4by6.com

Product Sample Kit for an Online Printer

Manmade’s redesign transformed 4by6.com’s product sample kit into a powerful sales and brand-building tool–In the process, we set a new standard for the online printing industry.

We began by conducting research to thoroughly understand the competitive landscape. An audit of sample kits from more than a dozen other printing companies revealed uniformity across the board. Every kit included random, unidentified samples of past print jobs sent in nondescript envelopes, with no additional context or branded messaging. Communicating print quality appeared to be the sole purpose of these competitor kits.

In this sea of sameness, we saw the redesigned sample kit as an opportunity for 4by6.com to both differentiate themselves from their competition and also build their brand by speaking directly to the creative professionals who were their target customers.

From our research, we identified several guiding principles for the redesign. Above all, the new sample kit had to be both usable and useful. It had to provide target customers with exactly what they needed to make informed printing decisions. It also had to give them something valuable and relevant, to leave them with a positive, lasting impression of the 4by6.com brand.

Following these principles, we redesigned the kit to include exactly 9 samples, just enough to show all of 4by6.com’s products, thereby reducing waste paper and mailing costs. Each sample is clearly tagged with the type of printing, paper and finish, to guide customers through the decision-making process. The custom-designed mailing envelope that contains the samples is clearly branded as a 4by6.com product and is resealable, encouraging customers to keep the package for future reference.

To reinforce 4by6.com’s reputation for high quality printing, we created a printing guide and color tool aimed at creative professionals. The printing guide includes a step-by-step overview of the 4by6.com printing process and tips for maximizing results. The color tool enables customers to compare the printed card with an onscreen digital file (downloaded from the 4by6.com Web site) to better anticipate how their chosen colors will ultimately appear in print.

The new sample kit effectively communicates both print quality and the 4by6.com brand. Since its launch, it has become the company’s most valuable marketing tool. Of the people who request a sample kit, 80% ultimately place orders with 4by6.com. Both the printing guide and color tool have since been copied by several 4by6.com competitors, becoming the defacto industry standard for online printing.