Less-expensive holograms still shine with marketers: cost-creative holographic technologies also work to make packages 'jump' off shelves and into consumers' hands - Hologram Packaging

Food & Drug Packaging, Oct, 2003 by Christopher Barry

Walking down a typical grocery or drug store aisle can boggle your eyes with all the holographic packaging that's "popping" off the shelf. Because holographic images can "move" and "speak" to consumers through optical motion, packages with holograms are providing enough enticing eye candy to attract attention.

According to Gregg Metcalf, national accounts representative, security products for Kurz Transfer Products, commodity items--such as shampoo, gum and candy--are ripe for adopting holograms on their packaging.

"By using registered image holograms or wallpaper designed holography with a certain pattern, logo or trademark, it forces the consumer to gravitate toward the package," explains Metcalf.

It wasn't long ago that including a hologram was whiz-bang enough--just a flashy little decoration. Now, holograms are a powerful medium for a packager's message.

Customization

While stock holograms are available from design firms, developing a custom image that fits specific needs--for instance, including product imagery, brand name and logos within a holographic image--is going to help push the package onto a higher optical plane.

Bruce Ackerman, marketing manager, API Foils, says it isn't just a matter of tossing a hologram on your package hoping it'll turn the consumer's finicky head. There has to be a well-defined purpose for including such imagery.

"Before it was like, well lets throw [a hologram] on there and make it eye catching," explains Ackerman. "Now the attitude about holography is let's do this right, let's create a look that's going to draw consumers in as part of an interactive experience."

Many hologram designs need to be based on how the light is going to play with the image, where the light is coming from and hitting the package on the shelf.

Although Ackerman concedes that customizing a hologram can be expensive, there are technologies in place that can keep costs down. Companies looking for subtle or less complex holograms on their labels or cartons can use API's dieLess process, which is a cold foil printing system that can easily apply accurate foil registration, including holographic defraction patterns with extremely fine detail.

With dieLess, a proprietary adhesive is laid down onto a packaging material such as a label. Foil is then 'nipped' onto the adhesive and an ultraviolet (UV) lamp cures the adhesive through the foil. The absence of heat and dies makes this process suitable for many other substrates including thermal paper, laminate tubes, sleeves and flexible packaging.

Grandma Hoerner's uses the API dieLess process to produce custom, holographic, labels for its signature product, Candy Apple Sauce. The 26-ounce jar incorporates a pink die-cut label, which is printed in four colors. The label has a holographic metallic border and foil center rectangle that complements the label's pink hue. The hologram provides a glitter effect that shifts according to light placement and intensity.

According to Regina McCoy, vice president of Grandma Hoerner's, the subtle holography on the label not only differentiates the package from other products of its type, it literally "pops" off the shelf. And, she says, the holographic foil supports the premium quality of the product.

Stock patterns custom design=pop!

However, there is an art to using stock holograms, which may include customization on a certain level.

When Cadbury Trebor Allan Inc. was trying to find the perfect holographic design for its Crunchie candy bar's foil wrapper, the Canadian candy manufacturer chose to customize an existing holographic pattern created by Chromagem Inc.

After reviewing a multitude of stock patterns, Cadbury decided on Chromagem's dot-matrix holographic pattern called P95 Racers.

The Crunchie holographic wrapper was designed for a short run to support the launch of its web site, www.crunchie.com. The stock hologram pattern was customized to include a crunchie.com logo, which appears to float in three dimensional (3D) space.

According to Amanda Pecora, Cadbury's marketing activity manager, the pattern emphasizes the fun nature of the Crunchie bar while directing consumers to the web site. "It's a crossover brand between chocolate and candy," explains Pecora, "[so the hologram] was created to provide an interactive experience for consumers."

A film laminate was created from a holographic shim, which was applied to metallized polyester used for the wrapper. The package was created with a gold tint by overprinting the holographic base--a color that maintains the product's brand integrity.

"Its important to compare the base holographic pattern with and without overprinting, to make sure your 'wow' effect isn't diminished--which can happen when using base colors over silver," says Pecora.

Holographic shipper

Holograms can also show up on packages not readily known for incorporating holography. For instance, Honolulu Fish Co. ships its exotic fresh fish in holographic corrugated boxes. According to Damon Johnson, vice president of Honolulu Fish Co., the main reason the company wanted holograms on their shipping container was to enforce their premium brand image.