by admin | Mar 9, 2017 | Beer Wine Spirits, Customers/Examples, Technical
Wine Symposium Networking
The Oregon Wine Symposium is a great event for Rose City Label. This event is packed with people following their dreams. They are passionate about making the best possible wine – they want to earn a good living, but for most producers, it is calling to make great wine. There are three main parts to this Wine Symposium Networking:
- To connect with current and future customers
- To stay current on the issues, pressures, and trends facing the overall industry
- To network with others that serve the wine community
In a previous post we talked about the amazing, grass roots marketing advice from Clare Carver – check out that post by clicking here. Besides that fantastic, motivational session, we got several other good ‘nuggets’ of information from the Symposium.
Keeping Up with TTB to get a fast, easy COLA
This presentation falls under reason number 2 above – Demaris Brown from the Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) is actually one of the people on the other end of the label approval process. She and her colleagues sign off to award a Certificate of Label Approval (COLA). Ms. Brown gave a fast paced presentation about the required (and non-required) elements on a label. She also gave great tips about common errors – if wine label designers can just eliminate these common errors, their approval rates will go way up. These slides have current, important information about wine label approvals.
Band Together – The Power of the Wine Industry
Our customer, Pattie Bjornson of Bjornson Vineyards, gave a wonderful testimonial about the power of joining and supporting your industry association. Some time ago, Pattie and her husband Mark learned about plan by a national company to build an asphalt plant right down the road from her vineyard and tasting room. They contacted the prospective ‘neighbor’ to express their concern about the aesthetic (and ultimately financial) impact that this smelly, loud plant would have on their vineyard and business. The company, she said, was very polite but also very candid, stating – ‘nobody wants a plant of ours near them – we fight this everywhere we build, and we never lose’. Since her direct contact approach didn’t work, Pattie turned to the collective power of the industry.
Through smart connections and advocacy, Pattie and the industry were able to convince the permitting and zoning authorities of the tremendous negative affects the asphalt plant would have on the region. With this collective voice, the pressure and the economic facts were strong enough to get things done that Bjornson couldn’t do on their own and the plant was never built. This real life example was a compelling reason to support your trade and advocacy groups, regardless of your industry.
Click here to visit the website for Bjornson Vineyards – it shows their beautiful setting that would have been greatly impacted by this industrial asphalt plant.
Wine Symposium Networking – The Social Sip
Since our business has been around since 1928, we have built up some great relationships. We have connections and vendors in nearly every area connected to print or marketing. We love to connect our clients to good resources. This almost never results in direct business for us, but it serves our customers and it gets repaid over time.
One great new resource we met at the Symposium is Brooke Huffman of The Social Sip. This is a boutique marketing agency based in Seattle that really understands and caters to the wine industry. Brooke and I spent some time on the phone and she really knows her stuff – she loves wine, loves helping people grow their brand, and has the technical smarts to make it happen. Check out the Social Sip by clicking here.
Why give her a try? Besides being good at her craft, she makes it easy! I love the simplicity of monthly packages with a fixed, predictable price. Working by the hour, a project can quickly get out of hand. With a fixed monthly budget, you know what you get and what you pay – no surprises. Packages are even themed specifically around the different point ratings applied to wines – you can get the 85 point value package, the 90 point, or the 95+ point ‘extraordinary quality’ package. If she has this clever marketing twist for herself, I’m pretty sure she does a great job for her clients,, too! Check out the affordable packages by clicking here.
That’s a Wrap!
Wine Symposium Networking is a valuable part of how we grow this part of our label printing business. Hopefully we will see you there next year. In the meantime, if you need advice or suggestions about your labels, we would love to help. For anything in a bag, box or bottle, we can print a high quality label, delivered on time, at a fair price – call us today!
by admin | Mar 3, 2017 | Beer Wine Spirits, Customers/Examples, Technical
What is it all About?
The Oregon Bottle Bill was created in 1971 and was a groundbreaking way to encourage recycling in our state. In fact, it was the first bill of its kind in the country. Though we continue to innovate in the area of recycling, we haven’t been meeting our goals the past few years. As a result, the bottle deposit is going up.
Because the redemption rates for 2014 and 2015 were below 80%, ORS 459A.705 requires the refund value to increase to 10¢.
Read the full text of the OLCC explanation by clicking here.
Read a related post on this site about the bottle reuse by clicking here.
OLCC Enforcement
The best practice for all affected beverage companies is always to be in full compliance with the law, but we know it isn’t always easy to hit every deadline. Industry sources have speculated that the year 2017 will likely be a transition year and the OLCC won’t be aggressively going after people with outdated information on their bottles. Resources are tight and the OLCC has many other issues to deal with, like regulating marijuana and it’s packaging.
Don’t Wait Too Long
Presumably most mass merchant stores are going to automatically impose the 10c deposit at the check stand on April 1st, regardless of what the label says. The fee will be collected and the refund will be offered in accordance with the new law right away, even if the label still says 5c redemption in Oregon. Even with that in mind, it is a good time to look at your labels and see if there are other revisions you need. If you need help, we have a great selection of graphic designers that can help – just ask.
Make it an Opportunity for a Facelift
Nobody likes legislation to force them into spending money on label updates. That’s no fun for anyone. But, if you use this change constructively, it can be an opportunity for a brand review. Labels don’t last forever – our most successful beverage brands refresh their labels every 3-5 years. Make it a part of your annual business review to ‘audit’ your branding to make sure it is still telling the story you want. Your target consumer may have shifted over time and you want to make sure your message is still resonating with those core customers. You have to tweak the redemption value, so you might as well get some value out of the process, right?
We Can Help
We aren’t regulatory or compliance lawyers, and we don’t do much true graphic design from scratch. What we do have is a wealth of practical knowledge – we have our finger on the pulse of the beverage market every day. Please call us today – we can help with a simple text change or a full brand refresh. Cheers!
by admin | Jan 11, 2017 | Customers/Examples
We do more than just beer, wine, and food labels!
Since 1981, we have had a special division within our company making custom sticker badges for police and fire departments. These badges are given away by officers in parades, school visits, and community fairs. It is a great way for people to connect with the women and men that protect and serve their communities each day.
We have had many amazing testimonials, including this one from an officer in Bend, OR:
Our stickers are in high demand – kudos to you!
More than Marketing…
These very inexpensive (5c or less) handouts are more than a marketing tool for fire and police departments. They are actually building a connection that can last a lifetime. With all the violence against police officers recently, it is important that we reverse this trend and build stronger ties from the earliest ages.
Ordering is easy – call or visit SafetyBadges.com Today
Our dedicated badge website at www.safetybadges.com makes it very easy to order. You can see examples of other badges, download an order form, or call or email Heidi in our office right away. Badges are run each month as a group order for departments all over the western United States, so if this is something that would help your department, please visit the site today.
Thank you – all of you – that Serve and Protect us every day!
Community Connections that Last
This connection lasts long after the event and long after the badge is forgotten. Kids love stickers! They will remember that officer that took the time to sit with them, to spend time, and to give them a gift.
All the labels we produce are important – they build businesses and help brands to connect with their customers. These labels (stickers) actually do much more. They forge a bond that may keep a kid off drugs or help them to make more positive choices in their lives. This is important work, and we are proud to do it.
by admin | Dec 8, 2016 | Customers/Examples, Food Beverage
Eating right is difficult – you need to read Nutrition Food Labels. Reading food labels should be a great way to learn about what you are eating, right? Yes and No – you need to read the labels, but you need the ‘food label decoder’ to make sure you are getting the straight scoop.
This article from the New York Times has a great quiz to test your food knowledge – click here to view the full article. The article is based on an excellent new book – click here to learn more about Devour.
What are they looking for?
There are several great tips in this article – here is one of the best – What are your consumers looking for on Food Labels? Consumers are looking for foods with these attributes, according to the Food Marketing Institute.
- 41 percent of respondents sought foods labeled “low sodium.”
- 37 percent looked for “no artificial ingredients”
- 29 percent sought “no/low fat”
- 20 percent sought “certified organic.”
What about Sodium?
This is in line with recent research indicating that while Americans are generally improving their overall dietary quality, sodium is a big area where we fall short. And, an estimated 80% of sodium consumed is actually added to the food by food manufacturers and restaurants. Read the full article in JAMA Internal Medicine here.
How does this Affect Your Products?
We never advocate our food customers to chase the latest trends. You need to produce your core products – the items that align with your mission and core values. If ‘low sodium’ isn’t a part of your current offerings, consider them in future product design. Don’t throw out your current recipes and start over. Pay attention to the research as you evolve, but don’t try to be something you aren’t – that is a ‘recipe’ for watered down, passion-free products. Yuck!
What is a Brand Owner to Do?
Follow these tips and you will be able to communicate your value directly to your consumers. Give them clear, compelling reasons to pick you when they are selecting a product in your category:
- Stay true to Your Authentic Brand – never vary
- Learn the intricate details of Nutrition Food Labels terminology
- Create new products with consumer research findings in mind
- Design and print labels to highlight your best attributes
- Keep your products mix and your label design fresh and clean
Need Help?
If you need help with label design and printing on your Nutrition Food Labels, call us today. Keep reading this series of posts to learn more, and tap our many years of expertise to help you along the way.
by admin | Oct 10, 2016 | Beer Wine Spirits, Customers/Examples
We frequently get asked about the price for a ‘standard’ beer label – but unfortunately, we don’t have a very good answer. When we began printing beer labels for 22 oz. bottles 9 years ago, there was a pretty standard format that most people used, but not anymore. With all these options, beer label price diversity is also on the rise.
Of the last 100 beer labels we printed for our top brewery customers, we used many different sizes, materials, print methods, and extra embellishments. With all this diversity, there really is no way to answer the question about a standard label – there is no ‘standard’. Everyone is fighting to set themselves apart on the crowded shelf, and a ‘standard’ label just won’t work.
In the last 100 orders, we used:
- 29 different diecut label sizes: Our standard 4 x 5 rectangle (once the most popular size) only accounted for 15 of these orders. Now people want bigger labels to cover more of the bottle to show off their graphics and branding.
- 15 different label materials: Our premium synthetic paper and digital BOPP still account for 54 of these orders, but 46 of them are on a textured stock, a clear or metallic, or a premium paper suitable for embossing.
- 60 Traditional vs. 40 Digital: 9 years ago we didn’t even have digital printing, and now it accounts for 40% of the beer label orders – digital is booming. This is especially true of short run, seasonal, and specialty collaboration beers.
9 years ago, we never would have envisioned 29 different beer label sizes – the creativity and diversity is amazing!
With all these options, it is no wonder beer label price diversity is on the rise. *This is a compilation of the last 5 orders each from our top 20 brewery customers.
More data about these 100 orders:
- Largest quantity was 151,200
- Smallest quantity was 500
- Lowest per label cost was $0.062
- Highest per label cost was $0.69
With all this diverse experience, we have what it takes to meet all your craft beverage label needs. Please call us today. Cheers!
by admin | Jun 24, 2016 | Customers/Examples
Producing labels for people who really care about their products makes our life easier. We consider each job to be a special, hand crafted creation. Each job matters to the end customer – this is their baby and it has to be perfect. This is why it is so much fun to serve over 75 craft beverage companies.
Nobody is making craft beer, cider, wine, or spirits just to make money – they could do that other ways! They are in the business because they LOVE the products, the people and the industry. They make us better by constantly leveling up their game – more new flavors, different hops, better labels to stand out on the retail shelf. We have to work hard to keep up!
Thank you especially to Worthy Brewing – these guys have trusted us from the start and they continue to grow. If you are in Bend, OR please stop by their location and buy a pint. The beer is great, the location is fabulous, and the people are passionate about their beer.
The Craft Beverage space is crowded – people have to work harder and harder to get noticed on the store shelves. Having clean, crisp label design and printing really does help your product to pop off the shelf. If you want help making your product pop, please call us today.
We can help.
The more passionate you are about your product (and your business success), the better we will get along.
