Today’s physical and digital markets are becoming saturated with similar products, from retail to food to basic consumer goods. While a robust market is good for the economy, and healthy competition is great for business, it can be challenging to differentiate your products when so many out there looks, smells, or tastes similar to yours.

When you are competing with twenty other brands for customers’ attention, you must stand out and be memorable at first glance. One way you can achieve this is by foil-stamping unique designs on your products’ packaging. SBL, a world-renowned manufacturer of hot foil stamping machines, explains how this can help you differentiate your products and develop your brand below.

What is Foil Stamping?

Hot foil stamping is not recent. One only has to look at massive, old tomes in national libraries to realize this. As early as the medieval times, bookbinders in Europe were already hammering gold into delicate, thin sheets, then heating and applying them on leather or fabric covers. The same process is being done today, although instead of real gold sheets, gold or silver foil are pressed on a product’s surface.

Books are no longer the only things that can be gold-stamped too. We now have automatic machines that can apply hot foil stamps on paper, cardboard, PVC, and even glass.

SBL specializes in manufacturing foil stamping machines for paper substrates. Our machines can stamp up to 7,500 sheets per minute — ideal for businesses that mass produce packaging materials, like cardboard boxes and customized wrapping sheets.

The “Premium” Touch

There are plenty of foil-stamped items in physical and e-commerce stores today. Examples of such products are leather-bound planners, clothes, wine labels, gourmet food boxes, and containers of luxury cosmetics and jewelry.

So why has an old print finishing technique continued to flourish today, with little modification in its execution, to boot? One reason could be the universal perception that of gold being a premium substance. The color may have different meanings in various cultures, but it is consistently associated with luxury, treasure, and wealth. You can find proof of this everywhere. Banks, credit card companies, restaurants, gyms, subscription services, all of them offer some form of “gold membership” for elite-level customers. These are the people who pay extra to enjoy benefits like freebies, discounts, exclusive use of top-notch amenities, and other perks.

We can say that gold, therefore, lends a premium feel to an otherwise ordinary item. A notebook is just bound paper with lines, but stamp a gold design on its cover, and stores will likely sell it at a higher price.

If you want your brand to have a premium feel, stamping your products or packaging with an all-gold (or even silver) design may help you achieve it.

Aesthetic Appeal

Even if the premiumization of your products is not in your plans, foil printing can still help with your branding.

Hot stamping can enhance the aesthetic appeal of packaging products, whether they’re boxes, padded containers, canvas bags, plastic wrapping, nametags, etc. The shiny, metallic finish of the foil is eye-catching: even a small logo or minimalist design can already transform the look of your product.

With hot foil stamping, you can take your brand to whatever direction you want. You can appeal to premium markets or develop impactful aesthetic elements that will draw consumers to your brand.

If you’re considering making hot foil stamping a part of your packaging process, this is the right place to be. SBL has been designing and building automatic printing machinery since 1968. We are now a leading manufacturer of hot foil printing machines with customers from 30 countries around the world. Explore the different models of foil stamping machines we offer at SBL. For questions, call or fill out our contact form.