21st March 2011

Post with 3 notes

Buffalo Dining Cards

In late 2010,  Block Club Creative and EPi worked together to print and fulfill an intriguing new retail piece unlike anything we’ve ever printed.  The piece made waves in the Buffalo/WNY area; Buffalo Dining Cards.

Here’s the description of the piece as described on the Buffalo Dining Card website:

“Each Buffalo Dining Card is a gift certificate––46 cards are worth $10 off a purchase of $25 or more (not including tax, tip or alcohol), and 6 wildcards are good for freebies and additional savings… there are no blackout dates and cards are valid now until Dec. 31, 2011.

$1 from the sale of each deck is donated to the Women & Children’s Hospital of Buffalo Foundation.”

Several thousand decks had to be prepared for retail sale on both the internet and brick-and-mortar stores, so we also needed to create a custom POP display.

After several weeks of creating dummies, trying different papers, and finalizing die lines, we went to press.

Straight-tuck boxes printed 6-up on 12pt C1S stock

Patrick & Courtney from Block Club on a press check

Printing the project only took a day or two.  Finishing the project took weeks.

Finishing began with alphabetical collating, round cornering, and hand-stuffing…

…and finished with each deck shrink-wrapped and set 30-up into a custom POP cradle (which was also shrink-wrapped to keep the decks in order during delivery).

Once the POP displays delivered to their retail locations, a simple peel-off adhesive backer was applied to the rear of the POP display, and Buffalo Dining Cards were officially for sale!

By the end of the holiday season, feedback and sales figures made their way back to Block Club.  The project turned out to be a great success.

At first glance, custom die-cut boxes, fulfillment, and POP displays seem a bit too cumbersome for a 29” press and a handful of employees.  However, Buffalo Dining Cards exist as proof that a flexible customer and a versatile production team can yield exceptional results.