Case Study: Digital Publishing
British Precast
"Moving the Industry Forward"

Profile:

British Precast is a trade federation representing the UK based precast concrete manufacturers, of £2bn per year construction industry in the country. They are one of the few trade federations in the country whose member base is still growing on a monthly basis and they represent over 90% of precast manufacturers in the country. Website: www.britishprecast.org

Michael Associates Ltd, the company behind Digital Publishing International, manages a number of the media campaign run by British Precast and had done a significant amount of work in the past as far as overhauling their websites. When approached to provide a print quote for the job, Michael Cheung, Creative Director for Michael Associates Ltd and Digital Publishing International suggested the Digital Publishing System could be a viable alternative to some of the excess stock. British Precast had seen a proto-type of the System earlier in the year when it was used to convert one of their tri-fold brochures into an auto-turn presentation for a trade fair they were attending.

The Problem with Print:

British Precast annually hosts a high profile awards recognising and celebrating progress in sustainability and innovations across the precast industry. The ‘Moving the Industry Forwards’ brochure published each year showcases the awards entries and winners is one of the most widely circulated of the 100+ publications that British Precast puts out every year.

The brochure has a long shelf life with many members and customers requesting current and back copies of previous year’s publication as it assists them in the promotion of their project, as well as benchmarking against competitors.

British Precast are committed to sustainability across the industry and rather than print excess number of copies of the brochures, they wanted more sustainable option, preferably accessible online to allow easy access, but as it is such a high quality publication they wanted the online version to reflect the innovation of the awards entries. This is where Digital Publishing International was able to assist.

An Innovative and Sustainable Solution:

Digital Publishing International took the design that had been used for the print run of the ‘Moving the Industry Forwards’ publication. The diagram below explains the process

1) The document, in this case a PDF file was uploaded onto the Digital Publishing System.

2) The Creation Server processes these documents and stores the results on the Digital Publishing Page Server.

3) Upon request, the publication is downloaded via the web and read by British Precast members and their customers.

4) Any searches performed by the readers are actioned by a Search Server, which returns the results to the reader.

5) Whilst reading all the pages viewed by the visitor are recorded by a Tracking Server – along with links clicked, repeat visits, etc.

6) The Tracking Server data is automatically complied into reports, which can be accessed by British Precast managers from the client control panel.

The publication contains a large number of contact details for each of the entries allowing readers who require more information on the projects and products showcased to contact the relevant person within the member company. Digital Publishing International was able to hotlink all of the listed websites and email addresses to allow readers to an instantaneous connection. This also means that British Precast is able to track all the links that are clicked on and see what the general readership is most interested in.

Members have been able to direct clients to the digital publication to highlight their projects rather than having to wait for a hard copy to arrive through the post, and potentially allow the client to have cooled off.

The savings made by British Precast can be seen clearly in the number of copies of the brochure they have sent to print:

• Copies of ‘Moving the Industry Forward’ printed prior to Digital Publishing: 10,000
• Copies of ‘Moving the Industry Forward’ printed in 2006: 3,000

The number of direct hits for online 2006 brochure has been over 500 in first 5 months.

British Precast Marketing Manager Anita Ladva said, “Our members have responded exceptionally well to the digital copy of our awards brochure. They have told us it is better value for money and has improved their ability to advertise due to the direct links to their own websites.”

And the Winner is…:

The brochure was so successful that British Precast made the decision to convert the previous year’s brochure to a digital publication, as well rather than bearing the costs of an additional print run.

They have also saved a significant amount room in their congested storage room, always a benefit to a company with a large amount of literature and extensive archive.

Since the first ‘Moving the Industry Forward’ digital publication was launched product associations of British Precast have also used the technology to convert their yearbooks into digital publications to reach a wider audience.

To view the British Precast ‘Moving the Industry Forwards’ digital publication visit: www.britishprecast.org/awards/bestpractice/index.html