AskODIN Newsletter UK Version

newsletter Issue 02 2013

Attention All Retailers You now have a new Job

Retailers can no no longer focus justjust on on Retailers can longer focus selling someone else’s products. selling someone else’s products.

Today the focus is on selling your own Today the focus is on selling your own brands.

Read ourour tipstips on on managing brands.

Read managing private-label packaging design. private-label packaging design.

AskODIN reviews best practices AskODIN reviews best practices in the packaging launch process in the packaging launch process and the use of ODIN. and the use of ODIN. ODIN hashas been designed by by ODIN been designed packaging and artwork packaging and artwork specialists for for packaging and specialists packaging and artwork specialists. artwork specialists.

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CONTENTS 02 - 03

Editors Welcome ODIN News

04 - 05

ODIN 8 The New Release

08 - 09

Cover Story - Attention All Retailers by Ian Schofield, Head of Innovation (SBS)

10 - 11

Focus On Retail

06 - 07

ODIN 8 and Smart Devices

Editors Comments Welcome... to the latest edition of AskODIN – the first newsletter of its kind to review the FMCG packaging world through the eyes of ODIN. In this edition, to coincide with Sun Branding Solutions’ GOLD sponsorship of the Store Brand Decisions Summit, we focus on retail.

FEEDBACK Email me, Martin at mhawkins@askodin.com for stories, feedback, comments and ideas on future issues.

Today’s market conditions for retailers are the most challenging we have experienced for some considerable time.

Shoppers’ budgets are squeezed looking for even more bang for their buck; regulations seem to be more prolific than ever - driving yet more packaging changes; and the growth of internet shopping is forcing many retailers to rethink their ranges and assortments and is questioning the very purpose of packaging in an online world. It seems that price pressures and spiralling costs are here to stay for some time. Yet despite all these difficulties there is some considerable excitement around the continued growth of private label or retailers own brands.

Our cover story written by Ian Schofield, Head of Innovation at Sun Branding Solutions, explains how retailers can respond to the challenge of being both the best merchandisers AND the best brand owners. To be successful, retailers need to learn from the world’s best and in this respect ODIN is unique, being used by both the world’s biggest retailers and world’s largest brand owners. We are also pleased to announce the release of ODIN 8 which is now available in a retail ready format (as well as a brand ready format), meaning that own label retailers can get an even faster return on their investment.

Our innovation theme continues with a focus on the explosive growth of smart devices (tablets and smartphones) and how retailers need to change to capitalise on this emerging phenomena. In this issue we are showcasing Augmented Reality and how this is set to transform packaging by introducing a virtual canvas of information accessible from a smart device.

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ODIN IN THE NEWS - Walmart Pure Balance Leading US retailer Walmart, wanted to introduce a new super premium dog food called “Pure Balance” with a superior formulation into a highly competitive category. Working with Parker Williams, a Sun Branding Solutions business brand, the brand design concept was based on strong market research and insights concluding that a dog is an additional member of the family and dog owners will invest much in giving their dogs the best they can afford.

In a category that offers many choices of dog food, Parker Williams and Walmart wanted to elevate the emotional appeal and functional quality of the new range and flip this on its head. Pure Balance is not just ‘dog food’ – it is ‘food for dogs’. Parker Williams developed a design idea that dramatises the thought of food for dogs in a more

graphical way and with strong shelf impact, in a category where packaging more typically carries a large image of a dog on the front face. The launch has proved a great success and won a Store Brands Decisions Innovation Award in 2012.

SBT PARTNERSHIP WITH ONVERT / HARMONY

ODIN 8 LAUNCHES IN NORTH AMERICA

ODIN 8 MARKS THE ARRIVAL OF “BRAND IMMERSION”

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SBT, the technical arm of Sun Branding Solutions (SBS), has announced an exciting partnership with Harmony, a digital design and development software solution provider of Augmented Reality. Harmony created an onvert 3D design technology that uniquely links Augmented Reality and QR Code technology through a single app. “The partnership with SBT enabled us to combine our expertise with one of the most innovative global packaging companies in developing exciting next-generation solutions for retail brands” said Jason Higgins, Managing Director of Harmony. Darren Heathcote, Business Unit Director of SBT said “ Smart devices are rapidly becoming mainstream technology and all aspects of brand and packaging design will need to be adapted to exploit this new technology. Our partnership with Harmony enables our retail and brand owner clients to have early insights to the amazing capabilities of 3D digital design and Augmented Reality.”

2013 sees the launch of ODIN 8 in North America at Store Brand Decisions, Innovation and Marketing Summit, Chicago.

ODIN 8 allows users to use ODIN either on a tablet or smart phone as well as PCs. ODIN 8 provides users with a new look and feel that has been designed to be intuitive, tablet friendly and helps users complete their functions in the minimum number of clicks.

Martin Hawkins, Client Services Director of SBS, said “ODIN 8 is a major release and is the result of many years of design and development investment.” ODIN is a long established software and is used by the biggest retailers and brand owners in the world.

Your Designers, Product Managers, Marketing Managers and Brand Managers all live and breathe the guidelines which define the visual DNA of your brands and products on shelf.

Why shouldn’t the tool they use to get the products to market visually reflect and reinforce this very same DNA? The brand immersion concept is one of the fundamental design principles in the new ODIN 8, providing users with a visual experience pertinent to the brand they work on. ODIN 8 marks the start of ODIN’s journey into a true brand immersion mentality.

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- New Look THE NEW LOOK ODIN 8 IS DESIGNED ON THE SAME PRINCIPLES AS MICROSOFT WINDOWS 8 Simple tiles allow users to click or touch the screen to access information. The tile indicates if the data record has changed and how many records have changed, helping a user apply “management by exception” principles.

Colour schemes and style sheets can be easily applied and adapted to suit the house colours of client applications.

ODIN 8 has introduced many new features that are aimed at making the ODIN experience even more in tune with our end users’ environments.

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NEW APPROACH -

WITH ODIN 8, THREE NEW FORMATS OF ODIN HAVE BEEN LAUNCHED. EACH FORMAT OFFERS CLIENTS ODIN’S DESIGN AND FLEXIBILITY WITH FUNCTIONALITY PRE-TUNED TO THE PRECISE NEEDS OF THE USER.

horizon

is a private cloud solution designed for retail private label / own brands and provides an exclusive packaging launch environment that supports a high volume of products and a large community of users, both internal and external to the retailer.

is a private cloud solution designed for brand owners with either high volume and / or complex products e.g. multi lingual global brands. It provides an exclusive, rigorous and fast processing environment to support international product launches and packaging changes.

is a public cloud solution for retailers or brand owners offering the rich functionality of ODIN in a shared internet environment. ODIN Horizon is an efficient, effective and economical solution for product launches and packaging changes.

In a world where margins are tight, deadlines are absolute and right first time is essential, ODINRetail is providing a reliable solution to the world’s largest retailers.

NEW FUNCTIONALITY - THERE ARE TWO AREAS OF FUNCTIONALITY THAT HAVE BEEN SIGNIFICANTLY ENHANCED IN THE NEW RELEASE. The Product File has been introduced to provide a straight forward home for the user to access any image, data or activity related asset from one single point – the product itself. With it, a range of new capabilities are available to make life easier for Product Managers, Marketing Managers, Brand Managers and Designers. The Product File provides comprehensive attribute definitions; groupings such as ranges, brands and categories; product and packaging hierarchies and links to visual assets making

on screen displays more interactive. With the Product File, ODIN 8 is also able to quickly and seamlessly integrate with other existing internal product development and product specification applications used by retailers and brand owners.

The capabilities of the existing Pack Copy Management and Automated Artwork modules have been further enhanced to provide more rigorous control over the pack

copy approval process (including translation routings). The enhancements will also allow far greater flexibility in the way copy is formatted on the print ready Illustrator files automatically.

The result is pack copy or packaging labels are easier and more visual to manipulate. It now provides greater integration, more annotation and comments capabilities, more sophisticated formatting and an enhanced approval process.

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- ODIN 8 HARNESSING THE PROLIFERATION OF SMART DEVICES

In September 2012, International Data Corporation (IDC) reported that shipments of smart devices had reached 267.3 million units in the second quarter of 2012, a 27.4% increase year-on-year. On a revenue basis, the total sales reached US$131.5 billion worldwide, up 16% from the previous year.

IDC projects growth to continue at a rate of 14% for the devices through to at least 2016.

Tablets will rise from around a 10% share this year to 13% by 2016, reducing PC share from 31% to 24%. “The recent shipment data clearly demonstrates that we have fully entered into the multi-device era, where individuals are buying and using multiple devices per person” said IDC’s Bob O’Donnell.

Smart devices are increasingly at the heart of a shopper’s experience whether it is seeking alternative products or prices in store, checking out product credentials or assessing how the product may be used.

New technology is emerging that is set to revolutionise the shopping experience and capitalise on the use of smart devices. It is called Augmented Reality (AR). AR uses smart devices to provide new views of a product in a virtual world triggered from the physical packaging. It is not using barcodes or QR codes (although these technologies can be used to supplement AR).

If packaging is the “real world” canvas of a product, then AR presents a “virtual world” canvas.

AR offers shoppers practical and valuable use for their smart devices, and helps retailers improve the shopping experience and more importantly engage with shoppers in a new way.

Working with our Innovation Partners we have pioneered the use of AR in the shopping

experience to enable retailers to offer savvy shoppers an intriguing opportunity to interact.

The aim is to retain the attention of a shopper and to offer personalised promotions. Smart devices are set to transform the way we shop.

• Consistent universal process The rate of packaging changes to support AR is set to rise and those with a robust, repeatable process that all contributors follow, adopt the technology. ODIN provides online process management that can be configured for each retailers process. This means all users (both internal and external) understand what their role is and have greater visibility enabling better planning.

• Effective communication Everyone involved in the packaging launch has visibility of its current status and what’s coming down the line. Everyone is provided with timely reminders and triggers when they are up against tight deadlines. ODIN provides one communication environment to ensure packaging development runs as smoothly and efficiently as possible.

Using AR, retailers can respond in a positive way. However, it cannot be treated in isolation nor as a one off change. It is part of the continued technological revolution that is set to transform both the need and purpose of packaging.

Those involved in packaging launches need to be highly adaptable to cope with these new demands, avoid escalating costs and become tomorrow’s winners. With so much change on the horizon impacting many product lines, we’ve looked at the best practices being adopted by the most successful retailers and brand owners that are best placed to adopt AR technology.

• 3D Design capability Whilst AR can work with existing packaging, new 3D layered images can make the experience even more compelling, engaging and interactive. ODIN provides a secure environment to store and retrieve digital assets.

• One truth The images used and the packaging assets are more important than ever and need to be managed as attentively as the pack copy / labelling definition. It is best practice to have one source of images and packaging data shared by everyone enabling a retailer or brand owner to manage packaging changes most effectively and efficiently.

ODIN enables retailers and brand owners to implement the necessary rigor when signing off artwork and managing the packaging launch process.

• Work smart and work at pace Right first time is the mantra in most successful packaging launch cultures and is the fastest way to work. Rework loops are a disaster for everyone as the lost time cannot be reclaimed. It is lost forever. ODIN is cost effective and will dramatically reduce the numbers of artwork iterations.

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PRACTICAL EXAMPLES OF HOW AUGMENTED REALITY CAN TRANSFORM THE SHOPPING EXPERIENCE 1. PRODUCT DISPLAY

2. SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

REAL WORLD – In the real world a box of chocolates is a passive package typically in a cellophane seal reliant on clever, standout branding.

REAL WORLD – In the real world social and ethical sourcing information is limited to specialist logos e.g. Fair Trade or to miniature information displays on the packaging label typically on the reverse side of the box.

VIRTUAL WORLD – Using AR a virtual lid will open and a tray of different chocolates will rise up. The shopper can select a chocolate and the flavour and description will appear next to it. This can be repeated as many times as the shopper wishes.

3. SALES PROMOTION REAL WORLD – In the real world sales promotions apply to a product for all shoppers for a fixed period.

VIRTUAL WORLD – Using AR the shopper is presented with a question with multiple choice answers. One answer could “win” a redeemable sale promotion coupon on a purchase of the product in the store that day. The promotion is exclusive to the shopper.

VIRTUAL WORLD – Using AR a smart device sees the box (e.g. the reverse side or the fair trade logo), and the shopper is presented with a choice of 2 videos; the ethical sourcing of the product and packaging; and the benefits of recycling and where to place it.

4. ENGAGEMENT AND ENTERTAINMENT REAL WORLD – In the real world the product is one among many that is seeking the shopper’s attention through a single medium of the packaging.

VIRTUAL WORLD – Using AR a smart device sees the box and initiates a game. For example, a round chocolate starts at the top of the box and as the user tips the box, it rolls with gravity and by negotiating some simple hoops the shopper finishes when it gets to the other end. A timer will retain the quickest time.

© Sun Branding Solutions

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ATTENTION ALL RETAILERS YOU NOW HAVE A NEW JOB

- Ian Schofield, Head of Innovation, SBS

THE BUSINESS OF RETAIL IS CHANGING. WHERE ONCE THE FOCUS WAS ON SELLING SOMEONE ELSE’S PRODUCTS, TODAY THE FOCUS IS ON SELLING YOUR OWN. More than ever, retailers are now brand owners. And it’s not just the outlet that you’re branding; it’s all the material on the shelves.

If it were only as easy as placing a private label on a product. However, providing you have a good quality product, it really is all about the packaging and the key to delivering successful packaging is all in the design-to-print process: creative design, naming, pack copy, managing (storing, accessing, routing and distributing) brand assets that come from a variety of sources.

What if managing this process could be achieved through one central portal? A gateway where all members of the team responsible for various portions of the packaging process could access a “true version” in real-time? With today’s advancements in packaging launch software, private label retailers can benefit by taking a fragmented process and streamlining it to be a scalable, practical and adaptable solution that saves both time and money.

• SCAL ABILITY According to The Nielsen Company, during a 52 week period ending December 24, 2011, overall sales of store brands increased by 5.1% in supermarkets. Supermarket store brand sales set a record-high bringing $59.9 billion, $2.9 billion more than the previous year. National brands gained only 2% over the same 52 week period. Retailers of all kinds including supermarkets, drug stores and discount stores saw a 3.9% uptake in store brand sales, where as national brands only saw a 0.6% increase. Sales of all products increased by $5.9 billion; $3.4 billion of that (58%) was due to store brands. Store brands sales set a $92.7 billion record (Private Label Manufacturers of America). With private label

sales continuing to rocket year after year, the rate at which private label will need to produce in order to keep up with the demand will surely rocket too. Private label are no longer the afterthought of the American consumer. Having proven they have what it takes to be in the game, store brands need to start thinking and acting like national brands in order to remain part of the play. Do store brands have the systems in place to be able to cope with this increase in product scale?

• PRACTICALITY Today’s crop of private label retailers find themselves at a crossroads where they can choose to maintain the tasks of a merchant / distributor or evolve into a “brand owner” role.

The metamorphosis from retailer to brand owner brings with it a host of responsibilities including taking the characteristics of both your store and your private label offerings, merging them into one cohesive identity that a consumer can interact with and recognise

moving forward. With consistent branding, labelling and packaging, your private label offerings and retail stores can come together in a successful marriage while managing the transformation of your new role as “brand owner” is certainly important, it is absolutely vital to keep abreast of the ever-changing rules and regulations handed down from the Food & Drug Administration that directly influence the look and feel of your packaging. The more warnings and ingredients that need to be prominently displayed on product packaging, the more critical it becomes to make use of the available space on the packaging to convey your message.

More than ever, consumers are in-tune to the various design offerings available to them in the market and are very discriminate. Some are interested in portability, some in convenience, some in portion controlled packaging, while others are simply interested in how it will fit on their pantry shelves. In fact, you should know that various research pundits

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have documented that more than 70% of purchase decisions are now made at the shelf and that transaction is dominated by the packaging and by design. No other characteristic of your brand carries more influence with consumers than your packaging. From ads to displays to coupons, none of these aspects of brand identity dominate your customer’s experience in the same way that packaging does with its immediate and powerful ability to create brand loyalty.

are even higher beyond simply the brand influence. There is an even bigger price to pay for packaging that is delayed due to lengthy approval processes compounded by all of the time wasted on coordinating the efforts of outsourced vendors. For example, a hot new product is flying off the shelves of major retail stores and for every day that passes, other private label retailers can’t move fast enough to get a similar product on the shelves and revenue is lost to their competitors.

In order to compete in a market saturated with retailers making the leap to brand owner status, you must apply the same intensity to your packaging processes as you do every other facet of your business. The first and necessary step to operating like a brand owner is to take ownership of the packaging design process. Traditionally, private labels have outsourced this process to various vendors, each specialising in a specific task, creating a slow, labor intensive, fragmented process that inhibits implementation of key initiatives.

To make matters worse, the very technology utilised to sync all of the changes that occur during the design approval cycle with various vendors lends itself to unreliable data. PCs, CDs and servers that live on someone else’s network can serve as more of an approval process threat than a guarantee in today’s real-time data world. With every additional person involved in updating and saving changes, the risk of human error elevates, increasing a store brand’s chances of finding a critical error that could set your production timings back significantly.

With the right packaging design processes in place, products can make it to market on time and stay competitive. Improving the packaging design process may hold one of the keys to overcoming some of the challenges facing many private label owners.

Up to this point, outsourcing the process did make sense, as it was necessary for companies to maintain focus on their current initiatives while finding calm in allowing the packaging and design to be managed by “the experts.” While this makes sense in theory, it also introduces a certain degree of incontinuity. How can the new breed of private label brand owners control the identity of their brand, if outsiders control the crucial aspect of that identity that is seen, touched and recognised by the public on a daily basis?

• TIME-SAVING

• MONEY-SAVING

Let’s dissect a real world scenario in which the outsourced solution fails. A direct competitor has a product launch and it has now become essential that you make changes to a packaging design that is currently in its final stages and bring the product to market weeks earlier than originally planned. You also need to meet with your manager today equipped with the current status of the project and recommendations on how to achieve this lofty goal. In the current, outsource laden environment of organisation data silos, how are you supposed to access the most recent version of the design in order to make the necessary recommendations and decisions?

Emails and phone calls are a natural starting point in this predicament, but you are left vulnerable to those whose priorities may or may not be on par with what yours are right now.

So much of your label’s success depends on your packaging. While your actual packaging certainly impacts the bottom line, the stakes

Now imagine what this same situation could look like if the brand manager owned a

common data repository which allowed all members of your team (from design to print) access engineering specifications, graphics, substrate materials etc, all organised in one, easily accessible place.

The benefit of storing the data in this way is that the packaging information remains secure and instantly accessible. Packaging launch software has multiple levels of approval-based access that protect data and intellectual property inputted by the creative team. The advantages of a real-time environment become apparent when you consider the alternative: a manual system reliant upon multiple phone calls, emails and overnight package flow to all users.

Systemising this process will take the guesswork out of everyday packaging challenges like adding a call-out to the more involved issues like redesigning an entire package on a tight deadline. The ability to access, comment on and approve one “true version” of a packaging design without several separate iterations of artwork creates a reduction in time and errors getting your product to market faster. Helping your organisation save time and money, all while achieving your packaging goals. When the product packaging process is streamlined in this way, your time can be better served working on product innovation and gaining market share.

• ADAPTABILITY The beauty of owning the packaging design process is that the process can grow and evolve right along with your business. You need not simply accept a vendor’s business practices; you can create and incorporate your own. This is a critical advantage as we are living in the dawn of the private label and have yet to experience the full potential of this growing market. A streamlined packaging process offers the retailer turned brand owner ample opportunity to cultivate a cohesive brand message through packaging design; taking your packaged goods from being recognised as an extension of your brand to an equal part of a unified message.

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FOCUS ON RETAIL Walmart ASDA - Chosen By You

In late 2010, Walmart ASDA made a radical change to its own brand “ASDA” in a drive to get the best quality and consistency of product for its shoppers, it launched ASDA Chosen by You. Stephen Smith, Chief Marketing Officer at ASDA wrote in a UK publication, The Grocer magazine November 2012 that “ASDA threw out the rule book on how to develop the range, shunning the tried and tested approach of celebrity endorsement and focus instead on putting the real experts on what makes great product – customers – at the heart of the decision making.”

Two years on and ASDA has the biggest customer-testing programme in the UK involving more than 500,000 blind taste tests and more than 85,000 customers. ASDA Chosen by You was no small undertaking

encompassing around 9,000 products and today is the fastest growing mid tier range in the UK. “ASDA showed the best sales of the top 4 Own Brand Retailers since the launch of Chosen by You” reported Ed Garner, Communications Director, Kantar Worldwide at the recent Packaging News, Packaging for Retail Success conference in November 2012.

Stephen Smith continues “Pandora’s box is well and truly opened and customers now know they can buy own label without compromising on price or quality”.

The Institute of Grocery and Distribution in the UK (IGD) suggests that over a third of consumers expect to buy more mid tier ranges as the economic downturn continues to bite.

- Chosen by Walmart ASDA ASDA Stores Ltd was founded as a UK supermarket committed to offering shoppers ‘permanently low prices’. ASDA continued to grow as an independent business until 1999 when they became a subsidiary of US giant Walmart. ASDA has worked alongside SBS and used ODIN since 2002 and the wider SBS business since 1994. ODIN supported the launch of 9,000 SKUs as part of the new ASDA Chosen by You range. ASDA realised that their processes and procedures were too manual, too costly, unrepeatable and difficult to scale given their desire to launch a greater volume of private label.

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ISSUES

THE SOLUTION

BENEFITS

• Outdated and inefficient paper-based artwork approval process

ODIN was introduced across phases and immediately helped to drastically reduce lead times and increase transparency in the NPD process. The company then adopted all of ODIN’s modules to control the entire NPD process and made use of ODIN Fusion to link ODIN seamlessly to other business critical applications. At the same time ODIN provided an application to monitor, measure and continually improve all processes and the performance of stakeholders who operate within them.

• New Product Development process reduced from 52 weeks to 20 weeks on average

• No significant New Product Development (NPD) process • No automatic project management application • No process measurement tools • No methodologies that could shorten the time it takes to launch products

• Design to print process reduced from 18 weeks to 12 weeks • Artwork amendments reduced from five to two iterations • Own brand penetration increased from 42% to 52% • Reduction of asset duplication • Reduced costs in the graphics process • Reduced costs in the entire NPD process • Validated cost savings of over £2.6m per annum (AT Kearney)

‌your Brand, your ODIN!

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