If there was one message that came out of the recent ‘Digital Print for Brand Success’ conference, it was that digital printing of labels and packaging has arrived and it is time to get involved if you don’t want to be left behind. Neel Madsen has the story.
Held on 6 November, the Digital Labels & Packaging Industry Group’s conference was a sell out success with over 100 delegates gathering to hear brands, retailers, suppliers and printers share their stories on how you can create new revenue streams, add value, get products to market and connect with customers in new and wonderful ways through digital print.
For the last couple of years, the group has provided a platform where participants in the value chain can come together and share knowledge about how digital can be implemented to best advantage. This has mainly been in the form of smaller roundtable events, but with the overwhelming interest these have attracted, it was time to broaden out the offering and present a full conference programme. Judging by the packed out room at Kings Place in London’s King’s Cross, the programme appealed to a wide array of stakeholders.
Huge opportunity
Setting the scene, moderator Sean Smyth laid out the market situation and the drivers behind the adoption of digital into the labels and packaging market.
Digital is making inroads in all sectors of packaging, being well established in labels, changing in corrugated, pending in cartons and flexibles, exploring/pending in rigids and experimenting in metal. ‘While digital is maturing in the label sector, it presents a huge opportunity in packaging, but don’t expect conventional do go gently into that good night. There has to be very good reasons to move from the established methods and supply chains,’ he said.
Already taking advantage of this opportunity is Ultimate Group, a pioneer in digital print for packaging. The company works with large brands such as Walkers and Taylors of Harrogate, as well as new start ups where digital can get short runs on shelf. It is also approved to supply packaging for all the major food retailers in the UK.
Chris Tonge, sales and marketing director, showed the delegates a wide range of real life examples, and said, ‘I look forward to the day when we can truly show off the quality that is achievable with digital. At the moment we are literally having to ‘dumb down’ digital to match the conventionally printed products already on the shelf in a particular range.’
With the recent installation of the wider packaging press from HP Indigo, the first in the UK, Ultimate’s digital division is poised to take on even more of the flexible packaging market. Mr Tonge stated, ‘Digital has opened up the world to us and allowed us to engage with global brands on personalisation and customisation projects on flexible packaging. Every major brand and retailer wants a piece of the digital action. The future has arrived and all we have to do now is throw away the old rule book.’
Worldwide challenge
Digital has played a major role for Neal’s Yard Remedies (NYR) in expanding the brand globally. Paul Day is the packaging technologist at NYR, and together with David Beeby, sales manager at Amberley Labels, he explained how the company developed a range of peel&read labels for its iconic blue bottles, tubes and jars for the international market.
Trying to get such a large range of products (there are some 500 SKUs) into multiple markets, each with its own linguistic challenges and legislative demands, would have been near impossible with conventional technology. Together with Amberley, NYR developed a new label for each product starting from scratch. The peel&read element was crucial in order to be able to fit all the information on the labels and Amberley commissioned a bespoke machine specifically to be able to offer this option.
As an environmentally conscientious company, digital was a great fit for NYR. Not only did it enable this international campaign, but its print on demand capability reduced inventory and created no waste.
Flipping the lid
While digital for cartons may still be in its infancy, one company has taken on the technology and run with it. Once an offset litho converter, Colebourne & Partners prides itself on being the first dedicated digital carton converter in the UK.
Managing director Guy Colebourne explained how the company’s web-based software makes light work of managing thousands of SKUs and has in effect pushed the responsibility for the artwork back to the customer and created a print on demand solution truly synchronised with demand and creating no stock write off.
Not only does the company supply packaging solutions for brand owners and retailers on a contractual basis, but its web to print portal printedlids.com offers smaller businesses an opportunity to apply branding on their products in the food-to-go sector. Customised printed lids for takeaway containers can be supplied in runs as short as 500 either with one of the background designs available on the site with logo etc added or with the restaurant’s own design. A great niche market with endless possibilities.
Digital as the solution
Another of the brand members of the group is TwiningsOvo. Having previously had only little experience of digital in this space, John Nicholson, packaging development manager, quickly realised the potential and is now a complete convert.
Mr Nicholson explained how digital printing of labels and packaging is beginning to open up new avenues of possibilities that would have been difficult to pursue with conventional technology. Amongst others, Twinings is launching a new range of speciality teas with multiple SKUs – a big range with short runs that needs the flexibility of digital to make it viable. ‘It just wasn’t feasible to bring this new range to market conventionally. Fortunately, I had attended several events with the Digital Labels & Packaging Industry Group and knew that digital was the answer to this particular conundrum.’
Through the group, Mr Nicholson connected with CS Labels. ‘I was pleasantly surprised at the fantastic quality CS Labels delivered. In some cases the labels that came back were better than the conventional ones we’d already had done,’ he said.
For brand owners, such as Twinings, which are used to having set lead times of up to 13 weeks, the short delivery of digital is a revelation as is the fact that there is no limit on minimum order quantities. Mr Nicholson concluded, ‘We can see that digital print is going to have a huge impact on brands and help them differentiate in the crowded market. We want to embrace it but need to find the cost/quality/quantity sweetspot.’
No limits
Waitrose is also starting to maximise and leveraging the benefits of digital, explained the retailer’s packaging and reprographics manager, Karen Graley. She looked at benefits for the customer and how the technology can be implemented in the retail environment. ‘Retail is constantly looking at ways to make it easier for customers to shop, whether it be in store or online by introducing new services and maximising the use of technology,’ she said.
The retailer has a lot of interaction with innovators but it can be difficult to make it relevant and bring products to market. ‘Packaging Innovation Days’ are held to discuss, explore and agree top priorities for its packaging strategies and support brand innovation and development.
A firm supporter of digital, Ms Graley commented, ‘I believe that digital print can perform in all categories. There are no limitations to its capabilities. It is an enabler and we would like to do more.’
Transformation
Managing director of Print Future, Neil Falconer presented another exclusive case study. He has worked closely with Teckwah in Singapore to enable the company to offer fully integrated campaigns to its customers.
Ai Ling Chua, regional business development manager of Teckwah Value Chain, gave her side of the story, explaining how the company had moved from a traditional print and packaging company to a provider of interactive solutions. Using social media, augmented reality and variable print data, Teckwah offers a unique proposition to the Asian market and already has a number of very successful projects under its belt.
In 2013, the company ran a campaign for Meiji Co Ltd to celebrate the Japanese manufacturer’s 40th anniversary. This included a competition to win large cash prizes implemented using augmented reality on its Hello Panda biscuits packaging. The campaign was very successful and opened the door for Teckwah to have a completely different conversation with the brand that was no longer about costs or printing. It became about the concept and how it can drive the campaign using the technologies in its arsenal.
Blippability
Blippar, in the shape of brand partner Jess Thompson, gave an insight into how augmented reality (AR) can ‘bridge the gap between the physical and the digital worlds.’ The technology turns print into interactive experiences, such as converting pizza boxes into a vehicle for promoting the latest Ninja Turtle film, Coke cans into a Spotify jukebox and Heinz ketchup bottles into a cookbook.
Ms Thompson explained how the mobile phone has become an extension of our senses and offers brand owners the opportunity to connect and gather data from customers in ways that were previously not possible. And the more engaging the AR experience is, the more valuable ‘brand time’ is accrued. She said, ‘As long as there is some interesting content and a reason to scan the code, people will try it.’
Change is coming
‘We are on the verge of a massive change in the market place that will affect everyone in the packaging supply chain, including all the major high street retailers,’ said Ian Schofield, Iceland Food’s own label and packaging manager.
He is looking to implement ‘lights out’ automation in the packaging production and sees digital playing a major part in this. Digital enables artwork to be changed at the push of a button, creates little waste, and most importantly, means that the retailer can get products on shelf faster.
‘Disposable income is decreasing nationwide and people are looking to save where they can so that they can treat themselves somewhere else. For some people this could be flying with a low budget airline when they go on holiday, but for my customers it’s more about saving on milk to have a Friday night take away.’ And it is making sure prices are competitive which aligns digital printing to Iceland’s needs. Frequent changes require flexibility and short time to market, and digital printing is becoming an integral part of the company’s packaging strategy.
In closing
The seminar also included a panel discussion where Jess Thompson, Karen Graley, Paul Jenkins of the PackHub, Tim Smith, CEO of Linkz-IM, and Janet Shipton, section manager at Mondelez International, debated innovation, trends and opportunities.
It closed with a presentation from headline sponsor HP Indigo’s Mark Dempsey who talked about the company’s technology, illustrated with examples in which brands have used it to deliver their message.
At the end of the busy day, publisher Marie Rushton said, ‘I am delighted by the high delegate numbers we have achieved for our inaugural conference on how digital print can bring success to brands, big and small. Along with the great quality of the presentations and discussion, we have experienced a really inspirational day with lots of great takeaways.’
