In its first foray into the world of Podcasts, Digital Labels & Packaging hosted a discussion between three packaging printing experts shine a light on the reality of personalisation in today’s labels and packaging market.

When digital print technology began its mainstream emergence in the labels and packaging sector, the industry buzzed with ambitious predictions. Every product, from morning toothpaste to lunchtime sandwiches, would soon bear personalised messages tailored to individual consumers. Over a decade later, it’s worth examining what became of these bold promises and whether personalisation has evolved from novelty to necessity.

Stefan Casey, head of ecosystem, io.tt Sharpend, maintains the timing is finally right, even if the market isn’t quite ready. The critical distinction, he argues, lies in moving beyond the ‘what’ towards the ‘why’. “It’s not just about the variable data, but it’s more about the relevance,” Mr Casey explained. “We need to make sure that whatever we’re doing with the personalised customisation elements that it has to be relevant and not just the name on a bottle anymore.”

Yet in the world of gifting, that name on a bottle still holds considerable appeal. Mr Casey added, “When I did the Quality Street tins personalisation in store, I think I spent about £200 giving all my relatives a personalised tin, so that is still a gift worthy thing.” The difference lies in context and purpose rather than technology alone.

Greg Bently, EU packaging director & SMEE COO, Suntory, offered perspective from the brand owner’s viewpoint, having also been involved with Coca-Cola’s pioneering Share a Coke campaign. He suggests the campaign was ahead of its time, enabled by digital print rather than inspired by it. “It was only when someone came along and said I need to put different names on coke bottles that we even thought about a personalisation campaign. Digital print enabled it, but it wasn’t the reason we did it,” Bentley explained.

The subsequent industry hype led many to believe consumers would want their names on everything, but Mr Bentley’s collection of personalised items highlights a crucial point about the difference between novelty and utility. “I’ve got everything from whiskey to, you name it, KitKats, I’ve got it all with Greg on, but it doesn’t really solve a problem,” he says. “A sports bottle on the side of a pitch, I want my name on that. That’s useful.”

True personalisation requires the product to reach the intended recipient, something Share a Coke cleverly sidestepped. As Mr Bentley points out: “Coke didn’t print Stefan on a bottle for Stefan. They printed Stefan on a bottle for someone who wanted to find it to then give to Stefan. It wasn’t true personalisation. In fact, it was just variable data printing, and the data happened to be named.”

Finding the sweet spot

The direct-to-consumer market has emerged as perhaps the most promising avenue for authentic personalisation. When someone orders a product online, the brand captures his data and delivers directly to his address. Mr Bently explained, “They’ve got my data. That’s a perfect opportunity. They can put Greg on my bottle of vodka, and I would be over the bloody moon.”

The appeal of personalised packaging shouldn’t be underestimated, even when it serves primarily as a keepsake. Mr Bentley reflects on his personalised Johnny Walker bottle: “It’s never going to be opened. I mean, when I pass away, my kids will be like, what the hell’s this? But it’s an additional sale.

This raises questions about which markets truly justify the investment. Mr Bentley uses mobile phone evolution as an analogy: “The first mobile phones cost $50,000. They weren’t targeting me, and they weren’t targeting my 16-year-old daughter.” The lesson for digital print is clear. “I think the problem was after Share a Coke, everybody thought, oh, brilliant, we can go for the volume market, and they go for places like KitKat, which is probably not the right place. They’d have probably been better off focusing on the lower volume, higher value market opportunities,” he explained.

The GS1 revolution

The conversation consistently circles back to connected packaging and GS1 standards as game-changing developments. Mr Bentley sees enormous potential: “For me, GS1 is massive. That’s going to change the game when it comes to digital print and connecting with the consumer.” The ability to gather consumer feedback directly represents significant value, particularly when managing controversial changes like tethered caps.

Steven Westwood, commercial manager monochrome, Domino Printing Sciences highlights how hybrid printing addresses cost concerns: “You’ve got a lot of analogue printers out there. They’re running flexo lines, the ink is a lot cheaper than digital ink and the runs are long. So, to put a variable code because it doesn’t need to be personal, it’s just a variable code until it’s scanned and they log into their account.”

Mr Casey points to research showing strong consumer appetite. In the third edition of SharpEnd / io.tt’s Connected Experience Report (CXR3), more brands are using GS1. Mr Casey explained, “The report is saying 90% of brands are embracing this technology now.” Europe’s regulatory push towards digital product passports will likely accelerate adoption. “What’s going to actually come through Europe is even going to enforce the use of these even more, which will then hopefully guide us to that more dynamic coding which we all crave for,” Mr Casey explains.

Mr Westwood sees this as the foundation for future personalisation: “The brands that take and engage earlier will get the data that the brand owners are going to calculate on these customers. So the more they engage, the more data they get, then they can start producing and looking at how do we personalise things to these people, these loyal customers of ours.”

Deposit return schemes could also be revolutionised through unique codes. Mr Bentley imagines: “If a barcode or the GS1 was unique, I scan it at the till and that bottle then becomes my ownership because that bottle is suddenly unique. This is only possible because of digital print.”

The supply chain benefits often go unmentioned, yet they’re substantial. Mr Casey highlights: “The unforeseen and the less sexy part of this whole print connected part is the supply chain efficiencies. It can actually give information on logistics, you know, answering the questions, where is my pallet of booze gone? Is it going to the grey market?”

Making it work

For print providers seeking to promote personalisation capabilities to brands, Mr Bentley advises against approaching marketing departments directly: “My advice would be, don’t bother going directly to marketing.” Instead, he recommends targeting packaging engineers and developers. “They’re the people that will make it happen.”

The key lies in demonstrating solutions rather than creating hype. “You live and breathe digital print. That’s your job. That’s everything to us. It’s a potential solution to a problem we don’t yet know we’ve got,” Mr Bentley explains. “Just make sure that we know that your solution is there and what your solution can do.”

Mr Casey emphasises finding champions within brand organisations who believe in meaningful ideas beyond novelty. Success requires collaboration across multiple disciplines, with agencies playing a crucial bridging role. “I am doing exactly what I was doing at the brand and bringing and connecting people together, whether it be the technology, the printer, the coder,” he explained.

“For me, GS1 is massive. That’s going to change the game when it comes to digital print and connecting with the consumer.”

The technology has matured significantly. Mr Casey notes: “Now what’s exciting is we’ve got loads of players and Chinese manufacuters are entering the market. So that brings costs down, it brings scalability, it brings competition. There has never a better time with everything that’s coming through with GS1 mandates.”

However, if you removed Share a Coke volumes from the equation, Mr Bentley estimates personalisation represents “less than 1%” of digital print applications today. The distinction between needed and wanted personalisation remains crucial. “It’s the needed personalisation versus the wanted personalisation. I don’t want a letter that comes to my house that’s telling me I’ve got a water bill. That’s digital personalisation. I don’t want it. It’s not real personalisation.”

The forgotten promises of 2013 haven’t disappeared but evolved into more pragmatic applications. Sometimes that means product customisation emphasised through packaging personalisation, sometimes it’s unique codes enabling engagement and traceability, and occasionally it’s still a bottle of vodka with your mate Barry’s name on it. The key is understanding which application serves which purpose and having the commercial courage to experiment accordingly.