Digital printing is opening new customization options for brands through unique designs, personalized messages, and variable data printing for exciting and, literally, one-of-a-kind packaged product
What interest are you seeing in personalization using digital printing?
Meiling: Personalization is increasingly a mainstream expectation for consumers today. And it’s not just targeted ads and email marketing strategies that need to adapt. Consumers are actively seeking out bespoke product offerings because of the value they bring. According to data from Deloitte, personalization leaders improved customer loyalty 1.5x more effectively than brands with low personalization maturity.
The stakes are high for packaging as a result. It’s no longer about transporting goods from point A to point B. Packaging has become a unique moment for brands to establish a connection by creating an emotional and meaningful experience for their consumers. This is largely in part due to the rise in ecommerce over recent years, elevating packaging’s role as the first physical touch point between the consumer and brand, causing a significant shift in packaging trends.
Brands are especially interested in digital packaging as a new way to personalize, customize, and tailor their brand experiences in a way that reflects a full spectrum of cultural contexts. This means products can be tailored to the individual tastes of each consumer. Brands can not only engage customers on a more meaningful level by boosting marketing power though attractive specialty packaging, by using HP Thermal Inkjet technology they can help to reduce maintenance costs and gain efficiencies that drive higher uptime on their packaging manufacturing processes.
Tell us about the B.a.o Candy Box point-of-purchase application (shown in the feature image above) that uses digital inkjet printing.
Meiling: B.a.o Candy Box went live in 2019 with an Afinia Label L301 Small Business Color Label Printer. Powered by HP Thermal Inkjet Technology, it prints labels at high speeds while ensuring great quality. Personalization is achieved using the Afinia Label L301’s vivid, optimized color, to create a professional label, while HP Thermal Inkjet Technology enables the printer to produce the complex, personalized shapes that the candy labels require to satisfy consumers.
Using this system, B.a.o Candy Box customers type their message into an app, preview the label, confirm, then the label is sent via Wi-Fi straight to the till where the label is displayed on a screen so that the customer can approve their label design and then it is printed automatically. The time it takes to complete the transaction is enough to print the label, which is what champions the effectiveness of this system.
The Afinia Label printer was set up in such a way that the brand could offer new products on an ongoing basis, enabling constant innovation with the upgrade to an even faster printer, which will further improve customer satisfaction.
The HP Thermal Inkjet Technology is essential for making the brand’s retail model work properly, with packaging labels printed quickly and professionally. With this unique retail experience, B.a.o Candy Box has attracted huge interest both from tourists and the local market, who have taken to social media to share their creations.
What’s possible and what’s next in digital inkjet printing?
Meiling: As the world becomes more digitally connected, and consumers come to expect personalization as the norm, the market for solutions that enable customization at a mass scale will explode. In the coming years, it will be critical for brands to do more to engage with their consumers. It’s the only way to stand out in today’s crowded markets, and we are excited to help even more brands on their journey to embrace the unlimited possibilities with new and exciting packaging that brings us all closer together.
