5 Product Label Trends to Differentiate Your Brand in 2021 (part 3 of 3)

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2021/01/12 5 Product Label Trends to Differentiate Your Brand in 2021 (part 3 of 3)

5 Product Label Trends to Differentiate Your Brand in 2021

Source from: [Article Headline] | 2020-12-07 | Flexible Packaging (flexpackmag.com)

This could be the year to consider switching to more sustainable packaging

Most major brands have already announced sustainability initiatives that encompass all facets of their business. Consider Coke’s 2020 goals, Nestlé’s packaging pledge and similar commitments by Amazon, Unilever and Procter & Gamble. The factor that unites all these pledges is a promise to find greener, more environmentally responsible packaging solutions.

And it may be time for those brands who haven’t yet considered switching into more sustainable packaging to make pledges of their own.

For those considering making the switch, here are just a few of the sustainable label options on the market today:

Today, there are film constructions that are as much as 50% thinner than their conventional counterparts — greatly reducing the water and energy requirements to create the material.
Adhesives have been engineered that allow for better label/bottle separation, maximizing recovery of PET plastic during the recycling process.
There’s a wide variety of recycled label materials from different sources: Paper, barley, grapes, cotton and more.

Once you develop your brand’s goals, your label converter will align the labeling solution with the right environmental benefits to meet them. Here, you can see actionable (and manageable) steps your brand can take today to move toward more sustainable labels.

NFC is poised for exponential growth

If you’ve used contactless payment (e.g., Apple Pay), you’ve used near-field communication (NFC) technology. Essentially, NFC allows for the secure, contactless transfer of information between an NFC tag and an NFC reader.

Because most smartphones today function as NFC readers, NFC labels are popular for creating unique brand experiences at — and beyond — the point of sale.

It’s easy to see how COVID could further catalyze the growth of NFC, as it enables touchless access of information from printed materials is a key benefit of NFC tech. NFC-enabled printed products (e.g., maps, menus, labels) allow consumers to access all different kinds of pertinent information — without touching the surface.

The use cases for NFC as a labeling tool are limited virtually only by your imagination. You don’t have to look far to find truly creative cases of how brands have used NFC labels:

Touchless access of information from labels, menus and other printed informational materials
Incorporating omnichannel promotional campaigns into the product label itself
Using NFC labels that recognize when a product’s been opened to present different marketing content before and after the sale
Authentication of medical devices, vintage wines and other high-end goods

Now is the time to make sure you understand how your brand can leverage NFC. Deploying a well-crafted NFC solution takes time. Brands that don’t start experimenting today will be hard-pressed to catch up to their early-adopting competitors. And unless consumers all stop using their cell phones, brands have no choice but to have a strong mobile strategy in place ready to launch.

As you can see, product differentiation, risk reduction and consumer engagement are more important this year than ever before. And you’ll need to work closely with your label converter to get a leg up on the competition and make your product stand out on the shelf.

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