Seeing Stars

The latest trend for beer producers: Rather than change the flavor or the ingredients, they’re changing the brand design or logo, or even the way the beer flows from the bottle to the consumer’s mouth. Budweiser now has a “bow-tie” shaped can, Miller Lite has its “punch-top can,” and Coors Light bottles and cans now show if the liquid is “cold” or even “super cold.” So for Heineken’s first package redesign since 1946, the international beer company is introducing the “star bottle,” a newly designed bottle with a longer neck.

To debut the new look as well as gain brand awareness, Heineken took to the streets of Washington DC with two double-decker buses that were wrapped by Metromedia Technologies (MMT, www.mmt.com).

“A very quick turnaround time was required for this job,” says Abhi Vyas, vice president, of marketing at MMT. “The packaging is very important. As the job was printed, its panels were carefully labeled. This was of great help to the installers who go by the serial number for panels to complete the install.”

MMT used its 8-color, 64-inch Epson GS6000 with Epson inks to print 2500 square feet of graphics for the project, utilizing 3M Controltac IJ3552C with 3M 8519 luster overlaminate and 3M Scotchcal Perforated Window Graphic Film IJ8171 with 3M optically clear 8914 overlaminate.

“The colors came out beautiful and client was extremely pleased that we could complete the entire print job in such a short period of time,” says Vyas.”

METROMEDIA TECHNOLOGIES
www.mmt.com