Building Shelf Appeal In Beverage Packaging

By Noel Ward

Your Very Own Coke

The latest poster boy for what can be done with digital label printing in the beverage segment is a program Coca Cola did in conjunction with HP, placing personalized labels on Coke bottles across Australia, then replicating the program in Europe. Consumers could walk into a supermarket and find Coke bottles bearing their own name or those of friends, colleagues and family members. The personalized bottles were snapped up as fast as they could be produced.

Although the labels were essentially many short-run batches of first names, it was not a simple process. It involved thirty-five nations, hundreds of names, five alphabets, a couple dozen languages, local-country labeling requirements, and HP customers in several countries. But for Coke, it increased sales and brand recognition, especially among non-Coke drinkers—the objective of the campaign. Is this a trend in beverage packaging? No. Was it cost-justifiable? Hard to know, but it demonstrates how far the envelope can be stretched with digital printing for labels and packaging.

Productivity issues highlight some of the potential. On many conventional presses, changeover time between jobs can keep productivity per machine below 50 percent. By comparison, digital presses can produce labels in short and moderate run lengths with no on-press changeover time. This can fulfill the needs of jobs for niche products, regionalized offerings (think local wineries and craft brewers), different languages, test marketing and promotional offers.

Obviously, the potential reaches far beyond the beverage market. The advantage is for brand owners eager to grow awareness and expand share. If localizing packaging, targeting a specific audience, or having a personalized label as a promotion will help, many brand owners will listen eagerly to their ad agency and a capable print provider or converter who can give them an edge on retail shelves.

It’s a safe bet that the majority of beverage labels and packaging will continue to be produced on analog presses for another decade or so. But digital presses will continue to up the ante, be more productive and carve out a larger share of the label market in beverages and other categories. The conversion side of the equation is not being ignored, either. Most of these digital devices can be equipped with in-line or near-line options for trimming, scoring and diecutting, often in highly automated workflows that further reduce costs and increase efficiency.

You go to the store to buy some liquid refreshment for the big game, the weekend party or just to restock your fridge and are assaulted by a barrage of colorful packaging from a host of beverage companies, sometimes as soon as you walk in the front door. In the beverage aisle itself, walls of choices reach out to you, hoping to engage you with team logos, lifestyle and flavor preferences, brand allegiances and more, all seeking the moment of truth when you pull a case of your chosen beverage off the shelf and dump it into your shopping cart.

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That 'Moment' of Truth: Building Shelf Appeal in Beverage Packaging