Filming the managing director of AIPIA and bringing him to life on the pages of this magazine was key to adding an innovative experience for our readers – highlighting the potential of the technology for the print and packaging industry.
“If you take AR seriously you will be able to reap serious benefits in return. It is not a gimmick.”
High on the agenda
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IPIA exists to connect brands with active and intelligent packaging providers. The association believes that implementation of new technologies in packaging is key to growth, enhanced efficiency and security, reduced waste and to support brand appeal. AR is high on the agenda. Merely seven years ago, AIPIA was kick-started with a small meeting of 70 people. Today, it has over 1000 members and is testament to the fast-paced growth of active and intelligent technology within the packaging industry. We find out more about the important role of augmented reality within this. Eef de Ferrante passionately believes that augmented reality technology is the baseline of intelligent packaging. By definition, intelligent packaging informs the consumer of some aspect of the quality, nature or production history of food for example. It can indicate whether its contents are the right temperature, or whether they remain fit to eat, for example. “Intelligent packaging such as a tab, indicator, or active code which you can scan are all still very much in development stages. AR is not. It is real, and it is happening. “My statement is that if augmented reality does not succeed within the packaging sphere, then there will be no future for intelligent packaging.” He enthuses that the fun element associated with AR is key to drawing in consumer engagement with the packaging in the first instance – you must convince the consumer to interact with the package, and AR is the most obvious method. The possibilities of what comes next are what Eef de Ferrante is most keen to highlight. “I hope to see that the ‘fun factor’, although very important, will be acknowledged as the initial element of AR, and brands can
“My statement is that if augmented reality does not succeed within the packaging sphere, then there will be no future for intelligent packaging.”
see the potential beyond this for more serious purposes such as to provide instructions to the consumer (as a simple example).”
Call to brand owners Eef de Ferrante goes so far as to appeal to brand owners to explore the possibilities. “Go and sit with your marketing and brand experience teams and think: What can AR add to our product? How can we connect our brand more closely with consumers?” AIPIA is active in connecting brands, including many notable names who are members of AIPIA, with AR technology providers. “Brands are interested in the technology but are unsure of how to best use it. There are a lot of creative and fun applications, but what about data mining?” asks Eef de Ferrante. “Brands have yet to discover even five per cent of the possibilities linked with AR. They don’t need to mine oil or gold – they need to mine data. I truly believe that brands don’t realise the wide scope of this technology yet.” Augmented reality will be the driving force behind data mining, according to Eef de Ferrante. “There’s no way back – this is our future,” he underlines. “I encourage the AR developers to really pass this message on to the brands. If they succeed in this message, it will underpin the success of AR in the packaging industry.” The mindset of brands and users must change, supported by a strong message and strategy from the developers. Brands also need to understand the multifaceted drivers and opportunities of AR. “Brand protection, consumer engagement, supply chain efficiency– these are all goals of intelligent packaging,” enthuses Eef de Ferrante. “We promote the use and implementation of new hightech solutions in packaging; AR is one of them. I strongly support the development of AR to brands as if this doesn’t succeed, then intelligent packaging won’t exist. “If you take AR seriously you will be able to reap serious benefits in return. It is not a gimmick.” It seems clear that AR technology has the potential to underpin the future of intelligent packaging. But there is one caveat: both brand owners and AR providers must take this technology seriously and fully explore its possibilities if it is to evolve past its current ‘fun’ façade.