Label Writing and Planning: A Guide to Good Customer Communication

230 Pages·1995·3.991 MB·English

by  Tony Holkham (auth.)

Label Writing and Planning
TONY HOLKHAM
Tony's passion for labelling began as a child with a
fascination for the average contents of the boxes of
matches which he collected. It continued through his 21
years' work in the agrochemicals industry.
Eventually finding working in one industry too
restricting, Tony "set up shop" on his own in 1990, since
when he has helped a number of companies in various
industries learn how to improve their labelling.
Tony gives free advice on labelling to manufacturers -
often without being asked! On the other hand, he could
charge companies silly money for training them how to
write their labels properly. This book is a compromise -
for very little money, and a little effort, it could mean a
fortune in increased sales, reduced costs and improved
customer satisfaction.
Sounds like a good deal.
Tony is married, has a son, daughter and grandson, and
lives in Chichester. Apart from labelling, his interests
include genealogy, sailing, gardening and motor sport.
He is also a freelance writer with a special interest in
traffic problems and car sharing, and why visiting alien
spacecraft never break down.
Label
Writing and Planning
A Guide to Good Customer Communication
TONY HOLKHAM
Product Information & Labelling Specialist
BLACKIE ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL
An Imprint of Chapman & Hall
London· Glasgow· Weinheim . New York· Tokyo· Melbourne· Madras
Published by
B1ackie Academic & Professional, an imprint of Chapman & HaIl,
Wester Cleddens Road, Bishopbriggs, Glasgow G64 2NZ
Chapman & Hall, 2-6 Boundary Row, London SEI 8HN, UK
Blackie Academic & Professional, Wester Cleddens Road, Bishopbriggs,
Glasgow G64 2NZ, UK
Chapman & Hall GmbH, Pappelallee 3,69469 Weinheim, Gennany
Chapman & Hall USA, 115 Fifth Avenue, Fourth Floor, New York,
NY 10003, USA
Chapman & Hall Japan, ITP-Japan, Kyowa Building, 3F, 2-2-1 Hirakawacho,
Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102, Japan
DA Book (Aust.) Pty Ltd, 648 Whitehorse Road, Mitcham 3132, Victoria,
Australia
Chapman & Hall India, R. Seshadri, 32 Second Main Road, CIT East,
Madras 600 035, India
First edition 1995
© 1995 Chapman & Hall
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 15t edition 1995
Typeset from disk in 101l2pt Palatino by AFS Image Setters Ltd, Glasgow
ISBN-13: 978-1-4612-8523-6 e-ISBN-13: 978-1-4613-1231-4
DOl: 10.1007/978-1-4613-1231-4
Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or
criticism or review, as permitted under the UK Copyright Designs and Patents
Act, 1988, this publication may not be reproduced, stored, or transmitted, in
any fonn or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the
publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction only in accordance with
the tenns of the licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency in the UK,
or in accordance with the tenns of licences issued by the appropriate
Reproduction Rights Organization outside the UK. Enquiries concerning
reproduction outside the tenns stated here should be sent to the publishers at the
Glasgow address printed on this page.
The publisher and author make no representation, express or implied, with
regard to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and cannot
accept any legal responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions that may
be made.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 95-79269
00 Printed on acid-free text paper, manufactured in accordance with
ANSIINISO Z39.48-1992 (Permanence of Paper)
To Suzy
my best label hunter
Tony Holkham
22 Willowbed Drive, Chichester P019 2JB, UK
Telephone: [phone]
CONTENTS
How (and why) to use this book viii
ABBREVIATIONS 2
ABUSE 8
ARTWORK 12
AITRACTING AITENTION 14
BARCODES 16
CHALLENGE 17
CHECKLISTS 20
CHEMICALS 28
COLOUR 30
COMMON SENSE 34
CONTENTS & INGREDIENTS 37
COSTS 38
CUSTOMERS 44
DECISIONS 48
DESIGN 50
DESK-TOP PUBLISHING (DTP) 56
EDUCATION 58
ENVIRONMENT 60
ESSENTIALS 62
FIT (it won't) 64
FOOD & DRINK 72
HUMOUR 78
INDUSTRY 80
INFORMATION 82
JARGON 86
LABELS & LABELLING 90
LABEL WRITERS 92
LANGUAGE 98
LANGUAGE STYLE 100
Contents vii
LAW (Legislation) 104
LAYOUT 108
LEAFLETS & BOOKLETS 110
MANAGING LABELLING 114
MANUALS 120
MIXING INSTRUCTIONS 122
MOTIVATION 126
NAMES 130
NO ONE READS LABELS ANYWAY 134
OPENING & ASSEMBLY INSTRUCTIONS 136
PACKS 140
PICTURES 142
POINTERS 144
PRINTERS & PRINTING 146
PRINT SIZE 148
PRINT STYLE 152
PROBLEMS 158
PRODUCTION 160
PROOFS 162
SAFETY 164
SELLING AND ADVERTISING 170
SIGNS 174
SMALL PACKS & CONTAINERS 175
SPECIALIST HELP 176
STANDARDS 180
TRAINING 186
USING THE PRODUCT 208
VISUAL IMPACT 212
WHAT SHOULD GO ON A LABEL? 213
WORDS 214
WRITING A LABEL 215
Further Reading 216
Index 217
HOW (AND WHY) TO USE THIS BOOK
No manufacturing or packaging company can afford to
be without this book.
No printing or sign writing business can afford to be
without this book.
No sales person, marketing executive or conference
organiser can afford to be without this book.
No service industry can afford to be without this book.
Why? Because specialist jargon, poor design, low
consumer visibility and low impact product labels and
information have turned consumer products and
services into Towers of Babel - barriers of
incomprehension between users and producers. The
result is lost profit, wasted processing time and failure to
sustain sales.
Demolishing these Towers of Babel (you will find many
real examples in the book) depends on understanding
the needs and perceptions of users and then pin-pointing
the essentials, with the aim of both an instant and a
lasting comprehension.
Management often deploys fat budgets, staff and
logistics on planning, producing and marketing
superlative products. Then they relegate the writing
(and often the design) of product labelling and
information to someone who happens to have the time.
This is clearly false economy.
The product label is the most important document you
produce. It is often the company's only opportunity to
"speak" to the user. Product labelling should be a
combined and carefully thought out management and
public relations policy. Of all communications between
How (and Why) to Use this Book ix
producer and user it is the most vital and can also be the
most cost-effective.
The messages directed at customers or potential
customers by producers these days are often baffling,
misleading and difficult to extract. Why is this?
It wasn't always so. In the days when information was
passed from generation to generation by word of mouth
- from mother to daughter, father to son, master to
apprentice - we used the language of everyday speech.
But with the written word, a new language emerged.
Elitists filled it with jargon, designers rearranged it for
visual effect, and printers revelled in their ability to print
ever smaller and more varied text.
And now with the information "revolution", multi-media
messages are replacing the printed word with ever more
emphasis on icons and pictograms.
As a producer of product information, this is your
legacy, and the consumer is left to cope with these
alternative messages without the benefit of a phrase
book or dictionary. The changing fashions have dug a
very deep pit for modern manufacturers to fall into, and
most of them have fallen in.
On the other hand, people charged with the
responsibility of producing your product labelling and
other literature consider themselves to be experts. But
how can they be experts in all the information which has
to be drawn together to produce a label-information
from research and development, marketing, publicity,
product testing, market research, customer feedback and
many others? They cannot.
It follows then that a special type of person is needed to
produce good labelling and other product information.
To avoid wasteful or inefficient product application, to
increase safety and to save time and money, not to
mention maintain corporate reputation and reduce
x How (and Why) to Use this Book
customer queries and complaints to a minimum, a
labelling specialist is essential.
However, even if you are aware of the importance of
labelling, you can't just go out and hire such a specialist
(apart from myself, I know of no such person). What
you can do instead is use this book, carefully compiled
from experience and laced heavily with common sense.
I specialised in the regulatory, stewardship, safety and
desk-top publishing aspects of product labelling in an
international chemical company. I produced a
comprehensive labelling manual for that company, and
edited a handbook for other companies sponsored by the
international industry association. I then went on to
become an independent consultant so I could work with
other industries as well.
The large collection of labels and other product
information I have built up over the years has provided
most of the illustrations for my advice on good labelling.
So in summary, this book will be of benefit to you in a
number of ways. Used fully, it will enable you to -
1 Increase repeat sales, and reduce customer enquiries
and complaints.
2 Spend much less on key aspects of your business.
3 Significantly reduce the time your staff spend on
certain processes.
4 Improve your image and attract more primary sales.
5 Improve efficiency and lead times, and reduce waste.
These add up to a significant increase in productivity
and profitability.
And they can be achieved in one major operation - an
operation which will pay for itself by the time it is
finished - or spread over a period of time.