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Whether a love message on the perfume bottle or a band name on the guitar: With mylabel.one, every product can be easily personalised.

Industrially manufactured products have great advantages: their quality is high, and they can be produced inexpensively in bulk. The downside: Standard products are less personal.

Thanks to modern technology, it is however possible to take advantage of mass production - and at the same time to produce individually designed unique items. RATHGEBER DIGITAL has developed an intelligent solution for this which is available from January 2016: the online configurator mylabel.one which can be flexibly adapted to different products and requirements. "Huge investments are not needed to offer personalised products. We want to reduce barriers to entry. Successfully stepping into the world of personalised products was very simple with mylabel.one," says Alexander Thoma, CEO of RATHGEBER DIGITAL.

Development work for mylabel.one took more than one and a half years. The tool offers every company the opportunity to effectively transform its series products into single pieces. For example, thanks to mylabel.one a perfume manufacturer was able to give their customers the opportunity to help design a bottle emblem: Whether a short love message, photo or name on the label - in every case an individually modified bottle is given a very personal touch. "Personalisation is a megatrend," says Thoma, "ski helmets, suitcases, guitars, bikes - basically any product can be upgraded."  

Numerous studies have examined how valuable the decoration actually is in more detail. In 2014, Viennese Professor Dr Nikolaus Franke and business consultant Dr Christopher Hader found that customers who can co-design a watch will pay 66% more than the standard product price for it. "Once a customer can help design something, it is no longer a mass-made product," says Thoma, "most are willing to pay a higher price for that."

Tailor-made need not be expensive

With mylabel.one, the manufacturer defines the extent to which a customer can change a product. The corporate design should remain untouched - but otherwise there are no limits to creativity. Customers can, for example, design patterns, logos, colours, and photos as desired and add them to the product. The result of the design is then made visible by mylabel.one in impressive 3D renderings. "Theoretically, anything goes," said Thoma, "but we consult with our customers on which design options are really useful. We want to be a solution provider." The mylabel.one team also relies on the expertise of the RATHGEBER Group for this. "We can manufacture an incredible variety of emblems, patterns, lettering, and single letters in different designs and materials here. In addition to perfect logistics" says Thoma. "We want to use this huge potential for product personalisation."

For instance, if a bicycle producer wants to allow his customers to co-design certain decorative parts or emblems online, mylabel.one can be integrated into the existing bike manufacturer's online shop. The parts designed according to customer requirements are then produced in the usual RATHGEBER quality through an online order - even if it is only one item. However, for a small guitar maker without an online shop it may be useful to use a mylabel.one configurator only on your own computer on which to demonstrate various design options for customers. "We are not only for large companies," says Thoma, "personalisation is a good idea for small businesses too." RATHGEBER DIGITAL can offer the entire range of services from implementation of the configurator to order processing, packing, and delivery. Or just individual services.

Philip Lewandowski, project manager for marketing at RATHGEBER DIGITAL, emphasises another benefit of mylabel.one: "On the Internet, many manufacturers lose direct contact with their customers. Personalisation can bring it back." It offers customers a real added value if they can order personalised products directly from the manufacturer or from authorised distributors. In turn, the provider benefits from closer ties and gaining customer data. "Mylabel.one creates a win-win situation," says Thoma, "the end customer gets a unique piece. And the manufacturer gets a customer they are familiar with."

More information: mylabel.one