The 5 Advantages of Digital Label Printing

The price and quality of Flexographic label printing has been the clear winner for custom labels. Flexographic labels have the advantage for high volume product label orders, but there are setup costs for each label job – preparing your custom label artwork to create printing plates, setting up the label press, mixing inks for color matching, and machine calibration. 

The cost and setup for labels can be expensive if you’re a smaller company or you just need fewer product labels.  This is where digital labels have the advantage.

Digitally printed labels are vibrant high-quality labels. If you’re new to custom labels, or considering making the switch from flexographic labels to digital labels, we’ve put together this guide to help you understand the advantages of digital printing.

1. Quick Turnaround – Digital label printing doesn’t require plates – so you don’t have to pay for a printing plate for each color in your label.  No plates also means a shorter setup time so your labels are printed faster.  Custom labels printed on a digital label press can be printed in less time, so you receive your labels faster.          
   
2. High Quality – When it comes to product labels, vibrant high-quality graphics grab the most attention. Our HP Indigo digital label press prints at a resolution of almost double that of traditional flexographic labels. Your labels will have crisp clear images and life-like colors.   
3. Price – No plates and less time setting up presses means costs for digital label printing are very low for short run labels as compared to flexographic labels.
4. Short Run Labels Capability - This cost benefit is maximized for relatively small quantities of custom labels or “short run labels”.  Another savings with digital label printing - you can order only the product labels you need right now, rather than ordering custom labels in bulk simply to get the best price. 
5. Design Flexibility – In order to be competitive, you need to constantly improve your product label designs.  The cost of reprinting labels can be prohibitive due to plate charges and setup fees.  If you have multiple product label designs, costs can add up even quicker.  Again, with digital label printing there are no plate or setup fees, so we can start printing your new custom labels right away.
With digital label printing, you can print 1,000 custom labels and each individual label can contain different information. This is known as variable data printing.  Variable data printing opens up great new creative possibilities for your custom labels:  you can add names from a database, consecutive numbers, multiple barcodes, or even print multiple versions of the same label!

With over 20 years of custom label printing, we have the experience to deliver the best labels possible. 

Delivering Excellent Customer Service

Excellent customer service is about getting people to talk about your service in a positive way.  Remember:  your customers have an almost infinite array of choices when it comes to choosing a product or service provider, so it's the service that will set you apart. 

3 ways to deliver remarkable customer service:

1.  Make customers, not sales. A customer is repeat business, a sale is a one-time deal.  Think about how costly it is to recruit a single customer.  Don't you get better return on investment when you have them in for the long haul?  Focusing on making customers as opposed to making a sale helps you pinpoint the things your company can do to develop a lasting relationship with a customer.

2.  Be responsive, learn from your mistakes.  Life is hectic these days, so customers want and need immediate resolution to their problems.  Customers buy solutions to problems, not just your product.  The quicker you handle their calls, emails, questions, and problems, the easier you've made their life - and that's an invaluable solution.  Use complaints as a tool to develop quality processes that ensure that mistake never happens again.  Another reason to respond quickly:  research shows that repeat business increases up to 95% when complaints are handled promptly. 

3. Go above and beyond.  Look for ways to go above and beyond in helping your customers.  Do they need a rush order?  Make it happen.  What can you give your customers that they simply can't get anywhere else? 

Want to experience remarkable customer service?  It's at the core of all we do - from our dedicated customer service representatives providing personalized, attentive service, to our quality controls, we're always looking for ways to exceed your expectations.  Give us a call today!

Branding & Labels

What is a brand?

A brand is your product's identity.  What started as a simple mark to tell which cattle belonged to you has evolved to include all elements of a product's identity.  All elements of your product's design and "personality".  This includes your product labels.

When you're designing your labels, it's important to keep in mind what you can do to improve the odds that your label will attract your consumer's attention.  How can you use different colors, imagery, or different label materials? 

Consolidated Label is always looking for the newest innovations in custom labeling products, and we continually invest in these new technologies to help you develop and convey your unique brand image.

If you'd like some more information about how label and packaging elements like design, color, and finish can help distinguish your product, call us today at 800-475-2235 and ask for a copy of our brochure, The Five Second Decision:  Getting Your Product from Shelf to Cart.

Developing Label Designs That Sell

Are you looking for a way to design or even refresh your product label?  Unsure where to start?

Developing better product labels starts with understanding what your competition is doing.  Spend some time in the aisles where your product(s) are sold. You'll start to see design elements common amongst the brands featured there and patterns will start to emerge.  For example, when it comes to juice labels you'll find bright natural colors, and fruit imagery; browse the labels for household cleaning products, and you'll see a lot of white (symbolizing pure, clean) and airy, natural imagery.

This observation is how you begin to understand your "category language" - the established visual elements that convey the basic ideas of your product.  Pay attention to the images and colors used in your product's category - those are the core parts of the category language. 

Once you understand the building blocks of your category's language, you can break the rules.  Look at your competitors, break down the common visual elements, then pick something else to do differently and stand out.  Do keep some standard elements for familiarity, so your custom product label still communicates in a "dialect" your customers understand.  For example, try using a different, bolder color while maintaining the standard imagery of your product category.  

Shrink Sleeve Labels Increase A Product's Shelf Visibility

While shopping at the grocery store, I noticed a shift in the labeling of many household cleaning products.  Instead of pressure sensitive labels for household cleaning products many national brands are shifting to shrink sleeves. 

When you look at national brand cleaning products on the shelf next to the store brand, it's easy to see the instant visual impact vibrant shrink sleeves have. Take a look at two examples:

Which brand jumps out at you? 

Considering that the average decision to pick up a product is made in less than 5 seconds,  the vibrant graphics on the Tilex have the clear lead. 

Shrink sleeves also have a few other advantages for labeling household cleaning products. 

• First of all, many cleaning product containers are ergonomically shaped - for example the hand grips on the bottle necks on the above products. Shrink sleeves can be molded around distinctive package shapes. 
• You can also use shrink sleeves to build in tamper-evidence in one easy label solution, possibly reducing your overall packaging cost.
• Because the printed ink is actually inside the sleeve, the graphics aren't vulnerable to liquids.  That means that the product maintains it's distinctive look, even if the bottle gets wet with product or water.  You can see that the store-brand labels above would easily peel off or be damaged should the product get wet.  

 

Our UPC Code Quality Process

When you place an order for custom labels with us, your order goes through several stages of Quality Control.  This post specifically talks about the QC processes that barcodes undergo.  Barcodes are tested several times throughout our label production process.  We scan every barcode on readers at each step of the way.  Here's how our process works:

1. Our Art Department generates the barcode using a special program and the number you've provided.
2. When the proof is made, the Artist handling your order scans the barcode to verify it passes barcode scanning requirements.
3. Before we send this proof to you, our Art Audit team again scans the barcode and a printed report indicating the barcode has passed is attached to the hard copy of the proof.
4. During printing, the first label submitted for approval is also scanned by our Press Audit team and that report is also attached to the Inspection Sheet.
5. Pharmaceutical labels undergo another scan at shipping, and this report is attached to the required certification.

All reports are attached to your order files and archived for five years.

Shelf Impact!'s Package Design Workshops | Home

Learn about retail trends, consumer preferences, and strategies to help you create packages that deliver bottom-line results!

via www.shelfimpact.com

Sounds like a really informative program for packaging designers and companies looking to get the most bang out of their shelf presence.

Shrink Sleeves Shrink Your Competition

We're always looking for the best ways to help our customers sell more product.  After talking with other packaging industry experts about how competition on store shelves is driving changes, we spent some time researching emerging packaging trends our customers can use to grow their product sales.  What did we find?  Shrink sleeves are going to be key differentiators on store shelves - right where your customers are making their purchasing decisions.  We believe this is the "next big thing" in product packaging.

Shrink sleeves can:

• Get your product noticed.  Shrink provides a vibrant 360-degree billboard for your product - which is sure to stand out next to plain labels. Combine shrink sleeves with a uniquely shaped container for even greater shelf impact.
• Reduce product container costs.  Shrink sleeves offer full container surface coverage making it possible for consumer product manufacturers to inventory a single white container, using shrink sleeves to add color, graphics, and distinguish different product lines. This can help drive down container costs by eliminating the need for containers in multiple sizes/colors for a product line.
• Appeal to your customer's safety concerns.  With shrink sleeves, it's simple to incorporate tamper-evident features by extending the sleeve up the neck of the container.  Customers get a visual indication of tampering when the neck sleeve is damaged or removed.
• Keep your product looking its best. Because shrink labels are printed "inside out" they have a built in barrier against scratching and damage to your design. This keeps your product looking its best on the shelf and beyond.

Curious about what shrink sleeves can do for your product?  We have the capability to prototype small quantities in house.  Give us a call at 800-475-2235 for more information. 

Custom Labels in 5 Easy Steps

Did you know that your label is one of the best ways to market your product?  If you’re new to label buying, we can help.  Consolidated Label prints custom labels for almost every product, including food, candles, bottles, medical equipment, personal care, household goods and much more.  At Consolidated Label, we know your product is unique and so are your needs.   Tell us about your label application and we’ll help you through the whole label process.

To help you get started, we’ve broken the process down into 5 easy steps, to make sure you get highest quality label possible.

1. Measure
You’ll need to measure the container on which your label is going to be applied, so we can determine the size of the label required. Tip: To measure curved bottles, jars, etc., photocopy a ruler and wrap it around the container to determine label length.

2. Choose a Die
Once you’ve figured out the size of your label, you’ll need to choose a die to cut the shape of your label. Consolidated Label has over 2500 label dies in inventory, but if you’d like something unique, we can create a custom die.

3. Choose a Material
Selecting the right label material is essential. If the wrong material is chosen, your label may wrinkle, not adhere properly, or even come off. Here are a few basic questions which can help us guide you to the best label material.

Will the label get wet?
Will the label be in direct sunlight?
Will the label be applied while your product is frozen?

4. Artwork
Label artwork is what sells your product. You’ve probably given your label design a lot of thought, and you may have your label artwork finalized. If your artwork is camera-ready (designed by a graphic artist or yourself in an industry-standard format), e-mail it to your Customer Service representative. Our Art Department will review your label artwork and make sure it’s ready for press. If you don’t have a label design just yet, there are plenty of places online that can help. If you need some ideas, check out our Label Gallery. Tip: Try searching for local freelance graphic designers.

5. Approve & Print
After our Art Department has prepared your label art, we’ll send you a proof. This is the last chance for review before your labels are printed, so you’ll need to thoroughly check your proof for all errors including: spelling, size, color, etc. We want your label to be perfect! If something’s not right, don’t worry – revisions can be made at this time. When your label is 100% correct, give us your approval and it’s off to the presses!


Rest assured that the Consolidated Label commitment to quality doesn’t end here. After your labels come off the press, our Inspection Team matches them to the proof to ensure color, size, and material are all correct. Once your labels have passed our thorough inspection, we’ll wind them to your specified number of labels per roll, package them up, and ship! 

A few things to keep in mind: 

• The lead time for the label printing process varies from 5-10 working days, after you approve your label artwork.
• Shipping time can vary as well; depending on your location receipt of your labels from our plant can range from 1-6 days.
• Printing a custom label for the first time does require some initial set-up fees for art and plates, however, these charges don’t apply for label reorders.
• The art fees cover preparing your label for the presses. Plates print the image onto the label material, and the number of plates you need equals the number of colors for your label. Let’s say your label is 2 colors, purple and green. You’ll need one plate for purple, and one plate for green. Generally speaking, the fewer the printing colors, the cheaper the label.

Using 2 colors? We can print your label to match your logos, business cards, and more if you request a Pantone match. The Pantone Matching System is a standard, worldwide color language used to provide accurate reproduction and matching of colors. You may request Pantone swatches from your customer service representative. If you’d like a photo-quality label, we recommend 4 color process printing (CMYK).

If you’re ready to get started, get an instant online label quote!