HP's Gallery Deal Pioneers Art Posters On Demand

HP's partnership with the UK's National Gallery in London and its print on demand (POD) technology has enabled HP to reach the shortlist for the 27th national Arts and Business awards just announced.

HP's partnership with the UK's National Gallery in London and its print on demand (POD) technology has enabled HP to reach the shortlist for the 27th national Arts and Business awards just announced.

HP began its financial support of the gallery in 1997 with the funding of a post and the donation of equipment to the gallery's scientific department.

Since then the department and HP have worked on the development of print on demand that was launched in the gallery in July 2003.

HP said that the standards of colour reproduction required by the gallery provided the ultimate testing ground for print technology.

The installation of POD in the gallery's shop has transformed the quality of the images offered and the choice of images available.

It has also provided a solution to commercial problems associated with the ordering and storing of poster images.

The entire collection has now been scanned and stored on an HP server, giving customers the choice of any painting in the collection.

The digitisation of the collection would also assist the conservation department with the treatment of the gallery's paintings.

The success of the POD project led in turn to the partnership with HP's advertising division and the gallery's inclusion in the worldwide HP+ brand campaign.

The campaign, which ran in the USA, UK, Europe, Asia and Japan sought to reposition the HP brand as a broad based technology company providing solutions to business problems.

The National Gallery campaign, featuring paintings by Titian, Van Gogh, Holbein and other masters included 60-second and 30-second TV and cinema advertisements, large format billboards and poster sites and magazine and newspaper advertising for a period of at least nine months.

The media value for the campaign was estimated at £30 million.

The gallery campaign was reported as one of the most popular with HP customers and its has won awards, including recognition in the UK Media Awards.

In July 2003 HP also sponsored a series of external displays on the east wing building project hoardings in London's Trafalgar Square.

The displays were created by HP's advertising agency and featured four famous paintings in the collection.

Each display provided a short story about each painting and a brief biography of each artist.

HP said that the project was well received by the public and it believed it led to increased visitor numbers.

In addition, HP donated over £0.5 million towards the east wing building project.

HP said that the gallery regarded the relationship with HP as one of the most successful of its corporate partnerships in terms of shared brand objectives, creative realisation and financial support.

Both organisations have benefited from the partnership, which the gallery considers to be ground breaking.

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