Pharmaceutical packaging: Tums takes on private labels

Although the Tums brand has graced U.S. medicine cabinets more than 75 years, the brand
faces increasing competition from private label products that attract consumers with lower prices.
To maximize Tum's product differentiation, GlaxoSmithKline partnered with design and
branding agency Anthem Worldwide (www.anthemww.com). "We ended up optimizing the
communication on the label, which created a more proprietary and ownable mark for the Tums
brand," Janice Jaworski, managing director at Anthem Worldwide- New York, explains. "We did a series of design explorations and came up with an elliptical device, a contained, extractable branding unit, if you will, that contains the word Tums."
To ensure the design was reproducable, Anthem worked with its parent company Schawk Inc. (www.schawk.com) and package printer CCL Label (www.ccllabel.com). Several adjustments were made to the artwork during the initial design phase to ensure the correct screen values were used and that proper print-to-die registration was achievable.
The front labels are printed using a mix of process and spot color halftone plates along with
a UV coating applied on press; the back labels are printed as single-color black labels.
The labels are die-cut inline using a CNC-engraved die for consistent registration. CCL Label
also supplied labels to brand owner GlaxoSmithKline for approval for production application to the bottles. Once printed, the labels are put through an extensive two-part inspection process
that ensures that no labels are missing copy and colors.
The back labels go through an additional inspection of the expiration date box on the back
label. This inspection helps prevent difficulties in the optical character recognition review of
customer laser-encoded data in the box because of violations in minimum and maximum box
size or the presence of pinholes or print defects. 

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