HP launches Middle East chapter of marketing campaign

'What do you have to say?' puts HP's latest Print 2.0 strategy in action by inspiring customers with new ideas to express themselves and providing easy online tools to mash, create and publish digital content in new, exciting ways.

Launched with a special 'Dinner in the sky' concept at Jumeriah Emirates Tower - another 'first' by HP in the Middle East region. 'Dinner in the sky' features a table, with 22 seated guests, that is hoisted 50 metres in the air from a crane. HP hosted three sittings, one for media, HP partners and HP staff.

Commenting on the launch, Sherifa Hady, Consumer Business Manager, Imaging and Printing Group, HP Middle East said:

'This is the largest global interactive marketing campaign that HP has unveiled to date so we wanted to launch it in an extraordinary way to leave a lasting impression. Today experiences no longer revolve just around a PC with a printer attached to it, increasingly we are using digital devices to create and share content over the web. As content continues to move from the desktop to the web, HP is working to make printing relevant and meaningful and this campaign is a big step towards it.'

She added: 'What do you have to say? offers consumers robust web-to-print experiences, with a mix of traditional, out-of-home, online and viral marketing elements driving people to the sites.'

Web achiever experiences

The campaign opens with robust web-to-print experiences that serve as the hub of 'What do you have to say?' Each experience offers customers an opportunity to mash up their personal content with exclusive designs inspired by campaign's featured personality - singer Gwen Stefani- and easily print this content anyway they want - at home or work, online or eventually via a network of print service providers.

'The campaign is designed to inspire our customers and empower them with new ideas and online tools to help them think about what they have to say and HP can help them create, mash, share, express and publish their content the way they want to, to better communicate, connect and be understood,' said Hady. 'To make it more relevant to the Middle East we will be identifying local achievers to share their success stories and we are Arabising the campaign name so it will be known as ÚÈÑ Úä äÝÓß.

The total campaign spend worldwide is $300m and will include traditional, out-of-home, web and viral marketing elements. The campaign also included sponsorship of the Santana concert where concert goers were able to visit the 'What do you have to say?' tour buses and enjoy demonstrations of the latest HP products. Following on from that the tour buses will be visiting schools across the United Arab Emirates for a period of six weeks, empowering children to have their say by creating their own t-shirt and calendar designers. In Saudi Arabia the campaign will launch at Gitex KSA and at Cairo ICT 2008 in Egypt.

Print 2.0 - Next Printing Revolution

Print 2.0 is HP's strategy for making printing relevant and empowering both personal and professional content increasingly moves from the desktop to the web. The strategy focuses on three areas: delivering a next-generation digital printing platform that increases print speeds and lowers the cost of printing for high-volume commercial markets; making it easier to print from the web; and extending HP's digital content creation and publishing platforms across all customer segments.

'Today we're igniting growth across every single part of our business and introducing market-leading imaging and printing solutions and products' said Amr Hassan, General Manager, Imaging and Printing Group, HP Middle East. 'With 'Print 2.0' and 'What do you have to say' we're leveraging the power of the web as a gateway for our customers to communicate, collaborate and publish their content in ways they could not before.'