Instant Ink — Never Run Out of Ink

HP, 2017-2022

The most egregious printing pain point is running out of ink smack in the middle of a print job. 70% of printer owners are unplanned buyers who ignore “low ink” alerts and run to the store only in a pinch. Add to this the high cost of original ink plus the growth of generics, and it becomes a lose-lose proposition for the customer and HP.

We developed Instant Ink as a subscription service that delivers ink to your door at a 50% cost savings, before you run out.

Our challenge was to make customers aware of Instant Ink and explain its mechanics. Since the purchase journey takes just 15 minutes, it was important to get their attention well before they switched to autopilot and bought a cartridge at retail.

As a result of our full-funnel test-and-learn marketing efforts, including breakthrough creative, connected ad journeys and an end-to-end customer experience revamp, Instant Ink revenue grew by 30% YOY to $500M and doubled to 11 million subscribers. 47% of its annual enrollments were contributed by marketing, largely through TV, search and social optimization with an improving ROMI and CAC QoQ.