Like branding and packaging, labeling is an important decision that a company needs to make when bringing a product to market. Whether it is the operations team or marketing team the right label style can make a big difference in the ease of manufacture and appearance of your product.
Labeling is the information printed and applied on the product packaging usually attached as a sticker, piece of paper, fabric, and sometimes plastic. Products need to be labeled for many purposes including marketing, identification, safety guidelines, regulatory compliance, or instructional uses. Not only is labeling necessary, but it helps businesses separate their product and to bring visual attention to the item itself in a crowded market.
When choosing a label you need to consider how you want your product to display, how much information needs to be conveyed, and what type of environment and handling it will undergo, volume of your product, and desired price point.
Below is a guide with some things to consider to help you choose which is the best label for your product.
When To Choose Pressure Sensitive Labels
Pressure sensitive labels are common with consumer goods due to their ease of application and wide variety of designs. These types of labels will be self-adhesive, and made out of paper, film, or foil. Since these types of labels do not require any additional methods of application such as heat, water, or solvents they can be attached to the product by separating the liner from the label. These types of labels are ideal for any containers, bottles, and packaging such as beverages, food, wine, household cleaning products or automotive products.
Durability is very good with pressure sensitive labels depending on the base stock and printing method.
Pressure sensitive labels can be made relatively economical depending on material choice but require a liner and an adhesive that increases cost over unsupported label stocks such as stretch sleeves or shrink sleeves. For that reason when unit volumes exceed 1 million other label types become more attractive from a financial point of view.
When To Choose Multi-Ply Labels
A multi-ply label is a label are made out of paper or film that peels open and can be resealed. It is ideal to present slightly more information, additional instructions, or multiple languages than a standard pressure sensitive label. Commonly these types of labels are seen on cosmetics, pharmaceutical and chemical products.
These labels are typically very durable and can be used in many environments.
These labels cannot easily be replaced by other forms and therefore are seen on products in a wide variety of annual volumes.
When To Choose Booklet Labels
Booklet labels are small booklets attached to a pressure sensitive base label that fold out or open like a book when peeled to provide more information about a product. Like multi-ply labels, booklet labels will connect to the product on one side with an adhesive label. Booklet labels provide the maximum amount of information on a product and we have made them from 4 to 160 pages and are common on chemicals and pharmaceuticals.
These labels are typically not very durable due to paper booklets being exposed which can be damaged by moisture or the elements.
Like multi-ply labels these are typically used when regulatory requirements are the driving factor and seen on a wide range of annual volumes.
When To Choose Shrink Sleeve Labels
Shrink sleeve labels are a piece of plastic wrapped around an object in a complete 360 and heated after application causing the material to shrink around the object. This is commonly seen with drinks, cleaning products, or cans. These types of labels are ideal for all kinds of different products and those with irregular or unique shapes, such as laundry detergent containers.
Shrink sleeves are extremely durable but once broken can become detached from the package extremely easily since there is no adhesive.
These are unsupported films which means they do not have an adhesive or liner making them extremely economical. They do require specialized application equipment though and are typically only seen on products where annual volumes are in excess of 1 million units.
When To Choose Stretch Sleeve Labels
Stretch Sleeve Labels are a type of product label that does not require the use of adhesives or heat to stick to the product. Instead, it has a natural elasticity that provides a tight fit to the product. The main benefit of stretch sleeves is they can be applied to empty or wet filled bottles without any impact to label or application integrity. They are limited in container selection and display dimensions and provide the least product differentiation. Stretch sleeve labels are popular in beverages, oils, shampoos, beauty products, dehydrated dairy products such as cheese, cleaning products, lubricants, and many other products.
Stretch sleeves are considered durable but also can easily fall off a product over time as the material is not attached to the container and relies on elasticity of the label to stay in place.
Stretch sleeve labels are another form of unsupported media and are therefor economical. Like shrink sleeves though they do require specialized application equipment and are typically only used when annual volumes are in excess of 1 million units.
Importance Of Choosing The Right Label
Based on the environment the product will be in, shape of container, how much the product will be handled, how the label will be applied, and cost will determine what type of label to use.
The significance of a label should not overrule any rules or regulations for the product within your location or country. Before choosing a product label always refer to the regulations that are set within your location, country, and industry associated with the product.
Below is a quick chart on how to determine what label type to use for your product.
