"We were delighted to work with Alliance Print Group to deliver our 2024 festival programme. Their knowledge and direct mail expertise saved us unnecessary spend on the job and ensured delivery of the programme that comfortably met our launch date deadline. They also helped us to reduce environmental impact, which is a high priority for us."
Paula Wilson, Marketing & Audience Development Manager, Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival
The Challenge
Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival has been pulling crowds of players and aficionados to the city since 1978. Over the years it has grown to become one of Europe's largest jazz festivals and it’s one of the ten major Edinburgh festivals.
The festival’s printed programme is a crucial tool for advertising performances and driving ticket sales.
This year, Alliance Print Group was tasked with printing the programme, cleaning the client’s contact database, and mailing the magazine out to their contacts.
Print in the pocket
The printing process for the 2024 programme was a straightforward job, delivered to brief by Alliance Print Group.
The programme is a 36-page, A4 wire-bound magazine, printed on 115-gram wood-free paper with a silk finish.
The result is a light, easy-to-hold, magazine, produced in a run of 20,000.
Saving £2,800 on direct mail
Organising the direct mail was a more complex process, but we met the challenge with experience and expertise, saving our customer thousands of pounds.
1. Cleaning the data
First, we audited and cleaned the contact data. This involved removing gone-away and duplicate addresses, and confirming postcodes for all of the customer's contacts.
By doing this we eliminated several thousand redundant records from the mailing list. Our customer was at risk of sending out thousands of programmes that would never be received or read. Needless to say, this processes saved money.
2. AdMail ready
We cut back more costs by managing the festival's interactions with Royal Mail.
Our data cleaning process organised the database by postcode, and we ensured that the festival’s programme was classed as advertising. These steps meant the direct mail qualified for Royal Mail's AdMail service, significantly reducing postage costs.
The combined savings from data cleaning and AdMail was more than £2,800.
3. Reducing environmental impact
We love finding more sustainable ways to work. That's why we were happy to provide guidance on the environmental impact of the programme, recommending a compostable polythene wrap for the direct mail.
This eco-friendly wrap allowed the magazine cover to be visible upon delivery while offering an environmentally positive solution.
An standout performance
Printed, delivered, launched
The final result was a high-quality magazine printed to specification and delivered on time for the festival launch.
The direct mail was wrapped in compostable polythene and included a printed carrier sheet with the contact address, return address, and postage-paid details.
The print run, data cleaning and direct mail delivery were perfectly coordinated to coincide with the programme's launch date.
