Digital Printing Builds Brands Limitless Solutions to Drive Packaging Innovation
Dear reader, Today’s consumer landscape is a fast and ever-evolving place. With more choice and knowledge than ever, consumers are expecting brands to take lead on social and environmental issues they care about. Packaging is what connects the consumer to the brand and with digital printing there are so many ways to empower your brand across the entire customer journey. It’s more than just a printing technology it can act as an advertising platform. In this whitepaper, we share with you how MCC’s digital print platform and applications can provide you with quick turn solutions, enabling your brand to go to production quickly and also easily pivot when needed. Digital technology allows for the utmost in individualization, including unlimited design options in a single print run. This capability can provide you the ability to test market different design concepts easily, or incorporate a collage of graphics, a feat not doable with other print platforms. We also consider how digital can lead the way in a more sustainable future. We feature several success stories from around the globe for you to draw inspiration from. Learn how others have benefited from digital print’s speed, versatility and personalization to maximize their brand’s impact in the market. We are excited to share our knowledge and experience with you. We hope it spurs creativity, drive, and the quest to let the label tell your story! The MCC Team
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In this issue 4
The Changing Consumer
8
Product Lifecycle
16
Sustainability
30
Brand Protection
Page 4: The Changing Consumer
Page 8: Product Lifecycle
Page 16: Sustainability
Page 6: Versatile Solutions for Today’s Brand Owner
Page 14: Every Possible Label Solution Page
Page 20: Consumer Engagement Page 30: Brand Protection
Want to get more education on Digital Printing? Check out our website www.mcclabel.com
“Digital Printing Builds Brands. Limitless Solutions to Drive Packaging Innovation.” is a publication of MCC. Copyright © by MCC. All rights reserved. The content of this document, including all copy, images, and attachment(s) are property of MCC and should be treated as confidential. It cannot be shared with or forwarded to third parties and cannot be published without MCC’s prior permission. If you have any questions regarding the use of this document, please email marketing@mcclabel.com.
The Changing Consumer
Digital Print: The Solution for a Changing Consumer Times are changing! With more choice and access to education than ever before, today’s consumers are not only savvy, but also particular.
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Today’s consumer The shifting landscape is led by the powerful millennial generation (those born between 1981 and 1996), a group that has managed to disrupt traditional market trends with its preferences. They know what they want, and more importantly, they know what they don’t want in the products and brands they embrace. This commanding demographic has several key traits that distinguish it from its counterparts: Environmentally conscious - They value brands and products that are sustainable, natural, and earth friendly. 75% of Millennials & Gen Z only engage with brands that protect earth. Social media savvy - Millennials grew up in a socially connected world. They are well-versed in sharing their preferences and experiences with others in their network. Seek experiences - They thrive on experiences and enjoy sharing these with their friends and loved ones.
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Uniqueness is king - Individuality and differentiation are important, not only in themselves, but in the products they use. Personalization is a big plus to this generation. Brand agnostic - For the aforementioned reasons, brand is less important to this generation than substance. They will rally behind brands and products that fit their lifestyle and preferences, often disregarding history or reputation. In times of change While the COVID-19 pandemic will come to an end, it has changed consumer habits and preferences for the long term. We have seen an increased need for agile supply chains, fast time-to-market and a versatile digital press. In 2020, the digital print platform has been a benchmark of adaptability while the industry moves quickly to cope with new demand. Its core benefits make it an ideal and versatile solution for today’s dynamic consumer set.
Brand owners are continually looking for new ways to reach their consumers. Digital print can support the brand to accelerate sustainable growth. Use digital print to talk to your consumer via personalization and product innovation.” Rachel Tzirin, Global Sales Director Digital Print at MCC
Digital printing offers: Immediacy • An immediate action in a crisis • An immediate response to any demand • An immediate supply when priorities change
Focus • A product launch supported by tests and versions • A focused support to any kind of cause • An effective supply for a product end of life
With digital print, you don’t have to be dependent on product life cycles. Print what you want, when you need it.
Value • A customized product matching marketing demand • A unique product for each consumer • A value added personalized product
Time to market speed is everything. Without the tooling, setup and production times needed for alternative printing methods, digital print jobs can be turned around extremely quickly, often reducing lead times from weeks to days.
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The Changing Consumer
Versatile Solutions for Today’s Brand Owner Jörg Waldorf and Darren Priebe are industry veterans, with almost 70 years combined experience in the packaging industry. They have worked with some of the world’s biggest brands. We speak with them to discover their outlook on the recent surge in digital printing and if that trend is here to stay.
We’ve seen a growth in digital packaging over the last couple of years. Do you think this is set to continue? DP: Yes absolutely, not only for big brands but for small brands as well. We see graphics changing more and more frequently and the need to grab the consumer’s attention. Digital is a great medium to provide customization, personalization, speed to market and agility.
Jörg Waldorf Executive Vice President of Global Sales – Food & Beverage at MCC
JW: I agree. Digital print will take a more dominant role in the future and it will continue to grow. It really helps to drive emotions and support diversification in the market. Another thing that drives growth in digital is efficiency, compared to one or two years ago, we can already get a far higher output on digital presses in a short time.
Do you think digital will overtake analogue printing technologies? DP: From my point of view the technologies are very complementary. That’s one of the great things about MCC, we have all the different print technologies covered. If you look back, 15-20 years ago, rotogravure was intended for large, higher run brands and digital was more focussed towards lower run, smaller brands. Now, the equipment manufacturers realize that they need to work towards the middle. Rotogravure has developed to become more cost competitive on shorter print runs, as digital has on larger runs. I refer to it as right size printing, there is not one print technology that fits every SKU across a brand. Typically, you will find that certain SKU’s within a brand may fit with rotogravure, flexo or litho whereas others would fit well with digital. This drives out cost, helps with agility and gives the brand owners assurance that they don’t have to make something fit because it is the only option they have. I think it is highly
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unlikely you would see a large global brand convert everything over to digital. It has its place but it is not a replacement. Over this unprecedented year the global market has experienced significant changes. Has this contributed to the demand for digital processes? DP: The last year was all about survival. There were some brands, especially hand sanitization or home care cleaning products, that really saw a surge and benefited. Others saw a pull back with less demand – certainly in sectors such as beauty care. So what digital allowed them to do was to quickly shift to capitalize on the smaller print runs and respond to the lower demand they were experiencing. Where we saw increased demand, there was a shortage where you couldn’t find products such as hand sanitizer on the market. It enabled companies to quickly shift and create a label very quickly to get their product on the shelf and help backfill that need. JW: It’s all about adapting to support new demands and quickly reacting to these needs and changing consumer behaviour. For larger brands with complex supply chains, do you see digital print playing a more prominent role? DP: Yes absolutely, for a couple of different reasons. Brands are going to be doing refreshes more frequently than they ever have. It used to be every 18-24 months, now we’re seeing as often as every 6 months to respond to consumer demand and generate interest. Where I think digital plays a very prominent role is: 1. Phase in and phase out. Some brand owners can write off millions of dollars in label scrap when they have a hard conversion from an old design to a refreshed design. By taking advantage of digital it can be a transition footprint platform. We can print analogue then, as they prepare for the refresh, start to run small quantities of the existing design
in digital. This allows them to work down inventory, resulting in very little scrap when they convert to the new graphics. 2. Consistency around the globe. If we are going to be doing brand refreshes more frequently and if you’re a global brand owner you want to know that you can do that refresh in North America, Latin America, EMEA or Asia Pacific all at the same time. The beautiful thing about the digital platform is that it enables you to do that. We have digital printing facilities around the globe so we could, on a given date, print identical labels in all regions and I think that is a huge advantage when it comes to speed to market. JW: In the beverage space we see, in particular, the soft drinks category taking advantage of the promotional benefits that digital can offer. Also, when we look to the beer business and craft breweries they are positioned in a different way. They want to step away from traditional decoration and move towards a more flexible solution such as digital. It is one of the key technologies with the right flexibility to make a product launch successful. Personalized packaging is still a key market trend. How have your customers taken advantage of digital printing here? JW: One of the first and most prominent examples was Share a Coke. This displayed how customization can be successful and engaging for consumers. They start talking about products and bring them up to second level platforms like the internet where they start to promote the brand; it is a free advertising platform. Personalization isn’t just limited to names changing. We see mosaic where you can play with colors and patterns or collage where you can move items around the bottle and get dynamics on a container that you have never seen before. We have achieved a new level with these technologies and it is not finished yet! DP: Jörg is exactly right. People want a unique experience. For traditional brick and mortar stores. We’ve seen individualization is really taking advantage of collage and mosaic. No two images are alike. When you’re looking at a product on the shelf, you can personally pick up the one that speaks to you and that’s very powerful. For sales transitioning to ecommerce, we’re beginning to have brands that are asking the question, how can I create my package so that when the consumer orders my brand they can personalize it? Personalization is going to play a much bigger role going forward. JW: It is about how to empower brands by really personalizing them and making the consumer play an active role. Build your brand in a way that you can influence the influencers! DP: In the past, in the fabric and home care arena, we’ve done some great digital programs. In the US, people are
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Digital is a unified technology – with our presses across the world, we can easily print the same label in different regions of the world at the same time. This allows for a global campaign to be run simultaneously” Jörg Waldorf, Executive Vice President of Global Sales – Food & Beverage at MCC
very loyal to their NFL football team. We were able to quickly make sure that we had packaging on shelf that represented the local team. Digital was perfect for that because we could support all NFL teams in the different regions, run smaller quantities and react if one team was selling better than another. There was also a fabric softener where they wanted every other bottle on shelf to be different. Digital allowed us to be able to print a nice mix of baby boys and baby girls. Sustainability is a huge topic within the packaging sector – how can digital contribute? JW: Darren already mentioned that with digital printing, you can be closer to demands and can therefore reduce wastage and run the entire product with less stock. These are key drivers. When it comes to smaller runs and volumes colors are ok on the first click, so the overall material consumption is lower than what we see with other technologies. DP: Jörg you hit on a very important topic there, when I look at sustainability in digital there a couple of things that spring to mind. First off, when you combine with our sustainable material offerings whether it be recycLABEL® or shrink sleeve options, digital complements that. Unlike conventional printing, with digital printing you are up on color very quickly so there is no make ready waste, therefore less raw material going into the Darren Priebe Executive Vice President of Global landfill. In addition, because Sales – CPG at MCC no printing plates are required, you don’t have the material associated with the plate manufacturing or the energy consumption, greenhouse gases etc. Digital is very conducive to supporting sustainability. JW: Digital also supports sustainability initiatives in the market. For example, unique invisible codes can direct consumers to sustainability campaigns or can provide information about how to recycle the packaging.
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Product Lifecycle
Shorter Product Lifecycles: The Digital Print Solution In response to these changing times, brands today must be extremely agile and responsive. Their offerings must be refreshed often, showing not only innovation and creativity, but a desire to engage and connect with consumers. Above all, the pressure on brands to get to market quickly is stronger than ever before. The product lifecycle has changed dramatically, with speed to market increasing by over 70% over the last several decades. Brands must keep up, or risk being left behind.
A comprehensive solution Digital printing is becoming increasingly attractive to brand owners because it offers production flexibility, a versatile substrate range, customization and shorter delivery times. Quality and versatility Digital printing has the challenge of meeting all the established quality and application expectations of traditional offset and flexo processes, and does so flawlessly, albeit with a very different printing process.
Productivity gains can be made from the automated workflows that digital printing boasts and lead times are greatly reduced from those of traditional printing processes. Though traditionally thought of for lower volumes and/or multiple SKU’s, digital printing can be a great solution for traditional offset users with unique one-off projects or promotional campaigns. Another way to demonstrate the flexibility of this technology is through the marketing possibilities that customers and brand owners can take advantage of. Digital press platforms can have different designs
Product lifecycles are getting shorter 2,25 Years
1980’s
2,25 Years
1980’s 1990’s
1,67 Years
1990’s 2000’s
1,67 Years 1,08 Years 1,08 Years
2000’s Today
0,62 Years 0,62 Years
Today Tomorrow
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Tomorrow 0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
0
100
200
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400
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600
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Source: Colgate-Palmolive business analysis
Launch
Replenish
Phase Out
Source: Colgate-Palmolive business analysis
Launch
Replenish
Phase Out
Digital saves you time and money by optimizing production Analog printing workflow
Design & Prepress
Plate making
Make ready registration
Make ready color
Printing
Converting
Finished product
Storage
Digital printing workflow
Design & Prepress
Printing
Converting
Finished product
on each sheet, enabling customers to test market a design. Digital allows for changes to colors or design with immediate visibility. This is a great way to decide between concepts before doing a complete run. Today, brands can print countless different designs and test their products live on the shelf. With this real time consumer feedback, brands can then go to production with only the designs they know resonate with their consumers. For customers who are traditionally printing via flexo or offset, there are many use cases where digital print can be the perfect solution:
Storage
• Holiday campaigns • Temporary/unique marketing or promotional campaigns • Point-of-sale displays • Private label offerings Print on demand also offers greater flexibility. Label design changes can be made on the fly without having to wait weeks to get a new batch of pre-printed labels or scrap existing printed inventory. Customers also could customize products in bulk in an affordable way; they are never required to order large batches of labels to get a reasonable price.
Print what Is needed, when it is needed! Product lifecycle:
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1 Market testing Market acceptance needs to be tested - low volume requirements. Digital permits several short runs as pilots in the market.
2 Product launch Once the product is proved viable, the brand produce the volume needed per reasonable time in the market, 2-3 weeks.
Controlled supply Here the brand enters a phase of fragmented deliveries helping supply chain and reducing inventories / risk
4 Product Refresh This can last as long as the product remains under one graphics, if there is a need for a refresh, the graphics can be altered at low volume until…
5 Phase Out The brand wants to discontinue this product and orders decrease up until fade out.
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Customer Case: Product Lifecycle
Margot & Tita Chooses Digital Printing to Conquer the World of Fragrances Margot & Tita is a French fragrance brand which stands for nature and simplicity versus luxury and sophistication. They believe perfume is like clothing, it goes along with your style and mood. Each fragrance expresses something different, and these expressions correspond to different occasions, desires, styles, and activities. The collection was created in a way that allows each and every client to create her/his own fragrance by mixing multiple perfumes. When seeing the fragrance labels, you immediately experience what the fragrance stands for.
New launch Margot & Tita’s fragrances are available online and in department, duty free, drug and perfume stores. As a fast-growing business, Margot & Tita’s team contacted MCC to create 70,000 labels spread over 7 SKU’s, within 7 days for their launch in one of the largest beauty & drug stores in Poland. Speed to market MCC Europe used digital printing to deliver the speed to market and volume of pressure sensitive labels needed for this project. By using digital printing, MCC was not only able to deliver the labels on time, but also had possibility to add embellishments at a decent cost. On the contrary of what’s mostly expected, digital is more cost-effective for smaller volumes. A premium look As a result, MCC used a silver material with a shiny lamination to provide a premium look on the body mist bottles. This gave the scented body mist bottles a luxury appearance, setting them up for success to conquer the Poland consumer market!
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Luckily we could count on MCC as a reliable and professional partner to go fast to market in 7 days.” Julie Schoell, Founder at Margot & Tita
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Customer Case: Product Lifecycle
Limited Edition ® Bowmore 1997 Single Cask Release Beam Suntory | MCC Glasgow Beam Suntory’s Bowmore is a pioneering distillery, home to one of the world’s oldest Scotch maturation warehouses. Bowmore single malt whiskys have been meticulously matured and transformed there for over 240 years.
Whisky definitively shaped by time Matured for 24 years, the Bowmore 1997 single cask whisky is a limited edition that required a one-of-a-kind promotion. Beam Suntory chose to exclusively launch the product for global travel retail. The select packs were available at Frankfurt and Heathrow Airport in small quantities (less than 600 per cask). Ed Stening, Global Marketing Director of Beam Suntory Global Travel Retail, says: “Bowmore is a Single Malt with an incredibly rich history rooted in our legendary No.1 Vaults, which has shaped the distinctive character of whiskies made here for over 200 years. As a brand, Bowmore is growing fast in Travel Retail and is very popular with travellers looking to take home a slice of this history and character.”
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The traveller’s edition Due to their collectible nature, each bottle required a unique label. The label needed to reflect the cask information in which it matured as well as being individually numbered. The variable nature of digital print coupled with the short run requirements made it the perfect printing solution for this project. MCC Scotland employed its HP Indigo 6800 press to print the variable elements of the label. To follow, they moved to the digicon press to finish with copper and white foils and complete embossing on the brand name. The bottles were presented in rigid boxes which reflected the same cask information. The box wrap can also be produced on MCC’s digital presses before being sheeted prior to conversion onto the box casings.
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Every Possible Label Solution
A Worldwide Network to Deliver Your Best Digital Label Solutions The possibilities for substrates have continued to evolve from the labels where digital printing got its start. This flexibility in printing materials allows companies to design campaigns and choose the substrates that best fit their goals, instead of only being able to use a limited number of options compatible with their printing process. The solution must align with our customer’s hierarchy of needs as it relates to their primary labels. This packaging component is often “the face” of the visual brand and is the single most important packaging element. With digital print the package becomes the media – no ads, no radio, no event internet banners, its all in the product. Hand the mic to your consumers and empower them in choosing and even co-creating their most personal experience around a physical product they can interact with. MCC has the market expertise and resource network to deliver your best digital label solution. Whether it’s comparing the most competitive technologies through price, deciding on additional functionality requirements to engage end-use consumers, or to simply add visual brand appeal to get noticed by a consumer on the shelf.
Montreal
Algoma Napa
Batavia
San Luis Obisp
Dallas
Mason
Guadalajara
Our digital portfolio includes: • Pressure Sensitive Labels • Shrink Sleeve • Wrap Around • Cut & Stack • Folding Cartons • Heat Transfer • Variety of analogue converting near-line to digital printing
Santiago de Chile
Rapid Prototyping: bring your ideas to life In addition to the agility and benefits that digital printing offers, MCC utilizes its strategically placed Rapid Prototyping Centers to support our customers in the discovery phase of design development. Our prototypes offer our customers the ability to evaluate various designs, embellishment treatments and substrates, in context, to assure that your labels optimize your message. Our commercial group is then able to match those options with price indices so your stakeholders can find the perfect balance between aesthetics and investment.
Find out more about MCC rapid prototyping capabilities as well as the benefits for your brand.
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Chesapeake
Glasgow Drogheda
Cwmbran
Nantes Port Sainte Foy
Lyon
Warsaw Bingen Alessandria
Bangkok
Kuala Lumpur
Capalaba Perth
Paarl
Auckland
Adelaide Melbourne
Discover our wide range of label solutions
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MCC’s Rapid Prototyping has been a game-changer for our customers on many levels. The early engagement in the design phases offers our customer options that they may have not been aware of. The ability to review accurate simulations of design and aesthetic options, in context, streamlines the design process while optimizing on-shelf brand appeal and perception.” Chuck Bell, Group Manager, Initiative Execution at MCC
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Sustainability 16
Why Sustainability Matters?
Consumers today demand greater and more ardent responses from vendors on their sustainability efforts. Brands need to take the lead on seeking ways to lower their carbon footprint, reduce pollution and be responsible citizens of the world.
In response, brands are putting sustainability objectives at the top of their agenda and most companies have set goals around sustainability policies and printed materials. Digital printing is well placed to help reach these goals by reducing waste and lessening the environmental impact of printing.
75%
of Millenials / GenZ only engage brands that protect earth
GOVERNMENTS Accelerating new regulations
BRANDS
Responding to legislation & stricter consumer demands
CIRCULAR ECONOMY
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Sustainability
Go Green with Digital Printing Sustainability in printing Whether environmental impacts are a driver for choosing digital printing from the outset or simply an add-on benefit downstream, digital printing offers clear advantages in this area. Traditional printing has some environmental impacts throughout the process, including: • Plate production • Plate cleaning (including high water requirements) • Disposal of plates after use • Wasted packaging due to changes, outdated materials or printing more than needed. With digital, you print only what you need, where and when you need it. From long runs and large inventories that may go unsold, to short-run, on-demand printing, it’s the nature of digital to make printing more sustainable. Advantages include: • The ability to prevent and reduce waste because of the minimal print setup. • Overall less material & energy usage by avoiding the need for plates/cylinders and its cleaning. At MCC we aim to provide our customers with the most optimum label offering that is also going to provide the most sustainable solution. This is not only taking into account the label construction but also the way this is produced. We optimize our supply chain and production process, by maintaining a continuous improvement approach in each facility globally. Where our aim is to reduce energy and
Create efficiencies via short run printing • By integrating technology in supply chain • To lower costs and avoid minimum order quantities • Launch NPDs and better manage tail SKUs
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water usage, as well as implementing waste reduction strategies. For lower volumes, digital printing is the perfect solution to provide a high quality label that is produced in a sustainable way. MCC has digital presses across the globe and the number is still increasing. MCC invests in presses that are designed to work as sustainable as possible and use water recycling in combination with green cooling systems. The last additions to our digital printing assets were even produced in a carbon neutral way.
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With its capacity for short runs and just-in-time production, digital print offers the opportunity to reduce scrap and waste, leading to a lower carbon footprint.” Stijn Billiet, Global Director of Sustainability at MCC
Amplify sustainability messaging via consumers • To accelerate sales • To strengthen consumer engagement via personalization
Customer Case
Enviro Label™: the sustainable solution for the wine industry The Astral Project by Cape Jaffa MCC Adelaide, Australia Cape Jaffa Winery from Australia aims to bring sustainable practices into all elements of their business. They are completely off-grid and have their own water supply. Finding a labeling solution that fits with the core values was the goal. The outcome: the Enviro white digital label. Enviro Label™ for the wine industry Multi-Color’s Enviro Label™ is the environmental choice in selfadhesive label paper stocks, developed specifically for the wine industry. What makes it unique The Enviro Label™ is the first 100% recycled uncoated label stock. It equals the whiteness and visual appeal of traditional uncoated papers. The label is produced from certified ‘100% recycled’ pulp. The chlorine-free face stock is laminated onto fully recyclable PET liner, eliminating by-product waste. This sustainable label solution harmonizes well with the commitment to sustainability and balance Cape Jaffa Winery has.
SAMPLE OVERVIEW Plant location: MCC Adelaide, Australia Substrate: 100% recycled uncoated paper Label technology: Pressure Sensitive Print technology: Digital
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We now have access to superior label and print technology that allows us to use sustainable practices wherever possible. We couldn’t be happier with the end result.” Derek Hooper, Owner & General Manager at Cape Jaffa Winery
Discover more of our sustainable label solutions.
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Consumer Engagement
Labels have evolved far beyond the simple needs of branding and holding product information. Today, the label is a blank canvas for a wide range of marketing and advertising opportunities. Effective packaging not only attracts the consumer but can increase engagement and provide a complete brand experience, closing the gap between on and offline purchases.
The Power of Personalization Why personalization matters? The trend toward increasingly custom, personalized packaging is only growing in importance, with significant benefits for companies who are able to take advantage of it. Research conducted by Deloitte in the UK has shown the majority of customers who are
$150B 44% expected value of the personalization market by 2021 - up 55% from 2016*
interested in customized products and/or services are open to spending more for them. Taking advantage of this trend can provide a significant boost—in addition to customers potentially paying more for such products.
50%+
of consumers are claiming they will switch to a brand that offers a personalized experience**
70%
of Millennials and Gen Z express a desire for personalized products
of shoppers are willing to pay at least 10%+ for personalized products
Digital printing helps break down some of the barriers to entry when it comes to customized packaging, so companies can more readily begin to incorporate this trend into their offerings. Unlike traditional printing, it is possible to easily create a wide variety of package designs to show the company’s creativity and reinforce their overall brand story and positioning.
Shoppers willing to pay 10% above price listed Shoppers willing to pay at least 20% above price listed Source: Exploring Personalization, Sparks&Honey, Sep. 2018
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% OF SHOPPERS WILLING TO PAY ABOVE LIST
Source: Deloitte *Technavio + exploring personalization, Sparks & Honey, Sep. 2018 **Mini Targeted Media Inc. \ mni.com - How’s that personalization going? - Emarketer, 2019
80%
FASHION
51% 76%
HOME GOODS
48% 72%
CONSUMER HEALTH
39% 72%
CPG
34% 71%
BEAUTY AUTOMOTIVE FOOD & BEVERAGE TOYS & GAMES
38% 69% 33% 64% 30% 61% 27%
Unique Techniques Make Customization a Reality Since digital print is a plateless printing technology, the possibilities are literally endless. This flexibility delivers a unique brand experience, with the ability to create collage, variable numbering and imaging and much more. This differentiation provides countless opportunities for customer engagement, loyalty and marketing campaigns.
Mosaic Mosaic allows for hyper-customization of labels, with the ability to produce totally unique and customized versions, so every single label could be different from the last and 100% unique. Studies have shown that this uniqueness resonates with today’s consumer. It can also be leveraged for seasonal or specific marketing campaigns, point-of-sale displays, loyalty programs, or any other creative use that can be dreamed up. How does it work? Different perspectives of the same pattern will be printed on the label. The output of mosaic labels are endless. The Mosaic software program crops, rotates, expands and mixes seed files to create randomized artwork patterns that produce a 100% unique label for each unit. Digital print that utilizes the HP Mosaic software can vary the image (background or fixed image) in many ways.
Collage Similar in concept to Mosaic, digital print can also provide what is known as a collage
effect. Where as Mosaic prints completely unique images on each label, collage takes the same elements, yet renders them in differently on each label. Using one file, the art can be rotated, scaled, or changed in color to create different designs, maximizing the overall impact of your packaging. How does it work? The labels are made out of the same components, but those components vary randomly in size and place. The HP printer changes these elements randomly, which also gives endless label designs.
Variable data The personalization capacity of variable data is one of the most attractive features for creative brands and marketers. Using this innovation, brands can reflect individuality and promote brand loyalty. This type of printing allows you to personalize texts and even images. Perfect for adding a touch of innovation and differentiation to your labels. How does it work? The various print engines can recreate randomized image/ data from the variable images/data supplied. This will allow a new digitally-generated image/data (random or sequentially generated) on the base artwork, with or without repeats, throughout the entire production. It’s a great feature for games & promotions – there will only be one winning number.
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Consumer Engagement
1 Bottle, 1 Billion Possible Label Designs! Heineken | MCC Cwmbran, UK For celebrating the festive season, Heineken has launched an unlimited collection of special edition bottles in 1 billion possible different designs. This cheerful promotion is the perfect personal serve wrapped in a unique festive experience. Do something truly unique and fresh! Based on the insight, ‘Because you’re one in a billion you deserve something truly unique and personal’, Heineken’s objective is to fuel human connections this festive season. It has been the stated aim by the Heineken Brand Team to incorporate the Heineken DNA colors and branding within the uniqueness of each design. The MCC beverage team has accepted the challenge
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and developed a bespoke algorithm, enabling a truly unique label by ensuring the consistence of the Heineken DNA brand elements around the brand’s iconic red star and the Heineken lettering. The MCC proprietary algorithm is mathematically proven to show no duplication of design within a billion prints.
MCC developed, in cooperation with Cardiff University the “MCC proprietary algorithm”, which guarantees that no duplications or pattern conflicts happen up to 1 billion variants!” Mike Bressington, Studio Manager at MCC
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MCC is very cooperative and makes the most complicated jobs simple. This project had impossibilities from a design point of view, but MCC always makes it happen.” Ramses Dingenouts, Senior Packaging & Identity Design Manager Global Commerce, Heineken Brand at Heineken International B.V.
Watch the video
to discover Heineken’s digital transformation
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Consumer Engagement
Label Upgrades to Achieve Any Look Exxon Mobil | MCC Batavia, Napa, Lucca Digital printing techniques have a lot of possibilities to add the bells and whistles to your design. What a great opportunity to show off your limited edition or small run! Special inks The use of special inks makes it possible to achieve a wide array of looks. Achieve a mid-brilliance look with silver ink, comparable to a foil look or stand out with the impact of fluorescent ink to really make a statement. There is also the option of invisible or fade resistant inks for security measures. These types of ink for digital printing are truly in a class of its own. Combine special inks with mosaic, collage and/or variable data and your label will be even more unique. Metallic inks mixed with digital inks can create a pantone book of metallic effects. Substrate and face-stock versatility There are no strict guidelines on which substrate
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and face-stock you should use to print digital labels. Our team of experts will be happy to inform you on the options. Together with you, we’ll make sure you have the best label possible, within your budget and desires. Limited Edition labels for Exxon-Mobil ExxonMobil contacted MCC with an opportunity to produce Limited Edition labels for their tradeshow booth at SEMA 2019 (Specialty Equipment Market Association) in Las Vegas. The request was to produce a variety of embellished, customized labels for bottles of Mobil 1™ which were given to attendees during each day of the show. A limited number of Limited Edition sets were given to VIP guests and significant
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The SEMA show project was a fantastic opportunity to utilize the multiple add ons of MCC’s Digital technology. The Customer greatly appreciated the wide array of options and project speed completion of those multiple different product versions. This project represents the world class add ons that digital print can offer.” Hal Hunt, Global Account Manager at MCC
influencers in the custom car industry. These labels needed to provide maximum visual impact to help draw attendees to their booth and increase the opportunity for the Mobil 1™ team to engage with their customers. Coming out of the project kickoff and initial brainstorming, ExxonMobil shared preliminary designs with the Multi-Color team. The Batavia team, led by Hal Hunt and Frank Coyne, further developed the supplied concepts with multiple add ons and materials. Samples were produced through Batavia Digital, Batavia Flexo, Napa and Lucca plants. The samples drew great reviews from the customer and show attendees; and even received an Instagram “shout out” from Counts Kustom.
Batavia Digital • Blue design on white BOPP with pearl spot varnish • Red design on metallized BOPP with spot matte & loss varnish • Red design on metallized BOPP with resin label from Lucca, spot matte & gloss varnish • Red “paper” simulation label with cold foil and matte varnish Napa Digital • Silver design on metallized paper with emboss, spot matte and gloss varnishes. • Gold design on metallized paper with emboss, spot matte and gloss varnishes. Batavia Flexo • Silver Shrink sleeve
SAMPLE OVERVIEW Substrate: White and metallized BOPP (Batavia), metallized paper (Napa), clear shrink film (Batavia) Label Technology: Pressure sensitive & shrink Print Technology: Digital in Batavia and Napa, flexographic in Batavia, resin in Napa
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Customer Case 26
Double Barrel Fancy
Pernod Ricard Winemakers MCC Australia Pernod Ricard Winemakers crafted a Jacob’s Creek Double Barrel Single Vineyard Shiraz, a limited batch of only 1,700 bottles, matured in a 50-year-old single malt whisky barrel. The Double Barrel range is a premium offering within the Jacob’s Creek portfolio. This special release product therefore commanded special attention throughout the design phase to create something truly distinct.
The challenge A Manter Black Pepper (black-pigmented) paper stock was selected, thus ensuring that a slender white label edge was not evident against the deep-black bottle. The challenge was issued to MCC – how to achieve a highly detailed, premium print offering, including bright white detail, bright colours and sequential label numbering, all against a dense black printing surface. In times past, a white silk-screen would have been selected. This was successful to a point, but invariably had limitations on the size, legibility and sharpness of the print detail. It was less than ideal as a base on which to over-print additional colors. Sequential numbering was also not feasible with the silk-screen option.
Enter MCC digital The solution was to apply 4 x perfectly registered layers of opaque white ink. The precise digital registration achieving crisp detail with superb opacity, delivering exceptional stand-out on the front label and very detailed legibility for the very fine text on the back label. This furthermore created the perfect opaque ‘base-coat’ against which to apply a bright red text color, once against perfectly registered for a crisp, bright result. This technique again provided the perfect solution for fine, white sequential bottle numbering, with the variable data being achieved with ease on the digital technology. Premium gold foil, embossing and matte high-build screen were added for maximum effect. A truly distinct masterpiece!
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Customer Case
Dove Christmas Cherish Campaign in Malaysia Unilever | MCC Malaysia Dove has grown from a Beauty Bar into one of the world’s most beloved beauty brands, accomplishing strong brand loyalty. Campaigns such as Real Beauty has reaffirmed its reputation of a brand that cares about women.
Clearly, consumer connection is key for Dove, to take this a step further, their team in Malaysia embarked upon a customized Christmas campaign, following on from a successful Mother’s Day event. Leading relevant campaigns in the digital space According to Epsilon, 80% of consumers are more likely to make a purchase from a brand that provides personalized experiences. As part of a Christmas campaign, Unilever joined forces with Lazada to launch a personalized shampoo and body wash under Dove Masterbrand in the Malaysia market. Lazada Group is Southeast Asia’s leading eCommerce platform, offering a smarter way to shop. Lazada connects consumers to brands, creates customized experiences, and has evolved into a retail destination. The vision: 1st ever limited edition gift bundle in e-commerce The brand’s vision was to combine gifting plus personalization plus season into one campaign. The idea is that the consumer can personalize their own message on the label upon ordering within the Lazada platform, thus resulting in a unique Christmas gift.
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Having activated a successful Mother’s Day campaign, the brand team wanted to extend this into the Christmas period. MCC was invited to review the new campaign and immediately stepped-up with a solution using our HP Indigo. A variable solution Our variable digital printing solution allows for complete personalization, whereby each label can hold unique information. When completing the online purchase, consumers could enter their own information such as the recipient and sender’s name along with their personalized messages! With a combination of variable and pre-planned data, every label could be printed with a unique Lazada purchase barcode. Each item ordered was then scanned and processed according to the purchase ID which prevented any sender mix-up. 2019 Malaysia Dove Christmas Cherish Campaign launched across multiple touchpoints including mobile and web platforms, driving above average conversion rates. Fulfilment was completed smoothly, to about 3000 orders in a week! The team at Unilever, Chui Yen, Yee and Evonne Lim were delighted to report that the campaign resulted in 12 times the sales increase vs the non-promotional period.
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Digital Print was the ultimate solution to help Unilever Malaysia in launching this meaningful campaign successfully. We are sure that many similar campaigns will follow.” Joanne Woo, Country Sales Manager at MCC
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Brand Protection
Secure Your Digital Printed Label With Brand Protection Brands are out to tackle the global threat of counterfeiting attacks. Due to customer demand, MCC’s goal is to maximize your firewall with brand security features on your label. HP Indigo solutions are divided into different security levels and types of authenticators. The more levels and/or authenticators you combine, the better your brand will be protected.
Digital solutions are divided into different security levels and different types of authenticators:
Authenticated by brand inspectors or authorities
Authenticated by end users
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Variable data This feature is not only a nice innovation to use in games and promotions; it is also a great way to secure your label. A combination of unique codes gives added protection, and if these codes are registered in a database, it allows tracking down to the item level.
Micro QR Code
Serialized Microtext
Variable Guilloche
QR code Studio SmartStream Designer
Graphic elements To fight counterfeiting and diversion, MCC can print micro QR codes, serialized microtext, or variable guilloche. These graphics are impossible to replicate.
Layered Protection Effective protection should make the package too complicated and too expensive to be counterfeit. Layered protection consists of combinations of solutions
Digital Watermark Digital Microtext Datamatrix Security Ink Copy Detection Pattern A combination of unique codes (only known by the brand), gives added protection, still when registered in a database.
Static mark HP Indigo ElectroInk Invisible Blue
Static mark HP Indigo ElectroInk Invisible Yellow
Covert serialization & Cover QR code HP Indigo ElectroInk Invisible Yellow
Serialzed Microtext
Invisible elements If your label’s aesthetics cannot be ‘disturbed’ by visual elements, you could consider using invisible ink. The micro QR codes and serialized microtext can be digitally printed, remaining invisible to the naked eye
and features from multiple security levels and different kinds of technologies. Such as security elements and designs, security inks, track and trace and substrates for security.
Do you want to learn more about brand security options? Get in touch with one of our experts: marketing@mcclabel.com
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3 Reasons to Get in Touch With Our Digital Experts From Around the Globe
1
Drive supply chain efficiencies and accelerate speed to market.
2
Stay relevant and strengthen consumer engagement.
3
Sustainably accelerate growth
Our digital solutions expert, Rachel Tzirin Contact: marketing@mcclabel.com to arrange a packaging innovation consultation
Want to get more education on Digital Printing? Check out our website www.mcclabel.com
