Everyone likes to think they’re getting a bargain, and while we’re all aware that it is unlikely we’re going to get something for nothing, packaging that is incentivised can sweeten a purchase.
On-pack incentivising is tied in with loyalty marketing and can take many forms, including reduced subscription deals run by publishers and membership programmes such as those operated by shopping and warehouse clubs, as well as gyms and other establishments. Stored value/pre-paid and multi-application programs also have a place in top-end retailing, especially fashion.
Coupon labels and swing ticket promotions or wrap-around can be effective; likewise for bottled beverages, marketers garner attention with the slip over the neck collar.
Value-added enhancements
There are many value-added enhancements that can be made to swing tickets to make them stand out. Swing tickets or hangers can be die cut into different shapes, they can be embossed; printers can add spot UV; tickets can be laser engraved; they can be heat sealed, screen printed, UV flexo printed or flexo hybrid printed; gravure or a combination. Other methods of embellishment include holograms and metallic or pearlescent inks.
On-pack incentivising campaigns encourage consumers to make an impulse purchase; they are often a very good way to shift multiple items: Offers such as buy two items at a regular price and get the third half price or even the third one free, can help shift slow-moving lines, making way for new products.
Coupon campaigns can be expensive, whereas neck collars and swing tickets rarely disturb packaging design. Radical changes to label or carton design may be necessary; sometimes physical mock-ups may be needed to ensure the various design elements continue to work effectively and that colour and brand image are not subsumed. Colour must remain constant no matter what changes are made to the pack. Colour is so tightly tied in with brand image that it must be faithfully reproduced on swing tickets and other promotional vehicles.
Colour communication and proofing devices
Whether printing on folding carton or onto sleeves or another packaging medium, it’s down to the printer and converter to output a product that consistently meets the quality and colour standards that the customer expects. Colour communication or proofing devices enable users of many descriptions to meet colour targets and other quality-focused parameters accurately and with minimal waste.
Customers who particularly like the vibrancy of UV flexo and the quality that it imparts to a product may be best served if the FlexiProof UV or FlexiProof LED UV is in place.
Unlike the original FlexiProof 100 the FlexiProof UV and FlexiProof LED UV incorporate a miniaturised and integral UV system so that samples or proofs can be printed and cured in a seamless operation, ensuring that any blemishes or defects such as pinholes can be detected and print process adjustments made at an early stage and before hundreds of meters of materials is wasted.
It is noteworthy that pinholes and many other blemishes are not detectable when using a conventional UV conveyor method for proofing due to chemical changes that take place as the sample is taken from one device to another.
Incentive/loyalty and promo applications
Flexo can play a key role in incentive/loyalty and promo applications, especially where frequent design changes are involved. Brand owners like the vibrant, high-gloss finish that UV flexo inks provide. An additional benefit is that UV flexo ink chemistry creates a polymer chain, resulting in an ink surface that is highly resistant to scuffs and abrasions. The inks offer the ability to print fine reverses out of strong solid colours, making for a more consistent print quality.
The K Printing Proofer may be a suitable option for departments with multi-print processing setups in that it can produce proofs using gravure, gravure-offset and flexo inks. Two or more inks can be printed simultaneously for comparison purposes, and registration is included for overprinting. Wet or dry laminating samples can also be produced using RK Print Coat Instruments’ own K-Lam accessories.
Written by Tom Kerchiss, Chairman of RK Print Coat Instruments Ltd