Prime Time for Packaging
How will your customers’ products jump out of the jam-packed shelves this holiday season?
November 2007 by Chris Mc Loone
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During the last few months, packagePRINTING has explored various finishing effects converters can employ to give their customers’ packages the necessary zing to draw and hold the attention of consumers as they walk down the aisles. The holidays are approaching fast, and not only are consumers shopping for good old Aunt Joan, but if the packaging does a good enough job, they may pick out something for themselves. And it’s not only textiles, electronics, or toys—many people enjoy foil-wrapped candies around the holidays. How will consumers find them if they don’t jump out at them from the jam-packed shelves?
Stamping/embossing avenue
Like anything else, going down the stamping-and-embossing road largely depends on the applications and customer expectations. But, why do it? With only seconds available to catch a consumer’s eye, it is one very viable avenue to take. “In the store, the package is the salesperson for the product so it has to be able to speak for itself and grab the consumer’s attention,” says Gary Smith, vice president of sales, RotoMetrics. “Attention-grabbing packaging is vital to attracting consumers as well as providing inherent value, which ultimately provides a better financial return for the customer.”
Rich Zeller, senior product manager, ITW Foils, adds, “Stamping and embossing can reinvent any package and increase appearance and shelf visibility. By combining stamping with embossing, you can create a more striking 3D image, adding more visual impact to your design.”
Laying it down
According to Smith, the hot stamping process consists of three elements: heat, time, and pressure. “The correct combination of these three elements allows processes, including printing, to reach speeds of 100 meters/minute,” he says, adding that a quality set of engineered embossing cylinders allows the embossing process to typically run at the same speeds as other printing processes.
The highest-quality foil stamping, according to Dave Stollenwerk, executive vice president, American Die Technology, “is done with a heated brass cylinder applied to heat-sensitive foil, which transfers the engraved image to the label substrate.” He adds that embossing processes create a raised image such as the product name, company logo, or other lettering or designs to make the product even more eye-catching and improve visibility from different viewing angles.
Alternatives? Not many
Stamping and embossing do affect the overall printing process. “The impact on the overall printing process is that they generally require slower run speeds and more experience from operators,” says Stollenwerk. “Obviously tooling costs also increase, but the resulting high-end look of the package yields higher profits to the printer, as well as the producer of the product being sold.”
Stamping/embossing avenue
Like anything else, going down the stamping-and-embossing road largely depends on the applications and customer expectations. But, why do it? With only seconds available to catch a consumer’s eye, it is one very viable avenue to take. “In the store, the package is the salesperson for the product so it has to be able to speak for itself and grab the consumer’s attention,” says Gary Smith, vice president of sales, RotoMetrics. “Attention-grabbing packaging is vital to attracting consumers as well as providing inherent value, which ultimately provides a better financial return for the customer.”
Rich Zeller, senior product manager, ITW Foils, adds, “Stamping and embossing can reinvent any package and increase appearance and shelf visibility. By combining stamping with embossing, you can create a more striking 3D image, adding more visual impact to your design.”
Laying it down
According to Smith, the hot stamping process consists of three elements: heat, time, and pressure. “The correct combination of these three elements allows processes, including printing, to reach speeds of 100 meters/minute,” he says, adding that a quality set of engineered embossing cylinders allows the embossing process to typically run at the same speeds as other printing processes.
The highest-quality foil stamping, according to Dave Stollenwerk, executive vice president, American Die Technology, “is done with a heated brass cylinder applied to heat-sensitive foil, which transfers the engraved image to the label substrate.” He adds that embossing processes create a raised image such as the product name, company logo, or other lettering or designs to make the product even more eye-catching and improve visibility from different viewing angles.
Alternatives? Not many
Stamping and embossing do affect the overall printing process. “The impact on the overall printing process is that they generally require slower run speeds and more experience from operators,” says Stollenwerk. “Obviously tooling costs also increase, but the resulting high-end look of the package yields higher profits to the printer, as well as the producer of the product being sold.”
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