Every month, when I sit down to write Featured markets, I look at the topics and think about which companies in the industry have recently done something interesting within those markets. This month’s subjects centre around packaging, RFID, barcodes and QR Codes, which leaves the door open a little bit to try something different.

This time, let’s have a look at some of the coolest and most interesting recent ideas and developments in this field as a whole. Package printing has been, and will continue to be with us for a long time. Neither the Internet nor the latest device from Apple will lead to its decline – it’s not going anywhere. You can’t make a cereal box out of pixels.

On that note, let’s take a peek at some of the ways that packaging has evolved over the years, using technology like RFID, QR Codes and barcodes. If you are a printer, or even in marketing, this might spark some new ideas to try something unique and win more jobs. These types of tactics can transform an ordinary printer into a communication facilitator.

So, let’s dig in and “think outside the box” – pun intended.

The Barcode

Newsweek magazine recently ranked the UPC Barcode among its list of the “Top 20 Innovations that Rocked the World.” Since it was invented in the 1970s, the scanable barcode has streamlined the process of purchasing, shipping, receiving, and selling products, says the article. It has helped grocery stores alone generate billions of dollars. Barcodes have set the standard for digitizing and automating business, paving the way for the future of e-commerce.

The first ever commercial appearance of the barcode was on a package of Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit gum at a supermarket in Ohio in 1974. That very first pack of gum and its receipt are on display at the Smithsonian Institution. Today, it would be difficult to find any package without the familiar white box of black lines. It has become an integral part of modern civilization.

The barcode works because it is an optical machine-readable representation of data. The multi-digit code is unique and can identify any product. At first, printing the barcode proved to be a problem because presses would smear the fine lines of ink, making it unreadable. To solve this problem, designers and printers must remember that packages should be printed in the direction of the barcode stripes.

For many printers, the barcode is just a boring and necessary part of what has to go on a package. But it doesn’t have to be boring. Some fun twists on the generic barcode have surfaced recently that can make products engage customers and become unique conversation pieces. The latest trend on the packaging scene is called “Vanity Barcodes,” that turn the ordinary barcode into a customizable decorative design. Vanitybarcodes.com believes, “They’re a powerful marketing tool that can transform a boring, space-hogging barcode into a terrific brand asset.” Here are some creative examples – that actually scan like a regular barcodes:

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)

While RFID tags are commonly used in product packaging for tracking inventory and deterring shoplifters, the technology was actually invented in 1945 as an espionage tool for the Soviet Union. Radio waves containing audio information could be transmitted, creating a covert listening device. This initial model is considered to be the predecessor of the modern RFID tag, because of its ability to be activated by electromagnetic waves from an outside source.

This is the basic concept of RFID, although there now exists three different types of tags in common usage. “Active” tags have their own battery, making long-distance reading possible. “Semi-Passive” tags also have a power source, but mainly act as a transponder that can actually reflect information back to the reader. Lastly, “passive” tags have no battery, but are activated by the energy from the tag reader.

Passive tags are the most widely used commercially because they are relatively inexpensive and versatile. Sometimes they can be cleverly hidden behind stickers on products so that stores can catch shoplifters as they try to leave the premises. Another use of RFID tags is for inventory and tracking. Wal-Mart requires its top 100 suppliers to track every shipment using this technology, improving its supply chain management. (Think about how this could also be used in the printing industry to track paper shipments and skids of finished jobs!) The possibilities are endless.

Imagine that every book in a library has a tag, and there is also an identity chip on your library card. As you walk out with your books, sensors at the door detect your identity and record the books you borrowed. Now let’s get sci-fi and imagine that each human has a tracker implanted in their body and every product on store shelves is tagged. You would never have to wait at a cash register line again! You could just walk out with your bags while the tag reader identifies you and your purchases and automatically withdraws money from your account.

While this would obviously be very controversial – not to mention an invasion of privacy – it is not too far off from what’s possible. The smallest RFID tags in existence measure only fractions of millimeters and are nearly invisible to the naked eye. It is easy to imagine them used in Hollywood spy movies. (Anyone remember that scene in Mission Impossible when one of the IMF operatives put a tracking tag on the computer programmer’s shoulder?)

What’s fascinating for our industry is that a number of printing inks out there support RFID, meaning that the chip and antenna can actually be “printed” right on the substrate! The future of this technology is pointing in the direction of things like printed electronics, batteries and even solar panels – expanding the scope of applications that the printing industry can offer.

QR Codes

QR (Quick Response) codes take the original UPC barcode to the next dimension…literally. These two-dimensional codes have the ability to not only store individual product information, but can provide unique embedded hyperlinks to websites.

Created by a Japanese company in 1994, this technology was originally meant for the auto-manufacturing sector to track vehicle parts. The contents of the QR can be decoded at high speed because of its advanced design. The three boxes in the upper and left corners are for positioning, and the fourth box near the lower right is for alignment – allowing code scanners to immediately read and recognize the content.

Since they were invented, QR codes have been applied in a much broader context within a variety of different markets. Today, many smart phone cameras can actually read this type of matrix. Although it requires the user to download a special software app, by pointing your camera at a QR code, the phone will automatically launch a specific website. Think of how this could be used as a powerful marketing tool!

QR codes with a stored URL could be used in so many applications, from magazines and books to signage and bus/vehicle wraps even to business cards. Even printed on a T-shirt, QR readers instantly recognize the matrix and decipher it. Basically, any object that users might need more information about could potentially benefit from this technology.

Taking this concept back to packaging – imagine a world where cereal and cookie boxes no longer have to display nutritional information or ingredients printed on the side. Giving space back to the package design itself, consumers would only see a QR matrix in the corner that they can read with their smart phone to access all of the product’s necessary information.

Whether it be Vanity Barcodes or RFID tracking or QR marketing, why don’t you suggest one of these ideas the next time your client wants to try something new? Communicating with consumers can go beyond the world of print, and can easily work hand-in-hand with the latest electronic technology. This type of innovation can be beneficial in many different campaigns, creating new ways to interact with your target audience and setting you and your customers ahead of the game.