Category: 2018
The internet has unquestionably changed how we shop but it hasn’t changed the importance of a great retail experience…
Good quality and memorable retail experiences are excellent for building a repeat customer base and fueling recommendations, either face to face or on social media.
So what’s that got to do with printed tissue paper?
Your retail gift packaging is an important part of the customer experience, and one item that can add real value without a huge investment is printed tissue paper.
Top four reasons to use quality printed tissue paper
1) It’s Your Brand
All your communications, at any customer touchpoint, say something about your brand. If you want to continue your appeal and promote your brand long after the shopping experience, the tissue paper you use is an opportunity to subtly create more brand awareness. Make the most of your brand, but be sure that all your retail packaging items work in sympathy with each other.
2) Subtle association
When you receive a gift, or when the shop assistant wraps your purchases, it’s an experience that you want to share. Often a gift is opened in front of family or friends; it’s a moment you haven’t experienced before; it’s something new, a talking point. This is where printed tissue paper becomes especially important because it promotes your brand without saying a word. It answers the silent question of “where did they get that from?” but it is never considered advertising because that’s what all the luxury brands do.
3) It’s all in the rustle!
If you already use plain tissue paper, be sure you’re using the best quality you can get so that it gives the crisp rustle associated with luxury brands. It’s not necessarily expensive to get a luxury feel tissue paper so check out what you are using and make some changes for the better if your current material is flimsy and lifeless. If you look at the likes of Burberry and Chanel, for example, you will experience quality tissue paper.
KUDOS TIP Due to the printing process for printed tissue paper the material is almost always better quality than plain – it has to be to get through the process. This superior quality offers a much more rewarding rustle. We have found that luxury retailers place importance on the feel and crispness of their tissue paper to provide an even more rewarding customer experience.
4) Cost effective
When you buy printed tissue you can order it to be supplied in sizes to suit your operation which will reduce wastage. Due to the minimum order quantities for printed tissue paper the unit cost is very low, often similar to plain paper, although there is a first order investment in origination. Keep in mind that printed tissue is about brand promotion, not merely cheap protection. The benefits of printed tissue versus plain are difficult to measure in financial terms, but the improved experience is invaluable.
Tips for designing and ordering your printed tissue
1) Take care with the size, layout and pitch of your logo on the printed tissue. It should be related to the products that you will be regularly packing and your overall brand image.
2) Printing in 1 colour such as gold, white, or black on a high quality acid free tissue paper will give the best, most luxury and most cost effective result. You don’t need to print 2 colours which tends to look like advertising rather than subtle brand association.
3) Finally ensure that you have seen a sample of the material; you want a quality acid free tissue paper in 17-19gsm range.
4) Speak to your chosen giftwrapping or packaging partner and ensure that your tissue paper is being produced in the most cost effective way. The design can be the deciding factor between two printing methods, either Flexography or Rotary Gravure.
In summary, good quality printed tissue paper is a cost effective and easy way to promote your brand and create memorable and rewarding customer experiences which will help build your brand and stimulate repeat business.
Recycling Coffee cups… The facts in brief
We had thought it was untaxable; a Coffee culture that swept the UK, replacing Pubs and, becoming our new, and favourite, social venue. Now, with a growing 2.5 billion empty plastic-coated coffee cups, getting into rubbish tips, it prompts a recommendation that the government step on them.
Watch the coffee culture in the UK here
5th Jan, 2018 – MPs on the Environmental Audit Committee have recommended the Government to introduce the “latte levy” of 25p per disposable coffee cup purchased, to cover improvements to the UK’s reprocessing facilities and “binfastructure” according to Mary Creagh, chair of the Environmental Audit Committee.
The proviso is that if the number of single-use (non-recyclable) cups doesn’t decrease sufficiently, then there could be a ban on non-recyclable coffee cups by 2023.
In his November budget, the Chancellor Philip Hammond supported charges on single-use plastics (which includes non-recyclable coffee cups) and from 2017 at Cardiff University, researchers concluded that charging 25p for every coffee cup would help cut the number used by up to 300million a year.
The boss of Suez Recycling however, calls for a wider, joined up reform, to shift the responsibility back to the Coffee-cup producers, saying the Latte Levy won’t be enough. David Palmer-Jones says that disposable coffee cups only represent a small fraction of the national annual tonnage of card and plastics waste.
Days before the report, on 2nd Jan, Pret A Manger announced that they would start offering a 50p discount on hot drinks if customers bring their own cup (it has been 25p). The same day, Starbucks said it would start a three-month trial of a 5p paper cup charge in up to 25 London shops, starting from February. (Incidentally, only in November 2016, Starbucks withdraw their discount for customers bringing their own cup.)
It turns out that there is only 2 or 3 recycling plants in the UK that have the equipment to recycle coffee cups (the other 5 can’t) and that recycling coffee cups is complicated by the double-wall and mix of plastic and cardboard. In practice, although they carry logos that show they can be recycled, the vast majority of coffee cups do not end up being recycled.
In reality, less than 1% of coffee cups are currently being recycled.
7th Jan, 2018 Can we ask, what’s the rest of Europe doing?
14th Jan, 2018 Enter Frugalcup – the coffee cup that can be easily recycled anywhere and promises to hit Starbucks stores very soon.
What can we expect next?
Some people are expecting it to go like the 5p carrier bag charge, with customers being penalised for not remembering to bring their own cup with them. Other ideas include Coffee companies charging more for single-use takeaway cups (who would have thought of it?!) to cover increased recycling taxes. So far it’s just a recommendation, so you can lobby your local MP, perhaps take he/she out for a coffee…
Could your presentation packaging have been easier to come by?
We’re helping to deliver Special Customer experiences; why not reach out for help in 2018. If there was something that could have made life easier in 2017, what was it? Storage, manufacture, delivery, style…
For over 30 years we have worked along with our clients to produce an extensive range of successful promotional campaigns, and creative presentation products, that help our clients to build enduring brand loyalty and lifelong customers. Our customer focused, and friendly approach has become trusted by leading global brands and agencies, and we look forward to working with you and your colleagues again in 2018.
Recap on the highlights of 2017:
Phone 01923 220055 | Email business@boxcouk.com
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