Packaging Impressions Parlor: Personalization — No Longer a Packaging Novelty

Over the course of this blog series on digital package printing, we have covered digital’s benefits primarily through the lens of its efficiency advantages. With its fast speed to market and quick turnarounds of increased versions and SKUs, digital printing has benefited brands by delivering efficient and cost-effective short runs in high demand. While efficiency gains are at the top of brands’ perceived benefits of digital printing, the technology’s creative components should not be overlooked. Personalization and customization of packaging were a rarity before the rise of digital printing. While some have viewed this capability as a novelty, data shows that brand owners want to connect with consumers on a more personal level.

Figure 1: Personalization of Packaging Intrigues Brand Owners | Credit: NAPCO Research | Click to Enlarge | Credit: NAPCO Research

In NAPCO Research’s 2023 report Digital Packaging: Opportunities to Thrive, brand owners were asked to select the top five benefits digital printing of labels and packaging provides to their companies (Figure 1). While short runs and fast turnarounds topped the list, nearly half of respondents stated personalization, versioning, and customization were among their top benefits (49%).

With brand owners prioritizing personalization, it is important for package printers and converters that have invested in digital printing to think creatively about the many ways personalization can be achieved. Commonly, one-to-one personalization is what first comes to mind, with brands seeking to connect with shoppers by printing consumers’ names or a custom photo directly on a package. While this can be challenging in a brick-and-mortar retail setting, as there is no way to know exactly who will be selecting an item off a shelf, the rise of e-commerce has made one-to-one packaging personalization easier for brand owners and more interactive for consumers.

For example, I have enjoyed a couple of different brands’ offerings to personalize a package directly through their online platforms. Otamot is a tomato sauce brand that caught my eye for its organic ingredients and colorful labels. But a fun twist for those buying the product online is the ability to have the label personalized, whether for themselves or to give as a gift.

Credit: NAPCO Research

Similarly, Milk-Bone has launched an initiative for pet owners to upload an image through an online portal to have a photo of their dog printed on a folding carton of treats. Not only is this a fun way to personalize a highly popular product, but it also provides a keepsake for the consumer, who may hang on to the personalized box — extending the brand’s presence and visibility in that consumer’s home. I’ve had my dog Elmer’s personalized folding carton on my desk for years.

Credit: NAPCO Research

While these one-to-one personalization examples are fun ways for brands to connect on an individual level, brands can also maximize digital printing’s ability to provide customized packaging targeted to a specific region or for limited-edition packages that will only be available for a short period of time.

The Paperboard Packaging Council highlighted a great example of regionalized packaging in its 2020 North American Paperboard Packaging Competition. This award-winning initiative, launched by Mars Wrigley and WestRock, featured packages of M&M’s in Green Bay Packers colors and branded with the iconic Wisconsin team’s imagery.

Credit: Paperboard Packaging Council

While that may have been enough to attract the eyes of the passionate Packers fan base, digital printing allowed WestRock to update the packaging weekly with the final score from the most recent game, along with key statistics. The quick turnaround advantages of digital also allowed these updated packages to ship out to stores in time so that consumers could have the latest version before the next game.

Though this example is not a one-to-one personalization, it is still a highly creative way for Mars Wrigley to connect to a select group of consumers and tap into a collective regionalized fanhood.

Though implementing a personalization campaign can be challenging and requires the technology to carry out, the results speak for themselves. In Digital Packaging: Opportunities to Thrive, brand owners were asked to indicate their level of agreement with a variety of statements (Figure 2). The statement, “personalized or customized packaging having a positive effect on product sales,” received the highest instance of agreement, with 93% of respondents indicating they agreed with the statement and 51% saying they strongly agreed.

Figure 2: Personalization Positively Impacts on Sales | Click to Enlarge | Credit: NAPCO Research

On a practical level, the efficiencies and cost savings of digital package printing make the technology a must for printers and converters to consider. But packaging and printing are also creative endeavors, and using digital printing’s advantages to help brand owners better connect with their target audiences is a key factor to consider. Personalization and customization in packaging have proven to be a viable method of enhancing consumer engagement and boosting sales and have developed into an effective tactic that has extended far beyond novelty.