Award Winning Label Printing – Again!

Award Winning Label Printing – Again!

Award Winning Label Printing

Award winning label printing for our customers, again!  At the association’s recent virtual Spring Summit, TLMI announced the winners of the Eugene Singer Award for Management Excellence. One of the North American narrow web industry’s most prestigious and highest honors, the Singer Award recognizes excellence in business management measured and defined by an established set of growth and profitability ratios through participation in the TLMI Management Ratio Study.

Award Winning Label Printing

Thank You Team!

This award is a testament to the hard work of our team.  Every person is involved in waste reduction, efficiency, and accuracy in all phases of the business.  This award isn’t just for one person or department, but for everyone that contributes to our success.

THANK YOU to our amazing team, customers, and vendors for your ongoing trust, commitment, and hard work.

Thank You Industry Media!

Since this is a very high profile award, it was covered by most of the leading label industry media outlets. See the coverage by clicking below:

We also received many kind congratulatory emails from our colleages in the industry.  Vendors, partners and friends all reached out to congratulate us on our achievement.  This industry really collaborates and honors the success of others, even if we are competitors at some level.  Thank you to everyone that took the time to send us an email.

Building on our Award Winning Legacy

Thankfully we have lots of experience winning awards in this industry.  Our team has built quite a reputation in the industry and we are very proud to continue with more award winning label printing.  This quick video shows some of our equipment in action, and summarizes our most recent awards.

2020 Print Rocks! PPI Regional Print Quality and Innovation Award

Click here to learn more about the award, and here to see all the winners in the competition

2018 TLMI Frosty – Environmental Leadership Award

Click here to learn more about this award

2015 Oregon State University Family Business of the Year

Click here to learn more about the award.  Click here to see the video presentation.

Call us today for Award Winning Label Printing

We remain very busy but are always looking to add to our customer family.  If you want to work with an award winning, family owned, eco-friendly label vendor, please call us today.

Marketing in a COVID-19 World – Dave DeMots

Marketing in a COVID-19 World – Dave DeMots

Marketing Update with Dave DeMots

Dave DeMots from DHX Advertising presented a great marketing overview recently.  He hit on great points for all businesses to consider as we come out of this COVID-19 slump in the economy.  One of the major points he highlighted is that all business is seasonal – we have different times of year, or points in the economic macro cycle that each business thrives.  Now, for the first time ever, all our businesses are reset to the same point in their personal business cycle.  Everyone has been impacted – some more than others – and everyone will come out of the COVID-19 lockdown at the same time.  This provides an interesting way to recallibrate and reconsider your business plans going forward.

Don’t Let a Crisis Go to Waste

This is a scary time – both personally and professionally – but what can we do to take advantage of this time?  Dave suggests that we make use of this time to make sure we come out of this as a strong, well structured business focused on the future. 

  • Start with the Brand Promise – what is the promise to your customer?
  • Why?  Watch the Simon Sinek TED Talk and remember WHY you are in business
  • Make hard decisions about markets, products, and people – don’t wait
  • Retool your marketing infrastructure – be ready for the future

About DHX

We’re an independent ad agency from Portland, Oregon. We’ve been at this for over 20 years, which is to say we’ve sharpened every tool in our toolkit. And while we have been there and done that more times than most, we still approach each and every project with the talent, raw enthusiasm and hunger that got us into this business in the first place.

Click Here to Download the Slides

If part of your retooling includes new labels, we can help.  As Dave noted in his presentation, don’t let this time go to waste?  Do you need a brand refresh and an updated label to better reflect your organizational vibe?  Have you shifted your focus?  Should your label reflect a new strategy, product lineup, price point, or other special feature?  If the answer is yes to any of these, we can help.

For anyone with a product in a bag, box or bottle, your label is a critical touch point with the customer.  Along with your logo, website, recipie and retail environment,, make sure your labels reflect your new strategy and brand promise in the post COVID-19 business world.  Call us today – we can help.

Spring is Coming – We are Ready!

Spring is Coming – We are Ready!

Spring is Coming!

At Rose City Label we know Spring is coming.  We have been around since 1928.  Our people have seen wars, recessions, assassinations, and 9/11. And now, we have seen COVID-19.  All of these tragic events are followed by a rebound and a strong upside.  It’s never easy or fun, but we always get through.  Learning lessons from the past help us to keep perspective.  This post talks about our expectations for the future based on our surviving and thriving after the 2008 financial crisis.

Looking Toward the Future

Spring flowers are comingOnce we get back to some form of ‘new normal’ we will be ready to expand and serve even more people.  This time – the crisis lock down – won’t last forever.  It will end.  The way we come out of this to survive and thrive will depend on HOW we use this time.  Yes, the uncertainty makes it very difficult to be positive, but the time will pass. Spring follows winter, every year.  There is a natural order to things, and we are using our time wisely.

  • Cleaning and organizging our shop
  • Cross training and exposing areas for future training
  • Reaching out to current and new customers
  • Updating areas on the website for easier quotes
  • Watching our business closely to be ready for the future

Remainder of 2020 – we’ll see what comes

Many have said 2020 is a lost year for their business.  Survival is the watchword right now.  We can’t argue with that. This is a scary time, but Spring is coming.  Part of the new normal may be an appreciation for the business we do have – every customer is a gift to us.  Every day we are open and operating, we are thankful.  Going to work doesn’t seem as bad as it once did (although it was never really very bad!).  People need to be cautious but also optimistic.  We can’t sit on our hands and let competition pass us by, but we also can’t be reckless.  Protecting the downside has a new meaning now, since there is a whole new unexpected downside.  Steady, cautions, smart – but still moving forward and growing.  That is our plan for 2020.  Spring is coming.

Summary

Spring flowers Rose City LabelWe remain thankful for all our amazing, resilient customers.  This season of COVID-19 will not be soon forgotten.  We will redouble our efforts to be prepared to survive and thrive no matter what comes our way.  All of us will be better business leaders based on the learning and experience we gained from this pandemic.  Going through tough times is never fun, but it is how we learn valuable lessons for the future.  Hopefully you and your business have grown and learned through this process.  Our team is smarter and more connected.  We are thankful for having survived and we know that Spring is coming.

If part of your Post COVID-19 strategy includes a re branding or label makeover, please call us today.  We can help.

Business Excellence!

Business Excellence!

Building and sustaining a thriving business for 92 years is no accident. It takes deliberate effort and intention. Business excellence and systems go hand in hand. Attention to detail is the key, both in the actual production of your labels, and in how we run our business. Here are some things we do very well – all to serve our customers better.

Financial Focus

Each month, we have a complete financial review with an outside CPA. This is considered overkill by some for a business our size, and it is an added expense, but we want certainty about our direction and progress. Having an outside voice to review the financial progress each month is comforting. Our accountants are excellent – check out their website here. What we do for customers is hard, and we always want to know we are going the right direction.

Detailed Monthly Inventory

Each month, we count and measure all 550+ rolls of label stock. With a barcode label on each roll and a unique ID, it is easier than ever to have an almost real-time look at the stock we have on hand. Our vendors are very good and they generally delivery quickly, but having the right inventory buffer is critical to help us respond to customer demand.

Business Excellence and Systems

None of this is very helpful if it is so far after the fact that we can’t remember anything that happened. Today (3rd of the month) we had this full financial review before noon. This is a massive advantage. Being in the moment and having quick feedback helps us keep a finger on the pulse of the business.

Customer Focus

Amazing beer labels require attention to detail

All of this work and attention to detail is designed to delight the customer. Ultimately we want our customer’s customer to be delighted and buy their beer, wine, food product – we want to be an extension of our direct customer’s marketing and branding efforts. We want our labels (their labels!) to stand out on the shelf and help them grow their business. We can only do that effectively if our business is running well. There is more to running a label business than just putting ink on paper. These systems are a big part of that.

Call Us Today – We Can Help

If you want to deal with a family owned, eco-friendly label company in Portland, please call us. We have a thriving business that is growing and profitable. If you produce a high quality product in a bag, box, or bottle, it is very likely that we could help you upgrade your branding with outstanding labels. Our systems and business excellence allow us to help more people each day. Call us!

We are Label Branding Experts

We are Label Branding Experts

Label Branding Experts

The Rose City Label label branding experts can help you connect with your customers.  Your brand is a promise to your customers.  It sets the expectation for their experience with your product.  After purchasing and trying your product, the quality of the product and the service that delivers the product will bring them back.  Before they purchase, it is your brand that will bring them in.

Your Authentic Brand Voice

Knowing your purpose is critical.  Before you come to visit the label branding experts, you need to know exactly the image you want – fancy, relaxed, formal, or casual?  How do you want people to feel when they eat, drink, or apply your product to their body?  Are you a good value?  Premium quality? Best supported?  What makes your product special and why should someone choose you?  Once you have this, you can begin to select the ideal label color as discussed in this previous post.

Your ideal Customer

Who you are selling to is another thing to decide before you come to the label branding experts.  Who you are talking to will radically inform the decision about your label design, material, size, and perhaps even quantity.  When in doubt, go smaller on your target market.  You only want to target and focus on the ideal customer.  If you focus on this group, you will catch some adjacent groups that buy, and that is great, but don’t dilute your branding by focusing on a wide market.  Go narrow.

What Resonates with Them?

Your look and feel – especially your packaging and labels – must be defined on the wants and needs of your ideal customers.  You have to be authentic and speak in your true voice, but if your ideal customer doesn’t resonate with the message, you have a problem!  Make sure your facility, the taste and style of your product, and especially your labels, all resonate with this idea customer.

Everything Works A Little

All the elements of your BRAND – from how you answer the phone to the quality of your physical product – all contribute to your ultimate brand experience.  Hopefully, if you use discipline and thought, all these touch points work together.  Everything must work together – the elements of your brand don’t exist in a vacuum.  Make sure everything is working together. All the elements need to reinforce each other.

It’s A Marathon Not a Sprint

Think about the lifetime value of a customer, not just the first sale.  The marketing journey is a long game.  Don’t get discouraged – make sure you have the discipline to keep the business and the marketing going over the long haul.  Branding and marketing is an ongoing, never ending process.  It is a marathon, not a sprint.

Labels Can Help

One of the key parts of this brand is your physical brand.  If you have a product in a bag, box or bottle, your labels are critical.  If they don’t align with your other branding elements, you will have a hard time growing your business.  The labels have to reinforce (rather than fight with) the other elements of your brand.  If you like the way the RCL label branding experts think about branding, please call us today.

Best Label Color to Build Your Brand

Best Label Color to Build Your Brand

What is the best label color?

This is a complex question with conflicting research on all sides. Regardless, one thing is clear – the best label color is the one that reinforces your authentic brand.  Your brand voice must be established first before a label color can be selected to bring that voice to the market.  Check out this post about Your Authentic Brand  and Clare Carver’s rules to build your brand here

Once the brand and the brand voice are solid, you can begin to work on the best label color.

Is it important?  Yes!

According to Emerald Insight and others (full study here), people make up their minds about a product or person – including your beer, wine, soap – within 90 seconds.  And, importantly for us, 62-90% of that initial reaction is based on color.  That’s right – color!  Having the best label color is critical.

What does each color say – what makes the best label color?Rose City Label Color Branding Experts

Begin with the end in mind – what emotion are you trying to evoke?  Happy?  Angry? Fired up to Party?  Each of these desired consumer reactions will require a different best label color.  Yes – as always – it depends.  If you know your intended reaction, and your brand voice, then finding the best label color is easy.

Specific examples of Best Label Color

Real Simple magazine has a great breakdown of 10 different colors and the reactions they evoke.  Read the full article by clicking here.  Here are a few examples, but read the full article for more detailed explanations.

  • Black – the signature color of sophistication.  Where do you want your brand positioned in the mind of your target consumer?
  • Blue – everyone likes blue.  It connotes trust and dependability.  A blue logo can increase loyalty and feelings of security.  Is this the reaction you want?  Maybe this is your best label color?
  • Burgundy – rich and refined.  Think of full bodied, bold (expensive) wines.  Luxury.
  • Orange – fair and affordable are typical reactions from this color.
  • Red – This may be your best label color is you want a hot, excited consumer, but red also means ‘stop’ or caution or danger to many people.  Choose carefully.

There are five more great colors, and links to other research, in the full article link above.

Summary and Next Actions

Begin with your well defined brand image and voice.  From there, layer on the reaction you want from your target consumer.  From there, the best label color decision is much easier and logical.  With all this data, you also need to add in a touch of your own flair and gut feeling.  These are guidelines that are very helpful, but ultimately your decision is up to you.  Make sure you are being consistent with your ultimate business goals – read this post for more information about brand alignment.

Still Stuck?  Call us Today

We can help solve the best label color problem.  We do it for many customers each year and we are happy to help you, too.  With our new HP Indigo Press, printing great labels has never been easier.  Cheers!