Printers can hear from the range of companies leading the way in digital print at Digital Print for Packaging 2013, held in London on the 2 – 4 December.

Robert Monaghan, director of Air Innovation, discusses how digital print is evolving, ‘Recently, the FMCG industry went through a phase where only the small start-ups were delivering exciting new products to the supermarkets. This gave the big companies a wake-up call – no-one more than the Coca Cola Company.’

Mr Monaghan refers to Coca Cola’s recent global ‘Share a Coke’ campaign, which serves as the perfect success story to demonstrate the potential of digital printing for businesses. Originating in Australia and hitting Britain this summer, the campaign involved 375 ml and 500 ml PET bottles of Coke which featured 250 of the most common first names from around the world in multiple different languages.

This allowed customers to ‘share a coke’ with their friends, families and loved ones. The campaign was a huge success, seeing both sales and social media engagement with the brand increase. Without digital print, the project, which spanned 35 European countries and 750 million packs, would not have been possible.

The campaign demonstrated the efficacy of digital printing in increasing consumer interaction with a brand, through personalisation of packaging and easy integration with online marketing campaigns.

The potential of digital print reaches way beyond the label. Personalised digitally printed flyers and brochures have been driving up ROI for years now, using content which can also be incorporated into online and mobile media as pioneered by marketing teams such as the one at BSkyB. 

This kind of personalisation ensures relevant messages are delivered to targeted groups of your customers. According to Forbes.com, 61% of US consumers feel more positive about a brand when marketing messages are personalised. Following Sky’s lead, you could be producing completely bespoke and targeted packaging in the not so distant future.

However, this technology is in its relatively early stages and there is a general lack of coverage and awareness about it in the industry. Mr Monaghan stated, ‘I’m surprised at how little press coverage and case studies about Digital Printing there are in circulation.’ For this reason, there still exists a general consensus that digital printing is expensive and difficult to manage, especially for smaller companies. Mr Monaghan recognises this perception, stating ‘this dovetails with another question – should we really invest in NPD (new product development) as it’s often costly, risky, and takes years to deliver any ROI, if ever?’ The answer is similar – can you afford not to?’

Digital printing is becoming increasingly cost effective and offers the same standard of quality as more traditional printing methods. Companies of all shapes and sizes are beginning to recognise its potential, and those who do not get on board are likely to get left behind.

Printers can hear from the range of companies leading the way in digital print at Digital Print for Packaging 2013, held in London on the 2-4 December. Whether you’re considering digital print for your business or would just like to know a little more about it, this event will provide you with answers to all of your questions.

Mr Monaghan, who is acting as co-chair at this year’s conference is keen to stress its importance and relevancy ‘It’s guaranteed to be a conference that delivers a valuable learning experience for delegates, while also inspiring attendees about how digitally printed packaging can form part of really innovative product marketing.’