Inkjet & Digital Printing

Cromografica Roma opens up new markets with HP Indigo Digital Presses

Monday 13. August 2012 - Founded in 1974, Cromografica employs 70 people across two facilities in Rome and Milan which focus on printing and publishing services. The company also offers integrated solutions for communications campaigns for publishing companies, newspapers, sports companies and media agencies.

Cromografica prides itself on introducing new services to the Italian market and in 2007 was keen to take advantage of the developing self-publishing and personalized print sector. In order to make short volume print runs economical, the
next step was for the company to make its first foray into digital printing.
“The market is always evolving and traditional offset printing was lacking the potential for significant growth, so we wanted to find the right partner to help us begin our digital journey and open up new opportunities,” explains Massimo Pannacciulli, marketing manager, Cromografica. “HP is the market leader with the best print quality and speed. We knew the HP Indigo press 5000 would provide us with even more chances to be competitive and attract new business.”
The new digital press, which makes short-run printing economical, enabled Cromografica Roma to produce self- published books online under the brand ilmiolibro, by Gruppo Editoriale l’Espresso, publisher of leading newspaper la Repubblica and the weekly magazine l’Espresso. The ilmiolibro portal was successfully promoted through these media outlets. Following that success, the company was keen to explore new digital revenue streams.
Partnering for success
The natural next step was to offer customized diaries, photo books, premium posters and calendars. In order to maximize the impact of these new products and bring them to as wide an audience as possible, the company partnered with a number of well-known sporting associations.
“We already had good relationships with a number of sporting organizations, such as Superbike (Infront motorsports organization) and football clubs Lazio and Roma, through collaborations with the editor of Corriere dello Sport, so they made a natural fit for personalized, branded photo products,” continues Pannacciulli. “These partnerships allowed us to greatly extend the reach of the new range.”
With the photo book business established, Cromografica launched a Web-to-Print service allowing customers to easily design and order photographic products online. The digital business powered by HP Indigo, now accounts for 40 percent of the business – and this figure is set to grow. This growth led the company to invest in an HP Indigo press 5500 to enable higher print volumes.
“We expect digital to generate 70 percent of the total business within five years so it is important to have the capability to handle increased workloads,” adds Pannacciulli. “For our customers, it is incredibly fast and simple just-in-time printing. They download free software, upload their own pictures and create calendars, wedding albums, diaries and photo books. Within three days we have them printed with the HP Indigo Presses, and later bound and delivered to their doorstep.”
Travel is also proving a lucrative market for Cromografica. By partnering with leading travel magazine PleinAir, the company is generating significant traction in the production of glossy photo books celebrating prized holiday photos. It’s this knack for teaming up with best-in-class media outlets, combined with the quality, speed and reliability of the HP Indigo Presses, which sets Cromografica apart from the competition.
Quality that speaks for itself
Because 95 percent of customers are ordering online, showcasing the sheer quality provided by HP Indigo is a challenge, especially when printed on the 200 or 130gm paper stock the company typically uses and bound in any one of a number of ways including hardback, paperback, stapled and spiral bound. However, when customers receive the final product, the response is universally positive.
“Put simply, in my opinion the quality is similar than traditional offset with particularly vivid and true colors. Once customers have placed and received their personalized product, they often email us to convey their delight,” says Pannacciulli.
Reliable production
The HP Indigo Presses are currently processing many products and photo-albums per month and there is plenty of capacity to ramp up production further. “The presses have also proven to be quite reliable, meaning fewer headaches for the operators and the service received is always efficient.
“Since 2007, the presses have always been running with not many failures. It is important to have that sense of security and the support of HP should anything go wrong,” concludes Pannacciulli. “As far as we are concerned, the offset market will continue to decline as the digital side grows so we are looking into introducing new services and technologies, such as automatic binding. In the future we might also consider introducing another HP Indigo Press so we can continue to offer the very best that digital printing has to offer.”