Palo Alto, Calif. – HP today announced that Tabs Direct, a direct mail house and Omnicom Group Inc. subsidiary, has installed an HP T300 Color Inkjet Web Press to add full-color variable-data printing capabilities to its personalized direct-mail applications.

Tabs Direct's selection of the HP T300 extends the 2008 strategic agreement between HP and Omnicom to develop a digital print supply chain that streamlines the creation, management and printing of marketing campaign materials. "Full-color digital print for high-volume direct mail represents a tremendous growth opportunity for print services providers because of the production efficiencies it generates and the increased relevance it brings to direct marketing campaigns," said Aurelio Maruggi, vice president and general manager, Inkjet High-speed Production Solutions, HP. "The HP T300 is the first solution available to unlock the advantages of higher-volume digital color printing by offering uncompromised productivity, versatility, quality and economics." Tapping the greater value of the database with digital color Tabs Direct will use the press to further its HP-driven upgrade from two-step monochrome imprinting on color-printed analog offset "shells" to turnkey digital color production. Specifically, the HP T300 Color Inkjet Web Press will allow Tabs Direct's clients to adopt or expand their use of color variable-data printing.

Last year, Tabs Direct started capturing new business opportunities with the installation of an HP Indigo 7000 Digital Press, which the company will continue using for its clients' new-prospect campaigns. With the advanced productivity and efficiency of the HP T300, Tabs Direct can offer the higher response rates associated with color variable-data printing in the long-run volumes its clients need to effectively reach their customer databases. Tabs Direct is the first dedicated letter shop to take advantage of the HP T300 press's ability to handle thicker media up to 350 grams per square meter, allowing the firm to meet higher-volume demand for digitally printed, full-color postcards.

"In the past, moving to variable-data color required our clients to accept some type of compromise in terms of cost or results, but with the HP T300 press our clients do not have to make trade-offs," said Brian Lang, president, Tabs Direct. "With this press, the speed is right, the price is right and the quality is HP quality – which is better than everybody else's." Later this month, HP will engage with marketing professionals at the 57th Annual Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival in Cannes, France, to highlight the advantages of digital print in helping brands achieve greater return on investment.