Despite new communication channels, packaging still plays a crucial role in attracting a customer’s attention at the point of sale. Shelf appeal and short-term, disruptive marketing campaigns are extremely important in this sense.
The printed design on packaging has a big influence on consumer buying choices. This translates into a total market share of €141 billion. Within this context, digital printing is expected to increase by 8%, versus 2.6% for other printing systems like flexography.
At the moment, digital print packaging only accounts for 7% of the global packaging printing market, but this figure is expected to rise rapidly over the coming years.
WHY IS DIGITAL PRINTING BECOMING MORE POPULAR?
ADAPTING TO CONSUMERS
Social change in recent years has had a big impact. A rise in the number of single-person households has changed buying habits, with more quantity and budget constraints.
As a result, packaging manufacturers have seen smaller orders and shorter delivery times, making production planning more challenging.
MARKETING STRATEGIES
To attract customers, a brand needs to stand apart from the competition. Consumers today are actively seeking new and trendy products, which means that product lifecycles need to be shortened.
An example of an advertising campaign in which packaging played a pivotal role is Coca Cola’s groundbreaking ‘Share A Coke’ campaign, when it printed different names on cans and bottles. Other brands followed the soft drink company’s lead, like Ferrero, who created personalised labels for Nutella jars.
HOW DOES DIGITAL PRINTING CONTRIBUTE TO NEW TRENDS?
Digital printing has become the most cost-effective and efficient option to run and market test campaigns like these, offering both excellent quality and personalisation options.
It allows companies to better optimise their production planning than other printing systems.
WHAT DOES DIGITAL PRINTING ENTAIL?
This system prints directly from the computer to the printer, without requiring printing plates or similar, which considerably speeds up the process. Quality-wise, digital printing is on par with rotogravure or offset printing.
It is ideal for short runs, from 1,000 m2 upwards, and allows high levels of personalisation, perfect for one-off seasonal campaigns, promotions and even market testing.
DIGITAL PRINTING FOR FLEXIBLE PACKAGING
Flexible packaging is growing in popularity, often replacing its rigid counterparts. In the food industry, flexible packaging covers every consumer demand, for example, it is easy to handle and it has a lower carbon footprint.
This type of packaging allows for high quality standards and endless design possibilities. Digital printing is gaining importance in the flexible packaging sector, with the possibility of combining print runs with orders from different customers, across different volumes and adding variable data.
TRENDS ACROSS EUROPE
Current market trends include more products on the shelves and microsegmentation to ensure every consumer profile is covered. Increasing population numbers mean that the European packaging market is also growing, and evidence shows it is doing so hand-in-hand with digital technology.
The printed packaging industry can be broadly divided into four categories: labels, flexible packaging, folding boxes and corrugated cardboard. Labels were the first to opt for digital printing, although these days this technology is being used in every sector due to the many advantages it offers.
SP Group works with the best printing systems to meet the specific needs of each and every one of our customers. On our website you can find out more about our work and the services we offer. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions. We would be delighted to help.