Interview produced by Influence Media
We see food and drink packaging every day.
You probably don’t think about the work that goes into creating it.
Hull based startup T=Ø is on a mission to help brands streamline the process that goes into designing that packaging.
The city has been a hub for print and packaging design for 3 decades and one of its sons has returned after roles at the top of some of the biggest graphics companies in the world.
This time James Cutting, CEO and director of T=Ø, is wanting to disrupt the industry.
We spoke to him about what the company is trying to achieve and some exciting developments in packaging innovation.
Disrupting a mature industry
“T=Ø was born out of frustration really”, says James.
“Everything you pick up in store has branding and graphics on it, that's managed in a very complicated way. And we're developing a software solution and service to simplify that.”
Like many established industries, the one T=Ø is trying to disrupt has inefficient processes that rely on outsourced work “to low-cost hubs… that don’t deliver value for brand owners.”
“What we’re offering is the ability for brands to cut out this complex supply chain.”
Their SaaS product, which James coins ‘Moonpig for packaging’, allows brands to manage their own packaging artwork through a browser-based application.
“We build what we call brand maps - a highly sophisticated template. Users then log on through the browser and interact directly with their artworks. They can have legal changes, regulatory changes, marketing changes, whatever, create a PDF and send it straight to print.”
“Instead of relying on 1000’s of artists around the world each with their own terminals, we can do the same brand relaunch with 10 people. It's not resource dependent because all the knowledge is stored within the cloud and through the browser.”
“What would normally take months can be done in seconds.”
It went viral on packaging
There’s a lot of potential here for brand marketing.
We live in a time where news breaks immediately on social media and current affairs are meme-ified and discussed extensively before the day is out.
A lot of brands have taken advantage of this, and you’ll often see savvy company Twitter accounts chiming in with their own spin on current events.
Physical packaging however is always “three months out of date”, James points out. Of course, that’s the way it’s always been but software like T=Ø presents an interesting opportunity.
“[Packaging] is not as strong a marketing vehicle as it used to be. Consumers have evolved. Shortening supply chains and creating real agility will enable packaging to be even more relevant today. Let’s take the FA Cup winner for example - if you could have a piece of packaging installed the next day, talking about who scored the last goal in the last minute... Phenomenal.”
“We’ve got to enable brands to react quickly to these external forces and deliver packaging that's relevant.”
It’s one way T=Ø, which stands for “the time is now”, is disrupting the industry. The name, which is often cause for curiosity, is the formula used to describe the Big Bang and James says it felt right. “We’re about to cause a disruptive explosion within a mature industry. We believe the time is now for brands to leverage technology to drive a different solution.”
One of the team working on a packaging template.
Coming back to Hull
For James it was also time to start something new when he re-joined former boss and T=Ø co-founder David Keel, to form the startup.
Having worked in Europe and America as European MD of Sonoco-Trident, founder of Trident USA, and managing director at Miller Graphics and SGS & Co. he’s returned to the city where he grew up. A place where his mum ran a newsagent on Holderness Road, during his childhood.
Hull is also where he met David Keel (our chairman here at C4DI) and was mentored by him for over two decades. They’ve come full circle to start a new company in Hull’s own Centre for Digital Innovation.
“Hull has traditionally been a great place for print, packaging, and graphics, so there's a great deal of knowledge and resource within Hull for our industry. C4DI being in Hull has been excellent for us, for all sorts of reasons. Being part of a larger community means there's people within C4DI that I really respect that I can talk to about sales, accounting, general business needs and more.”
These are just some of the benefits to being in Hull, along with Chip Spice of course.
The T=0 Office
Making a splash
It certainly appears to be working well for them so far.
After just two years they’re winning clients in the UK and have also set up in North America, Switzerland, and Romania. “I think we've done a lot in two years. And we're starting to develop solid case studies and real tangible results, which is excellent.”
As a result of this growth, the team is expanding and their C4DI office is quickly filling up. The team now includes artists, brand managers and 3D specialists for ecommerce CGI graphics.
An increasingly common question about the relationship between art, design and technology is whether creative roles could be under threat. Of course it’s an exaggeration but if tech streamlines certain processes and potentially even mimics certain abilities, are humans still needed? This is what James had to say.
“I think true concept creation is tough to commoditize. We’ll always need people to be creative. In our business, we still need people to build these highly sophisticated brand maps that enable the client to create variants and build on that. Technology will take away some of the mundane aspects of what a mature industry is doing. But I think we’ll still need experts to drive the details.”
What’s most important is how that technology is helping to deliver better results. It’s safe to say, James is pleased with “the response from clients to the technology and how it’s driving agility and speed to market, reducing costs and giving them more control.”
The future of packaging
When it comes to innovation, packaging and design is probably not the first sector you would think of.
But there’s a lot of potential here. One of the more predictable developments perhaps, is in the area of sustainability. This isn’t something that T=Ø directly takes care of themselves but it’s something they’re aware of.
“Moving to more sustainable packaging is really important. I think consumers care about sustainability. The brands I admire most are those that are investing hugely in something that supports the Earth and has integrity and is authentic.”
When asked what other areas of innovation in packaging and design excite him, he mentions the connection of digital e-commerce with physical strategy and the integration of augmented reality and virtual reality.
James outside C4DI. Our phones could soon play an important role in interacting with physical products.
“I think what's happening in retail is hugely exciting. The next 10 years will be mind blowing. What happens in retail, will directly influence packaging.”
The amount of information you can give the consumer increases significantly when you’re not only reliant on packaging space. Sending data through a customer’s smartphone also opens opportunities for customer personalisation.
Information or even the design itself could be tailored to whoever is picking up and buying the product. Their interaction with that physical product could be entirely different to the person next to them.
It’s interesting stuff and T=Ø are set up nicely to engage with this world and further develop their offering.
Next time you go into [insert supermarket of choice here] and pick up a packet of cereal, a chocolate bar or a bottle of wine, just think, T=Ø could have had a role to play in bringing it to you.