Originally developed in 1994 to track vehicle parts, QR (Quick Response) codes are taking on a whole new role. These two-dimensional barcodes are a hardlink in advertisements, on product packaging, at a business’s location, or any physical object to virtual content that can range from basic contact information to a company’s website. The codes can be read by QR scanners and, more relevantly, mobile devices with a camera and the appropriate application. Growing in popularity, QR codes are a great marketing tool for connecting your message to consumers in both the physical and virtual worlds, especially as technology allows your audience to carry that virtual world in their pocket. Look for them to pop up more on product packaging!

We’ve scoured all of our resources to bring you the best of World Cup-inspired and commemorative products and packaging! I’ll even be worldlier in using the term football. Here they are:

The “Hospitality Pack” contains the most important item for football fans: their tickets. Capturing the essence of anticipation, the slider pack provides a clever and playful opening experience, creating intrigue and a sense of novelty to complement the exciting nature of receiving World Cup tickets. With the games officially now underway, the high quality format of the Burgopak design further encourages fans to retain the pack, lending itself as a keep-safe of World Cup memorabilia.

Gillette’s World Cup-inspired shaving gel and antiperspirant and deodorant cans creatively resemble a football and shows off their sponsorship.

These bracelets were made by over 400 women in South Africa for fans of the Dutch team. The orange color is the national color for the Netherlands and the assortment of colors represents the South African flag.

SAB Miller developed a can that could also function as a cup.

Special World Cup Packaging for Carlsberg beer featuring England’s team manager Fabio Capello and team players David James, Rio Ferdinand, Steven Gerrard and Jermaine Defoe.

England’s team received more support when Umbro commissioned the painting of the players’ numbers in their hometowns, even for manager Capello in Italy.

Coca-Cola’s commemorative cans feature French players in celebration and come in a box with a CD from K’Naan.

Miller Light cans are laser-etched with famous players captured doing their signature moves.

Please share if you’ve come across other promotional or commemorative products or packaging!

The DuPont Award winners for 2010 were just announced at the end of May, continuing the virtual forum format from last year. The winners proved breakthroughs in packaging with innovative developments, cost/waste reduction and improved sustainability. Diamond winners proved excellence in all three areas while Gold winners demonstrated excellence in two criteria. Silver winners were selected for their breakthrough innovation, and notable honorees were given recognition for innovative problem solving. 

Only two submissions were given the prestigious honor of a Diamond DuPont award: the GREENBOX reusable thermal management system, a sustainably-produced container used to transport sensitive medical supplies, as well as Exal Corporation’s “Coil to Can” (C2C) recyclable aluminum bottle.

To see all of the award-winning packaging innovators, click here.

Just yesterday we commended Wal-mart for their eco-friendly practices, but for a huge corporation like Wal-mart, much of their initiative is based on requiring that their suppliers reduce their carbon footprint. The Sustainability Index Supplier Assessment that Wal-mart announced last year includes a 15-question survey to assess greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions; Wal-mart hopes to reduce this by 20 million metric tons. It seems to be an important first step before Wal-mart can implement the “Green” ratings that will disclose the eco-friendliness of products to consumers.

It may sound like Wal-mart is simply bullying their suppliers to make the company look good. In actuality, Wal-mart’s own practices include: using onsite renewable energy generation, reducing shipping and packaging waste, reducing truck fleet emissions, and more. If Wal-mart is successful in achieving their GHG emission reduction goal by 2015, it will be equivalent to:

• taking more than 3.8 million average cars off of the road for a year
• planting more than 181 million full grown trees

These emissions are also similar to what would be produced by:

• burning fossil fuels to power nearly 2.6 million U.S. homes for a year
• consuming nearly 2.3 billion gallons of gasoline. (All estimates based on EPA figures).

For more information, and to see Wal-mart CEO Mike Duke’s address to stakeholders, click here.

HP recently sent out a press release announcing our purchase of their latest press!

Check out the capabilities our HP WS6000 press purchased in March 2010. It is the newest press on the market from HP and will increase our capabilities, including endless possibilities of substrates for printing.

“Short run, multiple SKUs, repeatable high-quality printing and the ability for variable data has helped to maintain our steady growth,” said Randy Duhaime, General Manager, Dion Label. “ The purchase of the HP Indigo WS6000 will allow us to continue this trend with longer run lengths transitioning from our conventional flexographic printing department to our digital department. WS6000 enhancements, such as its large repeat length and its ability to print on substrates from 12 microns to 450 microns, will open additional opportunities.”

The latest issue of Brand Packaging analyzed the effects of the recession. It’s a situation that has affected everyone, but rather than simply blaming our troubles on the current economic situation and giving up, we can look at how to learn, move on, and hopefully grow instead. The article compares coping with the recession to coping with loss, and how this influences consumer purchasing patterns:

Anger/Denial: At first consumers indulged in small luxuries that wouldn’t have major short-term consequences. Brands and even private labels that benefited were the ones that proved their value was worth the added cost. Others were ones with traditional/nostalgic value that consumers could take comfort in.

Bargaining/Depression: When consumers really started to feel the economic downturn, they shifted towards more thrifty habits. As a rudimentary example: even though people still dined out at restaurants, they chose less-expensive options (i.e. a pizza for the group rather than individual prime ribs. Trust me, I’ve seen this happen!).

Acceptance: At the end of the day, the major effect of the recession on consumer attitudes is a shift of the paradigm from a mindset of "what I want is what I need" to one of "what I need is what I want."

So here are Brand Packaging’s words of wisdom:

1. Don’t try to sell consumers what they don’t really need;
2. But, at the same time, don’t forget that behind every basic need lies an aspiration.
3. Use playfulness and familiarity to earn the right to engage with consumers.
4. Respect consumers by making clear, believable claims and making your portfolio easy to understand and navigate.
5. Give consumers a sense of control in the way they choose to interact with you.
6. Use packaging to give a fair picture of what is inside the pack, but don’t lose an opportunity to tell a compelling story.  

Private labels have been giving national brands a run for their money, and recent trends have shown that beyond price-consciousness, consumers also increasingly associate private labels with quality. So are they going to drive out some of the beloved and established national brands? Brand Packaging puts the two head-to-head in the categories that drive their sales: packaging design, company history, packaging structure, and philanthropy.

Who came out on top? Take a look at the full article here!

When I say the word "lion" what comes to mind? Ferocious? Hunter? Animal? Scary? It is important that as designers, owners, or marketers of a product, we understand that our customers make these associations in their minds when they see our product packaging. It baffles me when companies spend so much time, energy and money on their product and then barely consider their product packaging. This is when I want to scream "WAKE UP! Your packaging is what sells your product!"
 
Think about your own personal experiences. What draws you to try a new product? Unless someone you know recommends the product to you, the packaging is what will drive you to purchase something new. Trust me, I'm a sucker for cool packaging. Not because it's my profession, but I always think the product in the metallic package or the one with an interesting caption will work better, taste better, and make me better. And you know what? Studies show this is the thought process for most consumers.
 
Here are 5 ways to make your item be the new product someone purchases this year.
 
1. Tell a story with your label. There is always a reason why your product exists or is unique compared to your competitors. Tell me why I, the consumer, should buy your product. Is your pasta sauce your grandmother's recipe handed down from generation to generation and you want to share it with me? If so, then I may think of my own grandmother and her home cooking and think "Forget about the Ragu, this pasta sauce is going to give me the warm feeling of grandma's homecooking." Does your product donate a profit to charity or have an eco-friendly element to it? If so, I'd be more apt to buy your product over a competitor's so I, too, may help fund a charity or help the environment. What if your product isn't so different from the competitors? You can still engage and get me to buy your product. A prime example of this is Vitamin Water. They tell funny, fictional stories on their infused drinks. This company is still fairly young in the soft drink market, yet their product contends with brands that have been around forever. 
 
2. Get your label in shape! Adding shape to your product packaging gives depth to your image. It draws the consumer in and makes them want to learn more. You can get your label in shape by using an irregular shaped product bottle and using a shrink sleeve label or using a regular shaped product container and using a custom-shaped die. Shrink sleeve labels are film sleeves that shrink to fit your product container. Nestle's Jamba Juice® uses this type of packaging. Custom -shaped labels are cut using unique dies.
 

3. Metallic labels. Using metallic in your label is a way to dress it up without needing to get too fancy with your entire packaging. Metallic can be incorporated into your design in a few different ways. Metallic film or paper coated stock will allow for your entire label background to be metallic. You can enhance or cover up the intensity of the metallic label by the type of ink you use in your artwork. For labels that only need a hint of metallic here and there in your artwork, you may use a regular material with metallic ink. This ink is laid down using plates that can be engraved into the pattern you'd like. For example, if you have a midnight sky in your design, your can use a plate engraved with stars to add gold stars to your design.
 
4. Invisible labels. By using a clear label on your glass or plastic bottle, you can utilize the product contents in your design as well as display your product. This technique gives the illusion of invisible labels. This concept works into your package design as well as provides the customer with pertinent product information. For customers that wish to get a silk screen effect without the high cost, clear labels are the way to go.

5. Add texture to your labels! 
Not all labels are smooth, glossy, and one-dimensional. Texture appeals not only to a customer's eyes, but also allows them to feel the difference when picking up your product compared to your competitor's. While embossing tools can raise parts of your design in the area(s) you choose, it can be a costly option as custom tools will need to be purchased. The most cost effective way to add texture to your entire label is by using a textured stock.
 
Click here to request samples of one or more of these design techniques! Please specify which technique(s) you are most interested in.

 Label & Narrow Web recently looked to industry experts for their article on short run labels and interviewed Dion Label Printing. The ability to affordably print short run orders has led to more opportunities for product manufacturers. Here is a brief excerpt from the article:

Stacy Santos, marketing manager for Dion Label Printing, Westfield, MA, USA, says the company takes into account the length of the run when deciding which printing process it’s going to use. In Dion’s case, short run jobs, among others, get moved to one of the company’s HP Indigo presses. "We decide whether a job will go digital or flexo based on the amount of footage we are going to run, the complexity of a customer’s label graphics and the number of SKUs in a particular run. About a third of our business is digital. We made the investment in digital in April 2005, and because our digital business grew so quickly, we invested in another HP Indigo digital press. And our digital operations have steadily grown over the years.

"Digital printing is perfect for multiple SKUs, low volume orders, promotional labels and prototyping," Santos says. "It’s a great way to offer high quality printing, complex graphics, and vibrant colors to customers that do not have large volume quantities. Our customers do not have to sacrifice label quality while keeping their inventories low."

Read the full article here!

UPDATE: Last week we wrote a blog about Blue Q products. We recently came across these videos of the Blue Q sales team. They are sure to put a smile on your face! And we're pretty sure we'd buy anything from them!

From September 23rd to 26th, Dion exhibited at booth #339 at the Natural Products Expo East at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center. With over 21,000 industry members and 1500 booths, it was a showcase of the growing popularity for natural and organic products. It is no surprise that many attendees were interested in the eco-friendly material and soy ink labels featured at our booth (to request eco-friendly samples, click here!). Some trends we spotted were gluten-free foods, probiotic supplements, products made with goat’s milk, and products made from coconut. Next year, the show will be held at the same location on October 13-16, 2010.

Drug labels can include a plethora of required information that may be difficult to sort through as a consumer. Here is a breakdown of what you can expect on these labels and some important things to consider:

Active Ingredients- Listed here are the active chemical compounds that are working to relieve your symptoms. It will always be at the top of the label. If you are taking multiple over-the-counter (OTC) medications, make sure they do not have the same active ingredients.

Uses- This portion of the label will list the only symptoms that the drug is approved to treat.

Warnings- This section is pretty straightforward, but be aware of details such as what foods or activities to avoid, such as driving, while taking a particular drug.

Directions- Be sure to follow not only the dosage amount that is suggested, but how often to take the medicine.

Inactive ingredients- Though you may not be able to pronounce many of the ingredients in this section, know that they do not have an effect on your body. They are the preservatives that bind the pill together and food colors.

Vogue International has introduced a brand of hair care products based off the popular Vitamin Water. Vitamin Shampoo hair care line pairs up super fruits to make delectable combinations of scents such as Acai Berry Guava, Mangosteen Yogurt, Blueberry Avocado, and Dragonfruit Kiwi. These super fruits are packed with vitamins, antioxidants, nutrients, minerals, proteins, and essential oils that are said to rejuvenate your hair. Vitamin Shampoo is described as an energy drink for your hair, nourishing your hair and protecting it from every day pollutants.

According to Ross Reback, chief executive officer of Vogue International, "We created the VitaminShampoo brand around the concept of reintroducing vitamins as an essential priority in hair care, as we had recognized there was a void within the category. Our research and development then led us to identifying ‘superfruits’ as a huge emerging consumer trend, and decided to partner the high potency vitamin and antioxidant benefits of superfruits with the overall vitamin concept of the brand."

The Vitamin Shampoo bottles are made up of bold energizing colors, with a energy drink look and feel this shampoo is sure to grab your attention. Retailing for around $7 a bottle you can find this shampoo at your local drugstore. To learn more about vitamin shampoo check out their website at www.vitaminshampoo.com.