BRAND United University Hosts Free Educational Event for Print Buyers, Providers

BRAND United will host a virtual, two-track event on Monday December 13, 2021, that will provide insights on the collaborative and synergistic power of marketing, branding, design, and printing. The event, presented by BRAND United, PRINTING United, and IDEAlliance, is free to registered attendees, including brand owners, print buyers, marketers, agencies, designers and print providers that are committed to the continuing education of their customers and the success of their customers’ organizations.  

Participants will learn key market trends, be inspired by real-world use-cases, and learn about the leading- and cutting-edge technologies that can help them do their jobs better. Track 2 specifically addresses the role of package design and technology in the marketing mix and leads off with an amazing keynote presentation by Dré Clemons.

Dré Clemons is the founder and principal of Dré Clemons Inc. and is responsible for some of the most iconic package designs in the world, including the distinctive packaging for ReaLemon that has served the brand well for more than two decades. As an inspirational leader with experience and expertise in everything from brand management to design-and-engineering, Clemons is now educating the next generation of designers as an adjunct professor at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, Michigan. That is, when he’s not developing new designs, creating new standards, and inventing new processes to help brands — hailing from a diverse range of markets from consumer goods to aeronautics and from fashion and retail to automotive — gain a competitive advantage by design.

Some of the design and innovation leadership roles Clemons holds today include creative director and co-founder of jewelry and luxury goods brand Grantston, adjunct professor at the College for Creative Studios, and founder of fashion brands Alaine Seri and Dré Clemons. He has also served, at different times, as a director, manager, and creative design specialist at Dassault Systèmes SE for the consumer goods, consumer packaged goods, fashion, and retail markets; a brand manager for IBM 3D Automotive; and a concept car designer for Ford Motor Company.

Clemons’ keynote presentation is followed by a dive into digital packaging innovation by long-time industry veterans, Donna Covannon of Xeikon and Greg Palm of Mark Andy. They will explore digital package printing technology and the research and development that’s driving digital packaging solutions for marketers, brand managers, and brand designers in the consumer packaged goods industry. Package printers will want to make sure their brand design and marketing customers attend this session to get a better understanding of how marketers and designers can leverage package printing technology to elevate their brands and their marketing campaigns now and in the future.

Rosalyn Bandy, TLMI’s vice president of sustainability, and Ben Markens, president of the Paperboard Packaging Council answer questions in the next expert panel session that addresses sustainability efforts and the consumer perspective. This session will help package print buyers, including marketers, brand managers, and brand designers in the packaged goods industry better understand the sustainability efforts of two major segments of the printed packaging industries. Marketers will learn how they can tap into the paperboard packaging and label industries’ efforts to create more sustainable packaged goods or improve their eco marketing.

Chuck Schonert, the director of research and development, for the industry standard-setting IDEAlliance, kicks off the next session. This session will be of interest to both packaged print buyers and print providers themselves, as Schonert will show and explain why color consistency is important across multiple packaging platforms to ensure brand integrity. Schonert is expert in taking very technical information and translating it into language that everyone can understand. This is a great session for print buyers and providers alike because it transcends the industry jargon that can prevent effective collaboration. Schonert provides language and examples that can help print providers overcome that hurdle and will instantly make the color consistency conversation more accessible to print buyers.

As part of BRAND United University’s commitment to delivering real-world use-cases, we have invited the always inspirational Sabine Lenz, founder of PaperSpecs, to share some of the most innovative packaging examples that she assures us will blow our minds. The session will leave print buyers and print providers equally inspired by the possibilities of printed packaging.

And these sessions just incorporate the packaging specific track! Track 1 looks at the many offline marketing touch points in customer journeys and covers new technologies and data-powered print marketing techniques, top design concepts, the importance of brand consistency across channels, best practices for measuring the effectiveness of print, and the power of offline marketing in optichannel campaigns.

Bren Niemuth, president and partner of J. Schmid, and Tim M. Curtis, president and CEO of CohereOne kick off track 1 by discussing the power of comprehensive creative and data analytics plans for united brand execution. Lenz also presents in the first track with top design considerations for brand owners, designers, and marketers when planning and implementing creative direct mail materials for optichannel marketing campaigns. Ray Van Iterson, manager of innovation and product development at the United States Postal Service, leads a panel of direct mail experts to explore what makes direct mail effective, how to leverage it to drive results and revenue and the ways it should fit into a brand’s optichannel marketing strategy. Followed by a session by Schonert on the power of color consistency in direct marketing. Printing industry veteran and NAPCO Research principal analyst Lisa Cross finishes the track with a data-dense conversation on the power of offline marketing in optichannel campaigns, where she explores BRAND United research, revealing key trends and takeaways crucial for brand owners, marketers, agencies, designers and ring buyers to make business decisions.

The event is free to registered attendees, but attendees do need to register for their specific tracks. Use the links below to register for one or both tracks today so you don't miss this powerful event on Monday, December 13, 2021. 

• Track 1: Print Marketing for Maximum Optichannel Performance
• Track 2: High-Impact Package Design, Decoration & Technology