Five Minutes: Five things that are good to know
What we’re researching:
The formidable TLMI Market Watch!
We’ve been clocking hours surveying and interviewing brands and packaging buyers for the TLMI Market Watch, published and available to TLMI members next month. LPC has been surveying the top of the label-printing food chain on behalf of TLMI for more than a decade and the upcoming Market Watch will revisit some data points we ask these companies every year.
In one of the key questions, we asked participants to indicate if the number of SKUs for their products would increase, decrease, or stay the same over the next three years. We humans like to think we have lots of choices. Whether it’s booze, apparel, cosmetics, expensive chocolate or the types of lightbulbs we put in our shopping cart at Home Depot, we want to feel consumer goods manufacturers are speaking directly to us. Why is it important to track SKU proliferation? Because proliferating SKUs mean smaller and smaller run sizes across end-use verticals (food, beverage, personal care, household chemicals, retail, industrials, etc.).
This trend has been one of the primary forces behind digital press adoption around the globe, and this year’s TLMI research in North America shows us SKU proliferation isn’t expected to wind down any time soon. Nearly 100 companies participated in this year’s Market Watch Brand Survey and as you can see from the graph below, nearly 80% of those companies indicated the number of SKUs they have will increase. And who doesn’t love SKU proliferation! Well, actually those poor people in supply chain logistics roles may not. It means more moving pieces to keep track of and increased complexity at the point of distribution. (Hope they’ve downloaded the latest version of the Headspace app.)
What we’re keeping our eye on:
Polyhydroxyalkanoate. (Gesundheit!) Called PHA for short, this nine-syllable word is an FDA-approved naturally-occurring biopolymer. What’s cool is that it’s biodegradable, compostable and produces no toxic waste as it breaks down into carbon dioxide, water, and other organic waste. The material will biodegrade wherever it ends up – compost, a biologically-active landfill, soil, fresh waterways or the ocean. Here’s where it gets interesting: PHA is produced by microorganisms through a fermentation process that’s similar to beer or yogurt. Wild, huh? And it can be used to make durable packaging that functions just like regular plastic – but in a more earth and critter-caring kind of way.
And here’s where it gets even more interesting. James Murdoch, the green-minded scion of that tiny little media company you may have heard of, News Corporation, is a major investor in Cove – the company that will bring PHA to us via bottled water they’ll produce in their LA-based operation. James reportedly netted more than $2 billion from News Corporation’s recent merger with Disney and he’s earmarked some of his spare change to making the packaging industry greener. Will PHA take off and become a widespread, labeled, packaging material? Time will tell but the turtles and fish are routing for James’ vision and his friends at Cove.
What we’re thinking about:
It’s an even year, so that means crowds will be gathering to walk the aisles of Labelexpo Americas this September in Rosemont, IL. If you’re exhibiting, how’s the marketing and communications outreach going? We see it again and again. Companies dedicate resources to booth design, product polishing and making sure the sales folks have well-versed pitches. But when it comes to the marketing and communications plan, content and execution often fall short.
We get it. Labelexpo preparation has a lot of variables in the success equation but don’t let your marketing and communications efforts get the shortest straw. Start the outreach to customers and prospects now. Map out a series of press releases and make sure the content is captivating and effectively conveys your products’ and/or services’ strengths and offerings. If you have social media accounts, make sure you have a plan in place to strategically drop posts over the course of the coming months to ensure you’re keeping the conversation going. If you don’t have much (or any) social media presence, don’t fret. You can still do some groundwork to begin building your presence. (And by the way, if you’re a label converter reading this, a social media presence is critical since such a fast-expanding portion of the people who purchase and source labels are Millennials. And they speak Twitter and LinkedIn fluently (see the birdie graphic above).
Finally, and we think most importantly, make sure you’re executing a solid email marketing campaign. Our preference for our clients is Constant Contact and email marketing campaigns are always one of the central pillars of the marketing communications strategies we create for the companies we work with. This is where you get to really shine in addition to bringing people to your website. And look, as much as we love Labelexpo, it isn’t just about Labelexpo. It’s about the creation of an ongoing outreach program that tells the market who you are, what you’re really good at, ways you’re helping your customers and all the things you can do for prospects. Because some of those prospects will likely be sauntering into your booth in September, and the more effectively you speak to those prospects now, the more you’ll profit from your presence in Rosemont this fall.
What we’re on top of socially:
As our business expanded and we began posting social media for a variety of clients on a regular basis, it was time to ditch excel spreadsheets and to take a look at social media collaboration tools. We read all the reviews and sat through a whole bunch of demos. And we found a tool we really love – affordable, simple, and a great way to ideate, review and schedule social media posts.
Click here to read all about it.
What we agree with:
We agree with Robert. Austin is a great place to live, and soon we get to share this fine city with label converters at this year’s TLMI Converter Meeting!
We’re looking forward to seeing everyone soon in Austin. The bluebonnets will be out and the music is always live.