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In today’s digital era, there is far more competition from brands to catch audience’s attention online than ever before. However, the amount of content available to audiences is growing far more rapidly than they have time for. It can be difficult to differentiate between what marketers consider as ‘noise’ and valuable content.

Print marketing covers a whole range of solutions such as posters, direct mail, magazines, banners and much more. As a company that specialises in unique printable materials we see first-hand how much impact print marketing can have and see why our clients keep coming back to us.

Here are reasons why print can help you stand out:

• Print has longevity – An email or an internet ad will disappear into the cyber world almost instantly whereas, a piece of print may be kept for days, weeks or even years. Printed products provide long lasting brand or product reminders even after a potential prospect has left the company.
• Print helps you reach your target audience – The design and placement of ads is vital to a successful campaign. Print can be positioned in unusual, eye-catching places where they cannot fail to be seen.
• Print is tangible – In a digital world, consumers still enjoy receiving, touching or holding something physical, as oppose to seeing it on screen.
• Print is engaging – When individuals read online, they tend to skim for about 15 seconds. Whereas when a piece of print is placed in your hand you engage with it for a longer period of time and it tends to remain in your memory for longer.
• Print is trustworthy – Consumers can trust print advertisements, there is no danger associated with reading or looking at print, whereas with digital alternatives there is always the possible risk of viruses or spam.
• Less print, means more for you – If fewer companies are creating print campaigns, there is much more space available for your messages to be seen!

1. Pre-Register – There is nothing worse than arriving at an exhibition and having to stand in a queue for ages before even entering. 
2. Plan Ahead – Research the companies attending and look at what they offer. The more time and effort you put into the show, the more you will get out of it. 
3. Set Objectives – Know what you want to achieve by attending an exhibition. 
4. Request A Floor Plan – Most exhibitions provide a floor plan in advance so you can organise your route of the show.
5. Book An Appointment – At most exhibitions you’re able to book appointments with businesses and organisations who are particularly interested in talking to. Pre-book an appointment to make sure you get all your questions answered.
6. Make Notes – When you visit an exhibition, it is extremely difficult to remember every stand, seminar, talk and workshop you visit. Making notes will save time when following up with companies and individuals you have met. 
7. Take Business Cards – Take plenty of business cards however, hand them out cautiously. You don’t want to be receiving follow up calls and emails off hundreds of people.
8. Take A Break – Visiting an exhibition is a tiring process, so sit down and have a rest. Review what you have achieved so far and what there still is to do. 
9. Collect Samples – Pick up plenty of samples but, don’t weigh yourself down with unnecessary leaflets and samples. You can always request samples to be sent to you by post. 
10. Freebies – At all exhibitions there will be fantastic freebies on offer and chances to win amazing prizes. Don’t be afraid to visit each stall, you never know what they may be giving away. 

If you’d like some help organising graphics for your shell scheme stand, please request samples here of our unique product CLINGZ.

We have a number of clients who have expressed their confusion about the meaning of ‘die-cut’, ‘kiss-cut’ and ‘trim to size’ therefore, we thought we would try to help explain. 

‘Die-cut’ is where graphics are cut into a shape, by cutting through both the material and the backer. 

‘Kiss-cut’ however, is the process of lightly cutting round the borders of the graphic without cutting through the backer.

‘Trim to size’ simply means straight cut to a standard shape – rectangular or square.

Please click to view our video here.

The Brief:

 An easy wipe re-writable whiteboard which staff can apply quickly and conveniently

Essential Specifications:

• To be quick, easy and convenient to apply. Ward downtime to be avoided at all costs
• Duration Requirement: minimum 1 year
• Completely wipeable (with all anti-bacterial sprays) to meet anti-microbial standards
• Must be 100% damage free when applied to painted walls

The Answer:

Think Ambient’s EasyWipe Whiteboards

The Benefits:

• Uses a low tack adhesive ensuring it is durable enough to last a year but also completely removable and damage free
• Extremely easy to apply, no tape or fixings and zero professional installation required
• Ink is printed on the back of the whiteboard so will not be damaged regardless of how much cleaning is required
• Cheaper than comparable alternatives such as foamex

Cast a spell on consumers and get some killer sales by creating some eye-catching POS advertising with CLINGZ this Halloween. Halloween is the UK’s third largest significant spending festival, placing it behind only Christmas and Easter. It is important that retailers take this opportunity to get creative with their point of sale marketing.

AtThink Ambientwe are the UK’s leading supplier of damage free POS print marketing materials. Our versatile range of quality printed materials allows customers to maximize their use of space by advertising their products exactly where they want, exactly when they want!

CLINGZ is the perfect short term seasonal branding solution due to its easy to apply, easy to remove and 100% damage freeattributes. CLINGZ can stick to many different surfaces such as; walls, windows, pillars, and making any space a potential in-store display opportunity. CLINGZ can help create some howling Halloween POS graphics as a wicked way to draw consumers in to your shop or even to offer some spook-tacular offers! 

As you probably already know, here at Think Ambient, we like to keep you up to date with our latest collaborations in the hope that they might inspire you for your next big project. On that note, a recent partnership saw us team up with TIME Investments, a global fund manager, to offer an innovative solution for their one day event.

Challenge:

To transform an office space and provide a short term impactful branding solution for a one day launch event at the UK Chamber of Shipping in London.

Solution:

CLINGZ was the perfect solution as its embedded electrostatic charge enabled it to stick to multiple surfaces in multiple locations; in this case windows, walls and doors. CLINGZ was also so easy to apply that professional installers were not required and the events team were able to apply on the morning of the event without the need for specialist tools or equipment, even at a size of over 2.4m! In addition, they could be quickly removed after the event without damaging any of the surfaces or leaving a messy adhesive residue.

Testimonial:

‘The CLINGZ are up and look fantastic!  I had fantastic feedback from everyone at the event on the CLINGZ and the events team at the venue were very impressed with them and asked for your details. The window CLINGZ especially created so much impact and helped transform the venue from dull office space to something really outstanding. Thanks for all your help in getting these done.”

At Think Ambient we combine an encyclopedic knowledge of unique printable materials with an in-depth knowledge of print processes to come up with innovative solutions that most people will tell you aren’t possible. 

Pushing the boundaries comes naturally to us and that’s why we love it when our customers come to us with a really challenging brief. 

A perfect illustration of this can be seen above. Our client set us the objective of creating a project idea that was not only completely new and different but also allowed them to communicate multiple messages simultaneously in an engaging and unique way.

Our creative juices immediately began to flow as we flung one idea after another back and forth but (to save you the anguish of our late night coffee-fueled sessions spent testing and persevering) we’ll skip right to the solution…  

GLOW IN THE DARK CLINGZ – luckily the genius of this innovation made the heartache all worth it. Glow in the dark CLINGZ has the potential to be the perfect solution to almost any campaign brief however our client used it for a guerrilla marketing campaign they were undertaking of behalf of Converse and Adidas. 

CLINGZ were placed in various locations throughout a number of cities in Germany. During daylight hours the light absorbent inks were able to ‘charge’ themselves, then as soon as night had fallen the GITD inks sprang into action.

The unique beauty of this campaign? If you look closely at the converse CLINGZ at the top of the page you will be able to see that they were created to display different messages at night to what they did during the day. How many printed posters can add a talent like that to their CV?

If you take a look at our case studies you will hopefully see that, for Think Ambient, this isn’t just a one off. We live and breatheinnovative and engaging campaign ideas, and not just because we hopefully get to shout about them afterwards!

STX is a self adhesive vinyl with a low tack removable adhesive, specially designed for variable data printing. It holds a major advantage over other self adhesive vinyls available in the market as it can be printed with multiple designs and in small quantities whilst still remaining cost effective.

Benefits:

• 3D Effect can be achieved by scoring the backer

• Adheres to smooth surfaces for long periods of time

• Removable and repositionable without leaving an adhesive residue

• Easy to apply, easy to remove and completely damage free

• Available in white and clear

Applications:

• Car Window Stickers

• Guerrilla Marketing

• POS

• Smooth surfaces like windows and mirrors

• Sales promotions

At Think Ambient we aim to not only offer market leading customer service but also unparalleled market insight so that our customers can get truly unique value from using our services. That’s why we recently invested in the 2014 Mass Merchant Shopper Engagement Study from POPAI. Take a look at the buying decisions chart.

THE FACTS:

• 8 out of 10 buying decisions were made in-store
• 62% of in-store buying decisions were completely unplanned purchases bought on impulse
• Using pictures of the products in in-store advertising increased sales by 11%
• Advertising with clearly identifiable logos achieved up to 8% greater success 

THE PROBLEM:

• An average of various industry eye-cam studies suggests that 95-98% of in store advertising is completely missed by consumers

THE SOLUTION:

• Put simply, versatile adhesive free CLINGZ
• Apply to virtually any surface allowing them to be placed directly in the eye line of consumers
• Apply completely damage free to non-traditional areas such as freezer glass
• Increase in-store staff compliance due to ease of use
• No professional installation required
• ‘One campaign, one material’ – versatility allows one material to meet almost any need

If adhesive free stickers sound like something you might be interested in then please take a look at our version known as CLINGZ. We’d be happy to send you samplesif you think this magical sticker sounds too good to be true! 

It’s well known that in order for any marketing campaign to be a success it must be concise, well designed and targeted at a clearly segmented demographic group. That’s why at Think Ambient we’re not looking to re-create existing content, already available from a wide variety of sources across the internet. Our sole focus is on our area of expertise; how to use innovative, damage free graphics to drive high level campaign engagement. 

In our opinion, there are a couple of key questions you need to ask yourself in order to develop a truly effective print campaign:

WHERE WILL IT RECEIVE THE GREATEST ENGAGEMENT?

Although this may seem like a relatively simple question, when you delve into the world of versatile, damage free graphics the possibilities become endless. Damage free signage can be applied to a multitude of surfaces, often where other media cannot be used, including walls, windows, mirrors, computer screens, table tops, toilet cubicles, lift doors, exhibition stands and even roofs.

If your target audience are university students, you can amplify your message by placing it wherever it might be seen: in lecture rooms, bar areas, student residences and communal bathrooms. If you’re a retailer posters can be used on display stands but also on white goods and electronic goods, turning every space into a marketing opportunity.    

DOES IT NEED TO BE DAMAGE FREE?

 Again, the first thing you may think when you read the question above is “there’s nothing complex to consider when deciding whether or not graphics need to be damage free”. In our experience the opposite is true, the type of posters chosen can have a far reaching impact on a projects return on investment (ROI). 

Believe it or not, the quality to cost payoff is one of the most fascinating aspects of buying print for marketing campaigns. In general, the initial outlay required to purchase easy to apply, damage free, versatile graphics is larger than that of standard alternatives such as self adhesive vinyl. However, standard alternatives usually have two implicit costs that campaign managers may fail to consider:

1. Time – our interaction with lower quality alternatives to premium damage free graphics has taught us three things: they are more difficult and take longer to apply, take longer to remove and in many cases take longer to clean up after (whether it is window residue, damaged paint or torn graphics).
2.  Compliance – Freelancer? Franchiser? Global Event Manager? If you’re not applying the graphics yourself, the more difficult they are to apply, the less likely they are to be applied at all. To put it simply, if your graphics are never applied then your ROI is zero.

On balance, our personal experience has taught us that the implicit costs associated with lower quality materials ensure that, in the long run, they receive a much lower ROI compared to their higher quality and more versatile alternatives.   

WHERE DO I START?

If your project has a sufficient lead time our recommendation is:

1. Speak to an expert
2. Request Samples
3. TEST THEM