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Making the most of labeling technology trends

Before you settle on developing a package around a technology, make sure your priorities are straight.

About the size of a sugar packet, PakSense’s next-generation BIOmed XpressPDF labels are flat, temperaturemonitoring labels that feature an integrated USB connection point.
About the size of a sugar packet, PakSense’s next-generation BIOmed XpressPDF labels are flat, temperaturemonitoring labels that feature an integrated USB connection point.

And use your imagination. Think of what you want to achieve, and then find the right technology to make it happen.

1. Devise a plan. Start with what you hope to accomplish both short-term for shelf impact and long-term for brand building. Understand that committing to a long campaign is a wise decision to get the most out of your investment in time and money. Oftentimes, technologies can build on one another, establishing a brand story of innovation and consumer-centrism that resonates.

2. Have fun, add fun, and improve function. Delighting consumers can be achieved in a number of ways, but the ways might be category-specific. Humor that might succeed in beer or wine categories might not go over so well in personal care. Functionality or ease-of-use that might improve the product experience in home care may be perceived as frivolous in the food categories. Learn about the habits of the category shopper, and then try to delight them with something that adds value or fun to their lives.

3. Separate security strategies. Many label technologies discussed here could be used as entry-level brand protection initiatives. Graphics, effects, and printing techniques can offer brand protection through counterfeit deterrence. However, true brand protection requires a much more strategic campaign. (See: “Top considerations when implementing brand protection strategies.”)

4. Use metallic inks appropriately. Converters are reporting that their ink suppliers are now providing metallic inks that will work with more printing processes and substrates than ever, including clear film labels. Metallic printing inks for shrink-sleeve applications can now tolerate as much as 25% shrinkage while still maintaining the desired impression.

5. Consider “active” inks. You may have heard of scented inks, but converters are experimenting now with inks that consumers can taste. Time-sensitive inks have gotten better, where a color changes after a certain time to alert users about freshness and effectiveness. (Arm & Hammer uses this to signal consumers when it’s time to replace the baking soda in their fridge.) Thermochromic color-changing inks are also becoming more popular and less costly.

6. Could an LED label light up your life? Medea Spirits recently introduced an interactive bottle for vodka that lets retailers and consumers program messages right onto the bottle’s label. The messages scroll across the label panel, stock-ticker style, in bright blue, white, or pink letters. The label can store up to six messages, and two buttons control activating the label and toggling between the programmed messages.

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