The Label Manufacturers Association of India (LMAI) organized the second edition of the Brand Owners Meet in the evening of 12 March at Hotel Orchid in Mumbai. The event was attended by brand owners, convertors, materials suppliers, and adhesive and ink manufacturers. The topics ranged from growing need for printers to have capabilities to produce decorative and innovative labels that catch the consumer’s eye to brand security and brand image enhancement.
The keynote presentation was delivered by Suresh Gupta, ex-chairman of Huhtamaki PPL, who shared how the company became one the leading flexible packaging companies in India by bringing in various types of innovations.
He cited the example of shrink sleeve labels, which was first introduced in India by HPPL in the 90s. Initially, the market was very skeptical about this new solution given that the cost was very high compared to existing solutions. However, shrink sleeve labels were a huge success despite their steep cost. According to Gupta, this shows that if the solution is right, brands are ready to pay for that solution.
Gupta concluded his talk by referring to some of the major trends unfolding in the label industry. He said that the industry is moving towards greater digitalization and premiumization, focus is shifting towards sustainability and technology is getting very quickly obsolete.
Somnath Chatterjee of Pernod Ricard India said that packaging is undergoing significant changes due to rapidly changing consumer preferences. He said that India’s changing demographics and rising income offers huge opportunity for the labels industry as consumption demand grows.
Chatterjee threw some light on the challenged faced by the liquor industry when it comes to packaging and labelling. He said that handling multiple SKUs is a challenge, compliance and risk mitigation is another challenge for the liquor industry.
Anil Choubey of Patanjali Ayurveda said that labelling plays a vital role in branding as it is the most important factor influencing consumer purchase decision. “Therefore, it is a necessity to explore labels and its elements in more detail, in order to understand which of these elements are the most important for consumer’s purchase decision,” he said.
Choubey also spoke about the steps that can be taken to minimize the environmental impact of packaging. He said that efforts must be made to reduce material usage, which will lead to reduced expenses, lesser material in waste streams and fewer disposal challenges.
Vishwas Jangam of Future Consumer Enterprises spoke on the modern trade and the role of labels. According to him the factors that lead to purchase are product positing in stores, shelf level and shelf coverage, packaging form, package elements and time to connect with the products.
According to him, labels are important in influencing one’s purchase decision because they communicate and act as a bridge between consumers and brands. Labels have also evolved from being just providers of basic information to being interactive and offering brand identity.
Strong sponsors response to LMAI Conference 2019
On 22 March, LMAI held a sponsor meet at National Sports Club of India at Worli in Mumbai. At the meet Manish Desai of Mudrika Labels gave a presentation on the LMAI Conference 2019, which will be held at Grand Hyatt Hotel in Kochi from 25-28 July. He said that response from the sponsors till now has been very encouraging.
He shared that so far 16 companies have become sponsors for the event. Avery Dennison is the platinum sponsor, SMI Coated Products and Pulisi Intergraphic are diamond sponsors while Gallus and Vinsak India are gold sponsors.
There are nine silver sponsors, namely JN Arora, Numex Blocks, Apex Asia, Flint Group, Multitec Aids, Loparex India, Inter Films India, FIG, and Insight Print Communications. There are two bronze sponsors – Esko and Weldon Celloplast.
