Direct Mail Growth In 2019_

Direct Mail Growth in 2019 – A New Era

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Since 1999, everyone has heard that print is dying but here we are in 2019 and print marketing is as strong as ever. Printed marketing pieces, such as direct mail, have seen tremendous growth in 2019 and it shows no signs of slowing down. Direct mail has proven that it is still a required tool to drive results for any campaign effort and maximize your marketing ROI. With the internet and social media over inundating our lives, people have become immune and detached from digital marketing efforts. Marketers have started to incorporate direct mail premiums such as address labels, window clings, and bumper stickers, back into their marketing tool box and are finding great success with those efforts.

When constructing your direct mail piece, it is important to understand your audience and segment your data to drive the best results. A USPS study found that millennials are more likely to spend time sorting and opening/reading their mail. It is also found that 50% of consumers are more likely to try a new product, service or establishment within 6 months after receiving an a direct mail piece with millennials the most likely to have done so in the last month. With the introduction of informed delivery, people now get an email from USPS when a package is in the mail which is another opportunity to interact with individuals before anything has even been delivered! A successful marketer will be able to incorporate print and digital into their marketing campaigns and ensure the two work together.

If you are wondering how to tie a mailed piece to the online world, there are some simple solutions that are gaining traction. Through the use of QR codes, near field communications, augmented reality and online remarketing campaigns, companies are able to drive a person from a direct mail piece to a website or app that delivers an individual to more content and information to help them make a decision on interacting with your business. The best way to increase your direct mail ROI is to incorporate segmented data and personalized design with an interactive experience and incredible offer.

Design Tips for Luxury Retail Labels

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It has happened to all of us. We go to the store and a well-designed, shiny package on the store shelves captures our eye. We must touch it and roll it over in our hands while we imagine how much this glorious product could change our life. A well-designed package is more than just a box. It excites us and makes us feel like we must have this piece of luxury. What are the sensory triggers that tell our brain that the product we are holding is a luxe product and worthy of our investment?

Touch and Feel
Luxury awakens our emotions. It has a weight and an edge to it that is easily recognizable. Nothing thrills a consumer more than when they pick up a package and are surprised by an incredibly soft touch, it’s heaviness and the clean, crisp edges that make up a package. As a person unveils the contents of a box, incorporate little surprises along the way and don’t forget to extend that attributes of the luxe box to the product and its label.

Visual Experience
Textiles, patterns, and clean simple design are all good ways to communicate to the end user the value of your product. There are countless substrates and laminations that can create a unique look to grab the consumer’s attention. Linens, woods, leather, metal – An experienced label printer can help you achieve these looks that extend beyond the graphics and create an interactive experience. Use contrasting finishes and be sure to understand how light bounces off of these finishes when displayed to create the memorable experience for the consumer.

Quality Control
Creating a unique end user experience through your packaging is an impressive feat. How do you continue to do that on a bigger scale and without the focus you had on the process while creating your prototype? Be sure to understand every step of your package creation and think about climate control, brand consistency, shipping dangers and all the elements on the path from your door to the consumer’s door that could change the user experience.

When printing your product’s labels, ask yourself what you expect from your label? Color is subjective and the hardest thing to understand is that color is all in your head. Certain print shops are certified color management experts and have the technical knowledge to product your brand’s color on a consistent manner. Also consider the adhesive being used. Simple glue will result in a fraying label that may fall completely off. Know the conditions of your package and where/how it will be stored and then work with your print shop to ensure your adhesive is up to the job.

A well-designed product requires we interact with it and really examine how it is crafted. By taking that a step further and considering all of our senses from sight and smell to touch and sound, you can create the ultimate luxury package experience.

Hub Labels Celebrates The 10 Year Anniversary of Linerless Labels

Celebrating 10 Years in Linerless

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Hub Labels, Inc was the first to introduce the Ravenwood Packaging Linerless Label Solution to the United States in 2009. Ten years later, Hub Labels has seen tremendous growth in the linerless market as companies seek ways to increase sustainability and efficiency advantages.

When Hub Labels, Inc decided to incorporate linerless labels into their portfolio, the label was unproven in the North American market but was a great success in Europe for years. Thomas Dahbura, president of Hub Labels, Inc, saw the potential for the technology and its ability to provide a “green” label solution, as linerless labels produce zero waste during the die cutting process and there is no liner backing to end up in a landfill. Linerless labels are made by strategically placed adhesive strips on the underside of the label. To ensure the labels do not stick together when placed on a roll, the label face has a release coating that prevent the labels from sticking to one another. In the application line, the labels are guillotine-cut before being applied to the package.

No liner also equates to:
• Less reel weight
• Reduced shipping costs
• Reduced inventory space
• Less materials needed when producing labels
• Reduced down-time due to roll changes
• Elimination of downtime due to troubleshoot liners breaking and tension points

Traditionally, a product may have multiple labels including a face label, a bottom ingredients labels, and additional store labels. These labels cover up what is being purchased and get plastered all over a package haphazardly. By going linerless, more of the product can shine through the packaging and can increases confidence that a product is fresh and healthy for consumption. Interestingly, this one label approach has also increased the marketing potential of a package. Labels are no longer restricted to the top and bottom of the package and can now wrap entirely around a product to create a 360° brand that can be seen on the shelf no matter how it is displayed. There is also the additional benefit of having the ability to print on both sides of the label (reverse-side printing) which increases the brand’s ability to connect to a consumer.

Some of the advantages of linerless labels include:
• Full color, high-end graphics
• Option to print on the back side of the label (reverse-side printing)
• Less waste due to no liner, no die cut waste and optimum adhesive placement
• No wet glue in production
• Less risk to slip-fall injury from liner waste
• Thermal transfer variable print ability (such as bar codes, weights, price and item name) at time of application

Linerless labels have proven to be a great solution for the protein sectors, including meat, chicken and fish but as consumers demands has shifted towards more healthier options and on-the-go packaging, linerless has seen a boom in produce and bakery goods. Linerless labels are now found in every supermarket across the United States and Hub Labels, Inc continues to be at the forefront of the linerless revolution.

Download our whitepaper on GOING LINERLESS.

Gallus Hybrid Digital-Flexo Press

Hub Labelfire

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The Gallus Labelfire 340 combines the latest digital printing technology with the benefits of conventional printing and further processing technology and is raising the bar in label printing. The capabilities are endless!

Personalization

Projects can easily be customized with text or graphics.

Long & Short Runs

This press has the ability to handle both long and short run digital printing which helps keep your project on schedule.

High Quality Printing

Industry standard is for flexo printing is 300 dpi, the digital press is 1200 dpi. *dpi – dots per inch

Print on Demand

Ability for a faster reaction time; including last minute art and quantity changes.

Less Inventory Stock

Instead of printing large amounts at a time, digital printing allows you to print what you need, when you need it.

Test-Drive Markets

Since there is not a minimum quantity requirement; you are able to test new markets cost effectively.
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Special Effects

Interested in adding special effects to your label? Choose from silver or gold cold foil to make your package stand out.

Still interested in learning more about our Labelfire? Let us know how we can help!
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Why Linerless Labels?

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linerless-labelHub Labels is pleased to offer Ravenwood Linerless Labels, a labeling approach that eliminates the separate silicone release liner found on pressure sensitive labels. Linerless Labels eliminate  waste while delivering consistency on-shelf. Primary Linerless markets include meat, fish and poultry categories. Secondary markets include fresh produce, convenience and desserts.

Watch the video
Sleeving or full-wrap applications are effective at reducing the typical material weight of traditional sleeves while speeding up efficiencies. Popular for many years in the UK and Europe with over 12 billion+ applied annually, Ravenwood Linerless Labels and Sleeves bring high-end packaging solutions to the table with a variety of application styles, including:
Linerless labels provide all the benefits of self-adhesive labeling with improved efficiencies, volume applications and environmental advantages through their non-utilization of carrier backing paper.
Available in silicone coated paper, board or synthetic materials, standard Linerless labels deliver a semi-adhesive label format which partially adheres to pack through a series of technically placed glue strips. Labels faces are then supplied without carrier backing paper. Reel weight is therefore significantly reduced by up to 40%, meaning less weight waste, storage and reel changeovers.
As an extended pack format, Linerless also serves to deliver consistency on-shelf as well as increased surface area print to better service information and legislative requirements.
Benefits

  • Zero backing paper waste
  • 40% less reel weight compared to self-adhesive labels
  • More labels on a reel
  • Fully automated application speeds of up to 180 packs per minute
  • Fewer reel changes, less downtime
  • Consistency of format on-shelf
  • Increased surface print area
  • Tamper evident

For more information, contact our linerless team linerless@hublabels.com.

Thomas Dahbura is The Label Guru

Meet the Label Guru in our New Linerless Labels Video

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Hub Labels introduces the Label Guru in a fun new video promoting Ravenwood Linerless Labels, an innovative product designed for high volume manufacturing and processing and sleeving approach that eliminates the separate silicon release liner found pressure sensitive labels or thins out traditional board sleeves. Delivering consistency on-shelf, increased surface print area and process efficiencies, primary Linerless markets include meat, fish and poultry categories. Secondary markets include fresh produce, convenience and desserts.

Check out the Label Guru Video

Sleeving or full-wrap applications are effective at reducing the typical material weight of traditional sleeves while speeding up efficiencies. Popular for many years in the UK and Europe with over 12 billion+ applied annually, Ravenwood Linerless Labels and Sleeves bring high-end packaging solutions to the table with a variety of application styles, including:
Linerless labels provide all the benefits of self-adhesive labeling with improved efficiencies, volume applications and environmental advantages through their non-utilization of carrier backing paper.
Available in silicone coated paper, board or synthetic materials, standard Linerless labels deliver a semi-adhesive label format which partially adheres to pack through a series of technically placed glue strips. Labels faces are then supplied without carrier backing paper. Reel weight is therefore significantly reduced by up to 40%, meaning less weight waste, storage and reel changeovers.
As an extended pack format, Linerless also serves to deliver consistency on-shelf as well as increased surface area print to better service information and legislative requirements.

Benefits

  • Zero backing paper waste
  • 40% less reel weight compared to self-adhesive labels
  • More labels on a reel
  • Fully automated application speeds of up to 180 packs per minute
  • Fewer reel changes, less downtime
  • Consistency of format on-shelf
  • Increased surface print area
  • Tamper evident

For more information, contact our linerless team linerless@hublabels.com.