Page 5 - FINAT Yearbook 2014

DEAR READER,
This is already the fourth edition of the FINAT Yearbook. As with previous editions, the Yearbook 2014 was released at the FINAT Congress and therefore covers the preceding association cycle 2013-2014.
It has become the tradition that the FINAT Yearbook carries the title of our association’s annual congress. Just like our 50th anniversary slogan ‘Linking the Label Community’ has become the motto of our association, the congress theme aims to be a reflection of what drives the label industry at a particular moment in time. And this in turn is reflected in FINAT’s
programme of activities and initiatives.
Those of you who have our Golden Jubilee book ‘United in Labels’ on their bookshelves will recognise the ‘signs of the times’ when reviewing past congress themes.
Battle and warfare
Speaking of shelves, the 2014 congress theme ‘The Battle for Shelf Appeal’, subtitled ‘Winning Strategies for the Label Industry’ is no exception. Like many of you may have done, at the occasion of a label industry meeting a group of FINAT members took the opportunity of some spare time to do fieldwork: they visited a supermarket to explore the local trends and developments in packaging and product decoration.
Having done similar visits at different locations across Europe, they came to the conclusion that what is often referred to as ‘the moment of truth’, the battle to catch the eye of the consumer on the shelf, is more and more fought between the different decoration solutions available. This brought the members of the congress programme committee to the idea to dedicate the 2014 congress to the exploration of threats and opportunities in product decoration, from the perspective of the application technology, but also from the perspective of the users of this technology.
The theme of this year’s congress in this sense is quite intriguing. On the one hand there is a sense of warfare, which is reflected in terms like ‘battle’, ‘strategies’ and ‘winning’. On the other hand there is the notion that winning a battle (in this case the one for shelf appeal) is not a guarantee for
success and that more is needed for sustainable success. After all, with today’s technology shifts, the battle goes beyond the shelf, right into the consumer’s desktop, tablet or smartphone.
Winning without battle
More than 2000 years ago, the famous Chinese warrior and philosopher Sun Tzu wrote his masterpiece called ‘The Art of War’, and his book, considered as the definitive work in military strategy and tactics, is still quoted in many of today’s management books. Tzu’s principle is that winning without battle is always the best solution. In order to achieve this, having insights in physical, political and psychological aspects of a conflict is ‘the winning strategy’. His mantra: “Know your friends well but know your enemies even better”.
Even in team sports this strategy has proven successful. Looking at contenders at this year’s World Cup Football in Brazil, some managers and their teams have embraced as their philosophy to maximise ball possession and avoid direct one-to-one duels with the opponent. By anticipating the opponents’ moves, their teams manage to minimise their own players’ mileage on the pitch and ‘wear out’ the opponent by making them run like hell to acquire the ball. And in case this happens, they force the opponent to make mistakes by putting pressure. Sooner or later their opponents’ defence collapses and scoring opportunities emerge.
Winning strategies: knowledge is key
Translating this metaphor to the label industry and FINAT, the Board (perhaps without consciously realising this) has applied the lessons by Sun Tzu to our association’s strategy. As you will read in this Yearbook, our proclaimed vision is that “FINAT is the unique source of relevant knowledge, networks and information that is key to the strategic success of international label businesses”.
I kindly invite you to browse through this Yearbook to understand what this means. I wish you informative reading and look forward to your active participation and engagement in the achievement of this strategic objective!
Jules Lejeune Managing Director
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