Ricoh Europe has developed new authoring capabilities for the OEM’s Clickable Paper that will enable companies to deliver a more responsive, client-centric service. Ricoh is also launching customization software during the second half of 2015 that will allow clients to embed Clickable Paper into their own branded apps. Clickable Paper connects printed materials to online resources using image recognition software. It’s a low-risk growth strategy that builds on what you do well – printing – by giving you a simple and effective way to deliver electronic marketing materials.
Basically, the technology allows printed materials to be re-purposed without marking, editing or reformatting the source documents. Hotspots are used to link to rich media from related authored content, end-user contributed social information or calls to action – such as tweets, maps, calls and emails. The technology allows communication to be taken beyond the page to a new interactive level to deliver more value to a user’s (i.e. printer’s) customers.
“Clickable Paper’s ability to provide immediate one-touch access to multiple online information is already well known,” said Graham Moore, Director of Business Development, Ricoh Europe. “However, until now, Ricoh handled the authoring process. With this latest release, print service providers can now undertake the process themselves to ensure faster turnaround. Hotspots can also be managed in a more hands-on way so content can be adapted to offer a truly responsive information resource.”
Customer feedback so far indicates that that putting authoring capabilities in the hands of users will help make the production process smoother and better support a user’s clients. For example, one boat cruise operator used Clickable Paper to link a hotspot to a 360-degree tour of one of its boats. After seeing a huge spike in viewings, the company decided to drive more bookings by producing similar videos for the rest of its fleet.
“The app adds a level of usability and manageability to help companies to offer their clients greater choice,” Moore added. “It’s another step towards identifying the impact of a campaign and overall engagement. These new developments enable a greater level of product flexibility that will drive market interest towards creating print that links to online resources using innovative and flexible technology – and will in turn generate sales. The fact that so much functionality can be added quickly and easily will encourage more end users to specify Ricoh’s Clickable Paper to improve content accessibility and develop more productive client relationships.”
Ricoh develops new authoring capabilities for its Clickable Paper technology
