Label Summit Africa 2014 concludes on successful note

22 Mar '14

4 min read

The two panel discussions were also well received. The African converter panel discussion with panelists including SA Litho’s Leon Witbooi, Uwe Bögl of RAKO labels Cape Town, Sachen Gudka of Skanem Interlabels Nairobi and Associated Printers’ Peter Frost explored their own regional variations, emerging technology trends and applications for future investment.

The panel gave a unique insight into how vital it is to understand local cultures and markets in order to succeed in catering for their own specific needs. The brand panel discussion featured contributions from Indigo Brands’ Mark Anley, Johan Heckroodt of Lutzville Vineyards and Parmalat’s Garron Arendse. They evaluated several topical areas including the rise of the private label and how packaging improvements can preserve brand heritage.

Opportunities in brand development, product design and positioning were focused on during day two. Mark Anley from Indigo Brands also separately looked at developing innovative and iconic packaging and covered the mounting domination of short run printing and personalization.

Brandesign’s Mike Taberner considered the worth and consequence of forging strategic partnerships in the supply chain to better serve brand owners. Highlighting the design and the role of the supplier - from supplier to creative force - Taberner reasoned the need for and significance of a collaborative execution throughout the entire branding and design process.

Lisa Milburn, managing director of Labelexpo commented: “We would like to thank everyone for their involvement and proactivity in this year’s Summit. Label Summit Africa 2014 has proved to be a very thought provoking and valuable event. Feedback from our delegates has been hugely positive with many attendees maximizing their time here to network with their peers and develop new working alliances.

We’re seeing the South African label and packaging industry evolve in sophistication as consumers engage more with brands which has brought about more of a pull rather than push sales and marketing culture and mentality. Like much of Africa and the emerging market countries as a whole, the South African label industry is experiencing a strong period of growth at 6% per year and this will be maintained as the young middle class demographic continues to expand and drive demand.”

Label Summit Africa