<span class="htext1">Trailblazers:</span> One-stop solutions: HP Printers

By throwing in several functions and dropping prices HP printers allowed even small businesses to become self-reliant

Hewlett Packard has been around in India since the late 1980s, having pioneered the laser-jet printers then. The brand, which enjoyed a monopoly for long, has seen the printing industry evolve from laser jets mainly used for official and industrial purposes (to print reports/financial data/charts), to the launch of the ink jet technology in 1999 - once again pioneered by HP - which helped the printer enter the home and personal space.

From 1996-1999, ink jet printers were priced between Rs 10,000-15,000. HP's research showed that the consumer was willing to switch from a dot matrix printer to an ink jet one provided the prices were less than Rs 10,000 (even Rs 9,999 would do, the consumer said!). So, HP introduced its ink jet printer range between Rs 9,000-10,000. Furthermore, people were more worried about the cost of additional materials which was a deterrent to buy printers. Here, HP doubled its ink tank capacity and also introduced draft quality printing (lower dots per sq inch or DPI, and hence the cost of printing per page went down). In today's day and age, an entry level ink jet printer costs anywhere between Rs 2,500 and Rs 3,500.

Printers initially had only one function - to print. But as people - and businesses - discovered that storing paper copies as record copies was space-consuming and expensive (they'd rather have scanned copies stored in computers), printer makers came up with an option. Printers became multi-functional - a printer now had a scanner and a photocopier as well). Also, printer manufacturers like HP realised that by putting a fax-card into a printer, it can also be converted into a fax machine. Thus, one printer eliminated the need for four separate devices.

Colour printers too were a huge hit as colour photocopies were expensive for students and professionals. "Colour printers have been a huge driver for us in the home segment, as they come in handy to print pictures, or in other lifestyle-related usage," says V Krishnan, general manager, marketing, Imaging and Printing Group (IPG), Hewlett Packard.

As cameras became digital, one could directly connect it to a printer through a memory card and the printer lost its dependence on the desktop for printing images. This led to the emergence of photo-printers, which, HP discovered, were more in demand were art directors in ad agencies, fashion photographers and photo studios (particularly for passport applications). As such photos ought to have a longer shelf life, HP also got into the superior photo-cartridge segment.

"Our first job was to create a market!" grins Krishnan. "We put in a lot of effort in building relationships with our channel partners, in training, motivating and making them understand HP technology by sending them abroad," he adds. This instilled loyalty in them, and also made them advocates of the brand and its technology. Currently, the brand has 5,000 channel (trade) partners. On the customer side, HP Printers launched campaigns to build a connection between emotion and printing - themes on the lines of 'printing memories'. In 2008, a special effects heavy ad campaign featuring HP brand endorser Shah Rukh Khan had the man showing the world the personalised, colourful and life-like images HP printers can create.

At the office level, HP printers introduced sampling in SMEs, educating people about the multi-functionality of a printer - the brand addressed travel agencies, doctors, lawyers, hospitals, ad agencies and nursing homes alike. A BTL effort, 'Why should an SME adopt colour?' was also unleashed recently. Soon, there will be an ad campaign to this effect.

HP has, over the years, also forayed into large format printing such as billboards (which used to be painted upon earlier, but are now digitally printed). "We have a huge market share there," remarks Krishnan. Furthermore, indoor signages/banners/backlit signages in malls are an area where HP printers claim to have an 80 per cent market share. Recent work on Levi's and Vodafone in this regard were executed by HP printers, for instance. Around 75 per cent of HP printers' revenues come from commercial printing, while the remaining 25 per cent come from the personal or home segment.