Persistence Pays Off as Star Label Products Crafts A Unique Label for Hank's

Hank's Beverages and Star Label Products, both located in the northeastern suburbs of Philadelphia, had a working business relationship for over 10 years before Hank's challenged Star Label Products to produce an intricate and ornate label that hadn't been tried before. This project took a year to bring to fruition, with many trials and errors, as Hank's needed an attractive label to reestablish the brand as a truly gourmet line of soft drinks.

Hank's is trying to leapfrog the premium soft drink competition with an antique-looking, embossed label.

About a year ago, Irv Magill of Star Label Products contacted Bill Dunman of Hank's to renew their relationship and to requote a previous production run. The timing was right as Hank's brand owners were considering a major brand and packaging update.

Aside from a few billboards, Hank's relies on the quality of their product and packaging to sell their soft drinks. "We always marketed it more as a beer," Dunman explains. The existing Hank's labels were a clear film printed with rotary silk screening and hot stamped, a look that was becoming commonplace with many me-too competitors.

Dunman told Magill that he felt the time was right to re-differentiate Hank's and have Hank's packaging reflect the gourmet quality of the product inside. "I absolutely wanted to leapfrog the competition," says Dunman. Hank's was also initiating some changes to its soft drink formulas, such as going to all sugar cane and eliminating corn syrup.

A specific design in mind

Dunman had already worked up artwork and a label prototype with an antique metallic or pewter look. Dunman thought embossing on the label would achieve a specific impression that would entice the consumer to interact with the package and product. To create an embossed label for this application proved to be quite a challenge, however, because traditional label options do not hold the embossing that Dunman believed was critical.

At the same time, Dunman was working with the St. Gobain glass company to change the profile of the bottle and add design elements to achieve a similar antique effect. He hit many limitations there as well, as the proprietary shaped elements he hoped for had to be toned down or compromised to retain the strength of the bottle.

Star Label Products learned early on that the label embossing was going to be a challenge because St. Gobain would not guarantee high application speeds without a 1.5-mil clear poly liner. Star Label Products began looking for ways to apply a gold foil label with detailed embossing consistently on a fast production line. Magill recalls how material suppliers and engravers were hesitant to try rotary embossing on the poly liner: "They said, 'No way. You're not going to get embossing like that.'"

The essence of the Hank's logo remains as the label and bottle now portray a more hand-crafted package and product.

Whatever it takes

Magill was undeterred and continued to try innovative ideas, such as a tactile varnish, to get the embossing height. Tactile varnish might have a textured feel, but the overall look was not authentic enough for Dunman. So Dunman asked Magill to contact the engravers once again to run embossing tests with bright gold foil on a 1.5 mil clear liner.

The engravers took an existing embossing die and simulated the most embossing depth that they could possibly achieve. Things looked positive at that moment, except that this new application would require adhesive, die-cutting, and application tests. Star Label Products would also be taking a big risk with ordering the new embossing die.

At its core, the problem with the desired label presentation is that the label material is basically paper and needed to withstand a pretty harsh and wet environment. As production deadlines grew near, Star Label Products performed many hand tests and simulated the actual application the best that they could.

They also fine-tuned the label design and printing to accentuate the embossing and create an enticing motion as light reflects at different angles. The final label is an oval-shaped die-cut printed with a screen of black on laminated bright gold foil adhered to a 1.5-mil poly liner, and then embossed and coated with scuff-resistant UV varnish for durability. The embossing includes the words "Genuine," "Hank's," and "Gourmet" and both the curved outside elements and the frame of the "flavor box."

The finishing touches

Each of the six initial new packages also has a special PMS color in the flavor box. Dunman decided that limiting the color to this box reinforced the crafted metallic impression he was looking for. The new glass bottle also has an embossed Hank's logo on the shoulder, raised ovals for the labels, and rows of indented ridges above and below the main label.

One might think that after all the attention paid to the main oval label, the small neck label might be an afterthought. The same process, care, and embossing techniques were used to produce the neck label, which is actually more expensive than the main label because the die had to have more cuts per roll. Both Magill and Dunman believe that it was worth the expense to convey the complete premium message, making the packaging as upscale as possible.

Early results are promising in the market that Hank's is pursing most aggressively—the national family restaurant chains. Dunman and Magill are very pleased that the end result has come so close to Dunman's initial vision of over a year ago. "It's amazing that we came up with this much embossing," says Dunman. "Everybody wants to pick it up; they want to feel the embossing."