In the spring of 2016, Anderson & Vreeland formed an alliance with three partners to accomplish a single objective: to leverage the latest technology in digital label printing to create and produce high-quality labels for a new beer from Chicago’s Church Street Brewing Company. A few months later, this collaboration was successful, seamlessly transitioning from label creation to wrapping the new labels around bottles.
Driving Customer Engagement Through Digital Label Printing
Moreover, this initiative showcased how cutting-edge software and digital label printing technology can work together to enhance customer engagement. Any brand owner with a retail presence actively seeks the so-called moment of truth when a customer spots a package on a shelf and takes it down for a closer look. The three-foot effect influences this moment—the visual impact a label or package has from a few feet away—which is particularly crucial for new products. Because consumers’ finely attuned senses often seek out the smallest details of a new label or package, every element must be as close to perfect as possible.
A Collaborative Workflow for Color Printing
To ensure the desired look and feel for Church Street’s latest brew labels, Anderson & Vreeland brought together three partners: Hybrid Software, GMG, and Screen USA. Each partner contributed unique skills essential to the project, as detailed in a new white paper.
Hybrid Software designed the workflow using its PACKZ and PRINTPLANNER tools, which linked seamlessly with GMG’s OpenColor, ColorProof, ColorServer, and SmartProfiler RIP-agnostic color management software. The files, wrapped in a color-managed PDF, were sent to a Screen Truepress L350UV press. Utilizing CMYK, white, and UV inks with three-picoliter drop size and printing on a metallic substrate, the 164-fpm press produced labels ready for laser cutting in short order.
Efficient Digital Label Printing
The process was faster, easier, and required fewer steps than conventional methods. Importantly, this approach can be used to create print-ready files for virtually any digital press while streamlining workflow and color management for flexo and offset presses. This flexibility underscores the value state-of-the-art software provides print providers in digital and conventional printing environments.
Delivering High-Quality Labels with Digital Label Printing
For Church Street Brewing Company, the digital label printing process delivered superior-quality labels more quickly and with less labor than traditional methods. This efficiency ensured that the retail moment of truth effectively facilitated customer engagement with the company’s new beer.