Over the years packaging experts
continue to draw inspiration from nature. Nature has provided packaging for its
creations and has ensured its protection from dust, pollution and maintaining
its freshness for the lifespan that nature has attributed to the product before
it is consumed. There is no shortage of examples; bananas, oranges, coconut,
nuts, eggs etc. Carefully observe each of such products, it has a covering
depending on its need for keeping qualities and freshness. Furthermore, the
packaging is organic, environmentally friendly and bio-degradable once it has
delivered its purpose and is ready to be disposed off. To have an orange juice
we have to use packaging that is polluting the environment and adding to
unnecessary waste. It is though no real necessity, as a fresh orange is more
nutritious and has all the good values that we need, yet modern day
urbanisation has brought with it the need to process foods and create products
such as orange juice to substitute peeling off a fresh orange and eating it
fresh. Hence there is the need for attractive packagings that will enhance the
shelf life of product and tempt the consumers to buy the processed/packaged
products. In earlier years these natural packagings solved our purpose and it was
all that was necessary because people bought fresh and ate fresh. Not long ago
in India the street vegetable or fruit vendor would come to the colonies each
morning after the men have left for offices. They would be shouting, “Aloo lo,
Piaz Lo, Tamatar lo!” (Means take Potatoes, Onions or Tomatoes) and instantly
you would have women popping out of their balconies and asking the vendor to
wait. They would then be seen around the vendor’s cart, gossiping with their
neighbors, buying vegetables and fruits from the street vendor. This is still
prevalent in many semi-urban and rural areas in India. I am sure in the earlier
part of the last century this kind of selling must have been existing in the
western countries also. With evolution, literacy levels in urban India started
to rise resulting in increased employment and higher disposable incomes,
bringing about a change in lifestyles. As more members of urban households
started to venture out to seek gainful employment, time became a commodity that
was in short supply. There arose a need to buy for many days in one go.
Initially the refrigerator was enough to store food but as the need to store
food for a week, fortnight or a month was felt, scientifically created packaging
that could prolong the shelf life as also tempt the customer to lift the
products off the shop shelves in modern
day retailing, became an imperative. With this also emerged the need for a
highly decorated and eye-catching labels!
When we walk in front of the shop
shelves of any big retail store, it is observed that each time there is an urge
to lift a product off the shelf it is because of the label that we establish the
first eye contact with the product as a consumer. The label is the most communicative
part of a package as it stirs the initial impulse to lift and read it. The
label establishes the identity of the product, and it is the direct link
between the product and the consumer. Once the consumer has taken the product
in hand there is an instant desire to read the label and know more about the
product. A good label makes the product identifiable and delivers the desired
communication from the manufacturer to the targeted consumer. It is the unique
selling tool once the product is in the buyer’s hand and delivers more value
than a salesperson may by having the consumers focused attention while perusing
the label. Consider any product, let us say two liquor bottles or shampoo
bottles. Put them on a shop shelf without any label. We can be sure there will
be hardly any person who will pick the product. Even if people do reach out for
them, they are likely to go back on to the place where they were sitting.
Today’s consumer is very well informed even in countries like India where still
large number of consumer durables is sold unpacked. With the advent of
television and mobile phones information is reaching out to smaller towns and villages
in the remotest parts of every country. This situation has given a boost to the
organized retail and with that as I explained, the importance of label has
escalated.
A package in totality would
consist of a primary packaging that would contain or hold the product being
sold, a secondary packaging that would hold the primary packaging carrying the
main product and finally the tertiary packaging or the shipper carton that
would be used to transport the finally packaged consignment to destination. The
label as we refer to it as the face of any product is affixed on the primary
packaging. However, it also finds use on the secondary and tertiary packaging,
serving various end purposes. The primary packaging is the most important part
which is designed and decided depending on the product whether it is a powder,
liquid, semi solid, solid or tablets, etc. The all-important label must be on
the primary packaging and stay with it during the lifespan of the product in
use. At times, the label becomes an integral part of the primary packaging. In
case of pharmaceutical tablets, they would be blister packed in strips and the
foil or laminate covering the strips would become the label. In case of toothpaste
the tube itself would be printed to serve as a label. However, most other
products especially liquids whether in food, pharmaceuticals, liquor or FMCG
segment are packed in plastic or glass bottles. These must be labeled suitably
and call for high end decorative design and production. Flexible packaging also
is employed but largely in food and lubricant segment. Here again the packaging
itself is printed to serve as a label, however flexible packs once opened need
to be used in full and cannot be stored. In recent product innovations,
flexible packs also come fitted with pouring devices and caps so that the
packaging is not destroyed immediately but has an extended shelf life. In case
of a secondary pack, here again most of the time the package, in case of
consumer products is printed, same is the case with tertiary packaging however
a large part of the shipper cartons is made of brown Kraft corrugated board
with none or minimal printing. While the secondary packaging is imperatively
printed or decoratively labeled, the secondary and tertiary packs also need to
be labeled depending on the need. These labels can be barcodes, for inventory
control, product information labels, simple logistic labels or mandatory for
some products; track and trace labels.
The package
In urban
organized retailing the package itself plays a very vital and sensitive role. Every
housewife now wishes nice looking packages containing sauces, juices, milk, and
other food item to adorn the shelves of her kitchen and the refrigerator. Designers
continue to innovate and create packaging to catch the shopper’s fancy. I cite
an example of changes in the packaging of shampoo in India. Initially it was
glass bottles or shampoo bottles. In an endeavour to increase the reach of the product to rural
areas and make it affordable, someone decided to package the one-use shampoo in
a small, printed plastic sachet to retail at just Rupee one(1.1 cent Euro) per
piece. The product was an instant hit and marketers were talking about it and
felt it was the brightest of ideas. It did not take long for people to realize
that they were tasting shampoo each time they tried to open the sachet. Try
opening one in a shower, it is a nightmare! Invariably you will end up using
your teeth to cut open the pack and will taste some of the shampoo. Health
concerns came to the fore with changing lifestyles and fancy shampoo bottles
with highly decorated fancy labels were back in the bathrooms across the
nation. Indians across the nation, make their local bread “ROTI” fresh each
time they sit for a meal. The dough is kneaded fresh and the rotis come fluffy
and blown to the table while they are hot! The floor for the bread or ROTI,
locally called, “ATTA” used to be a passion to source at one time. Each
household used to buy whole wheat from farms and take to the local colony floor
mill to get freshly ground. They used to tell their guests with pride that
their ROTIs were fresh and healthy! With a burgeoning literate middle class, all
that is changed, the atta comes nicely packed and for the busy working
executives. Pre-rolled semi-cooked rotis come vaccum packed and labeled with
enhanced shelf life. They are available on shop shelves of retail stores. One
could go on writing about packaging developments and innovations, but all these
products need to be well labeled to deliver information to the consumer. An
urban consumer today decides the quality of the product by perusing the
packaging, its aesthetics and finally by reading the label. Growing health
awareness makes them ascertain the manufacturing date, expiry date, contents,
quality certification, brand authentication and calories, before they make a
buying decision. A discussion and study on the package remain incomplete if the
label is not discussed in same line of thought hence having dwelled on the
package we now move on to labels.
Labels
I have in the preceding
paragraphs emphasized the role that label plays as an important part of the
package. Before we dwell on the construction and development of labels, we need
to understand the types of labels. We have wet glue labels, wrap around labels,
shrink sleeves, in-mold labels and Self-adhesive labels. The subject of labels
is quite exhaustive but for this series of articles I will try to restrict
myself to self adhesive labels. Self adhesive labels or pressure sensitive
adhesive labels as the name suggests are pre-gummed labels. These labels have
contact adhesive that is sensitive to pressure and get activated on application
with normal pressure. When manually applied, thumb pressure is adequate. The
labels are broadly spread into three main sub-categories.
1.
Paper labels
2.
Filmic Labels
3.
Other special labels
The paper
labels could be diverse types of papers like Matt uncoated, Coated semi-gloss,
High gloss, Coloured papers and Textured papers. The selection primarily
depends on the product and application. We shall discuss in detail as we move
on to the designing of labels. Filmic labels find application for cosmetic and
toiletries where high level of decoration is imperative. Transparent film
labels are used for applications that call for a clear no-label look. The
special labels can be anything that is coming out of a designer’s mind. One
could have a cork sheet as a label material for a wine or liquor bottle. Other
label face materials employed could be textile, aluminum foil, foam, multiple
layered laminates, etc.
In the
following parts of this series, I will dwell on construction of labelstocks,
important inputs needed before designing the package and label, the final label
design and innovations in labels with examples.
The complete 3 part series are accessible at the following links;
https://harveersahni.blogspot.com/2014/09/the-life-of-label-i.html
http://harveersahni.blogspot.com/2014/12/the-life-of-label-ii.
htmlhttps://harveersahni.blogspot.com/2022/02/life-of-label-iii.html
