If supermarket aisles were the red carpet at the Oscars, the global cross-media production company Schawk would be the equivalent of a Valentino or a Dior. The company, which has more than 150 years’ experience in designing and producing packaging, “dresses” many of the most famous names in consumer products and retailing: Coke, Nestlé, General Mills, L’Oreal, J&J, Nike, and Walmart.
Global brands, and the retailers that deliver their products to consumers, rely on Schawk's packaging to do many things. Packs contain and protect the product. They attract consumers with eye-catching designs that convey its the brand’s promise and make it stand out on the shelf. Behind the scenes, they track products via UPC labels and barcodes that make inventory and point-of-sale scanning easier.
But Schawk's clients also look to the company to help them improve brand performance and connect to consumers in new ways, and partnering with Digimarc is Schawk's latest way of keeping their clients on the cutting edge.
"Every square millimeter of a pack is precious real estate for brands," said Bruce Miller, vice president of product development at SGK, Schawk's parent company. "Digimarc Barcode replaces older marks that intruded on the pack design. More importantly, it provides an infrastructure that lets brands open new channels to consumers."
Connected-package technology offers significant benefits for everyone on the retail spectrum – CPGs, retailers and consumers – in two key areas: mobile discovery and POS scanning. It is an advantage for consumers because it is invisibly embedded in the physical pack, so they can easily access more plentiful digital content with their smartphones. It’s also an advantage for retailers, because the subtle, signal-rich codes are easily recognizable by POS scanners.
The next generation in packaging, the connected package, is part of the digital stream of information, communication and transaction. Brands gain an unlimited messaging canvas while eliminating the need to sacrifice valuable pack space for QR codes.
This unlimited messaging capability is key to engaging consumers. In a Digimarc-Harris poll, 78 percent of consumers said that they have wanted additional information about a product after reading a product’s package. Anything from digital coupons to product videos, detailed information about ingredients, and cross-brand promotions can be delivered with a Digimarc Barcode, and the messaging can be changed whenever the brand owner wants to respond rapidly to changes in marketing strategy, market conditions or new consumer insights.
"Soon, almost everyone all over the world will carry an internetworked super-computer in their pocket, and these consumers want to know more about whatever they interact with, especially their food,"" Miller said. "This second generation of mobile engagement with packaging will give them that information, whether about its source or nutritional value – or to personalize the buying journey for the consumer. By enhancing their products with Digimarc Barcode, brand owners and retailers alike can create packaging that wins at the shelf while future-proofing their packaging for exciting new applications."
Like fashion, product packaging is constantly evolving. The hot trend one year might be viewed as stale the next. With Digimarc Barcode, Schawk’s clients can stay looking sharp on store shelves while also delivering customers exactly what they want – regardless of how tastes, like styles, may shift.
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