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Epson Tackles Inkjet Myths in New Campaign

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Epson Europe appointed Rosalyn Addison and Charlie de la Haye as inkjet myth busters. 

In the past, ink-jet printing was often derided as slow and expensive. Today, however inkjet printing is not only used in super-fast production printers, textile printers and other commercial printers, but has also been adapted for the office, with fast, low-cost, and reliable inkjet printers and MFPs now available.

To that end, Epson Europe has just a launched a new campaign designed to dispel any lingering myths about its inkjet printing.

Epson appointed its first two “myth busters” to its European team to tackle some of the long-established misconceptions about inkjet printers. Epson says that from ink costing more than champagne (and Chanel perfume), to inkjet printers being slow and outdated, to WiFi being hard to set up, are just some of the misunderstandings about the technology that are still held by many.

Rosalyn Addison will become global chief myth buster, supported by Charlie de la Haye as her deputy. As existing members of the Epson communications team, they will take on their additional roles this month, starring in a number of short films “that aim to set the record straight and dispel the myths.”

The myths they’ll be busting include:

  • Connecting to WiFi and printing from mobile devices is difficult – Instead, Epson says users don’t need to be a technical whiz to do either of these things and the myth busters will show you how easy it is.
  • The technology in inkjet printers is old fashioned and outdated – Instead, says Epson, it’s actually “incredibly sophisticated with lots of clever innovations, and has many features that laser printers can’t offer.”
  • Inkjet printers are only for small printing jobs and aren’t built to last – Epson notes that this just isn’t true, and that it’s still servicing some printers that are more than 10 years old.
  • Paper is constantly jamming, and print heads are always clogging –Epson says this just isn’t the case with Epson printers, and its myth busters will show users how to prevent any annoying mishaps.
  • Users can’t print when one cartridge runs out – Epson’s  myth busters will show users how they can continue to print even when one color is depleted.
  • Ink isn’t affordable – Epson notes that there’s now a range of different ways users can buy to to suit their budget.
  • It doesn’t matter what ink you put in the printer – Epson’s myth busters will show the benefits of using Epson OEM ink and not third-party ink.

The firm says that although the new myth-buster roles and videos are meant to bring some fun to the way in which users think about printing, they do underline a serious point. It notes that parent company Seiko Epson of Japan spends about $1.2 million every day on research and development and the firm regularly wins global design awards for many of its products.

Heat-Free Inkjet Printing

Epson notes that it’s committed to Heat-Free Technology in its consumer and office printers, a technology that doesn’t use  heat in the ink-droplet ejection process, instead using pressure to force the ink onto the paper. This provides consistent high-speed printing, greater durability because there are fewer parts to replace, lower power consumption, and less need for maintenance. It also allows greater flexibility compared to other inkjet technologies, as Epson says there are no limitations when it comes to the liquid that can be printed with, or the materials that can be printed on.

Low-Cost Ink Options

To address the often-controversial subject of ink costs, Epson has introduced a range of options that can reduce printing costs. These include EcoTank models – inkjet printers with refillable ink tanks, and which Epson says provide savings of up to 90 percent on ink costs. EcoTank models are bundled with ink equivalent to 72 ink cartridges, enough to print up to 14,000 pages without needing to replace them.

There’s also ReadyPrint, Epson’s first subscription printing service that  launched earlier this year across Europe. ReadyPrint provides monthly plans that start from less than €2 ($2.66) per month, and some plans even come with the use of an EcoTank printer.  With ReadyPrint, customers can save up to 90 percent on ink by choosing a set number of printed pages per month.  Cartridges are then delivered to customers’ door before ink runs out, so they never have to worry about running out of ink.

The myth buster films will be used worldwide in a campaign running over the next few months and will be available to view on the Epson’s official You Tube channels and social media sites.

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