This week, Epson Europe announced its exciting new brand ambassador: renowned Olympian Usain Bolt. The world’s fastest man and eight-time Olympic Gold medalist will be the face of a major awareness-building campaign for Epson’s cartridge-free EcoTank printers. The advertising campaign will cover billboards, online website banners, and point-of-sale throughout the EMEAR region, plus TV advertising in the UK and Germany.
“Just fill and chill” is the slogan for the new product, which cool guy Bolt repeats across the TV commercial, web banners, and POS advertising footage and photos—emphasizing the three-year longevity of the new range that no longer requires cartridges but uses high-yield ink bottles instead. The EcoTank range (featuring single and multifunction devices) is geared toward in-home use for the buyer searching for ultra-low running costs, less hassle through high-capacity ink bottles, and speaks to significant waste reduction. The range also supports Epson’s sustainability drive to lower company and consumer CO2 emission levels. The campaign will also highlight Epson’s ink delivery subscription service, ReadyPrint, which can save customers up to 90% on printing costs.
“I’m delighted to be working with Epson to help spread the word about EcoTank printers,” said Bolt. “I only partner with brands that I believe can make a real difference. EcoTank printers remove many of the frustrations that exist around printing with cartridges, so anything that can help make life a little bit easier has got to be a good thing.”
Epson has been the driving force in the industry shift to ditch cartridges and has explored many forms of continuous ink tanks. The over 60 million EcoTank ink tank printers sold worldwide since its launch in 2010 is strong confirmation of customer acceptance.
Epson has also invested (and continues to invest) heavily in its brand name. In the US market Shaquille O’Neal has been the ambassador for many years, and the company also partners with Manchester United and Lewis Hamilton. Adding Usain Bolt, one of the most recognizable people in the world, for the European region will help Epson to reenforce its brand name amongst a wide consumer group, which (thanks to working from home) suddenly got a lot larger.
Recent research by Keypoint Intelligence suggests that, by January 2022, over 28% of Europeans will be working from home full time, and another 50% will be working from home at least partly. The crossover of personal and work life through working at home means that, suddenly, there is a broader opportunity for Epson to promote its devices for office and home use. EcoTank offers many benefits that consumers working from home are looking for, such as lower TCO, more sustainability, and user-friendliness.
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