very responsive to queries and support needed by users. They have met all service KPIs to date. We find Soar friendly, helpful, knowledgeable and just good decent people to work with.”

Potential for cost saving

As well as looking after your communication strategy and brand compliance, the Ebusiness online print management solution opens the door to savings. For print items that aren’t urgent, Soar can gather franchisee print orders together with others to create print procurement efficiencies. We call this ‘ganging’ and it’s a proven strategy for reducing print costs.

One place for all your stuff

The days of desperately trying to find artwork files – either within your inbox or in an actual filing cabinet – are over when your franchise uses Ebusiness. All your visual assets – artwork, templates, images, logo forms – live in one, secure online place, you’ll never lose them and finding what you need is super quick.

You’ve got to see it to believe it

Whether your franchise is micro or mega, we’re confident our Ebusiness online print management solution can make a big difference to the smooth operation of your franchisee network. To see how it works, book a demonstration. We can bring the demo to you, or you can call into our New North Road offices.

Arrange a demo by calling Peter Lloyd on (09) 301 9100 or 021 457 199. Alternatively you can email peter@soarprint.co.nz

Read an Auckland Council case study about our eBusiness solution.

The stress-free way to manage university stationery ordering

When you have 8 faculties, 17 research centres, 24 central service divisions and 99 departments, how do you manage stationery requirements without pulling your hair out?

New Zealand’s universities come in all shapes and sizes, but they share a need for cost-effective, super-efficient print ordering. For the University of Auckland, Soar created a personalised Ebusiness online print ordering website.

Five years ago the University of Auckland appointed Soar Print to provide managed print services for the efficient handling of complex stationery ordering requirements. Soar’s Ebusiness implementation team got busy and soon the university was equipped with a fully-functional print ordering website, complete with customisable templates for every stationery item.

“The process for ordering stationery improved significantly, along with the management of the brand in the stationery category. Marketing staff across the university have provided feedback that the account service is superb”, says Helen Whitehead, Marketing Manager, University of Auckland.

How does it work?

An Ebusiness website displays the university’s logo alongside Soar’s logo on the top nav. With just a few clicks, users can select a stationery template, add new details and order the print. The same Ebusiness solution can be used for end-to-end print management of other materials, such as brochures and prospectuses. Artwork files are loaded into the system, then print orders can be placed with a click. Logins can be provided to any employees involved with print ordering. A master administrator is able to control who can do what.

Urgent print orders are quickly actioned. For items that aren’t so urgent, Soar can accumulate print orders to create print procurement efficiencies. We call this ‘ganging’ and it’s a proven strategy for reducing print costs.

A secure vault for all your visual assets

Another benefit of Ebusiness is brand consistency and colour management. Only approved templates and designs are stored on the Ebusiness site, so there’s no chance of printing items that have the wrong logo or colours. The site also stores design specs, brand standards and colour specs, making it easy to forward guidelines to anybody who needs them.

It’s easy to update your print procurement process

Soar Print works closely with several leading tertiary educators to provide complete printing solutions and service, so we know what works. If you’d like to find out more about improving print efficiency and reducing costs for your university or tech, give Peter Lloyd a call on (09) 302 9100 or email peter@soarprint.co.nz

Visit Soar’s website to read more about eBusiness online print ordering solutions.

Soar’s continuous commitment to quality scores gold at awards

A colourful Pride in Print awards night at Sky City netted seven golds and eight commendations for Soar and Rocket. Surrounded by popping champagne corks, we spent some quality time celebrating with our printing industry peers.

The Home Show Book was a stand-out entry for Soar. It represented 180 pages of printing perfection for one of New Zealand’s leading home builders. Produced on 115 gsm matt art with a 300 gsm cover, the whole job was aqueous matt coated and PUR bound.

“PUR is a new way of perfect binding. It uses polyurethane reactive (PUR) adhesives instead of the usual EVA. Adhesion is superior, so the book stays bound – even after weeks of handling”, says Stefan Berthoud, account director at Soar.

Other winners included the very splendid University of Auckland ‘Achieve the Amazing’ brochure and the embellishment/swatch book produced for BJ Ball papers. Rocket Print, our digital division, scored a gold with a magnificent black multi-pocketed box for Braun. All in all, it was a bright and shiny night.

“A large Soar contingent attended the awards. We celebrated our wins and caught up with friends in the industry. It was great to have our production team there, because they could see how their hard work turns into gold”, says managing director Fred Soar.

SEVEN GOLDS

Promotional Print/Marketing Campaigns/Trauma Multi
Promotional Print/Marketing Campaigns/KLAMULTI Box
Promotional Print/Marketing Campaigns/BJ Ball swatch book
Promotional Print/Marketing Campaigns/What in the World – Achieve the Amazing
Promotional Print/Promotional Items/Starlux box
Publications/Catalogues & Directories/Home Show Book
Packaging/Presentation Boxes/Welcome box with pockets (Rocket Print)

EIGHT COMMENDATIONS

Industry Development/What’s On quarterly
Promotional Print/Part 2 Box White Horse
Promotional Print/Lid Neo Knight
Promotional Print/Brochure Starlux
Publications/St James Suite GP Ltd
Promotional Print/Braun Iron 90 Day (Rocket Print)
Packaging/Honey Manuka Pouch (Rocket Print)
Labels /Clear Facilities Dispenser Labels (Rocket Print)

Talk to Peter Lloyd about award winning print. Email peter@soarprint.co.nz

Check out Soar's commitment to quality.

It’s like having an entire print company on your desktop!

For clients who have a constant need for many kinds of printed material, such as real estate companies and tertiary education providers, Soar Print is able to set up a customised print ordering website for efficient online print management. As one customer said recently, “It’s like having a print shop on your desktop”.

Soar calls the service ‘Ebusiness’. While other printers have similar offerings, nothing in the market quite matches the functionality and printing efficiency that our online print ordering system delivers.

How does it work?

Imagine for a moment that you’re a franchise headquarters, and you’re trying to get a new franchisee all set up with business cards, brochures and advertising flyers. Ebusiness makes it a piece of cake. You simply go to your online print store, which is lives on your bookmarks bar, and login with a username and password.

Your online print store displays your logo alongside Soar’s logo on the top nav, and everything you need is just a click away. You can select a business card template, add your new franchisee’s details and order the print. Then you can browse your brochure templates to find exactly the right one, make changes as required and send the print order through. Likewise for flyers – select an existing template, customise with the franchisee’s details and order the print.

The orders arrive at Soar and are quickly actioned. Your print jobs will be ready in just a couple of days, then delivered straight to your new franchisee.

Ganging jobs together to save costs

For print items that aren’t urgent, Soar can gather your eBusiness print orders together with others to create print procurement efficiencies. We call this ‘ganging’ and it’s a proven strategy for reducing print costs.

Brand standards are easy to maintain

Another benefit of business is visual branding consistency. Only approved templates and designs are stored on your eBusiness site, so there’s no chance of printing items that have the wrong logo or colours. The site also stores your design specs, brand standards and colour specs, making it easy to forward guidelines to anybody who needs them. When all your visual assets – artwork, templates, images, logo forms – live in one, secure online place, you’ll never lose them and finding what you need is super quick.

You’ve got to see it to believe it

We recently set up an eBusiness website for New Zealand’s biggest real estate company - hundreds of templates used by thousands of agents. We’re getting amazing feedback from them about how streamlined and easy it is to order the print items they need. We have also established eBusiness sites for universities, councils, charities and retail chains – any organisation or business that needs on-demand commercial printing services.

If you have multiple employees who use business cards or need short runs of sales material, arrange a demonstration of eBusiness and see how it could transform your print life. We can bring the demo to you, or you can call into our offices at 100 New North Road.

Arrange a demo by calling Brian Landry on (09) 302 9500or email brianl@soarprint.co.nz

Read an Auckland Council case study about our eBusiness solution.

Five H & S print essentials to help you get your Act together

Now that the long-awaited revised Health & Safety Act is here, keeping your company compliant comes with a whole new level of stress. Have you done enough to manage risk in your workplace?

By printing signage, manuals and posters, we’ve been helping all types of organisations get their H & S Act together. From huge organisations with thousands of employees to micro companies with just one or two workers, every business has to have an active Health and Safety Compliance System in place.

Nobody wants a Worksafe fine

Workplace hazards come with the territory when you’re in the print industry. We have huge, fast-moving machines, lots of heavy lifting, dangerous goods, noise and all sorts of other hazards that must be recognised and managed. Because our industry is relatively hazardous, we’ve become very familiar with the new requirements. Apart from keeping our people safe, we know that doing the right thing helps us to avoid fines.

If you don’t have an active Health and Safety Compliance System in place, here’s what happens if an incident occurs at your workplace:
Worksafe New Zealand will begin an investigation that could result in substantial fines and penalties. You can’t insure for fines and penalties and they can apply to both employer and staff/sub-contractors

Your business insurance cover instantly becomes null and void (eek!)

Print can help

While we’re certainly not health and safety consultants, we can tell you about the H & S printed collateral that’s rolling off our presses. Here are the most popular items:

Large format posters. Wherever your people gather, you have a chance to make them aware of health and safety requirements. Posters are great for this task. They can be put up in lunch rooms, open plan areas and hallways.
Manuals. Capture all the risks, policies and procedures in an easy-to-update loose-leaf manual. You’ll need copies for everyone.
Training materials. When you educate your people about safe practices, fact sheets and work sheets can make training more effective.
Hazard stickers. Bright warning stickers can alert people to dangers in the workplace.
Permanent signage. For hazardous environments, you’ll need permanent signage that reminds workers of what to wear, how to behave and when to report problems.

For help with H & S stuff, we recommend the Team Safety site. You’ll find out about training, e-learning, videos, visitor management and much more.

For advice about H & S print requirements, email Peter Lloyd at Soar peter@soarprint.co.nz

DINZ is for every kind of designer. Have you joined?

Soar recently became a Silver Sponsor of the Designers Institute of New Zealand (DINZ). We did this because printing and design are inextricably linked. By helping DINZ, we’re supporting professions that respect the art and science of printing.

The Designers Institute of New Zealand represents industrial design, graphic design, interactive design, spatial design, product design, design in business, service design and design education. The overall aim of the organisation is to ensure professional designers are valued and rewarded for the contribution they make to the economic, cultural and social growth of New Zealand.

Best Design Awards is accepting entries now

Every year DINZ runs the Best Design Awards, an annual showcase of excellence in graphic, spatial, product and interactive design. Entries for the next batch of awards are open now. Find out about entering the Best awards.

Hear from the best of the best

DINZ also runs a great programme of events, all aimed at helping good designers to be even better. Here’s what’s coming up for April and May:

Best of the Best Designers Speak™ (1): Auckland Art Gallery, 6 April, 6pm to 8.30pm. Features Klim Type Foundry, Osborne Shiwan, Alt Group & Auckland Council
Best of the Best Designers Speak™ (2): Auckland Art Gallery, 13 April, 6pm to 8.30pm. Features Syrp, Method, Bobux International, Pacific Helmets
Best of the Best Designers Speak™ (3): Auckland Art Gallery, 4 May, 6pm to 8.30pm. Features Rufus Knight Associates & Lonely, Jose Gutierrez, Wingate + Farquhar, Stevens Lawson Architects

Visit the DINZ events calendar for prices and additional detail.

Kiwi connection with Financial Times redesign

At Soar we’re immediately drawn to anything about type and print, so we enjoyed reading a case study about the Financial Times redesign on the DINZ website. There’s a New Zealand Connection with this story - Kris Sowersby of Klim Type Foundry created a bespoke typeface family for the paper. Go to the Financial Times case study.

If you’re interested in joining DINZ, visit the ‘members’ page on the DINZ website.

How to slash 25% off direct mail print costs

A move to new technology resulted in a 25% saving in direct mail print costs for Hospice North Shore.

Like many NFP organisations, Hospice North Shore regularly fundraises using direct mail campaigns that include an A4 return slip. Each slip must be accurately personalised and strategically positioned, so the recipient doesn’t miss it when they open the letter. Usually this requires a lot of manual handling, which adds to costs.

Last year Soar Print came up with a proposal for Hospice North Shore that dramatically reduces the need for manual handling and slashes print costs for each campaign.

Peter Lloyd, account director at Soar Print, says the company identified the solution during a proactive review of the hospice’s print requirements.

“Soar had recently invested in a new iGen printing press. When we reviewed Hospice North Shore’s campaign plans, we discovered that the iGen would allow us to print their DM piece and personalised letter all on one sheet, in full colour. After printing, the sheet could be automatically folded and trimmed in a way that put the letter right inside the DM piece. Both the letter and DM can be personalised and there’s no match mail hand insertion required”, he explains.

Moira Marcroft, Hospice North Shore’s fundraising manager at the time, says this proactive approach is typical of Soar Print.

“They understand that charities have limited resources and they do a great job of ensuring our print projects are completed in the most cost-effective way. Ultimately, this new approach reduced direct mail print costs by 25% and will save Hospice North Shore thousands of dollars.”

Peter says that for other organisations to achieve similar cost reductions on direct marketing campaigns, it’s important to partner with a specialist print supplier.

“By collaborating with our clients right at the start of their campaigns we’re often able to identify smarter processes and cost savings,” he says.

Hospice North Shore’s 4-page direct mailer and personalised A4 return slip were printed on a single sheet, in a single pass on Soar's new iGen press, cutting print costs by 25%.

See the case study online.

Read another post about iGEN printing.