while the uk, as well as many other european countries, has recently struggled on the economic front, snacks and sweets have proved to be one of the recessionproof product categories. snack and confectionery items are seen as lowpriced comfort foods, often with a hint of treat. in distressed times, consumers tend to pick them as a treat or reward, and to lift their mood. nevertheless, producers are not having things running smoothly on their own way. increasing commodity prices are putting force on retail prices new product manufacturing remains extensive and this continues to fuel a powerful competition. as an impulse purchase, encouraging brand loyalty and attracting consumers will always be a challenge. in such a situation, packaging can help to impact the buying decision by incorporating an onpack promotion or with an eyecatching design, or through helpful features such as easy opening or the assurance of product protection. what is becoming more important necessity for a pack is to merge several of these benefits into a single integrated solution. certainly this is how payne is seeing its business developing where their solutions for packaging are being used to fulfil a number of important design and functional requirements, focusing on opening, closing, informing and protecting. as an example, in terms of pack functionality, access to packaging and easy opening remains a key area. as mostly all of us have had experienced of difficulttoopen packs and how this impacts our perception of a product. whereas a simpletoopen pack will intuitively help to strengthen positive perceptions of the brand, the feelings of disappointment and frustration that come with a pack, which is hardtoopen, will badly reflect on the brand and affect the probability of a repeat purchase. easy opening is appreciated by consumers of all ages and makes a vital contribution to brand image. payne&rsquos research, which was carried out by jra research, has revealed that brands that are easy to open retained better consumer loyalty. adding easy opening needs to be quick, costeffective, and simple. as an example, tear tape can be applied easily on flow wraps, filmic overwraps, and bags, guaranteeing its easyopen benefits can be unveiled across a range of products. even labels can also buildin opening feature to a product&rsquos packaging offering access of goods to consumers. with the growth in value packs and larger sharing, resealability has become one more important requirement for the market. resealable tapes or labels help to retain the goods&rsquo freshness and facilitate the pack to become a functional storage solution. with the help of these tapes, consumers are able to control portion sizes, and it results in minimizing food waste. the worth of this type of extra functionality may mean customers are willing to pay a small extra premium for products that come in a packaging integrated with these features. a 2010 report from business insights emphasized resealability as the second main ranking aspect in terms of &lsquopackaging attributes i would pay a little more for&rsquo. it got 34 of respondents which was 30 in 2008. product security and safety are also important considerations. although people tend to associate counterfeiting with tobacco and highend items such as cosmetics and perfumes, this is now a problem affecting rising number of everyday items, as well. tear labels and tapes are ideal transporters for a variety of covert, overt, and forensic anticounterfeit technologies throughout a range of packaging formats. as a part of a layered brand protection solution, tear labels and tape can also create tamperevidence into a pack by signifying whether someone has interfered with it. for instance, a tear tape can be designed as the single method of opening a pack with any other technique indicating tampering, whereas label adhesives and substrates can be designed to display an array of properties, for instance, upon removal selfdestruction or void release. on the other hand, while all these features offer welcome reassurance to customers and reassert brand values, it is the onshelf appeal, which is a key to securing the initial buy. the development of digital print and colourful design possibilities allow labels and tapes to integrate eyecatching graphics, promotional competitions and messaging, improving the onshelf presence and influencing the decisionmaking process of buyers at the point of purchase. both tear labels and tapes can be added to current packaging, which facilitates brands to run fixedterm communications and promotions, or swiftly change between them, without completely changing the packaging design. this saves money and also minimizes environmental impact by decreasing the costs and waste that is associated with reoriginating the pack. the use of print is not limited to the outside of packs digital print means printed labels and tapes can carry variable information such as a unique code, offering brand owners to insert a promotion to individual product packs. in the instance of tear tape, this facilitates easy opening while guaranteeing that the code is available at the consumer&rsquos fingertips to enter promotions online or through sms registration, enabling brands to connect with their customers. other alternatives include the printing of qr codes, linking consumers directly to the product website. again tapes or labels are able to integrate this without a need to modify the overall packaging. in addition to promotions, products and brands are often faced with the challenges of carrying extensive information in multiple languages. in this case, a dualpage label or tape will offer valuable extra space for onpack content, whether to manage with legislative requirements, diverse languages or just smaller pack sizes. in costconscious and competitive times, multitasking is a necessity across all sectors of industry. tear labels and tapes combine functionality, security and on pack impact to give snack and confectionery packs the practicality and brand image that are both crucial to success. source of information httpwww.payneworldwide.comnews2012pressreleasesretailpackagingmultitaskingf…
