New connected packaging platform can help Brands to beat GSI Digital Link deadline | 25-06-2024 |

BL.INK, an enterprise link management company, has announced the launch of a connected packaging and personalization platform, BL.INK CXP (Consumer Xperience Platform). This solution marks a significant advance in product packaging, enabling brands to deliver personalized, data-driven consumer experiences at scale, it claims. It seamlessly integrates GS1 standards, such as Digital Link and Digital Product Passports (DPP), into its enterprise link management platform.

"BL.INK enables brands to deliver personalized, data-driven consumer experiences at scale," according to Marci Maddox research VP, digital experience strategies at IDC.

As the industry transitions from traditional UPCs to GS1 Digital Links, BL.INK CXP helps to empower brands to enhance each product with rich, interactive content and allows them to beat the deadline to Sunrise 2027, the industry-wide transition to GS1 Digital Links, and the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Rule 204, while allowing each package to be personalized to each product and consumer.

The company believes Sunrise 2027 is crucial for enhancing product information accessibility, supply chain transparency, and consumer engagement across all product types. FSMA Rule 204, part of the Food Safety Modernization Act, mandates enhanced traceability requirements for certain foods. Compliance with this rule is essential for maintaining food safety, protecting public health, and building consumer trust in the food supply chain. By aligning with these standards, BL.INK CXP helps brands stay ahead of regulatory requirements, ensuring they are well-prepared for the future of product traceability and consumer transparency, it says.

"A QR code with a tailored microsite turns a physical product into a whole new customer engagement channel," continued Marci Maddox , "Where brands currently develop complex websites for their company products or marketing campaigns that only use QR codes to get to a generic landing page, a GS1 solution requires a level of scale to produce mobile-ready, data-driven microsites down to, in some cases, the serial number. Traditional CMS tools are not natively designed to deliver mobile product pages; custom development would be necessary and costly in both time and resources to implement GS1 Digital Links."

BL.INK claims it is the first solution provider to deliver a data-driven, mobile-first CMS tool that connects disparate data, aligns it with a specific standardized GS1 Digital Link, and generates personalized product experience across millions of products in seconds.

"GS1 Digital Links present a significant opportunity for brands, but many of our clients find the process complex," said Andy Meadows , CEO of BL.INK. "By enabling the creation of consumer-friendly mobile pages at scale, coupled with our enterprise link and QR management platform, we provide a straightforward, end-to-end solution that allows our clients to get started quickly and easily, with limitless potential for growth."

According to BL.INK it empowers a fast time to market. The solution enables brands to launch millions of links, codes and pages dynamically well ahead of the 2027 deadlin; from implementation kick-off to live microsites, the company estimates a six-month implementation process.

AIPIA and AWA Smart Packaging World Congress Amsterdam