Using Digital Print to Enhance Your Packaging
Packaging is a crucial touchpoint in your customer’s journey. It shapes how they perceive your product, communicates essential information, and even contributes to your sales pitch. Of course, we might be biased in saying so, but it’s not something companies can afford to overlook. After pouring your valued time into branding and messaging, choosing the right packaging is the final step in the process.
What Is Digital Print?
For decades, flexographic and lithographic printing were the primary print methods for packaging. However, over the past 15 years, advancements in digital print have led to increased investment and adoption. Think of digital print as a supersized version of your desktop printer, no tooling is required—you simply send your art files to the printer, which then uses thousands of tiny printheads to deposit ink droplets onto your substrate.
What Are the Benefits?
Digital printing offers numerous advantages. The most obvious is the elimination of tooling, which reduces upfront costs and accelerates turnaround times. But the unsung hero is flexibility.
Digital print has no order minimums, its speed to market and quick setup make it ideal for short run projects and displays. Being able to swiftly adjust graphics for seasonal promotions or product variations is a huge advantage. In the past, this would require thousands of dollars in tooling for something that might only run once or appear only in a handful of stores. With digital print, production begins as soon as the artwork is finalized—allowing brands to react quickly to trends and strike while the iron’s hot.
How Customers Are Using Digital Print in Their Packaging
Prototyping
One of our large CPG customers uses paperboard product boxes with litho graphics for wide-scale distribution. Rapid prototyping helps them test packaging concepts quickly and cost-effectively. Their team relies on our digital department to produce physical proofs before investing in tooling for production. This gives them confidence in their graphics and helps avoid costly mistakes.
Displays
Point-of-purchase (P.O.P.) displays are a prime opportunity to leverage digital print for increased efficiency and flexibility. Our customers have found success in two key areas:
1. Short-run, limited distribution displays
Not every display goes into every location—some are store-specific, others regional. For orders of just 20 displays or frequently changing designs, digital print offers greater flexibility, faster time to market, and cost-effectiveness.
Lego promoted a regional product launch in partnership with F1. Since the promotion was tied to a single race location, a full-scale production run wasn’t necessary. Digital print provided high-quality graphics without the burden of tooling costs.
2. Mixed print methods within the same display
Combining flexo and digital print can strike the perfect balance between high-volume efficiency and fast turnaround.
Yankee Candle uses flexographic printing for the main body of their display, benefiting from economies of scale and consistent quality. They then use digital print for the headers, which feature temporary information about seasonal sales or new product variants. This approach allows for promotional flexibility without the need to order new print plates each time.
Signage
Temporary signage is another excellent application for digital print. These signs—seen in windows, aisles, and behind registers—promote sales, product launches, and general advertising. One thing is consistent: they change all the time. Brands need the ability to update signage quickly, and that’s where digital print excels.
Promotional Packaging
Marketing departments across the country are constantly seeking new ways to stand out to high-value prospects. Account-based marketing strategies that use promotional packaging are a powerful way to break through crowded inboxes and mailboxes.
Our design team creates custom structures tailored to your needs—right-sized to fit everything from branded swag to important company information. Without the constraints of tooling and traditional production, marketing teams can truly let their creativity shine.
We worked with Coca-Cola to quickly deliver on their DroneUp stunt campaign. They delivered digitally printed packaging containing their Coca-Cola with Coffee product to residents of Coffee County, GA. A fast and flexible solution was perfect for a campaign like this that would only be done once with a low quantity.
