Appleton Coated
U1X Line Project: B2B New Product Launch Campaign
Industry: Paper
Audience: Communications creatives, Production & Print Managers, Paper Buyers, Printers

To expand McCoy into a complete line of paper and diversify Potlatch’s business, we partnered to introduce the company’s first-ever premium uncoated sheet. The launch extended McCoy’s reputation for performance into a new category, creating fresh opportunities while strengthening the overall brand portfolio. Context • Boldly Introduce New Uncoated as a natural evolution of coated expertise.
• Build campaign around tactile, high-brightness positioning language.
• Translate technical print specifications into accessible storytelling.
• Deliver trade show launch assets including performance guide, advertising,
booth background, support signage, video, and giveaways. Criteria

Brand
Strategy McCoy delivers uncompromising visual precision through a blue-white, high-brightness surface that removes warmth for sharper dots, cleaner edges, and true high-contrast reproduction. Brand Promise

Unfiltered Proof Points Exposed tactility with high-fidelity natural fiber surface. Sharp Halftone Dot Minimal dot-gain preserves detail and tonal control. High-white Shade Blue-white removes warmth for crisp color reproduction. 96 Brightness brightness level boosts highlights, for clean image separation.

In a bold new stripped-down surface, Potlatch unleashes its premium coated paper prowess to unveil a new standard in uncoated. Centering Idea

Character Revealing — Exposed natural fiber tactility.
Explicit — 96 brightness increases contrast for sharp image separation.
Cool Complexion — Blue-white hue removes warmth, brightening color reproduction.
Charismatic — Smoothest uncoated surface in category.
Focused — Minimal dot-gain limits ink spread, preserving fine detail.

Concept Development Creative
Strategy The campaign plays on the product name itself: “McCoy” means the real thing, complete and unfiltered. Our concept mirrors uncoated paper’s role within the McCoy family—where performance, brightness, and tactility are experienced without interference, au naturel. This direction allows McCoy uncoated to stand confidently alongside gloss, velvet, and silk—proving that clarity, brightness, and tactile presence.

Uncoated Introduction Cover Silhouetted figures personify the range of the offering: lighter forms represent text weights, while a heavier presence signals cover. As they strip off their outer layers to the music, the gesture becomes both literal and symbolic—removing layers to reveal the sheet’s true character. Text

Copy Tone Identity Development In collaboration with Copywriter Dan Rupert Kahn, we developed McCoy Uncoated copy tone using ‘stripping-down’ wit to reveal unfiltered hi-fidelity natural fiber touch.

Photography Selection Campaign photography paired candid, character-driven portraits with captions, reinforcing McCoy Uncoated’s unfiltered, hi-fidelity natural fiber expression.

Graphic Asset Development Graphic assets emphasize McCoy halftone performance through dot-based patterns, visualizing sharp definition, and contrast as an ownable graphic language.

Performance Sales Guide Engagement Application Our print applications extend product development, using rigorous finishes and techniques to validate McCoy Uncoated’s performance in real-world conditions.

Full McCoy Trailer Campaign video uses striptease narrative and dot motif to reveal McCoy Uncoated’s features through progressive visual and verbal reduction.

Media Kit The Media kit introduces McCoy Uncoated as a trip to the movies, including a comparison guide, buttons, and a box of Dots candies, enhancing engagement.

Give-away Tshirts Give-away T-shirts apply “Get Naked” slogans, extending McCoy Uncoated’s striptease narrative through playful campaign messaging.

Our campaign gave the new uncoated sheet a strong, memorable introduction. It reinforced McCoy as a complete system of finishes built around brightness, definition, and tactile performance.

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