Published Article

Get Customers Involved with Scratch-Offs
By: Fred Daubert, Vice President, The Riverside Group
Published in: American Printer

What’s the best part about an instant lottery ticket — aside from winning, of course? Most likely, it’s the anticipation that’s built as you scratch off the game piece to reveal what’s underneath. Lottery tickets and similar game pieces may be the best-known uses of scratch-off and scratch-and-sniff coatings, which provide a great way to build interest in any brand or message. The interactivity brought to printed products by these applications can create a memorable and lasting impression.

There are several design and planning considerations to keep in mind for projects that will include scratch-off components. Let’s detail them here:

Scratch-Off Material Choices
There are two main types of materials used for scratch-off applications: Ultraviolet (UV) and foil. UV scratch-off formulas are typically applied using a screen printing process. This allows them to dry quickly, making UV scratch-off economical for long-run applications. One limitation of UV scratch-off is that color choices are limited to silver and gold metallics.

Foil scratch-offs are available in a variety of colors and patterns to suit the needs of your project. They are also applied thicker than UV scratch-off coatings, making foil a better choice if dark inks will be printed underneath. Foil is also the choice if security is an issue on your pieces, as foil scratch-off formulas to a superior job of obscuring any printing underneath. Messages such as ‘scratch here’ or images such as company logos can be screen-printed or inkjet-printed onto either UV or foil coverings to enhance the products.

Scented Scratch-Off
Consumers are constantly flooded with marketing and promotional messages. One of the surest ways to get the attention of consumers is to allow them to interact with your message. Scented scratch-off application (popularly called “scratch-and-sniff”) is a great way to accomplish this, and offers a host of creative possibilities. It’s a natural for fragrance promotions, giving consumers a tease of the product itself. Automobile promotions can be similarly enhanced by applying scented scratch-off material that mimics the smell of a new car interior.

Although school children may think it’s magic, the process of embedding a scent into scratch-off material does involve some science. Micro-encapsulation is the process for capturing the fragrances. Microscopic scent-bearing capsules are mixed with UV scratch-off material prior to application. These capsules are then broken by fingernails or other scratching devices to release the scent.

Scents for scratch-and-sniff applications are applied during the screen printing process. Most scratch-and-sniff suppliers have a library of stock scents that are suitable for most applications. Custom scents can be mixed for special projects, but they can be costly and time-consuming to source. Custom scents often have minimum purchase requirements, and certain scents, such as brand-name perfumes and colognes, may be copyrighted and will require proper licensing before they can be reproduced.

Effective Planning For Scratch Designs
As with many finishing techniques, scratch-offs and scratch ’n sniff pieces will be more easily and efficiently produced when a few simple guidelines are followed. These are a few strategies to deliver higher-quality pieces:

Maintain Proper Registration - While scratch-off and scratch-and-sniff material can be applied in any shape, size and pattern, slight registration variance should be expected. To ensure that your pieces will look their best, keep a 1/16th inch margin around the scratch-off area to ensure complete coverage. This will ensure every hidden message is completely obscured until it’s rubbed away by the end user.

Add a wax-based surface – When planning a scratch-off application, don’t forget to add wax-based surface underneath. While wax-based varnishes and coatings should be avoided for finishing processes such as gluing, they are essential to the success of a scratch-off application. Without a wax surface underneath, the scratch-off coating may bond to the paper and prevent it from being easily removed.

Specify coated stocks – Coated stocks are recommended to prevent the scratch-off or scratch-and-sniff coating from bonding to the paper. As mentioned above, , but using coated paper can protect the entire job by prohibiting the fragrance or scratch-off covering from sinking into the paper. Choosing an uncoated stock often means a larger deposit of wax or other varnish will be necessary to place a barrier between substrate and scratch-off or scratch ’n sniff coating.

Scratch-offs and scratch-and-sniff application can turn any marketing or promotional piece into an interactive device that allows consumers to become engaged with your message. This intrigue factor can be the critical extra that gets a product noticed. With a wide range of options for style, scent and design, scratch-off applications can creatively convey any message.

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Fred Daubert is President of the Riverside Group, an “under-one-roof” bookbinding and finishing company located in Rochester, N.Y. They specialize in both soft and hard cover binding production, including perfect binding; PUR binding; notch binding; Smyth sewing; cased-in mechanical and perfect binding; and more. Additional capabilities include mechanical binding; laminating and UV coating; folding; gluing; tabbing; die cutting; foil stamping; embossing and more. For more information, contact Fred Daubert at (800)777-2463, or book@riversidegroup.com.