For a start-up launching consumer packaged goods such as packaged food or beauty products, the sourcing and development of the packaging and its labelling can be an intricate and time-consuming undertaking especially if no processes are set-up from the outset.
While the item of value to the consumer is ultimately the content (the food itself for packaged foods for example), the container protects it, allows for its transportation and the package labelling helps convey product information and branding.
So, what are the elements and resources necessary to develop a consistent, impactful, scalable and legally compliant package labelling solutions?
1. Brand guidelines
The brand guidelines (also called “brand standards” or “brand book”) is an internal company document which explains what the brand stands for, how it positions itself, what the brand elements are (such as logo, tagline, font, colors etc. ...) and how to use those elements. While this may sound like a “corporate” document to the founder of a start-up, it is essential to make sure all stakeholders involved in the package labelling process work around a unified framework; the brand standard is a time-saver once in place.
Creating brand guidelines from scratch is time consuming, especially if you are still in the ideation phase of your future venture. However, for operating start-ups, elements are already existing; gathering those elements in a Power Point and getting the approval of the founder and its key team members can be the first steps toward the creation of a brand book. Then and every time something is branded (from letterhead, to business cards or products labels), the brand guidelines are the point of reference. The document evolves throughout the life of the company and is improved over time.
2. Assets: text, imagery, die line, symbols and barcodes
The management of the text, imagery, die lines, symbols and barcodes present on labels (how one identifies them, stores them and retrieves them) is a critical element to plan for in order to save time and reduce complexity.
While medium to large size companies use specific software to accomplish these tasks, a start-up can simply leverage spreadsheet such as Excel or Google Sheets and a pre-defined nomenclature (the creation of a nomenclature is a post in itself, coming soon) of parts and SKUs numbers to manage the data such as text and digital assets.
Identify the assets with a corresponding part or SKU number can save your time in searching for them and also allows for consistent communication across many stakeholders. Indeed, at some point in the project, labels will circulate among the internal team, then possibly to an outside designer, a printer and sometimes co-packer. Not clearly identifying the information can quickly create chaos, errors and cost the company time and money.
A note on a specific asset you may need to implement on your labels: barcodes. They can be obtained through GS1, a not-for-profit organization that created and manages barcode.
3. Stakeholders: internal team, designer, printer, photographer and co-packer
Yes, creating package labelling can involve a lot of parties. Finding the right partners is the first time-consuming process. Then, comes the coordination of their work which is allocated most of the time to one or two key team members working directly with the founder.
In today’s digital culture, leveraging tools such as Dropbox, Slack, Skype etc. … allows the stakeholders to work remotely and efficiently.
4. Legal framework
Depending on the industry involved, product labelling is subject to a specific legislation. The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) dictates the labeling requirements for both cosmetic products and packaged food. For the latter and when meat is involved, an additional layer of regulation comes from the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture).
Depending on the size of the company, the anticipated volume and location of distribution throughout the USA, the labelling requirements may vary. While all information is available on the Internet, making sense of it can be challenging and getting help from specialists is very often necessary.
Package labelling is not a small undertaking and can be a real source of frustration without a proper set-up. The team at Olari Consulting can help you throughout this process; from its inception or to review and to align existing processes.