ARTICLE: Consumer Friendly Labels.

“Friendly” labelling is one that provides the consumer with added value and seeks to satisfy all or most of the needs that consumers have when getting to know and buying a product, therefore improving consumer-product interaction.

“Friendly” labelling is a powerful tool to provide the more detailed information that consumers demand and need about the products they buy.

And especially in the food sector where consumers (according to different surveys*) are “quite lost” when trying to understand and comprehend the products’ nutritional information.

By making things easy for the consumer and thinking about a “friendly” label or packaging that also complies with the basic legal requirements regarding information, that helps the consumer to get to know about the product and its composition in a more attractive and simpler way, is a guarantee for success as it is becoming more and more important that the product is “honest, clear and direct” regarding “what it is” and “what it is going to give the consumer”.

According to a study carried out in the USA, the information included in a product has more weight in the consumers’ decision than the information they can get from other sources.

When consumers look for general information about a product, most of them put more faith in the information obtained from the printed label that accompanies the product.

The general trend seems to indicate that consumers more often demand healthier products or products that, without being totally healthy, provide the most complete information possible about what they offer from the nutritional point of view so that the consumer can choose at any time and know what he/she is consuming.

Therefore, the food industry has an excellent opportunity to convert its products (from the packaging and labelling point of view) into “friendly” products that provide information that allows us to understand their nutritional benefits and product composition at a glance.

This information must be clear, simple and make consumer understanding easier.

We shouldn’t forget that the usual information we see on food product labels, despite having improved a lot over the past few years, is still not clear for the majority of consumers.

The tool to capture this information: The product’s label

If, moreover, we want to go a stage further and expand on product information and the possibilities for interaction with the consumer, our interactive labels undoubtedly become the best option to meet the upward trend of more and more demanding consumers.

*News source: http://www.livescience.com/41089-food-labels-front-package-system.html

IPE ADVICE: Annual Labelling Check-up

We are inaugurating a new section with brief advice about labelling and solutions in packaging.

Some of the advice will be about printing formats, recommendations about materials, well, "technical advice".

We will also publish advice focused on themes related to "graphic design for labels" and, lastly, we will talk about other more “marketing-like” themes aimed towards positioning and differentiating products through labelling/packaging.

We leave you with the first piece of advice from this section: ANNUAL CHECK-UP for product LABELLING/PACKAGING.

Just like many other things we do on a personal scale (annual medical check-up, annual car service, etc..) every company that commercialises a product must think about an “annual check-up” for its labelling/packaging.

It is true that this point enters into the company’s marketing and communication goals but, very often, as it is one point within a long list of variables and factor to be considered, this “service” can go unnoticed.

•          How can we protect and improve the visual image of a product?
•         Should we review the packaging from last year and think about new changes?
•          Is the label in line with the brand image and the values we want to transmit?
•          Can the level of packaging/labelling costs and materials be optimised?
•          Are there other applications that we could use?
•          What happens when a competitor imitates our label image and design? Does this weaken or strengthen our image?

............these are just some of the questions that are worthwhile considering to ensure that the labelling/packaging is fulfilling its objectives.

There are currently thousands of materials, different printing techniques, hundreds of finishes and labelling trends, and all of this leads to multiple combinations and that’s why we would recommend you to contact us so that we can help you to find the best solution that best adapts to your labelling needs, both from the technical and conceptual points of view.

Farewell to oil cruets

A while back we told you in this blog about a new norm that would be applied to bars and restaurants in Spain from the 1st of January 2014 regarding the obligation to present olive oil in bottles that are duly labelled, in non-refillable packaging or in one-use packaging.

This has led to the new “mini-bottle” format for olive oil and they can already be seen in many restaurants in Spain.

Once again, the label is the key element to make the product different and to be one of the main communication tools that the brands have available to them. The label has to manage to create emotions and sensations through the senses and to reproduce” the essence and the spirit” behind every olive oil.

This measure means it is now a good time to think about a new label from the design point of view, communication options offered by the different types of labels and the required adjustments – as per the norm- for labelling these new bottles.

At IPE-Innovaciones Para Etiquetajes S.L. we offer you an extensive range of labelling options like our Graphic Design Service so that your labels are in line with legal requirements.

Send us your product information (logo, name, label size, etc..) and we will prepare a non-committal design quote and a labelling quote.

For more information please contact us at marketing@ipe-innovaciones.com.

When a label deserve to shine on both sides....

There are products that deserve to shine and stand out, for their quality, for their careful image, for their recognition, for their prestige.....

For a product like that and for a label in line with the exclusive image it wants to transmit we have an innovative metallised golden material for both the front and the back.

This novel product and its main feature (golden metallised effect on the front and back) offer a sensation of exclusivity and luxury. This is the ideal material for the transparent packaging of liquid products in which the label always stands out.

.... and that is not the only original touch: the label can be printed directly onto the adhesive which means the back can be printed and therefore take double advantage of the “gold” effect.

Ask us about it at marketing@ipe-innovaciones.com and we will be delighted to propose labels and sleeves that can incorporate this novel material.

IPE receives, once again this year, 4 top recommendations at the FINAT awards

Once again, FINAT- International Federation of Self- Adhesive Label Manufacturers- has given 4 top recommendations to our labels in the annual awards competition organised by this association.

The labels have stood out for their technical levels of printing as well as for their communication capacity with the end client.

All of them represent a wide range of technical capacities that IPE-Innovaciones Para Etiquetajes S.L.- can apply in labelling solutions: technology combinations, technical capacity, use of complex materials, multiple finishing options, etc....

The top recommendations awarded by FINAT were for our labels:

"Recuérdame" by Vallformosa, a label that stands out for its print quality and the combination of technologies applied to achieve a unique label that, in addition to transmitting an elegant image, also incorporates a communication tool- a "recuérdame"- (remember me) coupon aimed at establishing a bond between the consumer and the brand.

Flor de Vetus: A sophisticated label achieved thanks to the combination of different print techniques along with other details like a tactile varnish that gives it a touch of distinction and furnishes the label with tact. 

We would highlight the application carried out with a thermo-chromic ink that indicates, through colour changes in a fine butterfly, the right temperature to drink the wine.

Planas Albareda: A label where the details are the highlights as this label has effects and combinations that are rather complex regarding the material chosen to print and the applied impressions. Hot impression and just one-time print that has allowed us to create this high quality label that loyally represents the combination between a modern style and, at the same time, a traditional image of this cava’s production brand.

Libalis: 

An original and attractive sleeve where the coordination between IPE, designers and client has been fundamental to achieve a different and exclusive image, full of details. From the technical point of view the combination of inks and a matt finish effect are two of the main characteristics of this unique design.