IML and digital printing The perfect match

Digital printing opens many new doors, including for MCC Verstraete, as this fairly new technology brings with it a variety of opportunities and possibilities. What can MCC Verstraete offer you as a brand owner when it comes to digital printing? We sat down with three key MCC figures to talk about the numerous benefits that digital printing delivers.

What is the current status when talking about MCC Verstraete and digital printing? Do you see a need from packaging converters or brand owners to print digitally and is MCC Verstraete ready to offer digitally printed labels?

Peter Grugeon: Yes, last year we went in dialogue with a couple of our key customers and did a poll to check the interest in digital printing. The injection molders see a great opportunity with this printing technology because it creates completely new decoration possibilities. Digital print makes Peter Grugeon adding unique serial coding possible Managing Director at MCC and this is of great interest to many Verstraete injection molders and brand owners. We analyzed all the technical advantages of digital printing and are very proud to say that we are now capable of offering digitally printed IML labels to meet our customers’ needs.

Michiel Kerckenaere: Indeed, we are ready to get started. The labels will be digitally printed in one of our MCC sister plants and as for the finishing technologies, we are currently implementing those at our headquarter in Maldegem.

What are the unique features of Digital IML?

Rachel Tzirin: As digital printing is a plateless technology, the possibilities are really limitless. Each label can be completely different than the previous one. Different perspectives of the same pattern will be printed on the label. This printing technology is called mosaic. The HP Mosaic software crops, rotates, expands and mixes seed files to create randomized artwork patterns that produce a 100% unique label for each unit. With Digital IML and its mosaic feature, the IML packaging gets an amazing shelf appeal.

Michiel: Yes, the mosaic feature of digital printing creates many options and the impact on marketing possibilities is bigger than anything that can be done with conventional printing. Digital IML is a playground for brand marketers as it opens all kinds of unique ways for promotional campaigns, games or to make a pack a real collector’s item.

Rachel: Next to mosaic, digital printing offers the capability of adding unique coding on your label. This is one of the most attractive features for creative and innovative brands. By adding a unique coding you can get in interaction with your consumer. The packaging becomes a communication and marketing tool which allows the brand owners to engage with their consumers, just by scanning a QR code or Digimarc barcode.

Rachel Tzirin

Global Director Digital Sales at MCC

Michiel: In the past, the label had mainly an informative function as it tells the consumer the brand, the flavor and the ingredients. But with Digital IML, the brand owner can add even more value to the package and the packaging becomes a completely new marketing tool. A package needs to be decorated anyway, so why not use the packaging as a marketing tool?

Does digital printing meet certain global demands or trends?

Michiel Kerckenaere

Project Manager Digital Printing at MCC Verstraete Michiel: One of the biggest trends among brand owners is connecting and engaging with the consumer. The gap between brand and consumer is getting smaller than ever. Nowadays, you can reach out to your consumer through social media and the possibility of adding unique codes facilitates this way of communication. Consumers hold the tangible product in their own hands and can interact directly with the brand. Talking about a great marketing tool!

Rachel: We see this trend not only with brand owners, but also among the consumers. If you want to target Gen Z or Millennials, you as a brand owner should fully commit to collaborating, connecting and sharing. That is the best way to approach your audience and Digital IML responds to this consumer need.

Are there other advantages by adding unique coding to the IML packaging?

Peter: Yes, this feature is not only a nice innovation to use in games or promotions, it is also a great way to

“Brands can feel protected and the consumer is sure that he has the authentic product.”

Peter Grugeon, Managing Director at MCC Verstraete

secure your label. Many brands are out to tackle the global threat of counterfeiting attacks. 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. Brands can feel protected, and the consumer is sure that he has the authentic product. In certain countries, unique coding is mandatory by law and thanks to this feature we can easily respond to this need.

What about the printing quality and capabilities of Digital IML? Are there benefits compared to conventional printing?

Michiel: With digital printing the machine always runs in extended gamut Hexachrome system, which means that a large percentage of the pantone colors can be reproduced. Contrary to conventional printing, the number of colors during one print run is more flexible when printing digitally. Another big advantage of digital printing is the impeccable register printing. It allows stable printing of large screens and it facilitates to print microtext or other small marks, so small that they are almost impossible to detect with the human eye. This feature is ideal for anti-counterfeiting, as it is very hard to copy.

“Digital IML is a playground for brand marketers.”

Michiel Kerckenaere, Project Manager Digital Printing at MCC Verstraete

Do you see digital printing also playing an important role for smaller brands, or is the focus more on bigger brands?

Michiel: Digital printing can add value to both, it doesn’t really limit itself to smaller or bigger brands. The main advantage of Digital IML is the uniqueness of each label and the marketing possibilities that come along with this. This attracts both small and large brands. However, it can be a nice way for a small brand to stand out against the bigger brands, without spending a big marketing budget as they can just work on their packaging.

Peter: Digital IML is actually for all brand owners that want to connect and start direct communication with their consumers. The size of the brand doesn’t really matter as any brand will benefit from this technology.

It is no secret that brand owners are looking for more sustainable packaging. How can Digital IML support this quest?

Michiel: We believe that Digital IML enables the reusability of a package. The brand owners have the opportunity to encourage the reusability of an IML packaging by making the package unique and less common. In this way the consumer will be eager to reuse the package as a decorative storage box at home.

Talking about unique packaging; is personalized packaging possible with Digital IML?

Michiel: Personalized packaging is a challenge for IML, as our supply chain is too long and too complex. Between printing and filling the IML packaging, there is a high risk of having scrap. However, serialization is absolutely a nice possibility of Digital IML. Serialization means that there can exist different variations among the IML labels. For instance, the well-known Nutella campaign, where you can add your name of the Nutella jar. That is something that we’re able to offer with Digital IML.

Peter: We could as well support brand owners who want to organize campaigns or promotions linked to a certain event, such as summer break, Christmas or Olympic games. The marketing possibilities are endless.