Five things that are good to know
1. What we’re researching: KPCs! (Say whaaaaaaat???)
In fancy schmancy market research lingo KPC stands for Key Purchasing Criteria and what we’ve been doing over the past few months is speaking to those movers and shakers at the top of the supply chain, a.k.a. procurement and sourcing managers who buy stuff. (Stuff like printed labels, flexible packaging, folding cartons and corrugated.) We’re asking them about KPCs because we want to take a close-up look at what makes these people tick and what’s important to them when it comes to their printed packaging vendors. For example, do they care if their label vendors have multiple production sites? How do they rank quality versus delivery times versus price?
We won’t be delivering the report to our client until another month or so however we can tell you this: We started this research earlier in the year before our lives were turned upside down by a microscopic viral microbe. And during those months (think January and February), the procurement peeps who worked at companies and brands like Danone and Mrs Meyer’s (the company’s Lilac Hand Soap is an LPC fan favorite) and P&G and Hershey and General Mills and Kraft and Seventh Generation and several fast-growing regional craft breweries were all saying things like, “Quality! It’s all about quality! Consistency from print run to print run reigns supreme!”
And then the upside down happened and now we’re seeing those same companies come back and say things like, “Wait! We’ve changed our minds! There’s something else that we have learned is even more important to us than quality and job-to-job consistency levels which we thought always reigned supreme!”
Any guesses as to what now officially ranks as the number one KPC for label buyers?
Supply reliability.
Yep.
Supply reliability. Not surprising given the economic and supply chain roller coaster ride of the past five months, however we thought this shift (which at LPC we are calling The Great Label-Buyer COVID Factor KPC Switch-a-Roo) was something you all might be interested in hearing about. (And let’s just say that if we were a label converter, we’d definitely make sure our marketing outreach and messaging conveyed a strong sense of supply reliability to our customers and prospects.)
2. What we’re thinking about: Niche (and we’re talking niche) labeling markets
It’s a familiar story by now. When states’ shelter-in and lockdown mandates began in the spring, consumer spending went berserk in some key label markets. Suddenly companies serving markets like household chemicals, food, select beverage segments and nutraceuticals were holding winning production lottery tickets as consumers rushed to stock their cupboards with disinfectants, nonperishable foods, and vitamins and supplements they hoped would shore up their immune systems.
But where are we now? Well, that depends on who you ask.
Converters who have always printed boatloads of food and household chemicals labels are still reporting robust growth compared to their performance a year ago. However within the industrials and durables segments, the boom-or-bust reports vary widely depending upon which niche markets companies are selling labels into. One example: The pandemic has turned us into a Renovation Nation as many of us quickly realized we’d be spending a lot more time within and around our own four walls.
Over the course of the past five months, gardens have been planted, walls painted, windows washed, roofs repaired and new couches, chairs, desks and bookshelves purchased at unprecedented levels. Furniture sales have skyrocketed and retailers are reporting five to six month delivery times due to such increased demand. The graph below shows home improvement spending for this year compared to last year.
So what does this mean for the printed packaging industry? Surging demand in niche markets none of us could have predicted. Converters serving markets like furniture, sporting goods, horticulture/gardening, cannabis and home fitness report that they can barely print enough labels to keep up with demand. Have you tried to buy a recliner, bike or treadmill lately? If you’re lucky, your new purchase might arrive before Thanksgiving.
But the point of this is that we’re seeing opportunity pockets in places we could have never predicted. The market is unpredictable. And the market during a global pandemic is even more unpredictable. But one thing’s for certain: Our industry is resilient and label converters are an innovative and resourceful bunch. The market will continue to change and label converters will continue to meet, and exceed, their customers’ requirements and expectations.
3. What we hearing: Awesome feedback from our clients…
Warning: Shameless self promotion ahead! Okay, bear with us because we want to tell you that you really can grow your business during a global pandemic.
One of our most recent clients, Channeled Resources Group (CRG), came to us with a herculean task: In March they signed an extensive supply agreement with a REALLY BIG labelstock manufacturer, giving CRG access to massive volumes of off-cuts of premium labelstocks. They needed to get the word out about this new program. They needed impressive, concise messaging. They needed a top-notch database of prospects along with a digital ad campaign and new collateral materials. Oh, and they needed to do this all and to launch before trucks started delivering rolls of materials to their warehouse. Double oh, they needed to do this all in the middle of a global pandemic,without an in-house marketing team.
We love challenges. Within a very short time frame we branded their portfolio of labelstocks, kicked off a comprehensive integrated digital marketing plan (think e-blasts, web revisions, press releases), and created targeted advertising and new collateral. We’d like to share what CRG’s President and CEO had to say about our services, “I had always wanted to bring on a marketing agency. I’m so glad I hired LPC – you guys have exceeded my wildest dreams.”
Thank you, Cindy! (And by the way, this is a woman with very high standards who does things like deciding to go for a run up the 103 flights of stairs of Chicago’s Sears Tower just for the fun of it.)
With industry trade shows and association events cancelled or postponed, there’s never been a more important time to maintain your presence in the marketplace through an integrated communications plan. And if you’re concerned about hiring or maintaining marketing function-related FTE’s (full time equivalents) in an uncertain economic landscape- consider the advantages of outsourcing to an external agency who knows your industry well and can hit the ground running. Grab a virtual cup of coffee and let’s chat.
4. What we writing about: Disrupting the Disruption: Succeeding in a Digital World
In the midst of the pandemic, many of us are spending our days working from home. We’re missing face-to-face meetings with colleagues, customers and vendors. And for sales teams this new reality means a whole new way of approaching customer relationships and prospecting.
Check out our blog and see what we learned at a recent webinar “Keys for Connecting and Selling in a Digital World”.
5. How we’d like to sign-off today:
During these uncertain and surreal times, we can’t think of a better way to close this edition of Take Five than the way in which American author, humorist and storyteller Garrison Keillor would always end his long-running radio program The Writer’s Almanac:
Be well, do good work and keep in touch.
Credit: The New Yorker