Page 18 - Print 21 Magazine Sep-Oct 2018

Print21 + PKN live
LIVE: opportunities
in packaging print
The inaugural Print21 + PKN LIVE event New Frontiers in Packaging Print saw a full house turning out to hear industry experts discuss the best ways to develop opportunities in packaging print.
Some 170 professionals from the packaging and print industries attended the inaugral Print21 + PKN LIVE key industry seminar New Frontiers in Packaging Print, created to highlight emerging opportunities in packaging print, enabled in large part by transformational digital printing technology.
Setting the context for the day, the keynote address delivered by Laura Demasi, director of consumer and social trends at Roy Morgan, focused on the ‘rise of the real’ against the backdrop of the the digital age, and what it meant for traditional media. While Australians are spending more time on the internet than ever before, areas like catalogues, magazines
and books have remained resilient, said Demasi. “It is really tempting
to think that the world is digital,
that is all we do, that is the end of
the story – but that is not true,” she told the audience. “We spend more time interacting with media than
we ever, ever have, and we do it right across the board – in digital and some traditional channels.”
The first session focused on driving consumer engagement, featuring Amber Bonney, head
of creative strategy at the Edison Agency, who discussed how printed packaging and POS are enhancing the experience for shoppers.
She said brands need to see packaging as a critical canvas in which they can defy the status quo and find new ways to challenge and surprise people. The excitement, she says, should extend to marketing and social media, with companies finding new ways to speak the language of their target audience.
“The duality of what a piece of packaging can be is changing the landscape,” Bonney says. “Packaging is about selling and entertaining, and connecting with people on a level that is more real, even if – or especially if – you are a big brand.
Sustainability and ethics is also vitally important, she says, especially to younger generations.
“People are wanting a sense of honesty and transparency from their packaging, and brands can use packaging as a mini-billboard to talk to them.”
She also said people were interested in the greater good of the packaging, with brands such as Thankyou and Who Gives a Crap tapping into this social consciousness. "We can use our creativity to solve genuine consumer problems, and many brands are doing just that,” she says.
Mark Dingley, CEO of Matthews Australia took a look at serialisation and coding on packaging, and how it can be used to enhance brand security and consumer engagement.
18 Print21 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2018