In marketing, packaging and labeling have always been essential tools as several companies from various industry sectors use them. The product labels play a vital role in increasing brand visibility, brand royalty, and brand love. But, most importantly, it can help improve market demand for any product. You would communicate the value of the product to the customers, whenever you manufacture a product. One such way to do that is to use product labeling. It’s one of the essential means of communication between the brand and the consumer. The product labeling contains very important information that is printed on the product packaging. It allows the customer to distinguish from one brand to another. A product packaging is different from labeling as it might have the brand colors, the material, logo, as well as the shape of the package, etc. However, product labeling is not about just branding and product promotion, there is far more important information that consumers take note of when they check the labels. The product labeling can be as less as simple one or two lines on the back of any product or it can be as much as the whole back-end of the product is full of written information. All these requirements of the labeling come from the regulatory body and there are several regulatory bodies for all products. The food and drugs administration (FDA) is the regulatory and governing body for the food product. Hence, any new product in the market has to adhere to the packaging and labeling guidelines of their respective country’s regulatory bodies. Moreover, the product labels come in different varieties i.e. tags, content prints, stickers on the packaging. Besides the quality of the products, the quality of its labels also matters.

importance of Product Labels

A) Product Contents

Through labels, we get to know the contents and ingredients of the products that we are using or consuming. For food products, it’s necessary to check out this area of the packaging especially for consumers who have health issues. For example, if you want to limit your salt intake, the food label will make it easier for you to know the sodium content of the product. Or If you have any food allergies, you just need to check the ingredients and identify if the food that triggers your allergies is present or not. This part of the product labels helps us maintain our health.

B) Product Instructions

The labels serve as a guide on how to properly use the product we purchased. It’s all on the label whether it should be used daily or once a week, before or after sleeping, with water or without water. This section also tells you the amount or dosage appropriate for what age. This way we will be able to utilize the products correctly and we can maximize its effects for us as well.

C) Product Warnings

For some people, some products that might give side effects whenever used or consumed. The label provides us a place wher these product warnings can be found.  You might want to take extra time checking out the product warnings if you are pregnant or you may have some certain illness such as heart diseases or hypertension.

D) Information by Law

Just to inform consumers first and foremost, the law requires them to place certain information on their packaging, for a few products. An illustration of this information is the line “Smoking is dangerous for your health”.

E) Pricing

Pricing is an important form of the product label. Here, you would be able to compare the prices of products from different brands. This will help you selec the best brand for you while allowing you to sneak in some savings.

F) Promotion and Marketing

A label of a product can market the product all on its own. The consumers may be attracted to a brightly colored label and end up purchasing that product. A product can be key to helping a consumer pick out your product amongst the others on the shelf if your product has a unique label. The labels are now used for cross-brand marketing, sweepstakes, recipe information, gaming, and couponing, with today’s technology and advancements in label manufacturing.

With these things in mind, it’s important to remember that labeling your products can be a useful sales tool.

How to find product information on the label  

Product Identification for Product Traceability

The ability to track a product through the manufacturing process and to the end-user is achieved with product traceability. A product in the hands of a customer can be traced back through the manufacturing, shipment, delivery, and raw material purchasing process such that the supplies of the original raw material can be identified. The product traceability labels are used to improve quality and recognize the source of a problem or other issue. Usually incorporating an identification number or barcode, product traceability requires product identification labels. To identify batches or individual items, identification labels may be used. To accomplish this, a variety of labeling technologies are available.

Vinyl or polyester labels are at times used for product identification labels and are excellent for tracking products wher security is not a major concern. Using an industrial label printer, a variety of labels for numerous applications may easily be made. In a few cases, a specialized supply is required to address industry-specific product identification needs. There are few labels even to detect if contamination is critical. Even if small parts of the label get into the product, they can easily be detected. Sometimes, a temporary label may be needed during some manufacturing processes. It’s advantageous to have labels that can be used as needed and then easily removed. However, all these types of labels may be easily counterfeited or removed. So, when brand reputation is a concern or if the product is a high-value product that may be counterfeited or stolen, a different type of label needs to be used for product identification.

Ultraviolet Watermark

You can create custom product identification labels that incorporate a watermark that’s only visible under UV light, making these labels hard to duplicate.

Tamper-Evident "VOID" and Tamper-Evident Destructible Labels

With these labeling supplies, the product identification labels cannot be removed or reused.

Variable Information Labels

Product identification and additional information such as batch ID codes, production date, use-by dates, manufacturing location or lot numbers are provided by variable information product labels. This information may be in the form of barcodes, text, and numbers, or both. These labels may also be brand reputation labels, or traceability labels and all of the label material options listed above are usually also used for labeling that needs variable information.

Durable Goods Labeling

Also called “nameplates”, these product identification labels on durable goods must be tough and able to withstand at times harsh conditions. Every labeling options listed above are utilized for product identification labels on durable goods. Besides, other options that are frequently used such as metalized poly tapes – These are sometimes used for product identification labels as they are easy to make and provide a brushed metal look. An ultra-aggressive adhesive vinyl has an incredibly strong adhesive when an extra-strong adhesive is needed.