Print Buyers Sound Off on the Major Print Franchises

Lexington, Kentucky, USA - July 9, 2001 - WhatTheyThink.com, the leading on-line community and research firm in the graphic arts industry, surveyed print buyers about their awareness of major franchises. This survey took place with 242 print buyers from a variety of industry segments located throughout the United States.

The goal of the survey was to determine brand awareness on a national scale. We also examined favorability ratings with buyers who were familiar with each franchise. Companies included in this survey were: Allegra Network, Alphagraphics, Insty Prints, Kinko’s, Kwik Kopy, Minuteman Press, PIP Printing and Sir Speedy.

Of note, Allegra Network is a new name for most American Speedy Printing Centers. PIP and Sir Speedy are sister franchise companies and Kinko’s is technically not a franchise, but a chain. Also, note that many of these franchises do not have locations in every part of the country.

The buyers were asked:

Please select your perception of the below major franchises/chains in the quick printing industry.

Favorable
Neutral
Unfavorable
Never heard of the company

Overall, Kinko’s has the most brand awareness with 99% selecting an answer other than “Never heard of the company.” Sir Speedy followed with an 83% rating. The franchises with the least national awareness were the Allegra Network with a 15% rating followed by Insty-Prints with 44%.

In terms of favorability, we examined only those familiar with the franchise. It is also important to know the neutral ratings given to the companies meaning the buyer was aware of the firm but had neither a positive or negative perception of the company.

59% of print buyers familiar with Kinko’s placed a favorable rating with the company. In a distant second was Alphagraphics with 36% and Kwik Kopy with 27%. Franchises with the lowest favorability rating included PIP with 19% and Insty Prints with 20%.

Franchises receiving the highest unfavorable rating was Insty Prints and Sir Speedy - both with 11%. Of buyers familiar with Kwik Kopy, an amazingly low - 4% had an unfavorable view of the company.