When the parcel arrives: what print can do in the run-up to Christmas

In the golden quarter, brands compete for attention on every channel, and much of it is simply scrolled past. A parcel is different, because people pick it up and open it in their own time. Let's unpack one together and see what role print plays in that moment today.

You get home, one arm still in your coat, and there it is in the hallway: a parcel. Probably the one you've been waiting for since Tuesday, or perhaps another one altogether. Once the clocks have gone back, it's hard to keep track. It's been a long day and it's almost dark outside. Even so, or perhaps precisely because of that, you can't help feeling a little pleased. The Christmas shipping boxes came up in this morning's meeting too, along with the question of whether they really deserve that much attention. Budgets are tight, and the share going to digital channels is set to grow again, at the expense of print advertising.

Think back over your day and you've probably seen dozens of ads already. Discount emails, banners, sponsored posts slotted in between the ones you actually wanted to read, and most of them didn't even register. The parcel in the hallway is another matter. You were expecting it, you're holding it, and you're about to open it without anyone having to talk you into it. For brands that sell mainly online, this is often the only moment beyond the product itself when they make physical contact with their customers. And younger shoppers in particular pay close attention to how that unboxing experience feels.

On the top, a short seasonal greeting speaks to you directly. Nothing grand, but it catches your eye for a second. And then, whether you like it or not, the professional in you takes over. Was this box really printed by the thousand and left sitting in a warehouse? Not necessarily. Some fulfilment centres now work with plain boxes and print them just before they are sealed. The printers are linked to the warehouse management system, so the print can change from one order to the next, with an offer for a particular region, say, or a greeting for the occasion. That means the brand doesn't have to decide in summer what the box will say in December. And nobody is left with a pallet of Christmas boxes in January. 'Clever,' you concede, silently tipping your hat to whoever was behind it.

ou pull the tear strip, lift the lid, and the first thing you notice isn't the product at all. There's a faint scent of cinnamon. The inside of the box is printed, and one patch of it feels different under your fingers. Somewhere, a team dreamt up exactly this moment, and it has clearly worked on you. Naturally you wonder how they did it and, more to the point, what it cost. You park the question of money for now, though, because you know, the technology behind it is less exotic than it feels. Fragrances can be sealed in tiny capsules that are only released by the friction of opening the box, and applied quite simply by screen or flexo printing. Thermochromic inks react to warmth and reveal a message only when you rest your hand on them. And tactile finishes can now be achieved more cheaply with speciality varnishes rather than laminated film.

A digitally printed insert inside the shipping box is ideal for seasonal campaigns, right through to the Advent calendar. It gets seen at exactly the moment people are taking their time anyway.

Under the tissue paper lies a card with a code. You scan it, if only out of professional curiosity. A short animation opens in your browser, with no app to download, and at the end there's a prize draw that runs until Christmas. What's interesting isn't so much the animation as what sits behind it. Modern product marking codes, such as those based on the GS1 Digital Link standard, can be redirected to new content at any time. The same box might lead to a prize draw in November and to something else entirely in January. Gift packaging can go a step further, as a smart label with an NFC chip can hold, for instance, a personal message from whoever sent the gift. It's a neat illustration of the point you've been making to certain colleagues until you're blue in the face: print and digital channels are not opposites. More often than not, the printed piece is exactly where the digital journey begins.

Right at the bottom is what you actually ordered. The packaging has a bright pattern, and when you look more closely you realise it was apparently made for this one alone. The idea isn't entirely new. A few years ago, a spread manufacturer brought out a limited edition of several million jars, each label carrying its own algorithm-generated design, and the whole run sold out within a month. What makes this possible is digital printing, which, unlike offset or flexo printing, needs no printing plates and can print every item differently. And these days it's no longer the preserve of the big players. A small chocolate maker uses the same approach to bring out Easter and Christmas lines without committing to large minimum order quantities or tying up cash in stock.

Personalisation, then, happens in two places. For an entire campaign, it's built in when the packaging is printed; for an individual order, it's added just before dispatch.

The next morning, you're back at your desk with a mug of the festive tea you unpacked last night steaming beside you. You can't quite get the parcel out of your head, and the question you parked yesterday evening is back too. What does something like this cost per unit, and does it stack up at our volumes? How much lead time does it need, and who has to be in the room when marketing, procurement and logistics suddenly find themselves discussing a cardboard box together? And if names or greetings are going on the packaging, how do we handle that data responsibly? Not every brand needs scent, chips and one-off designs all at once. Often, a lot is gained simply by making the most of the one surface that's already there and thinking about what it should say at the right moment.

The empty box is still in the hallway, and it's getting dark early again. Somewhere in the world, colleagues thought hard about how this one moment should feel, and they reached you, or you wouldn't be thinking about it now. It has struck you once again: print hasn't lost its role in marketing, the role has simply changed. It's the part of a campaign you can hold in your hands, and often the very point where online and offline meet. So for next year's Christmas trading, the question may no longer be whether you can do without it, but which unboxing moment is right for your brand.

That depends less on size than on what you want to achieve. Digital printing needs no printing plates, so short runs and seasonal variants make financial sense as well. Often it's enough to make deliberate use of a surface that's already there, such as the inside of the box or an insert.

Conventionally pre-produced packaging is often planned months in advance. With digital printing, or print applied just before dispatch, designs can be changed at much shorter notice. Exactly how short depends on the process and the supplier.

Both take people to digital content via their smartphone, such as a prize draw, a video or a campaign page. Codes based on the GS1 Digital Link standard can be redirected to new content later on. An NFC chip is tapped rather than scanned and works particularly well for gift and premium packaging.

Variants for regions, occasions or specific periods need no personal data at all. Only when names or individual greetings are added does it take data from the order, and then the usual data protection rules apply.