Fausto Daniel Santos Tapia, Luis Felipe Trávez García
This article presents a comprehensive methodological proposal aimed at brand design and strategic brand management, using as a case study the academic outreach project between the University and the agricultural associations registered under the Decentralized Autonomous Government of Pichincha, distributed across its eight cantons. The proposed methodological approach is based on the active participation of graphic designers in collaborative processes with local communities, generating spaces for knowledge exchange, co-creation, and capacity building. This process seeks to develop a graphic system composed of visual identity, packaging, and a distinctive visual style that enhances the positioning of agricultural products in local and regional markets, integrating productive, cultural, and territorial attributes. This interaction not only promotes the recognition of ancestral knowledge and community practices but also enables social innovation processes driven by design. Thanks to its adaptable structure, the proposal is replicable in rural contexts. Its methodology, based on participatory design, contextual diagnosis, and the integration of local cultural narratives, can be adjusted to diverse productive and sociocultural dynamics. This flexibility enables its implementation by local governments and non-governmental organizations, aligning brand management with sustainable development goals and fostering a design culture committed to social transformation and communicational equity.
Teknologi Non-Fungible Token (NFT) telah membuka peluang baharu dalam pemasaran aset digital, terutamanya bagi penghasil seni visual. Walaupun NFT semakin popular, masih terdapat cabaran dalam kalangan penghasil seni visual di Malaysia, termasuk kesedaran yang rendah, pemahaman teknikal yang terhad dan strategi pemasaran yang tidak efektif. Kajian ini bertujuan untuk membangunkan rangka kerja pemasaran aset digital berasaskan NFT (PVArt-NFT) bagi membantu penghasil seni visual di Malaysia memahami, mencipta dan memasarkan karya seni visual dalam ekosistem NFT. Bagi mencapai objektif kajian, pendekatan Penyelidikan Sains Reka Bentuk (Design Science Research) digunakan sebagai metodologi utama. Rangka kerja PVArt-NFT dibangunkan melalui analisis kandungan dan temubual kepada 7 perunding pakar dan seterusnya disahkan oleh 10 pakar yang lain. Ujian pra dan pasca dilaksanakan melalui bengkel NFT melibatkan 23 peserta untuk menguji keberkesanan rangka kerja tersebut. Rangka kerja PVArt-NFT yang dibangunkan mengandungi empat fasa iaitu: Analisis Nilai, Penciptaan Nilai, Penyampaian Nilai, dan Hubungan Pelanggan & Komuniti. Dapatan kajian menunjukkan bahawa terdapat peningkatan dalam pemahaman peserta selepas intervensi bengkel, namun terdapat perbezaan kecil dalam penerimaan terhadap minat, yakin, dan mempelajari NFT. Secara keseluruhan hasil dapatan kajian membuktikan bahawa bengkel ini memberi kesan besar dalam meningkatkan pemahaman peserta terhadap NFT. Kesimpulannya, rangka kerja PVArt-NFT ini memberi sumbangan implikasi pratikal kepada strategi pemasaran digital untuk penghasil seni visual. Selain itu, kajian ini turut memberikan sumbangan teoretikal berdasarkan Teori Innovation Resistence (IRT), Model Pemasaran Digital 7Ps, Teori Actor-Network (ANT) dan peranan pemasaran (role of marketing) ke dalam konteks seni visual berasaskan NFT. Seterusnya menambah dimensi baharu kepada literatur pemasaran dan ekonomi kreatif digital.
By making a state of the art on the regulations and standards, in force and in progress, this deliverable aims to better inform the regulatory aspects of the design of reusable packaging and to analyse the barriers and opportunities to implement the reuse of packaging, so as to spot potential conflicts with constraints linked to this purpose. The first part is dedicated to the main definitions useful to understand the subject of packaging reuse. To make a relevant state of the art in the second part, we investigated two major issues which both concern the reuse of packaging, at European and national levels, in countries of BUDDIE-PACK's partners: hygiene on one hand and packaging on the other hand, in order to identify any pain point in the reuse of packaging. It can be noted that all the hygiene regulations that we have identified relate to the food sector and do not include any mention of non-food products, such as home care products, which are operated in the use case of ASEVI. Regulation (EC) N°852/2004 lays down the general rules on the hygiene of foodstuffs and especially requires that containers used for transporting foodstuffs to be designed so that adequate cleaning is possible, and to be dedicated for the transport of foodstuffs. Complementary good practices are also mentioned in the Codex Alimentarius, an internationally recognized collection of food standards, and in the ISO 22000 and EN 15593:2008 standards. In Directive 98/83/EC on the quality of water likely to be used in the food industry, despite microbiological and chemical requirements, a vagueness can be observed on three parameters impacting hygiene, which are the colour of water, its smell and its taste: indeed, the Directive only requires that these parameters must be “acceptable to consumer” and that “no unnatural change” can be observed, which means that non-compliance thresholds may vary according to the stakeholders. Standard EN 17735:2022 is essential to guarantee the safety of washing, as it specifies the hygiene requirements for the operation of commercial dishwashers in a professional environment and also includes the main guidelines for obtaining hygienic results for treated articles. To close the chapter on hygiene, one must note that a standard exists to assess the efficience of disinfectants in the food area through a quantitative test on a nonporous surface, such as steel, but that such a standard does not exist on plastic surfaces. The third part presents the packaging regulations from four angles (design, food contact, production and recycling, non-food products) and an institutional analysis. Directive 94/62/EC, on Packaging and Packaging Waste (PPW), is currently being revised by the European Commission: it should become a Regulation, directly applicable by all Member States, and shall further support the implementation of reusable packaging. The vote is expected in September 2023. It should be noticed that the restrictions set in Directive (EU) 2019/904 SUP (Single-Use Plastic) only concern single-use plastic packaging. Regulation (EU) N°10/2011 regulates the safety of plastic materials in contact with food. It gives guidance on specific migration test methods, including for reusable materials: its limitation is that it considers a low number of reuses, so it does not take into account the possible degradation of the material, such as scratches which are inherent in the prolonged reuse of packaging and which can impact the migrations of substances. The REACH Regulation, also under review, establishes procedures for evaluating information on the properties and hazards of chemical substances. Due to the many substances used in the manufacture of plastics and required to make them sustainable, REACH revision may have an impact on the development of reusable packaging. In Regulation (EU) 2022/1616 setting the operating rules of all recycling stages, it is interesting to remember that recycling schemes, of any material, in a closed and controlled chain may be considered as suitable to recycle waste plastic into food-contact plastic, in the same way as mechanical PET recycling. This principle could be implemented for any reusable packaging provided that it is used in a closed system and that external non-foodstuffs contaminations are avoided. Regulation (EC) N°648/2004 on detergents, such as ASEVI’s products, does not mention any requirement on the packaging. Some of BUDDIE-PACK's partners countries, France, Spain, Germany and The Netherlands, have passed laws to implement reusable packaging, with a focus on food or beverage consumption, on-site or on-the-go. While France explicitly banned single-use packaging in several sectors in addition to the on-site catering, Germany and The Netherlands set less restrictive incentives for on-site and take-away catering, and Spain addressed quantified reuse targets for take-away beverage and beverage sold in food retail stores. Note that the UK's exit from the EU led to the transposition of most of regulations mentioned in this deliverable into national law, without significant differences with European regulations, except the SUP Directive, for which an equivalent legislation is expected in October 2023. Beyond these regulations already adopted to promote the reuse of packaging, this dynamic is much broader than Europe: thus, the United Nations Environment Assembly has created an Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee responsible for drafting a text "legally binding" by October 2024. The work sessions should result in a first draft text by November 2023. The suggestions of NGOs converge on the development of shared logistics infrastructures and user-friendly packaging, the expansion of DRS to encourage consumer engagement, but also the standardisation of LCA methods to ensure data reliability. The NGO Zero Waste Europe also insists on the need to implement economic levers to encourage companies to offer reusable packaging, and consumers to choose it. The fourth part gives more details on the main expected modifications in the regulations being revised, especially the PPW and the REACH Regulations, which could impact the development of reusable packaging. To help provide answers to BUDDIE-PACK use cases, the fifth part summarises the regulations and standards that cover each use case, in order to find all information sources at a glance, to incorporate them into the packaging design and to produce packaging fully adapted to the needs. To conclude with this deliverable, the sixth part explains the main barriers and above all the opportunities, at regulatory, technical, safety, social and economic levels. As the hygiene regulations establish an obligation of results towards the actors of the value chain, and not of means, the reuse of packaging does not conflict with hygiene constraints on condition that each part provides the required health guarantees on its scope. Our innovation approach and its proof of concept should allow to identify risky points in advance and to develop solutions to scale up without risk. The debate on the revision of the REACH Regulation will have to be considered into the SSbD concept. In addition, discussions on the PPW Regulation and the Global Plastic Pollution Treaty may open new perspectives of strategies to implement reusable packaging by the end of 2024. The two major technical obstacles are the lack of knowledge about the ageing of plastics through cycles of use and washing (degradation of polymer chains after heat treatment, repeated sealing or mechanical stress, water abrasion) and logistics (collection of used packaging, storage, transport). The Digital Product Passport should therefore be an effective lever for optimising the return of packaging and its durability. Moreover, the standardisation of packaging, coordinated at a European level in cooperation with EPRs and business operators shall allow an optimisation of transport and storage. Capitalising on the experience of manufacturing and retailing sectors which already reuse their packaging will be decisive, especially on the logistics. Solving safety obstacles will be also essential to develop the reuse of packaging, i.e. defining compliance criteria on rinsing and drying to ensure there is no residue of detergent or water, and investigating the risks of migration of substances and release of microplastics, from a material which has been used multiple times. On the first point, depending on the sector, industrial means allow to prevent food contamination (ventilation, humidity control, ease to clean premises and equipments, specially trained staff, etc.). Capitalising on the experience of actors already involved is also an important action lever, such as bottlers or school catering. Social barriers are difficult to solve because they require changing deep-rooted habits, for both packaging’s users and consumers. Restaurants may be afraid of wasting time in their daily tasks (additional time to handle, store, wash, wipe, etc.). Some of consumers could be reluctant to use a packaging that they gauge it has already been used (scratch, small stain, discoloration, etc.), even if it is clean and safe, which requires a specific pedagogy. Active consumerism can effectively contribute to the proper functioning of the reuse loop and is very rewarding for the consumer, as we see it with the successful development in Europe of DRS. Giving back an economic value to packaging should also prevent waste from being abandoned. Even if their exact role is not yet defined, business operators will have to be strongly involved in the management of the reuse loop in opposition to the management of waste, which is dealt by local authorities. This involvement and the initial investment in packaging will impact their business model. To help them, public policies should support adequate eco-modulations and the development of shared logistics. Various incentives should be also addressed to consumers to encourage them to ch
. Non fungible tokens (NFT) are a new and unique way to make available and preserve an e-book as a digital asset where all transactions are recorded on the Blockchain. NFT appeared in 2017 and increased in popularity by the end of 2021; At first it attracted artists and since then its growth has been exponential; And then applied in various fields. It is in inception for e-books. The objectives of the study were to identify the NFT and shed light on its advantages and disadvantages and its use for books, and to monitor NFT markets for books and analyze the books in them. For this reason, the descriptive approach was relied upon. To describe the phenomenon quantitatively and qualitatively using a book NFT Markets Analysis Checklist. One of the most prominent results of the study was that NFT for books enjoys many advantages, the most important of which is the profits of the secondary market, i.e. reselling the book and profiting from it. While one of the biggest drawbacks of NFT was the use of cryptocurrencies for minting books. And that most of the countries that are considered the headquarters of these markets are the United States of America; that was 44.4%, followed by Spain and Germany. As a result, the primary language of the markets is English. The minting process varies from market to market depending on the Blockchain used, as well as gas fees.
Open access
Innovations and Analysis in Business and Education
Marco Francesco Mazzù, Veronica Marozzo, Angelo Baccelloni, Flaminia de’ Pompeis
Many studies in the related literature have proven that the perception of flavor and healthiness can be affected by both the product's intrinsic and extrinsic cues. Package designs, brands, colors, labels and other visual elements exert and influence consumers' expectations and guide them toward food decisions. With the increasing initiatives promoted within Europe in support of the adoption of blockchain technology in supply chains and agri-food contexts, in the coming years, packages will be used with additional product information certified with the technology itself. Cueing packages with blockchain-certified information could affect consumers in their overall flavor and health perceptions, similarly to that previously demonstrated with other extrinsic cues. In the present study, we analyzed a sample of 310 primary grocery shoppers from Germany, Italy and the UK, demonstrating the effectiveness of technology-certified information on the package of animal milk in influencing consumers' flavor and health perceptions and exploring the differences and similarities across the three countries and milk categories.