It can be the gleam on a lipstick carton, the earthy look of an organic shampoo bottle or an inconspicuous drug fact panel. Inexpensive, decorative and functional, labels meet a range of needs, and more cosmetics marketers are realizing that labels have made vast improvements in appearance, offer flexibility in inventory control and are an economical alternative to traditional silkscreening.

At a time when cutting costs is foremost on the minds of many chief executive officers, decorating with labels makes sense. Why now more than ever? For one marketer of a new spa line, labels mean less financial risk. A cosmetics manufacturer found that colors on flexographically printed labels can be more closely matched to the product inside the packaging. At one skin care company, designers decided on labels to achieve a “unique” look. Whatever the reason, labels offered the solution they needed.

Still, labels aren’t the panacea for everyone. Many marketers can’t overlook the negatives—true or perceived—about labels: they cheapen the overall appearance, don’t adhere well on some materials and lack the tactile qualities of screening. Moreover, some screened packaging can cost the same to produce as those with labels. That’s why screening will always have a place in the packaging business.

So why do so many marketers choose labels? From hair gel bottles to body wash jars to lipstick tubes, a wide variety of containers can accept labels. There are ornate, color-soaked panels that cover every square inch of the packaging. They contrast with simplistic duotone labels that deliver a subtler message. Have an odd-shaped bottle? Shrink labels might be the answer. Need to show off what’s in the bottle? More types of clear labels are available now than ever before. Flexibility, at a time when just-to-market and inventory reduction are critical to any operation, seems to be one advantage attracting many finished goods manufacturers.

“It’s more bang for your buck without question,” said Elisha Tropper, president of New York City-based Prestige Label, whose clients include cosmetic and personal care product manufacturers. Tropper pointed out that one trend helping to drive label use is shorter runs and more SKUs. With shelf space harder to come by these days, marketers hope that broader lines will mean more presence on the shelves. To keep inventory costs in check, manufacturers are shortening their runs or using labels. Because some labels cost only pennies each to produce, marketers can keep an abundant supply on hand. By using a different label on the same bottle, they minimize inventory and react to market demands more quickly. Screening, on the other hand, locks in the number of containers for all the items in the line, he added.

June Jacobs was unsure which SKUs in her new spa line would be top sellers. To minimize inventory costs, she chose labels instead of traditional screening.

That was the reasoning behind June Jacobs’ recent spa roll out. Although the New York City-based marketer initially made a soft launch more than a year ago, the line was widely released last September at five-star spas nationwide. With more than 100 SKUs in her line and no clear indications which of those would be top sellers, Jacobs said labels were the clear choice.

“Until I really knew what the hot numbers were going to be, I thought it might be a prudent thing to start with labels,” she said, adding that she was happy with the results despite initial reservations about the label look. Jacobs used pressure-sensitive opaque polypropylene panels that featured an ecru, eggplant and green palette. The line included various cleansers, masks, moisturizers and other upscale spa items.

Stressing that the labels, which were produced by Label Graphics of Little Falls, NJ, gave her line a “nice, clean look,” Jacobs said she was generally pleased with the decision to use labels instead of screening. The one wrinkle: she said screening would have been more effective on the tubes in the line.

That Sans Look
For many marketers, the right labels are, frankly, no labels at all—or at least has that appearance. That’s why clear labels are becoming ubiquitous. Shedding opaque panels allows the package to show off what’s inside, which gives consumer confidence in their purchasing choice. In the mass category, clear labels are cropping up in all sorts of cosmetic and personal care products. CosCos’ recent launch of its Yardley Apothary collection includes the use of clear labels to give the line a “British appeal,” said Lisa Hershkowitz, CosCos product manager. The clear labels complement plastic mason jars and flasks used in the line.

“Our goal was to create a line where no product was duplicated and in which each product has a unique appearance,” she said. “Obviously you want a crisp, clean beautiful label. Otherwise, it compromises your appearance.”

Consumer preference is one driver of the clear label trend; another is substrate enhancements, particularly in films. Film thickness consistency, printability and clarity have all improved in recent years and enabled converters to produce sharper graphics and more durable products.

According to Michelle Ostiguy, a market development representative for Flexon Corp., a Spencer, MA manufacturer of label substrates, a key improvement is wider use of polyolefin films, which offer better performance than styrene or vinyl products. Olefin films, particularly polypropylene, boast better clarity, rigidity, functionality and film thickness. Because film quality is more consistent, the print is also more uniform.

Film producers hope to make their products even better by expanding the range of application for which a particular film is suited. Some olefin films need different coatings for different applications, but manufacturers are working on developing products that are more universal.

The olefin family allows converters to print on increasingly thinner films, which aids design trends that minimize label presence. Ostiguy said substrate manufacturers are working on reducing gauge thickness from two to one mil.

She added that today’s films not only provide a better surface for printing but are also more resistant to products inside the packaging. That’s an especially important criteria because, as clear labels are used in more personal care and cosmetics, they will be subjected to tougher conditions such as heat and moisture in the shower.

Sunscreen Cosmetics Labeling Requirements Delayed at Least Until 2005

For years, the cosmetic industry has been aware of over-the-counter drug labeling requirements passed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. When the agency issued its final rule in 1999, which specified the labeling format and content of products such as cosmetics containing sunscreens, it elicited a groundswell of questions and objections from the cosmetic and drug industries. Following requests for more time by trade groups, the FDA has delayed compliance for sunscreen-containing cosmetics until at least 2005, giving cosmetic and other manufacturers two more years to comply. While the good news is that sunscreen marketers have two years in which to redesign their product labels, the truth is that few industry observers believe compliance will happen in 2005. As a result, almost no marketer has started this arduous task, according to label manufacturers interviewed by Cosmetic Packaging and Design. Furthermore, there will be additional changes in the final labeling requirements, according to an FDA official, who also cautioned marketers not to “wait until the last minute” to redesign. An FDA sample label of an OTC drug product marketed with cosmetic claims. Years in the making, the Drug Facts Rule was intended to help the consumer better choose OTC drug products by making labeling more concise and easier to understand. But for drug and cosmetic marketers, the rule has been protracted and costly. Three years after the regulation was finalized, compliance remains on hold as the agency prepares to amend the final sunscreen monograph to include UVA sunscreens and possibly additional changes. Without the amendments in place, some marketers can’t begin to redesign labels. That has spurred even more questions. “Most of my clients are laying low right now. None of us are really sure (of FDA’s future amendments),” said Holly Young, president of Hirschhorn and Young, a New York City label design firm. Young said the uncertainty over the FDA’s sunscreen monograph and the extended compliance deadline have many of her clients on the sidelines these days. Although a few clients have asked the firm to start the redesign process, Young predicted that many more won’t address the issue for some time. Why not? With the deadline two years away, there’s no sense of urgency. More importantly, the final monograph is missing regulatory guidance for products that make UVA protection claims. According to Howard Baker, a director of the Independent Cosmetics Manufacturers and Distributors Association (ICMAD), not having this key piece of the puzzle makes it difficult for any company to begin redesigning labels. Furthermore, there is no clear indication of when the FDA will have the amendments available. Although cosmetics manufacturers won’t have to comply until there is a finished monograph, Baker said the absence of the final document muddies the business plans of some of ICMAD’s members. “The uncertainty is the other blade that cuts both ways. If you’re trying to plan you’re business, it’s particulalry hard,” he added. Young said her other clients such as those who make antiperspirants are going ahead with redesigning their labels now, but the sunscreen manufacturers are holding back. She said they don’t want to do the work now only to change them later when the FDA makes amendments to the sunscreen monograph. Many of her clients print millions of labels and duplicating the work would be costly indeed, Young added. According to FDA’s original estimates, nearly 100,000 brand-name and private-label products will be affected by the Drug Facts Rule. The agency has also stated that each SKU will cost an average of $2,783 to redesign, higher for cosmetics because of their complicated graphics. By 2005, the average cost may grow even higher. When will the final monograph become, well, finalized? Baker said he doubts 2005 is a viable deadline. Noting that the first sunscreen monograph was introduced in 1978, he said it won’t happen anytime soon. Despite Baker’s predictions, Gerald Rachanow, a regulatory counsel with the FDA, cautioned sunscreen manufacturers not to wait too long. Even though compliance for them is still years away, he said companies will need time to familiarize themselves with the regulations and to redesign product labels. He added that the sooner a product sports the new label, the more current it appears. He added that all the information companies will need, including documents that specify labeling requirements down to the font type and size, can be found on the internet. Still, Mr. Rachanow conceded that UVA protection testing standards still need to be ironed out. And to that end, he couldn’t predict when it would reach a settlement. To obtain a copy of the final Drug facts Rule document, click here.

Process Improvement
Better substrates are just one reason for better-looking labels. Ask any converter and he’s sure to point out a bevy of printing advancements, especially in flexography. David Hoydal, art director for label manufacturer Blake Printery in San Luis Obispo, CA, said printers today regularly achieve results rarely seen a few years ago. And they do so more consistently, thanks to new prepress, printer and finishing technology.

Metallic accents: it’s the cat’s meow. Label manufacturers such as Label Graphics say special inks are being used as accents on many labels to give them eye-popping results such as the Spa Paws line from Tailwaggers, Inc.

“All these things combined have brought things up,” he said, adding that the advancements are driven by marketers’ desire for sharper label graphics. “Every market seems to be pushing for more color to attract the consumer.”

Flexographic advancements, he noted, have given labels some of the qualities that were once only possible with screen printing. Achieving a tactile feel wasn’t easy until flexography adopted ultraviolet curing technology, which boasts a heavier ink film to achieve a feel similar to screened products. He added that more cosmetics marketers are opting for UV-printed labels because of lower costs and the ability to inline emboss and foil stamp. UV flexo technology also offers finer print resolution than silk screening.

Moreover, Hoydal said quality control has been one of the priorities for flexographic printers in recent years.
As a result, matching colors from one run to another has become more of a science than an art, and label buyers are able to get the exact hues they want each time.

That’s important to companies such as Urban Decay, a Costa Mesa, CA-based cosmetics marketer. Amy Zunzunegui, product development manager, said with more than 250 SKUs in 20 product categories, the company needs its labels to accurately match the product color. Furthermore, labels offer greater flexibility so that Urban Decay can use them alone or in conjunction with screening. “You can do a lot with them,” she said.

Hoydal said he believes marketers can expect even better color matching in the future because the industry is integrating color management technology in their systems to help designers more closely match the products. Prints are also more consistent from run to run.

Along with better color controls, printing equipment has raised the bar. Finer aniloxes, tighter registration controls and enhanced platemaking mean sharper overall graphics. They are important advancements because product marketers want to differentiate themselves from the crowd and expect label manufacturers to provide eye-popping results. With every incremental boost, flexography is able to give them more of what they want.

While traditional presses can give label manufacturers the look they want, digital printers offer the quantity they want. Designed for small runs, presses manufactured by Xeikon and Indigo are standalone units that have caught the attention of boutique shops, private label marketers and regional product manufacturers. Requiring no prepress setup and offering variable data output, digital presses are right for anyone who needs very limited quantities of labels quickly.

Other press companies such as Mark Andy and Chromas Technologies have equipment that works in conjuntion with flexo presses for greater flexibility. These products offer the look of conventional print with the ability to customize each label using digital print units.

For product marketers, greater adoption of digital presses may mean greater competition for short-run jobs. Customer comping can be achieved directly on press, compared with proofs. In many cases, digital printing could significantly help shorten label production times. That would help product marketers, who face shorter development times these days.

Mutli-faceted labels such as these, used by Sedona Labs and printed by Ampersand Label, help marketers squeeze more information onto an otherwise limited amount of space.

Rushing products to market is just one of the demands on finished goods producers. Another is fitting all the ingredient information on a limited amount of space. Even as designers try to minimize a label’s appearance, some regulations are requiring more information. This leaves little room for information such as promotional material. Balancing this tightrope is no cakewalk, but there are novel solutions available.

Sedona Labs of Cottonwood, AZ, faced just this problem when it launched its line of natural deodorants. President John Vella said aside from listing the ingredients, he also wanted the labels to explain the product in greater detail, list the benefits of natural ingredients and contain a coupon. Including all of that information on a traditional label was out of the question. Instead, the company commissioned Ampersand Labels to develop a six-panel label that accommodated all the information. Vella said the company is planning on another product that would use five panels to include a feedback sheet for customers to fill out.

Multi-panel labels have become more popular because of current design trends and regulatory constraints. Michelle Izzi, a sales representative for Ampersand Labels, said her company’s FlexView line is a film product that can open and close 200 times and has a shelf life of two years. She said some customers are using the product because they have an enormous amount of regulatory information to include while others may print ingredient information in more than one language.

While multi-panel labels are an ideal solution for products that require plenty of real estate, they have their own set of problems. Will they remain closed during the manufacturing process or shipping? How can they be applied to the package? Will the type be large enough for consumers to read?

In the case of Sedona Labs, the company hand affixed the labels to the antiperspirants, but according to label manufacturers, many new machines are exceptionally adept at gluing labels to bottles and jars, even those with irregular surfaces.

With a diameter about the size of a dime, the multi-panel label used on Avon’s Anew moisturing cream contains product information in English and French.

Design Trends
Condensing all required labeling information onto a small area may be one challenge; catching shoppers’ eyes is another. Depending on the market segment, designers are either focusing on hi-impact, color-drenched labels or opting for subtle designs using vignettes and tones accented by muted colors. In many cases, national brands are setting the tone for regional or private label lines, especially because more and more products are knocking off brand name looks.

Private label marketers “want their products to look every bit as good as the Bath and Body Works brands,” said Jake Ritz, sales manager for Label Graphics. The move to associate private label brands is important these days because these marketers not only want products to perform like their national counterparts but look like them as well. Ritz said in many cases private label marketers are adopting nearly the same color schemes.

He added that many marketers are returning to a “more sophisticated” look—simpler hues, solid tones and fewer colors. The use of metallic ink and holographic accents seem to have fallen, possibly the result of cost-cutting efforts.

In some segments, though, the use of bright, ornate colors hasn’t gone away; it’s just taken a different form, said Barry Mathes, a Princeton, NJ-based industry consultant who helped found Gryphon Development, the manufacturing arm for Victoria’s Secrets and other name brands.

Mathes said foil, pearlescent and spot colors are still being widely used. To enhance their image, mass marketers are using special inks as accents. They are also using more clear labels for showcasing the products. He said it’s a tribute to the mass marketers.

“I honestly see more labeling innovations out of the mass area,” he said, adding that with so much stock packaging on the shelves, the burden of attracting buyers is increasingly on the label.

There’s no question that today’s labels look and perform better than those from just a few years ago. Aided by a wealth of substrates, higher print quality and improved quality control, label manufacturers are able to continually ratchet up the impact labels have on the consumer.

And while labels might never replace screening in some applications, this continuous evolution ensures that marketers have more choices when it comes to inexpensive, high-quality methods to decorate their packaging.