Dscoop panel highlights need for brand owner education

Labels and Labeling thumbnail

The conference's panel, which included Texas Instruments, Bic, P&G and Frito-Lay, generally appeared to view digital printing only as a way to economically produce mock-ups and product trials.  

These were some of the comments: 'For the size runs that we do, it doesn't make sense to use digital'; 'When you compare digital print to PMS it does not match'; and 'Our brand color is not going away: this is one of the problems with digital'. 

The audience, filled with converters from around the world, HP and its partners, was frustrated with the inability to communicate their capabilities to more receptive ears. Many questions and comments were voiced from the crowd in an effort to make the panel aware of the recent advancements of the technology – throughput, frame size, color management and more.  

Heineken’s success with its ‘Your Heineken’ campaign was shared in the Web 2 Print session on the subsequent day, vividly proving that even the world’s biggest players can find a place for digital printing in their portfolio. Your Heineken gives consumers the ability to custom design their own shrink sleeve label; a six-pack with personalized labels sells for 15 euros – an over 200 percent mark up. The project has been so successful that it will be taken into more European countries in 2010 and will be made available in a 24-pack. Wonder what a case will cost? 

Brand owners need to be more educated on what the label and packaging industry can truly offer them. They must become more knowledgeable, not only with digital printing, but also with the industry’s sustainability efforts, its advanced media introductions and added value capabilities, extended gamut printing opportunities, HD flexo and color management.

L&L’s End User Newsletter, to be launched in Spring 2010, will be a solution for this issue. It will grow the awareness of the industry’s continual advancement amongst its customers, closing the gap through education.

Danielle Jerschefske

  • Sustainability columnist