GLENS FALLS, NY - Finch Paper LLC has been awarded the 2012 Pulp & Paper International (PPI) Promotional Campaign of the Year Award for its Digital Field Guide Campaign. The award was presented during a ceremony in Brussels on November 12.

Finch Paper earned the award based on its "unique, systematic approach," according to judges.

The 70-page Finch Digital Field Guide was co-authored by Finch Paper and Printing Industries of America and produced by CDS Publishing. The comprehensive guide contains design considerations for digital printing and includes a breakout of current printing technology, including digital presses; and it delves specifically into designing for digital to produce optimal results.

The award-winning campaign took a cutting-edge approach to reach its print-industry audience, utilizing both personalized URL (PURLs) emails and print-on-demand technology, allowing recipients to customize the Digital Field Guide with their choice of three covers, as well as their company's logo and contact information.

Digital Field Guide orders were recognized with a follow-up "thank you" email that included an offer for 15% off their next order of Finch Digital papers.

"It did all that it could with respect to generating awareness and new business for a company," one judge commented. "Several channels were used to get the message to the appropriate audience and the company was able to go beyond their customer base to reach their customer's customer. The number of new contacts generated by the campaign is outstanding and the boost to relationships with existing customers will be a positive factor for the future."

Finch Paper Director of Branding & Communications Beth Povie said the Digital Field Guide Campaign was intended to be "targeted and personal."

"Building an effective marketing campaign can be tricky these days with mailboxes - virtual and digital - flooded with offers from companies. We wanted to leverage Finch's friendly brand image along with a unique offer to get responses and build qualified sales leads for our team."

With the Digital Field Guide as a sales tool, and an expanded line of digital papers that includes top-rated Finch Fine iD and Finch Opaque Digital for toner-based printing and Finch Inkjet Pi inkjet web applications, Finch saw a 50% growth in digital sales in 2012.

Judging for the PPI Awards was done by a panel of internationally known industry representatives. PPI is the leading trade publication for pulp, paper and paperboard manufacturers in North America, Europe, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa.