By David Callif, President of BCM INKS
“The Moment of Truth” is not my idea. A.G. Lafley, Chairman of the Board of Procter & Gamble, is credited with popularizing this phrase. It describes the moment when the consumer makes a decision to buy or not. Today that decision is increasingly made in the store. According to In Store Marketing Institute this figure is now over 80%.
One of the factors which affect “The Moment of Truth” is color. Color is a critical factor in
the decision to purchase the product. Therefore, we need to do a better job of giving the
consumer and the Consumer Products Companies (CPCs) the packages and point of
purchase displays which stimulate sales. What matters most?
Paul France, a Procter & Gamble executive, recently spoke about color at the FTA Conference entitled “Color in the Crosshairs”. Paul stated what matters most to companies such as P&G is as follows:
1) Get the color right the first time – This means “Printing materials must match the Method target artwork and align on both color and content”.
2) Color Consistency or repeatability from run to run.
3) Color simplification – reduce the color library.
4) Common First “Moment of Truth” language parameters – Designers, printers, and suppliers need to understand the consumer color language and easily translate it back to technical terms.
5) Consumer relevancy i.e. Sustainability
BCM has heard what the consumer and CPCs want. In conjunction with one of our
customers and a plate supplier, we have developed a set of G7 Eekoflex inks which
addresses the market need. Scott Miller, BCM’s Sales/Technical Director, describes G7
in detail in the article entitled “G7- A New Efficient Print Method”. G7 is also a
viable sustainable business solution.
Winston Churchill once said “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an
optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”
I’m optimistic you’ll see the opportunity G7 represents.
Regards,
Dave Callif
Ph: 513-469-0400
E-mail: dave@bcminks.com
G7 – A New Efficient Print Method
By Scott Miller, Sales/Technical Director of BCM INKS
As more and more printers are becoming G7 certified, we wanted to provide our customers and colleagues with an update on our on-going G7 effort. We know this is an area that is or will be pursued by many and want to make sure you have the expertise and product to enable you and your customers to compete in this challenging market.
The benefits of G7 have been recognized in the litho and gravure industries, but G7 is now gaining ground as it relates to the flexo industry. You may or may not be aware of G7 and the benefits of this method, but we feel it is our obligation to keep you informed and to let you know where we stand on this topic. G7 is not a standard…it is a method of calibration. This method only encompasses 4-color process printing. Through the use of spectrophotometry, digital imaging and computer-to-plate technologies, G7 allows a printer to get “similar match” between their proofing and printing devices. Even though this was initially developed for the litho industry, we know the flexo industry will soon follow.
We feel the pressure is going to come from Consumer Product Companies as they are always looking for better practices to achieve more consistent print and cut costs…G7 provides both. Kevin Chop, Manager of Packaging Graphics and Commercialization at Diageo North America, understands the impact that G7 provides to a company like Diageo. Diageo – a world leader in the spirit and beverage industry – demands consistent color in a global market. Diageo’s packaging covers a wide range of substrates and print processes. The challenge is to achieve a consistent look when dealing with all these variables. Kevin explains, “A group of packaging printers that are optimized to a single data set/profile allows for global color consistency. This can also lead to cost savings as it relates to retouching fees and efficiency.”
Another benefit to G7 is the workflow process. Kevin Atchley, Technical Project Managerat Southern Graphics System, was impressed with a proof he generated after a recent trial with G7 compliant inks provided by BCM Inks. Kevin indicated that the proof pushed through the G7 workflow was very similar to a proof he generated with a more cumbersome workflow. Although not exact…they had very similar appearances. “Since G7 establishes a standard that all phases of the print workflow, proofing and printing, tries to achieve, one proof can work for many different printing methods,” according to Atchley.
This is valuable for CPC’s that are printing the same image on multiple packages produced by several different print methods.
This method is not a cure all. We still have to deal with challenges associated with flexo print – high light transitions, minimum dot treatments, etc. However, this does allow for a more consistent look if you have to match an image printed litho or gravure (assuming
both are G7 certified). We envision CPC’s will elect to only use G7 certified printers in time. If you are not part of this pool of printers, you may miss opportunities! And in this demanding market, no company can afford that.
BCM has developed a water based flexo ink set that is compliant with G7. This ink set has been developed for the direct print corrugated market. If you would like to know more, please contact me at smiller@bcminks.com and ask about our G7 ink set.