When the 2016 packagePrinting Excellence Awards were handed out this year, it became clear that today’s consumer packaging need to work harder to attract attention in retail environments. Design alone is no longer enough.
Evidence of this arises from the fact that this year’s standouts gained recognition primarily for their use of multisensory special effects. These included opal tones, holographs and glitter. They also reinforced the new reality—quality and creativity in the use of specialty finishes are no longer an exception, they are on the verge of becoming the rule.
In fact, judges in this year’s competition were quoted in the media as saying how impressed they were with the lengths the winning manufacturers went to ensure their products stood out in consumer environments.
Best of Show
The flexographically printed label for
Girls’ Night Out Wines chardonnay received the competition’s top
honor. While the judges were all impressed by its crisp
printing and precise registration, its use of
special effects were part of what clinched the 2016 packagePrinting Excellence Awards Best of Show distinction.
“It was a great print job incorporating many decorative effects,
which added to the label’s complexity,” said one of the judges. “There was an
interesting mix of different images to add to this label’s appeal.”
Consumers Are Touched by Good Packaging
Experienced marketing professionals already know that good packaging can boost sales. After all, packaging is the last opportunity you have to make your case in the buyer’s journey. It’s what they are looking at when a decision is made to put a product into the cart or not. If you can get a shopper’s attention, then encourage them to engage with your product—to physically pick it up and touch it—it makes it harder to put it back on the shelf. It also increases the likelihood it will go through the register line. To trigger that chain of reactions, your package design needs to connect both visually and tactilely. It’s a connection that requires more than the standard four-color process and line work.
As the standard of excellence shifts—both in awards competitions and on store shelves, your packaging strategy needs to shift with it. For ideas on how to boost your product’s competitive advantage with consumers through the use of specialty finishes and special effects, talk to us. We can suggest innovative new ways of achieving the award-winning look you seek.
Contact us to learn more about special effects screen printing and raised UV coatings for packaging
