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Posts Tagged ‘custom labels’

Customs Labels Have Gone A Long Way

Saturday, December 22nd, 2012

Custom labels were once used exclusively for shipping parcels and packages, but that isn’t the case anymore. Nowadays you’ll find labels in virtually every industry, owing to the fact that companies see labeling as an effective approach to organizing their businesses or marketing their brand or product.

The type of label most consumers are quite familiar with is the variable information printing (VIP) label. VIP labels are widely used in industry, retail and distribution for identification, monitoring, weighing, pricing and tracking purposes.

Unlike product labels that are usually produced in bulk, VIP labels are printed right before they are applied using either thermal printers or desktop printers. Commercial and industrial applications mostly work with POS printers using thermal roll labels while office applications rely on desktop equipment using inkjet and laser sheet labels.

Main end-use areas for VIP labels include small office and home office (SOHO) information labeling, logistic labeling as well as laboratory labeling. SOHO label applications include file and folder labels, name tags, record labels and CD/DVD labels.  Logistic label applications on the other hand cover various forms of transport and shipping labels which are generally printed using monochrome or color laser printers. Blank and pre-printed labels made of special materials are mostly used for laboratory label applications.

Particularly in the manufacturing and retail sectors, labels may seem quite diverse. However, they are all designed to serve a common purpose – to sell a product. Millions of dollars are spent in research, design and production of custom labels that aim to capture consumer attention, generate sales and eventually create customer loyalty.

Among the most widely used labels are beverage labels and wine labels, both of which are designed to achieve an elaborate appearance and optimum performance in various temperature ranges. Bottled water brands for instance use clear polypropylene label films which are totally transparent to give a clean and pure look. The same type of labels is also quite popular when bottling vodka and gin.

Beer and wine bottlers on the other hand opt for matte or metallic labels to create more visual impact. These labels are produced using a technique of over lamination to attain scratch resistance and withstand above average handling in all stages of production and on the display shelves. A lot of these labels are treated for alkali resistance and wet strength so they are able to resist wrinkle or bubble formation and withstand temperature and humidity fluctuations.

Health and beauty products as well as industrial chemical products also use custom printed labels quite extensively. Labels used on these types of products are generally conformable and highly resistant to water and moisture as well as oil and chemical substances.

Labels have gone a long way from just being used to indicate addresses when shipping packages. They have become an effective marketing tool for producers and manufacturers across a wide range of industries.

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Beyond Just The Name – The Different Functions of Product Labels

Wednesday, November 14th, 2012

Custom labels play a huge role in the manufacturing and retailing industries.  Manufacturers must label their products while retailers extensively use thermal roll labels for pricing and inventory control in the business operations.

Labels are any type of written, electronic or graphic information used to communicate the important features and functions of a product to the end user. They may carry just the brand name or a great deal of information regarding the product.

Labels are typically incorporated into overall product packaging or may be employed separately for a distinct purpose. For instance, inventory control labels are used to indicate the completion of various procedures such as industry mandated testing or quality control inspections before products are shipped out to distributors and dealers. Similarly, different types of shipping labels are used to provide added information regarding special instructions or restrictions on certain types of cargo and packages.

Labels perform distinct functions so let’s take a look at the more common ones and learn what type of labels are best used for these specific purposes.

Brand Identification

The main function of labels is to identify a product or a brand. Different products use different types of labels. You can base your selection process on the label material to be used.  Matte or kraft labels, for instance, go well with products that are targeted at the environmentally conscious end user. On the other hand, foil, gloss and freezer laser/inkjet labels work well with products that are exposed to varying temperature or climate conditions.

Product Description

Certain products need to deliver pertinent information to the end user. There are products that require manufacturers and producers to provide consumers information on who made the product, when and where it was made, what the contents comprise of, and how it is to be used safely. For this purpose, you can select labels by size or shape so you find the appropriate one for your product.

Product Use

Alternatively, labels are also classified according to use. Hence you can find wine and beer labels, medical product labels, CD/DVD labels, shipping labels as well as bar code labels.

Product Grading

Certain items, especially fresh food as well as paper products, are graded accordingly. That’s why you see these small, circle labels marked A, B, or C on fruits and other food products.

Product Promotion

You can make use of attractive, custom-printed labels to make your product stand above the competition or to bring to the attention of consumers a particular limited time promotion you’re having on your product. Discounts, special offers and bargains may be conveyed to the end user using this type of label which can be tailored for your distinct purpose.

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How Custom Labels Can Get Your Product Picked Out Among The Rest

Sunday, November 4th, 2012

Why do businesses engaged in the manufacture and distribution of consumer goods put a lot of effort into coming up with the best custom labels? Well, just like all other businesses, there’s one simple reason for this – to generate sales and increase profit.

Imagine all the competition you have to put up with when introducing a new brand into the market. Unless the product you’re bringing in is like “an oasis in the desert”, you have to think of ways to make your brand stand out and rise above the rest.

Brand Identification

When you do your shopping for instance, what helps you locate a particular brand of soap or toothpaste amidst the dozen other brands available? Well, it’s the label actually. Product labels primarily help with brand identification and this is the reason why companies hire the best design and marketing experts to come up with attractive packaging labels for their merchandise.

Labels make it easy for customers to identify your brand and this is where color and design play a big role in product recall. Without really needing to read through a label, customers are able to recognize and locate your brand just by looking at the mix of design and colors.

Modern-Day Label Printing

It’s a good thing that technology has made it possible for virtually anyone to explore the endless possibilities of label designs for all types of merchandise. Nowadays, you need not be one of the bigger players in the retail market just to get your products on store racks and shelves. If you need just a few hundreds of these product labels, you can have custom-printed labels made by an online label supplier and have the same delivered to your doorstep. Depending on the type of product you’ll be using these labels for, you can choose between inkjet and laser labels which both work equally well with different design concepts.

Online label suppliers also make available labels in all shapes, sizes and materials to go with different product types. Did you know that certain products work better with a particular label shape or material? You can shop for inkjet or laser labels by shape, size, material or use and get the best picks for a particular type of product you wish to market.

How Labels Work with Specific Types of Products

It helps to do a bit or research when choosing and designing custom labels for your merchandise. For instance, if the key selling point of a particular product is its all-natural composition or recyclability, matte or kraft labels would be more appropriate compared to glossy or foil labels. You can also capitalize on colors when finding labels for certain types of products. As an illustration, “soft” or pastel colored labels work well with beauty or personal care products compared to fluorescent labels.

There’s more to labels than just a name and some product information. Custom labels play a huge role when it comes to customers making that decision to pick your product off the shelf. Well-designed custom printed labels can actually do the talking and the selling for you!

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Talk BIG With Custom-Printed Labels

Sunday, October 21st, 2012

The key to success in the retail business lies in brand awareness and custom labels could play a significant role in the process. Big businesses may put on multi-million dollar product launches and awareness campaigns, but if you’re a small player in the field, there are innovative tactics you can use to let your potential customers know you exist.

Custom printed labels are a good way to get your message across in case you don’t have the budget to stage full-blown promotional blitzes to push your brand. All things considered, it boils down to one basic truth – it’s still a love at first sight thing when it comes to making a product stand out over the rest. Visual impact rules and products with attractive labels get picked out first from supermarket racks or department store shelves.

Promoting  Your Merchandise with Custom Printed Labels

It is basic to human nature to approach that which attracts you and the multi-billion dollar packaging industry has taken advantage of this basic human folly. Companies spend a significant portion of their budget on product packaging alone to get their merchandise rising above the competition. It’s fortunate for small business owners these days that laser/inkjet labels are widely available and any business can get its brand name across using these very powerful marketing tools.

Because the market is currently overflowing with competition, of course you’d want to make a lasting impression in the consumer market. You can use custom printed labels for new product introductions and promotional offers or to stimulate sales and cross market other related merchandise.

Reinventing Products with Custom Labels

To keep abreast with developing market trends, most businesses find it vital to make occasional changes in the labeling of their products. You can totally reinvent your merchandise by simply changing the labels to create a new look. Custom labels can help to add that swagger and draw renewed attention to your product. A simple alteration on the color, background or fonts would most often do the job.

As of late, the discriminating consumer seems to have developed a liking for merchandise that exudes a tasteful and astute character. With commercially produced items flooding the market these days, those with more discerning tastes have actually set their eyes on personalized goods that are not mass-produced or are available in limited runs. You can tickle the senses of this particular client base by using custom labels to serve this distinct purpose.

Cross-Selling using Customized Labels

Another approach you can use to get your product ahead of the competition is to use custom printed labels to cross sell other merchandise. For instance, you can explore the possibility of sticking promotional labels on your products during peak sales periods. The holiday season is less than a couple of months away so you can seize the opportunity by enhancing related products with captivating seasonal promo labels that cross sell other items.

You can get your product labels to do all the talking. Check it out with a reliable online label supplier to find out how you can talk big with custom printed labels exclusively designed and created for you!

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Custom and Pre-Printed Labels For Commercial and Industrial Applications

Sunday, October 7th, 2012

Virtually all products and many services in any market segment nowadays make use of some kind of label to serve their specific requirements. Apart from providing vital information, labels help organize and streamline operational procedures and significantly improve work cycles across a wide range of applications.

Shipping & Forwarding

Forwarding companies and courier services, for instance, work with all sorts of shipping labels that indicate special instructions which need to be observed when handling loads and cargo. If package contents are fragile or breakable, there are shipping labels used to alert handlers about taking extra care when handling these. Similarly, if certain shipments have to be delivered in the quickest time possible, load handlers can simply stick a label indicating the need for speed delivery so these can be sorted out and given the extra attention.

Manufacturing & Warehousing

Manufacturing plants and warehouses also employ a wide range of inventory control labels to manage daily tasks that take place in their particular work setting. Quality control labels are affixed to products which have passed or failed an inspection or a test and there are even those which provide spaces on where inspectors and quality controllers can affix their signatures and inspection dates for easy verification.

Commercial & Industrial Weighing

Scale labels are also widely used in food labeling and commercial or industrial weighing and it is common for the average shopper to see a digital scale label on fresh produce they purchase at a local supermarket. Meat, seafood, vegetable and fruit counters in supermarkets make use of digital scales that print out labels indicating a product code or a bar code, as well as price and weight information of the merchandise. State-of-the-art digital scales and scale labels make it easy for those manning the checkout counters to bill you for these items as they will simply need to scan these labels to print out your receipt.

Most digital scales these days use pressure sensitive labels made from thermal paper. Food labels and scale labels are subjected to a lot of handling and undergo additional abuse at home in the form of heat, moisture or freezing. Usually, there are particular types of scale labels recommended for a specific scale brand or model and these are widely available from online label suppliers or from the original equipment manufacturer. Scale labels are available in rolls which easily fit into these digital weighing scales.

You’ll find the largest selection of shipping labels, inventory control labels and scale labels both in stock label or custom label versions. Most industries make use of stock or pre-printed labels; however there are particular products or services that need to comply with industry and government regulations when supplying information on their labels, so businesses have the option of having custom labels printed for their specific needs.

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Custom Printed Labels – Power Behind A Small Piece Of Paper

Thursday, August 2nd, 2012

Printed labels were once used simply to ship out packages in the olden days. Nowadays however, custom printed labels have found many uses both across industries and in the home.

Households and small offices make use of laser and inkjet labels to print file labels, folder tabs or name tags. These labels come in monochrome or color label sheets or rolls and are perfect for organizing home and small office files. They are suited for light to medium use although you can purchase variants that are suited for heavy-duty applications.

Marketing Your Product With Custom Labels

Many businesses these days make use of custom labels to promote their products and push their brand. Product labels go through an extensive research and design process and serve a major purpose – to capture consumer attention, get the product off the shelf and create a following through brand loyalty and repeat purchase.

Wine, Beer & Water Bottle Labels

Wine bottle labels are among the most popular custom labels being used these days. Wine makers themselves bottle their brand using wine labels that tell their own stories about wine-making. Likewise, personalized wine labels are widely used for wedding or anniversary wine giveaways and have, in fact, become one of the hottest selling items in wedding stores and among event planners.

Then there are water bottle labels and beer labels that are manufactured to withstand varying temperature ranges. Water bottles make use of clear labels made from polypropylene films for an ultra-transparent look to enhance the purity of the product. Beer bottles on the other hand use labels that are highly scratch resistant. The resistance is generated through a process called over lamination. Similarly, metallic labels are also very popular among beer bottles to exude a frosty appearance that appeals to the senses.

Health, Pharmacy  & Beauty Product Labels

Health and beauty products also make use of custom labels which are resistant to chemicals, oil and water. Pharmacy labels are also widely used in drugstores. You will also see labels on industrial chemicals and agricultural products, mostly to serve as warnings or words of caution to handlers regarding any hazardous components.

Retail Business Labels

Retail businesses also use printed labels for their day-to-day operations. Most point-of-sale systems read barcodes printed on direct thermal labels or thermal transfer labels. Both label types work with thermal printers to transfer heat onto the label.

Thermal transfer labels are used with thermal transfer printers that make use of a heated ribbon to generate more durable images. Direct thermal labels on the other hand, are printed without your usual printer ribbon; instead, the labels come with a special heat-activated layer which generates a printed image once heat from the printer head is applied. They are designed primarily for short term use and result to a lower per label cost. Thermal transfer and direct thermal labels are usually supplied in rolls or fan-fold sheets.

Custom labels have definitely gone a long way. From mundane pieces of paper used to mail out parcels and packages, they have now become a very powerful marketing tool that spells the difference between a product that stays on the shelf and one that ends up at the check-out counter!

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Custom-Printed Label Concepts For Start-Up Businesses

Saturday, July 14th, 2012

Custom labels serve different purposes and are extensively used to promote small and medium scale businesses and services these days. While custom-printed labels of the past were limited to address labels and shipping labels used to mail out envelopes, nowadays they have become an important marketing tool that can get a product into the shopping cart.

Custom labels can transform the ordinary into the extraordinary; hence they are also quite popular for personal use. In the recent years, you’ve probably seen personalized audio or video CDs using customized CD/DVD labels being given out as memorabilia for special events like birthdays, anniversaries or important life milestones.

Similarly, custom wine labels have become quite popular, particularly to add that personal touch to wine bottles being given out as wedding or birthday favors. A lot of small businesses also print out their company logos and other essential information on water bottle labels used as promotional items for their marketing campaigns.

You can think of so many uses for printed labels. Let’s take a look at some of the most popular uses for custom-printed labels.

Jar Labels

You’ll find them on homemade jam, jelly, pickles, peanut butter or sardines. Small, home-based or backyard food businesses will find good use of custom-printed jar labels for processed food items. They also make a superb gift idea to family and close friends for Easter, Thanksgiving or Christmas.

Cookie, Tart and Cupcake Labels

Do you bake for a living? You’ll find good use for custom-printed labels on cookie packages and cupcake boxes. You can purchase blank labels and create innovative designs on them. Inkjet and laser labels will be your best options since they work very well with conventional PC printers.

Beer Labels

Think of having your name on a beer bottle – Kevin’s Brew or Arthur’s Ale could sound pretty cool! Café and pub owners are starting to offer their home-brewed beer to customers and this is the reason why beer labels are growing to be quite popular these days.

Body & Bath Gift Labels (Personal Care Labels)

Small manufacturers of bath salts, soaps and gels as well as body scrubs and lotions make use of custom printed labels to mark their products. They are usually packaged together and make great gift items for special occasions such as Valentine’s or Mothers Day.

Gift Bag Labels

Specialty shops and small retail outlets might find it too expensive to have custom-made gift bags or gift wrappers. A practical alternative would be the use of customized labels that carry their brand or logo. You can use purchase inexpensive gift bags or simply use kraft paper to wrap gift items and stick laser printer labels with your logo to generate the desired effect.

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Custom Labels For Use In The Home

Sunday, July 1st, 2012

Custom labels can be used across an extensive range of applications, particularly for purposes relating to your business, personal or home affairs. Custom labels are widely used on different products and merchandise and you’ll see lots of  labels made for food items, cosmetics and beauty products, wine and water bottles, and a lot more.

Using a complete array of color themes, images and graphics, custom printed labels can be used to differentiate your product or merchandise in order to make it stand above the competition. A well planned and designed label can catch a customer’s eye – it can make all the difference in getting your product off the shelf and into the cart.

There are many other practical uses of custom labels beside product identification, so let’s take a look at the more popular ones.

Custom Labels to Send Your Mails

Address labels are among the more popular custom printed labels used nowadays. Address labels save you the time and effort of having to write your return address each and every time you ship out a package or send out mail.

As an alternative to having your address directly printed onto envelopes, custom-made address labels give you the flexibility to affix them on various envelope sizes, parcels, packages or even mailing boxes.

Custom Labels to Categorize Personal Files

You will also put blank labels or custom labels to good use when organizing your paperwork at home. Laser/inkjet labels work well with home printers and you can print out colored labels to categorize personal files such as tax documents, family history records, bank statements, utility and credit card bills.

By using custom labels to segregate your records, you can establish an efficient system for record keeping and filing.

Custom Labels to Organize Your Home

Homeowners will also find labels a big help when organizing things in their home. The kitchen and you pantry can be better organized when you use labels to indicate where items should be placed. Printed labels on shelves and drawers in your pantry will help you locate stuff you might need to search through on occasion.

Labels on canisters, food keepers and bins that look pretty much alike will allow you to identify their contents. You can purchase pre-printed labels or use blank labels to print labels for cereals, coffee, milk, tea, pasta, and the like.

If you’re in the habit of keeping audio and video files in your home entertainment center, you can also purchase CD/DVD labels which are available in both laser and inkjet versions.  They also make great gift ideas or giveaways for special occasions like weddings, anniversaries, birthdays and special milestones.

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Laser Labels & Inkjet Labels: Knowing The Difference

Saturday, June 16th, 2012

Just as printing equipment come in different forms, so do the labels that you use with these machines. It is important that you know the difference between the two major types of labels used with conventional printers: laser labels and inkjet labels.

Laser Labels

Laser labels are used with laser printers that employ toners instead of ink to produce an image. Laser printers use heat to fuse an electrically charged powder onto paper fibers. The fusing process gives laser labels the great advantage – images do not need to dry off like inkjet labels will. Furthermore, you are able to create crisper and clearer images that will not smudge.

Laser printers are equipped with a printer drum that looks pretty much like a rolling pin or a paint roller. Some paint rollers come with embossed patterns which are transferred to surfaces and this can explain exactly how laser toners work to create images on print media.

First, the laser device transfers an image onto to drum using static electricity. The drum is then coated with toner and further transfers the image onto paper or laser labels in particular. Paper is they passed through the fusers, which are actually heated rollers that fuse the toner to paper fibers.

While laser printers come with a larger upfront purchase cost, laser toner cartridges will need to be replaced less often. Likewise, laser printers have faster printing speeds and work impressively with a wide range of laser labels including fluorescent labels and gloss labels.

Inkjet Labels

The term “inkjet” appropriately describes the process employed when printing inkjet labels. Inkjet printers spray ink onto labels in spurts or jets. The ink will take a bit of time to dry, which explains why images printed using inkjet printers can sometimes come out blurry. This “feathering” of the image is often caused by low-quality ink or paper. Low quality paper could absorb too much ink, so it is vital that you use top-grade inkjet labels that produce sharper images.

Labels coated in a waxy film are smoother and will deliver sharper imaging since just enough ink is soaked up by the paper. Unlike rough or coarse paper which scatters light, smooth paper reflects light, making images appear a lot clearer and brighter.

Use smooth and wax paper when working with inkjet printers. There are different types of good quality inkjet labels such as round labels or pre-printed labels for your specific needs.

A reliable online labels supplier or printer should be able to help you out in your selection of inkjet and laser labels to suit your unique requirements. You can even find coffee and tea labels, wine labels and custom labels which you can use for your products in case you run a small manufacturing, packaging or distribution business.

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Marketing Potentials Of Custom Labels – 3 Key Points To Consider

Sunday, May 20th, 2012

Product labels have more power in them than meets the eye. Of course, their primary purpose is to distinguish your merchandise from the rest in its class; similarly, labels are used to indicate essential information about your product. Labels play a huge role on how your final product will look, but there are intrinsic functions which can be worked at to get the most out of your product labels.

As we specifically focus on custom labels, it is vital to note that they have specific marketing advantages which most businesses bring into context when designing product labels. From a marketing perspective, a simple custom label is able to achieve even the corporate goals of a company with a blend of design, presentation and content.

Let us look into the 3 key points that should be considered when designing custom labels for marketing purposes:

Building Your Image

Image influences perception in the first 5 seconds. You’re not aware of it, but your mind goes through some processes the moment you set your eyes on a certain image, brand or logo. You make assumptions, initial judgments and impressions in that short a time.

Custom labels are able to build your image and brand through its overall concept and design. Color and layout will play a huge role on the message you want to get across and many companies invest a lot of their time and resources into designing labels that build a distinct image for their products or services.

Customized Marketing

Marketing is such a wide concept that most people have a misconception that this is a thing for the big players alone. But even small businesses can make use of custom printed labels to effectively market their products and give them the edge over the competition. You can take advantage of a predilection that a lot of people have for personalized marketing and use custom labels to create a sense of partiality to your product.

Influencing Decision-Making Processes

It is a fact that apart from the quality of a product, buying decisions are influenced by the perception a potential customer has regarding your merchandise. For instance, you are likely to choose light bulbs that have eco-labels included in the packaging or a washing machine that comes with the EU energy rating label. Similarly, you’d most likely choose a beauty product with a label that says, “No animals were harmed in the manufacture of this product” if you’re an advocate against animal cruelty.

Custom labels can influence consumer attitude and behavior, and ultimately, consumer buying decisions. When creating your custom labels, consider what impact your product will have on the social status of your end user and how it can enhance consumer personality.

A reliable custom label supplier will offer you a range of custom labels, and also laser and inkjet labels, thermal roll labels and pre-printed labels.

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