Glass container manufacturer Owens-Illinois (O-I) has introduced O-I:EXPRESSIONS, an innovation designed to transform glass bottle design.
Image: The new O-I’s platform offers late-stage design to boost glass packaging quality. Photo: courtesy of O-I.
The new innovation combines the benefits of glass with a marketing-focused capability. It is designed to offer late-stage design for design agencies, packaging professionals and food and beverage marketers.
Enabled by digital printing, the O-I:EXPRESSIONS allows brand owners to personalize and customize their glass bottles by sculpting them into multi-dimensional works of art, at flexible volume, industrial speeds, and affordable value, with a range of color and design possibilities.
O-I chief sales and marketing officer Arnaud Aujouannet said: “O-I: EXPRESSIONS is a valuable step in our continuous commitment to be relevant and agile in meeting the needs of customers and consumers.
“This innovation is an exciting outcome of O-I’s strategic growth agenda and reflects our vision to emphasize high value segments by leveraging new technology and product innovation along with new attractive customized and flexible service offerings.”
O-I said the new design platform allow brands to develop packaging to support short campaigns, such as seasonal promotions or limited/special editions to mark major events, and meet growing consumer demand for personalized and ‘made for me’ products.
Additionally, the O-I:EXPRESSIONS makes use of organic inks which do not impact the recyclability of glass. It also helps in reducing waste through lower inventories.
The firm is also offering a premium version of the service, O-I:EXPRESSIONS RELIEF, to provide brands with the opportunity to use customized tactile digitally printed effects, such as embossing and colored embossing.
O-I Europe resident Vitaliano Torno said: “Europe accounts for 24% of the global personalized packaging market and at the same time Europe is a core market for O-I, so it is fitting that the first step of our journey will take place here.
“We see the desire for individual retailers to provide unique promotions gaining momentum and brands are increasingly using personalized promotions to differentiate themselves.
“To execute these types of programs requires fast design and approval cycles with prompt execution. O-I:EXPRESSIONS makes all of this possible.”
O-I plans to make available the O-I:EXPRESSIONS services by mid-2019 in Europe.