HP Sponsors Cannes Young Lions Competition

The role of print in creating inspired brand experiences is taking center stage via HP's sponsorship of the 2010 Cannes Lion International Advertising Festival Young Lions Competition.

Incorporating the latest digital printing technology, rising advertising professionals from around the globe will compete on a global stage in June to produce innovative campaign in four categories—cyber, film, media, and print.

"Creative professionals continually seek fresh ways to communicate, stand out and create impact for their brands and clients," said Christopher Morgan, senior vice president, Graphics Solutions Business, HP. "Great creative deserves great delivery. Through our Cannes Lions sponsorship, we will help the 800 contestants use digital printing applications to deliver their creative concepts in unforgettable ways."

Marketing content is currently transforming from static information on a page to personalized, immersive experiences that encourage immediate interaction. This revolution provides an opportunity for digital printing to strengthen integrated marketing campaigns and connect the "online experience" with the offline world.

Today, HP celebrates the work of the four teams that will represent the United States in the Cannes Young Lions Competition at an exclusive event in New York City. The event will showcase the winning work in a custom magazine printed on an HP Indigo digital press and within an art exhibit created with HP Scitex printers and a variety of innovative substrates.

Many brands are already capitalizing on the opportunities that HP digital printing provides. For example:

• Heineken allows customers to order custom beer bottles and make the “Heineken experience” their own. Using an online portal, customers can select from many personalization options—bottle color, font style, photos, graphics and messaging—to customize their own shrink-sleeve labels that are printed using HP Indigo digital press technology. Beyond helping Heineken connect with its customers in a new and unique way, the program generated larger profit margins with each customized six pack selling for 15 euros.

• The NBA created the ultimate basketball fan experience in Dallas by transforming the city for the 2010 NBA All-star Game with more than 90,000 square feet of interior and exterior signage produced on HP Scitex printers. The project included the single largest graphic ever installed on a building, the graphic on the Bank of America Plaza, which measures 505 feet high by 105 feet wide and has been certified for inclusion in the next edition of the Guinness Book of World Records.

• Time Inc. and The Ace Group created Mine, the first-ever reader-customized magazine using an HP Indigo digital press. The publication mimicked in printed form the personalized news feeds that have become popular on the Internet. By answering just a few questions online, Mine subscribers received a free publication tailored to their interests, in which Lexus was the sole advertising partner. With reader-selected content from eight Time, Inc. publications, and the capacity to create more than four million unique ads, no two issues of Mine are alike. Mine won the Gold Medal for “Best Use of Magazines” at the 2009 Cannes International Advertising Festival.

In addition to its sponsorship of the Young Lions Competition, HP's presence at the Cannes International Advertising Festival will include:

• a seminar with advertising industry luminaries to discuss how digital print brings virtual content to physical life;

• an HP lounge within the Young Lions Zone that demonstrates the breadth of digital printing applications—such as vehicle wraps, printed fabrics, custom flooring and signage.