The Hague, The Netherlands – The business challenges of today and tomorrow are the focus of the international label industry, where new brand owner demands, new technologies, legislation and new packaging formats combine to deliver an ever-changing platform of activity. This is the situation, which the agenda of the European Label Forum 2016 will address in an event dedicated to inspiring and energising label industry participants at all levels – with an outstanding programme of expert international speakers. 

A changing world, says Magnus Lindkvist

The European Label Forum 2016 in Amsterdam, 16-18 June, opens with a keynote address from futurologist Magnus Lindkvist (SE), who combines the solid business reality of today with the imaginative storytelling of Hollywood to deliver a thought-provoking picture of how life’s broad disruptive change agenda will impact the label industry in the next ten years.

Debate with Rens de Jong

After FINAT Managing Director, Jules Lejeune, identifies current trends and developments in the industry highlighted in FINAT RADAR, it is the turn of Rens de Jong, host of Netherlands’ radio Business News talk show, founder of Buzzmaster, and entrepreneurial international moderator, to conduct ‘the ELF 2016 Buzzmaster Debate’ with forum participants. Voted Quote magazine’s Moderator of the Year in 2013, he is expected to create a lively and valuable discussion that will, unusually, bring together the various branches of the complex label value chain in the same framework to express and address opportunities, concerns and opinions. The audience will have the opportunity to take part of the interactive discussion by asking questions via a so-called buzzmaster app on their smartphones. 

The debate, on the second day of the Forum, will take place with the stakeholders from different corners of the European label business:

- Didier Bonnefon, Sourcing & Supplier Development Manager Ingredients at Danone, Division Nutricia

- Paul Earnshaw, Packaging Manager of Tesco

- Rik Olthof, ‘brand strategist of Cartils (brand packaging design agency)

- Keran Turakhia, Director of Hive (a UK company specialised in interactive packaging solutions)

- Peder Michael Pruzan Jorgensen, Sustainability Executive of BSR 

- Corey Reardon, CEO AWA Alexander Watson Associates

- Phil Allen (Value Creator at CVM€)

- Gordon Crichton (Director of MAI)

Mike Fairley’s Label Masters Challenge

Mike Fairley, founder editor of Labels & Labeling magazine and a prime mover in creating and establishing the Label Academy – an organised online education and training process conceived to encourage and support permanent education in the label industry – and ‘Co-host’ Niklas Olsson (Flint Group, also chairing the ELF programme committee) will moderate a different type of interactive session on the second day of the event:  the ‘Label Masters’ Challenge. Participants will compete in teams to demonstrate their competence in areas such as printing technology, design and origination, label dispensing and application, codes and coding, environmental sustainability and other topics drawn from Label Academy modules.

Mark Gallagher takes the chequered flag

After a useful rundown on the technology takeaways at the recent drupa show from VskE’s associate Herbet Knott, Formula 1 executive Mark Gallagher moves into pole position for the keynote closing session – drawing parallels between the high-speed world of F1 racing and how the label industry can keep ahead and take the chequered flag for innovation leadership. 

Parallel business learning sessions

The FINAT European Label Forum’s formal agenda also features two parallel-track business learning sessions, on creating and capturing more value from current business, led by Phil Allen, CEO & Value Creator, Customer Value Management GmbH (CH); and on innovation for future profitable growth, led by Gordon Crichton, Director of the Institut du Management de l'Achat International (F).

The full picture

The event offers an all-round experience for participants, featuring a strong social and networking agenda and a tabletop exhibition, and is sponsored by many leading industry suppliers. Full details of the event are available on http://www.europeanlabelforum.com/.