Vistaprint N.V., a leading online provider of professional marketing products and services to micro businesses and the home, today announced a significant upgrade in paper stock for its standard and premium business cards, with no additional cost to consumers. The increased weight of the business card stock will result in a 40 percent heavier standard card, ensuring a sturdier feel and a new smoothness that will result in a higher print quality and color vibrancy across both sets of cards.

“Vistaprint has long been the market leader in business cards, having set the standard for the online design, order and print process more than a decade ago. We are committed to providing exceptional value to micro businesses, and aspire to lead the market in both affordability and quality,” said Trynka Shineman, Vistaprint’s Chief Customer Officer and Executive Vice President, Global Marketing. “That’s why we’ve significantly upgraded the paper stock of our standard and premium business cards without passing any additional costs on to customers. There’s no doubt they will immediately notice the upgraded quality the first time they pass a new Vistaprintbusiness card along to a contact.”

Vistaprint’s standard business card will now be printed on 110 lb. paper stock. Customers can upgrade as they always have to a premium business card stock, which is now printed on 130 lb. paper stock. All other features, including image uploads, custom templates, backside printing and options like matte finish will be available on the upgraded stock.

In conjunction with the upgraded paper stock, the company also announced it will be altering the iconic backside messaging on its free business cards for North American Customers to “Build Your Business at Vistaprint.com.” Vistaprint pioneered the free business card offer in 2000, giving a trial offer of 250 cards to anyone who wanted to order online and see the quality for themselves with zero risk. It quickly took off and the company imprinted a viral message to the back of each free card with the message, “Business cards are free at www.vistaprint.com.” It quickly became one of the most successful viral marketing campaigns in history and helped fuel Vistaprint’s early growth. In the 10 plus years since, the offer has generated more than 6.9 billion free business cards worldwide.

“If there’s one thing we as a company have learned in helping millions of micro businesses with everything from business cards to websites, it’s that customers usually turn to us at the inflection point of starting a business,” Shineman continued. “In essence, the business card is the first step to building a business from the ground up. With this message change, we’re embracing that and letting micro businesses everywhere know Vistaprint is here to help build their brand image with a multitude of products, beyond just business cards. As Vistaprint has evolved so has our product mix, and we hope this new backside message helps reflects that.”