Running out of ink is a massive headache. Finding replacement cartridges is even worse. That’s why HP has Instant Ink subscriptions - so you never run out of ink. But as a category, printer ink is pretty boring. The products are all basically the same. And everyone advertises in the same way - shouty retail offers on white backgrounds with pictures of ink cartridges. (Google it, you’ll see what we mean.)

HP wanted to flip the script, drop the white world and lean in to the core benefit of the product - vibrant colour. They wanted people on socials talking about their Instant Ink subscriptions. Most of all, they wanted people to subscribe. So those were our objectives. Execute an Instant Ink subscription campaign that would drive high levels of social engagement (not easy when you’re talking about printer ink), while also encouraging more people to subscribe.

Our idea - Rather than relying on price points (like everyone else), instead we decided to use the product to sell the product. Welcome to the colourful world of HP Instant Ink subscriptions. We created a campaign jam-packed full of vibrant colour; one that not only stood out against the rest of the category, but also jumped out in everyone’s social feeds. And the art we created with Mulga specifically referenced Australian characters and themes, while simultaneously being as detailed and colour-rich as possible.

The campaign had three key audience groups - families, creatives, and SMEs working from home. To run our campaign, we selected IG and FB for two key reasons. First, that’s where most of our competitors (really dull) advertising was already showing up - and we wanted to directly show them up. And second, both platforms are ideal vehicles to view and engage with the highly colourful and creative Mulga work. They’re also optimised to promote engagement and interaction, which was one of our key objectives.

The Colour Never Stops campaign ran for just over a month. Key to our approach was to supply an ongoing (and highly engaging) stream of content for people to see and respond to - driving engagement, reaction and shareability was key along with encouraging people to subscribe. Our four hero videos were posted once a week, over four weeks. To support them, we also created and posted a range of other creative. Importantly, these weren’t just static ads, but rather, they were executions that directly invited participation (memes, spot the difference, I-Spy, Where’s Wally etc). Our assets were posted on FB and IG - two platforms that are ideal for our eye-catching creative. In total, 16 unique assets were made.

We had two key objectives; get people talking about HP Instant Ink subscriptions in socials, and encourage more people to sign up. The results? They paint a very pretty picture. Together Mulga and HP created 16 unique pieces of unique (and very colourful) art, which meant:

Brand consideration went up +11 points

Insta followers increased by 25% (total reach was +13m)

Post clicks +203k

Site visits +15k

Subscription sign-ups went up +30%

Undeniable proof that the colour never stops with HP Instant Ink subscriptions.