Interview with Ed Entecott, Brand Manager at Lollipop Print

Consultation, digital print, branding & display specialists Lollipop Print sponsored our Spotlight Supper on 29 March with guest speaker Dr Lynda Shaw. We caught up with Ed Entecott, Brand Manager at Lollipop Print, to talk about their brand and how it has grown over the years. 

Why the name Lollipop?

To answer that we have to go all the way back to 2009 when a print company called Document Options acquired a little copy shop in Hove called Fotofax. I was fresh on to the print scene, tasked by Document Options to get to know the copy shop and to put together a plan to grow and develop the business.

We came in to it with great plans of providing businesses in Brighton & Hove with a local print and design store. Customers would be able to deal directly with our helpful team and many jobs would be produced at the store on a same day turnaround. When they needed something bigger like a run of marketing brochures or an exhibition banner they could still deal with the same person but the work would be produced using state of the art equipment at our main factory in Crawley. We really wanted to bring print back to the high street away from the ever growing online only printers, allowing customers to build ongoing relationships with the people they were entrusting their brand with.

The problem we faced was that this lovable copy shop was really old school; having been around since the eighties. All of the work was coming in hardcopy format, we were doing very little in terms of ‘colour printing’ and most of our customers didn’t think to ask us for things like business cards and leaflets.

After a year or so of working with Fotofax we realised two things:

1 - We had tons of work to do.

2 - We had to change the name and build a new brand.

Brainstorming commenced throughout the company. We received lots of different ideas from various people including customers. In amongst the scraps of paper and random emails we had compiled was the word Lollipop. At first it was overlooked, and then it was written off. Nobody, me included, could picture themselves answering the phone and saying “Lollipop Print, how can I help you?” But then it happened.

We took the risk and decided on the name Lollipop Print. It was later revealed that Dan Patience, Print Manager at Crawley put forward the idea after thinking of it in the middle of the night.

So what’s happened since then?

We had a crazy time rebranding the store. Unable to close down for longer than two days at the weekend meant it was no mean feat. Armed with bundles of vivid pink vinyl and canvas prints galore we set about creating a Lollipop Print Shop. Add to that the creation of a new website and making sure we still got everybody’s printing out on time and you can probably imagine the mayhem. 

But it was all worth it.

Since launching in September 2013 the store has gone from strength to strength, adding tons of new services and helping hundreds of businesses with print and design. It’s changed massively from when we first got involved in 2009 but we’ve always held on to the original value of helping smaller businesses.

The name has had such a profound affect. We were unsure on it at first, but everyone loves it and it really resonates with what we are trying do.

And the brand has continued to grow?

That’s right. Brighton & Hove will always be the original home of Lollipop and it’s been so successful that we decided to replicate it in Crawley a year later.

We never really thought it would grow like it has and that’s one of the mistakes we made when we did the rebrand. Little things like choosing the right website URL and email addresses can cause big problems later down the line. We went with www.lollipopbrighton.co.uk which seemed great at the time, but it means you have to manage multiple websites and various email domains each time you open a new store. My advice to anyone going about a rebrand is to aim high and think about what things could look like in 5 years’ time if everything exceeds your expectations. That way you’ll make better decision that will stand the test of time.

Tell us more about your growth plans?

We’ve definitely got a lot on at the minute. We’ve just joined forces with Hove based Budgeprint to increase our wide-format offering. Matt at Budgeprint has tons of experience working with really big print and display projects. He’s a master of exhibition graphics, outdoor displays and all other forms of signage. So we’re super excited to welcome him to the team and for both sets of customers to benefit from the added services that will be opened up to them. Watch this space.

We’ve also acquired another print store similar to Fotofax in Chichester. Later this year it will become the third Lollipop store adding a great geographical location allowing us to cover the whole of Sussex whilst keeping the local print shop scene alive.

The cherry on top will be a great new website that really shows off all the great print and design services that we can offer to businesses across Sussex. And yes, this will be better thought out than the original one and promises to include some helpful tools for local businesses to order online and collect in store.

So finally, what do you see in the future for print as a medium?

That’s a tricky question.

I love print. I love the way it looks, I love the way it feels and I love the way it smells (weird I know!). Don’t get me wrong I appreciate digital as well. As a business we send out regular email marketing to our customers and try to be as active on social media as possible. But to me, nothing compares to receiving a piece of well-designed and expertly finished print. When used correctly print can have a huge affect on your business, message or idea.

It’s a tough time being a printer at the minute, and has been for some time now. We’re lucky that we have a really defined and loyal customer base, but lots of printers have gone out of business lately and that’s a big shame all round. I think that print will always play a big part in any good marketing mix and that people are really beginning to appreciate it again after being hounded by digital advertising 24 hours a day.

Call me biased, but I think print has a bright future.

Thanks to Ed for answering our questions and to Lollipop Print for sponsoring the event. To find out more about Lollipop, visit www.lollipopbrighton.co.uk or email Ed at Ed@LollipopPrint.co.uk. 

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