augmented reality

How Augmented Reality Stands to Impact the JanSan Industry

In the digital age, technology advancements have affected nearly every aspect of nearly every sector of business. For example, consider the multiple ways in which the dawning of the internet has influenced how consumers purchase products from start to finish, including the research, comparison, and end purchase stages.

While it may not seem as if the packaging and label industry has experienced similar changes – after all, a printed product hardly seems capable of much technological advancement – nearly every aspect of a label is affected in some way by recent leaps in technology. Perhaps most significant is the way digital technology has enabled companies to provide on-demand product features and information, easily accessible via an augmented reality label.

What Is Augmented Reality Labeling?

Augmented reality labeling provides interactive, informational content on-demand, when the consumer scans a code with a mobile device.

How? Most AR labeling approaches follow these steps:

  1. Develop an app for your brand. If your brand does not yet have an app, it is essential to develop one to house all the content you wish potential consumers to engage with. Aside from general business information, you’ll need to provide information specific to each product that you want consumers to experience while holding your product.

  2. Convince consumers to utilize your app. Somewhere on the AR label, include an icon or message regarding your app, so that the consumer will download it and experience the full benefits of AR.

  3. Showcase the potential for interactive content. Make certain your consumers know more content and a deeper experience with your product lie in wait with just a scan of your label.

  4. Display a wealth of information. After the consumer scans your label with a mobile device, make sure it’s worth their time. Include information, video, graphics, and more pertaining to that specific product on screen, via your brand’s app. You can provide product information, training, uses, and more dependent on the type of product.

How Can the Janitorial and Sanitation Industry Benefit from AR?

While excellent examples of innovative, immersive customer experiences via AR abound among the food and beverage, wine, and personal product industries, you may be wondering how AR can benefit a practical industry like Janitorial and Sanitation. However, just like we’ve learned how much packaging and labeling have benefited from technological advancements, we’ve also come to realize just how much JanSan stands to benefit from AR.

Many products in the JanSan industry are comprised of a host of different chemicals of various compositions, with some differing only by a few key ingredients. As such, their ideal uses and the safety measures required of each vary – sometimes widely so – among products manufactured by the same brand.

Imagine the benefit of quickly disseminating all the necessary product information in an instant so that consumers can have knowledge at the tips of their fingers.

Uses for AR in the JanSan Industry

While some brands have attempted to provide additional product information in the past – usually via a link to a website the user then has to navigate independently before sifting through the contents of the site as a whole to find the pertinent information – AR provides a much more user-friendly and thorough approach. With a single scan of a product code on the label, your brand’s app will appear, able to feature product information, safety data, and more.

Far from providing a link to an external website, AR has information for your consumers in an instant and can be utilized to provide access to a host of different product-specific features. For JanSan, AR uses can include:

  • Video. From maintenance and training videos to demonstrations of a product’s proper use, AR allows you to include key information that is best presented in video form – right on your product’s label. You can even include best-fit suggestions for additional products and allow consumers to find those products nearby. 

  • 3D Modeling. If your product line includes machinery, consider incorporating an AR 3D model to be displayed when a consumer scans your product’s label. Such 3D models can demonstrate the proper use of your machinery or inform the user of its various uses.

  • Product Information. Additional product information for the chemicals and machinery so essential for JanSan, which can be lengthy. However, due to the nature of the product, access to this information is crucial. You can use AR to provide instant access to MSDS information, safety techniques, the purpose of any active ingredients, and more.

In fact, the sky's the limit regarding the amount and type of additional information you can include with AR. Consult with a labeling expert for even more ideas regarding potential JanSan uses.

For more information about how augmented reality labeling can benefit your janitorial or sanitation industry business, contact Century Label today.

4 AR Labels That Shook the Industry

AR-enhanced living wine labels from 19 Crimes

The idea of using augmented reality (AR) to boost a product was, until recently, something only found in the world of Harry Potter. Now, businesses using AR for their labeling is a fairly common practice—and something that shows a real return on the investment.

How Does AR Work on a Product Label?

Current AR technology is possible with most modern smartphones. Using the device’s camera, an AR reader app scans the surrounding environment and enhances the display for the user. This technology has evolved tremendously in just a few short years; AR is making incredible strides in fields outside of marketing like medical training, education, public safety and product development. Today, AR labels can provide customers with real-time product demonstrations, supplemental information, previews of how products will look and function.

RELATED ARTICLE: Augmented Reality vs. QR Codes

AR Labeling Success Stories

Companies considering AR-enabled labels for their branded products should look at some of the most recent successful AR campaigns. Four of the most impressive AR label examples from recent years include:

  • Buffalo Wild Wings. Everyone knows that Buffalo Wild Wings is a great place to enjoy good food and a game with friends and family. It’s also a great place for customers who enjoy tableside competitive games. Buffalo Wild Wings recently took tableside competitive games to the next level with an AR-enhanced viewing experience with the Big Shot Challenge for the NCAA Final Four.

  • Lego. Kids of all ages have enjoyed building with Lego for years, and the company just took their experience to the next level with AR-enabled viewing screens in their brick-and-mortar store locations. When a customer carries a box over to an AR screen, the screen starts playing a real-time AR display of the Lego set coming together on top of the box.

  • Red Bull. The Red Bull marketing team created the Red Bull Augmented Reality Racing game to provide customers with the unique experience of crafting their own digital racetracks using Red Bull cans, which they could then race using a smartphone or camera-enabled touchscreen device like an iPod Touch.

  • 19 Crimes. Think of this as Pokémon Go for adults. The name of this wine refers to 18th century Britain and a list of crimes that were punishable by “transportation”—offenders were sent to live in Australia in lieu of suffering the death penalty. Some of these infractions include impersonating an Egyptian, stealing letters, and bigamy. Now, these “criminals” come to life and tell their side of the story through inventive AR labels

AR can offer surprising, memorable, and valuable experiences in countless ways. Virtually every modern smartphone has a camera, and developing an AR-enabled app is easier than one might expect.

RELATED ARTICLE: 3 Features of AR Packaging You May Not Be Considering

Capture Your Audience’s Attention with AR-Enabled Product Labels

Century Label has nearly 40 years of experience helping customers create beautiful, memorable labels for various industries and applications, and we can help you transform a traditional label into a living experience.

Our label design team will work closely with you to determine the best applications for AR technology in your product labels, taking you through every step of the process, preserving the integrity of your brand and using high-quality printing techniques. Contact us today to learn more about AR-enabled labels and start thinking of the possibilities for your brand.

Augmented Reality vs. QR Codes

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Augmented reality and QR codes are emerging technologies and powerful marketing tools. Companies haven’t considered the possibility of using augmented reality-enabled packaging or QR codes to offer customers valuable interactions when they browse should strongly consider making the change.

In order to take advantage of these technologies, companies should understand the differences between them, their strengths, and how to use them to their greatest effect.

How Does Augmented Reality Work? 

The technology behind augmented reality (or AR) is to superimpose digital images onto reality, typically through a device with a camera. Using AR, a customer can use his or her mobile device to scan AR-enabled content, such as AR-enabled packaging. AR is essentially the combination of real world imaging and digital content in real time.

Marketers and product developers have a fantastic amount of potential when it comes to leveraging AR into their packaging and advertising. Instead of simply relying on visual package design, AR-enabled packaging offers customers interactive experiences and expanded information that cannot be contained on a physical label. These are more memorable interactions than catchy ads and marketing media, and they can ultimately build brand loyalty.

RELATED ARTICLE: 5 Advantages of Augmented Reality Packaging

How to Use QR Codes Effectively

Quick Response (or QR) codes work a bit differently than AR. Instead of manipulating images in real-time, QR codes are scannable, black and white squares with different combinations of blocks, similar to a UPC barcode. When someone scans a QR code with a QR reader application on a smartphone or other internet-enabled device, the code takes the user to a specific website, image or piece of content.

Marketers can leverage QR codes as an effective marketing tool by including them on advertisements, as accompaniments to printed media or as part of product packaging. Customers can quickly scan QR codes and go straight to content that allows them to, for example, download a promotional offer or sign up for a mailing list.

Take Advantage of Emerging Marketing Tools with Century Label

AR and QR codes may work somewhat similarly, but they require careful placement and execution to achieve the greatest effect. Think about whether AR-enabled packaging or printed QR codes could make a difference in your marketing efforts.

Century Label has nearly 40 years of experience helping clients with labeling and product package design. We understand how important it is to stand out from the competition and provide your customers and clients with valuable, memorable experiences. If you are interested in learning how to use more advanced technologies with your product packaging, contact Century Label today to learn more about how these tools can help drive customer engagement with your brand.

Century Label is always in touch with the latest in packaging and labeling solutions. Improve the visibility of your brand with shrink sleeves or other options by contacting us for a prompt quote for your chosen products.

Bring Your Packaging to Life!

Don’t get left behind! Request a quote today to take your printed labels into the digital realm and bring your packaging to life by making augmented reality a reality.

3 Features of AR Packaging You May Not Be Considering

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When it comes to packaging your product and amplifying your brand, options really are limitless. You have your choice of packaging materials, color schemes, fonts, images and more, making it more possible than ever before to design packaging that truly carries the message your brand represents. With the advent of augmented reality (AR) packaging, your customers can experience your branding in a whole new way.

What Is AR Packaging?

It may be easier to describe what AR packaging isn’t: it’s not your average, static, online shopping experience.

Instead, AR packaging offers your potential customers the option to interact virtually with your product with the use of an electronic device. Augmented reality is, in turn, the blending of the consumer’s surrounding environment with additional, digital aspects to enhance the experience.

Let’s suppose, for a moment, that your company produces a line of candies commonly sold in grocery stores. You could appeal to the tweens and teenagers who consistently purchase them by adding interactive elements to the packaging. When the consumer uses an AR app and directs his or her phone camera at your product, interactive games appear on the consumer’s phone screen. Alternatively, you could choose to provide nutritional information, brand history, or practically any other interactive feature you can imagine.

RELATED ARTICLE: Bringing Packaging to Life with AR

Why Should You Consider AR Packaging?

AR packaging offers your brand the opportunity to connect with customers on a deeper level.

Whether it’s by providing access to enhanced information your customers crave, or engaging them through fun features like games and trivia, AR packaging goes the extra mile that a static packaging scheme cannot.

If your brand offers some unique feature not easily explained by traditional packaging, AR packaging could be the solution you’ve been looking for to educate your customer base about all those details you can’t fit on a box.

AR packaging also offers appeal and collectibility for the digital generation. Providing games or other unique features on each of a limited-edition set of packaging designs, for example, can help you engage a new group of consumers in purchasing your products.

Consider Coca Cola’s use of AR during the 2014 World Cup, or McDonald’s interactive packaging during several recent sporting events.

RELATED ARTICLE: 5 Advantages of Augmented Reality Packaging

What’s Next for AR Packaging?

Although it’s used by many larger corporations, the bounds of AR packaging have yet to be explored. Companies such as IKEA are experimenting with implementing AR features into their catalogs, allowing the user to virtually place furniture into their own homes.

Meanwhile, AR features on popular makeup brand products allow the user to test makeup in the company’s app.

How far could you take your brand with AR packaging? Really, the only boundaries are the limits of your imagination.

RELATED ARTICLE: The Future of AR in Packaging

Bring Your Packaging to Life!

Century Label is ready to help you take your traditional label and implement AR into your next print project with us. Our AR services are available as an add-on feature, and we can guide you on the best way to incorporate this technology into your existing artwork.

Don’t get left behind! Request a quote today to take your printed labels into the digital realm and bring your packaging to life by making augmented reality a reality.

The Future of AR in Packaging

Augmented reality (AR) is still a young technology. AR mixes the real with technical enhancements that will transform package design by giving consumers additional multimedia information at the touch of a button, or the read of a QR code. 

Augmented reality already plays an important role in brand experiences and dictates how consumers interact with the products they use every day. As AR continues to gain popularity, we will see how it will take packaging to the next level and change the way that consumers make choices.

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The Potential of AR

Today’s digital marketers spend more money on advertising than ever before. Shoppers crave interactive relationships with brands that allow them to do more than just consume goods, but experience them. Leveraging the power of smartphones and other mobile devices, marketing departments are starting to realize the power these devices can have in creating immersive experiences for users.

Augmented reality has particular untapped potential in the packaging industry, as brands can use it to improve the knowledge and loyalty of their product, stand out from the crowd, and entice new consumers. With little more than a QR code, brands can begin to enjoy the benefits of AR for themselves.

Benefits of Incorporating AR in Packaging

Brands can enjoy several distinct advantages of leveraging augmented reality in their packaging:

  • Create a virtual element to add to your label, connecting users to more useful information. With AR, brands are no longer limited by the space on the label. Businesses can use AR to provide trivia, nutrition information, recipes, and more.

  • Create brand loyalty. By presenting information in an engaging manner, marketers can create memorable experiences that make people more enthusiastic about the product and more likely to purchase it again.

How the Industry Can Keep Up

Packagers and businesses face an important challenge as we move deeper into the digital revolution. First, they must ensure that their products succeed and overcome the risks that would be associated with rebranding or repackaging. 

The future of brand and product marketing will be immersive, interactive, and personalized.

At the same time, incorporating AR/VR into labelling will be worth the investment, especially when considering that the mobile devices of the future will come with built-in AR/VR technology. With this barrier to access a moot point, most consumers of the near future will be ready to absorb augmented reality content. Packagers should be ready with dynamic advertising solution options for companies.

By incorporating AR elements into packaging, businesses can successfully create useful content for consumers that inspires brand loyalty and attracts consumers to their products. With early adoption of AR packaging, businesses can gain a competitive edge in the digital marketing environment. Packagers will be ready to meet this demand with options to suit company demand.

Bring Your Packaging to Life!

Century Label is ready to help you take your traditional label and implement AR into your next print project with us. Our AR services are available as an add-on feature, and we can guide you on the best way to incorporate this technology into your existing artwork.

Don’t get left behind! Request a quote today to take your printed labels into the digital realm and bring your packaging to life by making augmented reality a reality.

5 Advantages of Augmented Reality Packaging

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Augmented reality (AR) provides a way for people to interact with a real environment through portable devices. AR adds layers and dimensions of interacting with the environment not possible in the real world. Companies are taking advantage of this new technology in the way they package goods for consumers.

How to Use AR with Your Packaging

There are several ways that AR can bring customers and products closer together, to make the shopping experience more entertaining and meaningful.

  1. Many products have small labels. AR can be practical by magnifying those small labels and making them easier to read.

  2. Enhance your catalog with AR, as Ikea did. When you wave your smartphone over the pages, you get the option to design a 360-degree view of a room with Ikea products, as well as watch videos and interact with 3D models of items they’re selling.

  3. Make the shopping experience more convenient, like Topshop did. With augmented reality dressing rooms, customers at Topshop can see how a garment would look on them without having to physically try it on. Trackers in the dressing room superimpose your choice of clothing on your body so you can see, quickly and easily, how it would look and fit.

  4. Spice up your print ads with some kinetic action. With HP Reveal, Lexus makes their cars come to life, turning into 3D versions that can drive right off the page. This digital experience is entertaining and makes the product even more attractive.

  5. Use AR for special promotions. Heineken’s logo, when scanned, produces a digital 3D globe that customers can explore. They also offered sweepstakes prizes for the Latin Grammy Awards which generated lots of interest in their product.

Use Augmented Reality Wisely

Just because you can use augmented reality doesn’t mean that it should be used without a plan. Experts note that some instances of AR can backfire or be a waste of time.

As always, know your audience. If you are selling a medicine used primarily by the elderly, AR packaging may be helpful, but not if the consumer is unable to use it. Many older customers do not look for AR or are not even aware of it. AR is a product enhancement that will be more attractive to younger consumers.

Remember that gimmicks wear out their welcome pretty quickly. AR should enliven the connection between customer and product, it should mean something with respect to the product. Having AR without a strategy it will not heighten the experience and can even distance potential customers from the product.

Know your audience and keep the experience meaningful. If you approach AR in the right way, it can invigorate your connection with your clients and make your products stand out.

Contact Century Label to discover new possibilities and applications for augmented reality.

Bringing Packaging to Life with AR

In today’s fast-paced world of rapidly-changing technology, it is more important than ever before to have the proper tools in place to take your packaging to the next level. Traditional label designs and printing processes are continually evolving by implementing cutting-edge digital technology in order to keep up with the instant gratification now desired by consumers. Because of this, it is crucial to incorporate these new and innovative ways for your target audience to connect with your brand.

One of the most popular ways of accomplishing this is augmented reality (AR), a method in which interactive content is used to tell your story, bringing your traditional pressure sensitive labels, shrink sleeves or flexible packaging designs to life. Seeing is believing!

How does AR work, exactly? Glad you asked: here, we will take you through a step-by-step overview of the process to see exactly how this new and trending technology in the printing and packaging industry can work to your advantage today. Additionally, check out the video below for more information on the subject. Don’t miss out—the future is now!

Step 1: User downloads appropriate AR app

By including an icon and text on the artwork of your label that instructs your customer to download a free AR app, they are able to quickly and easily gain access to the tool they need to experience the curated content that awaits them. Incorporating these small and unobtrusive elements into your design will show the customer that there is more to the packaging than meets the eye and gives them the guidance necessary to get started with their phone or tablet.

Step 2: Discovery of interactive content

When your customer first scans the label artwork with their device, they are able to instantly see the interactive elements that you have hidden in your otherwise-conventional packaging. The content can range anywhere from an embedded product or company overview video to buttons and links taking them to your website or ecommerce page. The ability for people to directly interact with your brand on the store shelf—or after they have purchased your product—is something that is unique to AR.

Step 3: Engagement with your story

The ability for a prospective customer to engage with your product before it even leaves the store is a silent salesman like no other. From the moment the consumer’s phone scans the artwork, they are immediately engaged and fully focused on the story you are telling them. The message of that story is crucial, because if they have not already purchased your product, there is now a higher likelihood of their doing so. If they have already purchased your product and are showing continued engagement by utilizing the AR feature of your packaging, then there is a good chance they will share their positive experience about your brand through social media or word of mouth. Free advertising at its finest!

Step 4: Relationship with your message

Always keep in mind how crowded with your competition the marketplace is. For a customer to choose a product in today’s saturated marketplace online or in-store, something needs to grab their attention. In order for them to actually relate with your message, your packaging truly needs to stand out from the crowd. After a customer has interacted with your AR content, if your messaging is effective enough, they will have a greater understanding of what your company and product are all about—and the value they offer.

Step 5: Connection with your brand

The conversion of your packaging from a standalone label to an interactive package will lead to the conversion of your customer from a simple prospect to a loyal brand follower. This can be achieved by thinking outside of the box—literally. By going above and beyond what has traditionally been an exercise in visual appeal, adding AR to your labels, shrink or flex pack breathes new life into your brand and product line. Your plain packaging levels up by staying ahead of the crowd and moving towards the future of product packaging with living labels.

Bring your packaging to life!

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Century Label is ready to help you take your traditional label and implement AR into your next print project with us. Our AR services are available as an add-on feature, and we can guide you on the best way to incorporate this technology into your existing artwork.

Don’t get left behind! Request a quote today to take your printed labels into the digital realm and bring your packaging to life by making augmented reality a reality

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