Topeka, Kansas (News release) - The Foil & Specialty Effects Association (FSEA) has unveiled the results from its most recent study on the power of print embellishments. The study was created to measure the impact of print embellishments on direct mail results and was conducted by a leading national car wash company with multiple locations throughout the midwestern United States.

Working in conjunction with FSEA, the national car wash company agreed to share the results from a postcard mailing to a targeted neighborhood surrounding the location of one of its newest car wash facilities. A total of 7,500 postcards were created, with 50% of the cards printed digitally 4-color process on the front side and 50% of the cards printed digitally 4-color process with the addition of offline digital inkjet embellishments. The print embellishments included spot raised and textured coatings and raised digital metallic decoration.

The backside of the postcard described a special offer for a free car wash if the direct mail recipient brought the postcard to the car wash location. Separate barcodes differentiated the two types of postcards - one for the printed postcards only and one for the embellished postcards, allowing the car wash to determine how many of each postcard type were redeemed.

The result of this campaign clearly demonstrated that embellished direct mailers with tactile varnish and/or metallic finishes are significantly more effective in generating responses when compared to standard print-only direct mail campaigns. The embellished car wash postcards with the free car wash offer achieved a response rate of 16.8%, which equals a 31.25% improvement over the response rate of the printed-only postcard. The statistical analysis confirms the significance of these findings, providing strong evidence to support the use of tactile embellishments in future direct mail campaigns to enhance engagement and response rates.

For more information and the detailed results of the new FSEA study, contact Jeff Peterson, FSEA executive director, at jeff@fsea.com.

The Foil & Specialty Effects Association (FSEA) provides a wide range of resources to help print finishing companies remain profitable today and into the future. From tangible benefits offered through cost-saving programs to educational opportunities (conferences, webinars, case studies and articles) to green initiatives proving the sustainability of foil decorated paper/board, the FSEA strives to provide its members with ideas, data and solutions to grow in today's marketplace. For more information, visit www.fsea.com.