4 digital technologies you can try out at EastPack 2018

Danielle Sauve

How comfortable are you with using today’s digital tools for packaging? Virtual and augmented reality, packaging-related apps and more become a lot less scary when you can touch and play with them yourself—which you can do at EastPack 2018.

As digital transformation continues to skyrocket as a business buzzword, leaders are feeling less comfortable with their digital maturity. The percentage of companies that rated their digital IQ as “strong” dropped from 66% in 2014 to 52% in 2016, according to PwC. There’s definitely room here to improve senior leadership’s confidence and also grow business.

Within the packaging industry specifically, there are opportunities to digitally transform the value chain. Using the Digital Maturity Model for Brand Packaging as a framework, senior management from consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies can identify and begin to define their current state, set a vision for future state operations, develop strategies to close the gap and understand what types of technologies will help them get there.

Many Chief Marketing Officers, Chief Design Officers, Chief Technology Officers and Chief Packaging Engineers may have already identified key technologies needed—such as packaging workflow, digital asset management, or color formulation and matching software to simplify processes and connect departments for clearer, faster communication.

But exploring technology can remain intimidating.

In my upcoming EastPack 2018 session on Wed., June 13, at 11:00 a.m., at the Packaging Education Hub in Booth 2385, attendees will have the opportunity to experience four digital packaging technologies, including virtual reality, augmented reality, digital color and mobile apps, in a hands-on workshop. Not only will they learn about new technologies—they’ll walk away having touched them and completed simple challenges.

1. Virtual reality store tests the competitive environment

Since products are sold in many different environments, it’s helpful to get a sense of how a design will perform in the various places it will be seen by consumers. Using Virtual Reality (VR) goggles and the Esko Store Visualizer, attendees will enter a virtual store and pick-up and maneuver products around the store shelves, to get a sense of what may give a product a competitive edge in a retail environment.

2. Ecommerce shopping app uses computer vision

Attendees will use their mobile devices to scan a variety of products with the Amazon Flow App. For consumers, this is a quick and easy way to add all of your favorite products to your Amazon shopping cart. For CPG companies, Flow drives home the importance of making product content and packaging imagery available digitally for ecommerce and computer vision.

3. Color palette creation app helps packaging designers

Color inspiration can pop up anywhere, at any time. Attendees will learn how the Pantone Studio app helps translate the world around them into Pantone colors that can be produced on packaging manufacturing presses. By snapping pictures using their own mobile device camera, attendees will identify Pantone color palettes that correspond with the photo and the color palette can be sent directly to designers.

4. Ecommerce app scores brands’ online impact

Digital Shelf Relay (DSR) uses application programming interfaces (APIs) to pull live data from retailers’ websites, including images, and then scores brand appearance online. Attendees will use DSR to identify and investigate which brand images perform best through ecommerce and which ecommerce listings are outside brand compliance. This provides an interesting way to better understand how products are displayed across ecommerce channels.

Remember, the best leaders have a vision and are confident with strategic execution. I can’t wait to see you at EastPack, help you define your brand packaging digital transformation and let you play with the latest tools.

Author Danielle Sauvé is director of customer insights and experience for Danaher’s Product Identification Platform. She’ll be demonstrating these technologies at EastPack 2018 at 11:00 a.m. eastern time on Wed., June 13. Register now and attend for free!