Post Press Kansas commercial printing company and print finishing services.

In 1965, 3M became the first company to experiment with sensory enhanced printing. While developing microencapsulation for their carbonless paper products, the 3M engineers discovered that they could create a coating that would release an odor when scratched. The result was the advent of “scratch and sniff” technology and the birth of sensory branding.

Over the last fifty years, advertisers have tried to appeal to all five senses by incorporating sensory cues in their marketing. According to a research commissioned by Martin Lindstrom, brand consultant and author of Brand Sense – Build Powerful Brands through Touch, Taste, Smell, Sight, and Sound, media that appeal to multiple senses can increase brand impact and engagement by more than 70 percent.

Creating impactful printing that engages multiple senses poses a big challenge for marketing managers, especially those who have limited budgets. Thankfully, advances in print finishing techniques have driven down the cost of sensory print enhancements. Print is no longer static and strictly 2-dimensional. For twenty-five years, Post Press Specialties has helped commercial printers create pieces that engage multiple senses, especially touch.

See Me, Feel Me

A 2015 report from the Shullman Research Center, articulates the effect touch has on purchases. Forty-eight percent of respondents reported that they have bought a luxury product (priced at $1000 or more) based solely on touch.

“It’s fascinating to me that 17 million adults ranked touch as their No. 1 sense and virtually half of these consumers—48 percent—reported that they bought a luxury in the past 12 months. Touch-oriented consumers are the No. 1 purchasers of luxuries,” said Bob Shullman, head of Shullman Research Center. “This finding suggests to me that if a marketer is advertising a luxury that can be touched, the marketer should consider emphasizing the luxury’s touch-ability qualities in the advertising.”

Without a doubt, paper stock is important, but print enhancements that concentrate on touch can help ensure that a piece will be a success. We’ve become one of the Midwest’s largest binderies by offering a wide range of specialty printing techniques such as embossing, foil stamping, spot 3D varnishing, die cut and letterpress. Most of these enhancements can be applied to most paper stocks and substrates.

Call us today at 816-257-1919 and we’ll show you how to use print finishing techniques to you and your customer’s advantage. We love to show off our equipment, ask about our plant tours.

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