O-I : EXPRESSIONS is creating new marketing opportunities for brands through customization and personalization by sculpting glass bottles into multi-dimensional works of art, enabled by digital printing.
https://glass-catalog.com/eu-en/innovations/o-i-expressions
Enabled by digital printing, O-I : EXPRESSIONS will enable brands to create highly personalized and customized glass packaging at flexible volume, industrial speeds, and affordable value, with an unprecedented range of color and design possibilities, compared to traditional decoration solutions. With O-I : EXPRESSIONS, brands will be better equipped to respond to growing consumer demand for personalized and ‘made for me’ products. Brands will quickly and nimbly be able to develop packaging to support short campaigns, such as seasonal promotions or limited/special editions to mark major events. In addition, O-I : EXPRESSIONS is sustainable. It uses organic inks, not impacting the recyclability of glass, and it helps reduce waste through lower inventories.
A premium version of the service, O-I : EXPRESSIONS RELIEF, named after the sculptural technique, will also offer brands the opportunity to use customized tactile digitally printed effects, such as embossing and coloured embossing. This will enable brands to interact with consumers through the sense of touch through cost-efficient flexible volume runs. O-I : EXPRESSIONS RELIEF takes brands a step beyond what was previously thought possible in terms of customization and premiumization.
Arnaud Aujouannet, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer of O-I, 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.”
The O-I : EXPRESSIONS services are planned to be commercially available by mid-2019 in Europe and shortly after in the US. In the meantime, O-I is already available to initiate projects and discuss collaborations.
Vitaliano Torno, President of O-I Europe 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.”
The Technology
In 2014 O-I invested in a small-scale digital printing equipment to develop the foundations for the O-I : EXPRESSIONS and O-I : EXPRESSIONS RELIEF services and validate them with the market. To bring this new service to market at an industrial scale, O-I is making an initial investment in two direct2glass digital printing industrial lines, enabling contactless direct printing, through a Drop-on-Demand process, which only generates an ink drop when it is required for printing. The use of UV inks enables fast and reliable curing, while the CMYK model opens the door to the spectrum of Pantone hues.
Blast off! Industrial designer showcases O-I : EXPRESSIONS’ potential
To mark the launch of O-I : EXPRESSIONS, O-I has invited renowned industrial designer, matali crasset [sic], to experiment with the technology and showcase its potential. matali has created an incredible spaceship installation, out of 90 glass bottles printed using the O-I : EXPRESSIONS service. The installation has been displayed during Paris Design Week. It is evident from her work that the quality and the range of colors and effects available through this innovation will allow marketers and packaging design agencies to unleash their imaginations.
