Attended by about 50 brand owners and packaging designers, the Brand Innovation conference at Labelexpo India was led by notable speakers including Chakravarthi AVPS, Sukhdev Singh Saini, Gagan Talwar, Kanchan Bhargava and others. Labelexpo Global Series managing director, Lisa Milburn opened the Brand Innovation Day with Andy Thomas-Emans, director of Strategy for Labelexpo Global Series, who talked about the various challenges facing brands, the role of Labelexpo and Labels & Labeling, and the new market opportunities for future growth.
Chakravarthi AVPS, global ambassador for the World Packaging Organization, spoke on global packaging trends and how to adapt to constantly changing consumer demands. “India is one of the world’s fastest emerging markets, which has created a fantastic opportunity for brands and packaging designers. We are seeing really exciting trends evolving in the region, which cater to millennials’ choices. We are working on possibilities of designs that address personalized marketing and sustainability, especially total recyclability. With the increasing legislation on the compliance front in domestic and international markets, the thrust on safe packaging is predominant as well. However, for the industry to remain competitive and fresh, brands can’t afford to be complacent, and need to be constantly updating their knowledge,” he said.
Sukhdev Singh Saini, packaging lead AMEA, General Mills, talked about creating environmental awareness in the branding of a product, including how to handle recycling of both raw materials and end use products.
SC Johnson speaking at the Brand
Innovation Day organized on Day 1 of
Labelexpo India 2018. Photo PSA
Avinesh Jain, packaging engineer, SC Johnson, talked about counterfeiting and the need to protect brands. Jain emphasized on the optimizing supply chain by tracing a product through its life cycle. He explained the mode to identify and track counterfeit products within the content-to-consumer supply chain using the track and trace technology, and its connection to serialization.
Kanchan Bhargava, senior brand manager, Twinings, explored the ways of leveraging packaging design and the role it plays in brand building and increasing market share. Speaking on the disruptive packaging designs for building brands and better market shares, Bhargava captivated the interest of the audience with her concept on brand stories on packaging. Reiterating the examples of brands such as Paper Boat, Coco-Cola and Twinings, she explained how different brands use different kinds of approach to attract customers’ attention.
manager of Twinings at Labelexpo
India 2018. Photo PSA
“There are thousands of products, price labels and promotions happening on a shelf and it’s a complex environment. Shoppers picking a product is like driving a car and therefore it is our job to navigate them properly. We should offer them enough visual cues to help them quickly process through the visuals and buy the product.”
Gagan Talwar, packaging manager, Reckitt Benckiser gave a presentation on digitalization of labeling and packaging technologies. He focused on the evolving consumer communication and addressed the need for sustainability in packaging operations. He started with the latest color added to the pantone shade card – ultra-violet – which won the color of the year 2018 award.
“It only takes 8 seconds for a buyer to decide what to buy from the shelf. The shelf space is continuously shrinking with newer and newer products being added. Buyers from different areas, geographies and economic backgrounds generate the need for newness. Consumers want to be engaged and enticed. So it is a challenge for the packaging industry to keep innovating and creating something new and enticing.”
Andy Thomas-Emans hosted the product decoration panel discussion on developing unique structural packaging concepts with special effect inks for an eye-catching and tactile finish and adopting new printing techniques for stand-out product presence. He was joined by speakers Ajay Mehta, SMI Coated Products; John Winderam, Esko, Appadurai A, HP India; Christian Menegon, HP; and Parag Bagade, Avery Dennison.
