No other advertising medium engages consumers longer and more intensively than product packaging. In addition to innovative packaging constructions, it is increasingly identity-strong graphic designs and high-quality print designs that help to convey brand messages credibly.
12. July 2018
The campaign for Carlsberg's „Falcon BBQ“ beer won the 2014 FTA Gold Award.
No other advertising medium engages consumers longer and more intensively than product packaging. In addition to innovative packaging constructions, it is increasingly identity-strong graphic designs and high-quality print designs that help to convey brand messages credibly.
In the highly competitive beverage market, packaging has to be one thing above all else: attention-grabbing. This trend is particularly evident in multipacks. Whereas in the past the main focus was on ensuring optimum transport, the outer packaging, which is usually made of plastic film, must appeal to all the senses of today's customers. This is the only way for the product to win the competition for consumer favour amidst the huge variety of drinks on offer.
And that's not all. Buyers of multipacks in supermarkets and beverage stores usually no longer see the individual bottles or cans, but only their outer packaging. The film packaging therefore becomes the brand ambassador and has to convince the consumer of the quality of the product instead of the individual beverage containers. A Visual vocabulary The packaging needs to be something that consumers can see, feel and understand within a few seconds. The packaging image of a sliced, juicy orange, for example, evokes associations such as fresh, fruity and healthy. The packaging represents the quality of the orange juice as a delicious defence cocktail. Brand values such as these need to be communicated consistently down to the smallest detail using the film packaging.
Until now, the packaging and printing industry has only been able to meet these challenges in the field of flexible film packaging to a limited extent. High-quality layouts with photorealistic images could only be realised in standard flexographic printing on films with major limitations and quality losses. Not only flat-looking colours, but also unsightly border lines in the gradients impaired the printed image on flexible packaging. This is now a thing of the past.
Display
For almost two years now, the Belgian software company ESKO has been using its Full HD flexographic printing technology new standards. The printing technology delivers fine highlights, smooth gradients towards zero and a rich colour application comparable to gravure printing. The wide colour gamut and extended tonal value differentiation offer further advantages. The basis for this is a significantly higher resolution of 4,000 ppi, which compares favourably with classic flexographic printing at 2,540 ppi. The structure of the screen dots to be printed is finer. The higher colour area coverage results in a brilliant print image. For flexible packaging such as Multipacks for drinks Full HD flexo printing achieves a quality that comes very close to gravure and offset printing and delivers excellent results even in CMYK four-colour printing.
As a state-of-the-art technology, ESKO Full HD flexo printing is becoming increasingly important. So far, only a few printing houses have been able to qualify for the new technology. In the multipack sector, the Rhineland-Palatinate-based RKW Group is the first film manufacturer in the world to offer its customers shrink films at this high printing level. As the European market leader for multipack beverage films, the Group recognised the benefits of the technology early on and was certified shortly after its market launch in 2013. All of RKW's consumer packaging sites now fulfil the strict criteria of printing specialist ESKO. This means that the machines, expertise and overall quality are at the cutting edge of flexographic printing.
Matthias Kaufmann, RKW Group
„Branded products require high-quality packaging,“ emphasises Matthias Kaufmann, Head of the Packaging division and member of the RKW Group Management Board. „This places high quality demands on packaging films and their print finishing.“
Kaufmann speaks from experience. RKW supplies branded companies all over the world and knows both their specific needs and current developments within the industry.
„Marketing is very important to our customers. ESKO Full HD printing will develop into the key technology for optimally implementing branding strategies in film printing as well,“ Kaufmann is certain. But technology alone is not everything, warns the Management Board member. A great deal of expertise is also required to achieve the best possible printing results. „RKW has many years of printing experience and close cooperation with repro partners. This guarantees our customers the highest quality standards.“
Unique drinks packaging
Carlsberg was one of the first beverage manufacturers for whom RKW produced high-quality packaging films using full HD flexographic printing. For its beer variety „Falcon BBQ“ the brewery group created an eye-catching campaign with three different motifs especially for the summer season. What would otherwise have been rather complex to implement for a seasonal motif series was efficiently realised by the film manufacturer using this flexographic printing technology in four-colour printing (CMYK).
Despite the different designs, RKW was able to three campaign motifs The new system was able to produce in parallel with just one printing plate: three lanes across the entire width of the machine. This simplified and accelerated the coordination process, minimised the set-up effort for the systems and saved two printing plates. In addition, the print result would have been nowhere near as brilliant and accurate with standard four-colour printing. The print images realised by RKW for Carlsberg have won several awards. Most recently, the packaging film for „Falcon BBQ“ was honoured with a gold FTA award in 2014.
Kaufmann anticipates great demand in the market for multipack beverage films in the coming years. Not only elaborately designed motifs for beer varieties, but also natural-looking images for mineral water or particularly detailed illustrations to convey the flavour experience of carbonated soft drinks are increasingly in demand.
„More and more companies are recognising the enormous value of high-quality packaging for sales and brand promotion. High-quality promotional prints will therefore continue to grow in the market. RKW is ideally equipped for this.“
