|
|
| Estée Lauder’s Hydra Complex combines several packaging trends: beautiful color, frosted cap and a clean look for cosmeceutical products. |
The basic elements of beauty packaging—color, shape, materials and dispensing systems—are in constant motion, changing to meet the demands of fashion and function. The globalization of the cosmetics, fragrance and personal care industry now moves these trends quickly around the world, fueled by multinational marketer companies that demand a constant stream of innovation.
Estée Lauder Company (ELC) has created a system of package development that captures the latest advances as well as invents totally new concepts (see story on p. 17). At the Estée Lauder brand, the biggest trend recently has been in the use of color and especially how color reacts to light, surface and transparency, according to John Fling, vice president of design. “We are using much more intricate and sophisticated combinations and blends of color in all areas of packaging,” Fling said.
That enhanced color trend is being facilitated by amazing new inks and decorating techniques, Fling explained. Cosmetic packaging is also benefiting, according to Fling, from techniques derived from other industries such as the automotive market and architecture. He added, “On the technical side, there are many recent advances in methods for bonding materials together in beautiful seamless ways, such as plastics to metal, and plastic to glass.”
With a line encompassing 50,000 products distributed in more than 140 countries, Avon knows what packaging appeals to consumers.
“Bright, vibrant colors are very popular in beauty packaging,” said Kathy Kordowski, vice president, package engineering and marketing services at Avon Products, Inc. “Orange is very big right now. We are seeing soft feminine shapes that are easy to hold and carry. We are seeing mixed materials such as fabrics with plastic and compacts made from paperboard.”
Business Recovery vs. Exchange Rates
The beauty segment took off in the fall 2004 with new projects, according to Robert Du Grenier of design firm Robert Du Grenier Associates, New York and Townshend, VT. “Traditionally, beauty packaging made up 40 to 60% of our business, but for most of 2003, it was only about 10%. Now it’s back to normal.”
“The overall economy is recovering and therefore we can expect a decent year for 2004,” agreed Vincent Gugumus, marketing manager cosmetic and consumer products for Eastman Chemical B.V., based in Paris. “In Europe, the strong Euro could, however, have a significant effect in 2004 by making it more difficult for European cosmetic brands to export goods. As a result, some new (European) projects or special promotional actions could be postponed or cancelled.”
| Escada’s Magnetism features bright color and a see-through cap. |
The strong Euro is creating a difficult issue for those that are importing from Europe, agreed Hervé Bichon, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Rexam Beauty & Closures, Purchase, NY. “Rexam manufactures in Europe and the U.S., so we are able to supply both sides of the ocean with product. We already make pumps here in the U.S. and will be supplying sample mini-pumps from the Thomaston, CT by the end of 2004.”
Where the Growth Is
New categories add interest and excitement for consumers and growth for brand marketers. Areas with potential are mens lines including makeup, according to Fling, while ‘cosmeceutical’ brands (see story p. 19) continue to proliferate.
“Men are expecting more from their shaving and grooming lines,” agreed Kordowski. “They want skin care benefits that speak to them. They want packaging that is masculine and functional.”
Another growth category for Avon is ethnic lines as they move beyond mainly hair care. “In makeup, we are seeing ethnic shades being added to foundation products to cover a wide range of skin tones,” explained Kordowski.
There is also a demand for products that communicate a fun attitude, noted Fling, such as the packaging of the Summer Dreams promotions, which reflects a young, cheerful tone in bright, see-through organza bags decorated with stylized flowers.
Forecast for 2004
Estée Lauder, which has been in the process of brand renewal for the past several years, is now seeing the effects of its efforts on counter in the packaging throughout its product line, according to Fling. He noted, “Our focus in the next year will be continuing to insure that all of our packaging reflects the modern image of Estée Lauder.
Avon’s Kordowski pointed out that continued and growing importance of mass merchants globally is changing the beauty business. “We see prestige brands going to mass merchants,” she said.
For 2004, Avon expects to see continued momentum driven by skin care spreading to color and fragrance at Avon. Kordowski predicted, “Product and package innovation will be key in these categories as we move forward.”
New Technologies Fuel Innovation/Speed
Demands for speed in getting new concepts to market is a challenge across the board. “The package development process is being facilitated by rapid prototyping, which also allows us to see the exact form and fit of package designs early in the design process,“ Kordowski said.
Augros has answered its customers’ demand for faster speed to market by investing in capabilities worldwide that allow for pre-validation of design by quick pilot tooling manufactured in house, according to Didier Giordano, international director of sales, Augros S.A., Colombes, France.
|
| Eastman Chemical’s Glass Polymer can be used for heavy-walled, crystal clear jars, bottles, caps and other components. |
Communicating Quality and Value
“Going forward, beauty packaging will need to be about purity, convenience and value,” said Gary Korba, vice president of creative global packaging development, Estée Lauder Companies.
“Consumers respond to quality and purity, which can be conveyed by the use of clear materials in heavy-walled containers. This can be translated in a number of ways, including clear materials in combination with other materials,” Korba explained.
Advances in heavy-walled clear plastic and glass packaging has led to an exploration of 3-D effects in all parts of the packaging (double walls in container, and/or cap, outside layers in secondary packaging), explained Dieter Bakic, president of DieterBakicEnterprises, headquartered in Munich, Germany. Bakic added that variations of transparency (matte, mirror, shining effects that alternate or go together) and transparency with colors are being used as alternate choices within the clear-walled trend.
Dispensing systems that deliver precise amounts of product, are airless (allowing no air to enter the container during dispensing) and/or capable of dispensing dual products are proliferating. Pumps that turn fluid formulas into foam are gaining in popularity. The Airspray foamer started in hair styling products and then moved to skin care, according to Robert F. Brands, president of Airspray International, Pompano Beach, FL. “Ponds and Stridex use foamers for instant skin cleansers. Airspray’s foamers are popular in hand washes and now are moving into the wet environments dispensing shampoos and body washes. There’s even potential as a fragrance delivery system as it allows the consumer to place the product exactly where she wants it.”
| Airspray’s pump is used on Procter & Gamble’s Pantene’s Pro-V. |
Packaging as Brand Spokesman
It is no longer sufficient for a product to be good and have good packaging, according to David Nicosia of NICE, Nicosia Creative Expressions, New York. “Globally, excellence is the only survival method now,” Nicosia stated. “And you need a story, a ‘reason to believe,’ to go along with the product. The packaging for prestige must communicate, ‘I am good, luxury and effective,’ seducing in a soft way.” And, while packaging must command attention, “ideally it should not surprise, because that distracts the consumer,” he added. “Mass packaging is much more graphics-oriented, while treatment products demand simple packaging that is not gimmicky.
“The biggest challenge for international design is to maintain visual equity throughout a family of products,” Nicosia noted. “Unilever’s Dove has added hair care and skin care to its original soap and wash products and all are presented consistently in simple, feminine packaging.”
“Multinationals that are serving the mass market are showing more willingness to invest in custom packaging,” stated Brands. “For example, Unilever created custom tools for its new Dove hair care and skin care lines and used frosted/pearlized finishes on the bottles,” Brands noted. “In Europe on mass personal care shelves, we are seeing a lot of frosted, colored plastic, which hides the pumps and dispensers and makes the container look like a whole rather than a combination of bottle and cap.”
Environmentally Correct Packaging
Environmentalism is again gaining importance. Nicosia said, “We are continuously looking at packaging that is environmentally correct in terms of materials and finding ways to make the packaging more nature friendly.”
Another part of the ‘Green’ trend is a redefined movement to natural ingredient products that are being presented, not in primitive, earthy containers, but in modern, sophisticated packaging, according to Du Grenier.
“The consumer consciousness of protecting the environment and themselves by avoiding harsh chemicals and using all natural ingredients is moving into very high-end lines,” Du Grenier said.
Savage Beauty, an organic skin care line based in Garrison, NY, is a great example. The look is modern and tailored, while the contents are said to be chemical and preservative free. Pumps and squirt tops are used to dispense product, avoiding direct contact with the contents, while dark violet glass is said to provide the highest level of protection from light and UV damage, photo-induced organic contamination and the absorption of harmful gases through the bottle walls.
| Shanghai, recently launched by Marc Rosen, is glamorous and exotic. |
Fragrance Fashion Goes Glamorous
“Apparel fashion is into very girly looks, pastels and unstructured designs right now,” observed Marc Rosen of Marc Rosen Associates, New York. “That trend can be expected to filter slowly into packaging for beauty through softer shapes,” Rosen said, adding, “There’s also an interest in nostalgia. The younger fashion designers are mixing vintage accessories with current styles. Fragrance bottles are showing the same influence, with some having a vintage feel.”
There seems to be a return to classic, glamorous bottles and a movement away from the tall, thin silhouettes to more orbs and squares that seem more substantial and fit well in the hand. “The client realizes that the bottle is value added and extremely important,” Rosen stated. “There’s still an interest in color with either colored glass or colored fragrance and heavy glass or heavy plastic. “The designer used to try to hide the actuator. Now it is often spotlighted inside a clear cap.”
| Cartier’s Le Baser Du Dragon exemplifies today’s luxe- nostalgic look. |
Rosen’s recent launch of Shanghai, “The perfume with a past, for the woman with a future,” exemplifies those fashion trends. The dramatic round bottle is divided into spheres: the bottom is clear, solid glass; the top, also clear, holds the vivid red fragrance. The cap is a clear plastic, showing off the gold-toned spray dispenser and collar. A clear plastic bar extends across the cap for a subtle Chinoiserie touch. The presentation is glamorous and exotic.
Cartier Baiser de Dragon is another great example of the latest trends in fragrance bottles, according to Dale Kan, president of design and development studio, Brandonology, New York. Kan noted, “The shape is not so much to fit in the hand as it is to be a display item on a dressing table. We are seeing a lot of vintage or retro-inspired silhouettes.”
The bottle is inspired by one created by Cartier in 1924, according to the company. It is “an original representation of materials, motifs and symbols used to link Chinese Art to Art Deco.”
For glass manufacturer Saint-Gobain Desjonqueres, 2003 was marked by many launches, especially in France. “High-end perfumery has adopted a kind of minimalism created with pure shapes and the miniaturization of pump dispensers,” said Daniel Saksik, president of SGD in New York. Saksik noted, “The bottles and jars are usually of a simple shape, some six-sided. The decoration, the accessories, and the repartition of the glass, make the personality of the product.”
The use of lacquering has strongly increased, where the effects run the gamut from translucent and pearl finishes to metal sprays resulting in bright colors often in tones of pink, fushia, prune and red, such as Magnetism by Escada.
Expecting lacquering to continue to increase, SGD is investing in more capacity. All of SGD’s decoration plants (Sparta in the U.S., Verreries de l’Orne and Verreries de la Somme in France), are being equipped with lacquering lines.
SGD has also developed a new lazer decorating technique that offers the possibility of decorating any bottle—with any shape or angles—by enamel deposit.
| Attraction by Lancôme is presented in a sphere of engraved glass, which shows off the pale gold of the fragrance. | Un Jardin en Méditerrannée is topped by a glass cap that is clipped to a two-piece stovepipe molded in PCTA by Rexam. | LaCoste’s Booster features metal caps in bright shades supplied by Augros. |
Through a Cap, Clearly
Fragrance caps, once usually metal or solid-colored plastics, are also being influenced by the trend to clarity. The use of clear plastic is seen in caps that show off the spray dispenser, according to Stephen T. Pearlman, president of Crown Risdon, Watertown, CT.
| Breathless by Victoria's Secret is topped off with a tinted, clear cap supplied by C+N. |
“Eastman’s new Glass Polymer is faster in the mold than some other resins and is growing in this application,” noted Pearlman. “And, closures are more complicated, often using multiple materials. Sometimes the entire package is very unique and complex such as Ocean Pacific’s latest, which uses ColorPour, a new technology from Crown Risdon.”
The Ocean Pacific package consists of an irregularly textured glass bottle inside an outer clear tube (made of Eastman’s Glass Polymer) with a blue fluid placed between the sleeve and the bottle. When the bottle is moved, the fluid creates interesting wave patterns.
In Europe, transparency in the luxury segment is being translated into glass caps as well, pointed out Rexam’s Bichon. The use of actual glass is made possible by a new technology from Rexam that makes it possible to attach plastic or metal to glass with friction rather than glue.
A spokesman for injection molder C+N Packaging, Wyandanch, NY, said, “As a manufacturer of plastic closures, we are seeing an increased interest in clear, glass-like components.” C+N uses DuPont’s Surlyn extensively for prestige fragrance closures because, “It offers customers glass-like clarity and excellent chemical and scuff resistance and a choice of finishes—frosted, tinted, crystal and clear.”
A demand for massive caps can be achieved by either over-molding with a large mass of resin or by adding a weight in the cap for a heavier feel, according to Augros’ Giordano. The caps are finished in a variety of ways: shiny or matte, transparent or opaque/lacquered.
Giordano added that special effects are being incorporated into fragrance caps such as the cap on Boss Intense, which has a top window achieved by Augros with over-molding that offers a magnified view of the colored pump actuator.
Electroplating of plastic parts for a metallic look is losing favor, according to Giordano, who added that there’s a return to gunmetal finishes in aluminum because anodized aluminum offers a wider range of shades than electroplated plastic.
Line Extensions: the Same but Different
In prestige flanker programs (vehicles that update or extend existing brands to grow franchise), marketers are using more colored glass, according to Kan. He added, “In mass and bridge categories, where the selling environment is more congested, colored glass is still being used to create a stronger presence.”
The addition of such flankers to an established fragrance line rather than launching a totally new product is expected to continue, according to Giordano. A series of Armani fragrances—Emporio Armani Saga, Emporio He/She Classic in 2002; Emporio White He/She in 2003 and Emporio Night He/She—all use the same metal container by Augros differentiated by change in color and copy.
Color Packaging That’s More
The latest in color cosmetics packaging is “Really a matter of form and function,” said Brandonology’s Kan. “With all of the new formulas, especially cream-to-powder foundations, many of the compact designs must be hermetic with airtight seals, resulting in many compacts with unique locking mechanisms. The downside is that they are not streamlined and a bit clunky.”
Kan added, “For more traditional formulas, “Many of the more progressive color lines make use of stock componentry as the marketers prefer to spend the time and money on research and development for the product formula rather than on package development.”
The combination of heavy-walled clear plastic packaging used to show off color-coding of product is continuing to grow in cosmetics, observed Pearlman. The Estée Lauder Pure Color line has grown from lipstick (a clear plastic base features a plastic insert that is color coded to the shade) and nail color (in heavy-walled glass) to include various eye shadow and lip gloss products. The packaging relies on clear, heavy-walled windows that show the color of each product with a plastic insert.
In lipstick packaging, a third size/silhouette is emerging that is a compromise between the standard lipstick and the slim line stick. “Three major marketers are adding a mid-size that Crown Risdon is calling the Trimline,” noted Pearlman. “It’s not as short as a full-size and not as slender as the slim line. It feels good in the hand.”
Pearlman added that in mascara and lip product packaging, double-ended products are making news. Some are dual purpose such as a lip product at one end and mascara at the other. Others have two different mascara products or two different lip colors. In some instances, the consumer can choose which items to combine, such as the Hook Up system from Avon’s Mark.
There is also an increased emphasis on mascara brushes, stated Gary Wilson, Crown Risdon’s director of mascara marketing. “The formulas do more than ever—curl, thicken, lengthen—so there is now more testing to make sure that the claim can be substantiated and the brush must work correctly with the formula.”
Many mascara containers are becoming larger and heavier due to requirements of thicker walls that help to preserve and protect the formula and to give it longer shelf life.
| Crown Risdon is working on the Trimline (left) and dual product packages (right). | |
Personal Care Lines Trend to Standard
Designers are being asked by suppliers of components to create stock lines with “custom” appeal, according to Kan. These lines involve various finishing techniques such as soft touch, matte and glosses and/or unique colorations, as well as special manufacturing such as co-injections to result in packaging that uses the same tooling, but has differentiated looks on shelf.
Du Grenier agreed that the days when an extensive line of products would all be custom designed seems to be fading. “Even the majors are doing a lot with stock components and when they do decide to invest in custom tooling, the new molds are not ‘break-through.’ The delivery systems might be really new, but not the containers,” he said.
| Ratio by DieterBakicEnterprises is a stock line that can be easily customized. |
The shorter product lifecycles have created a demand for timely and cost-effective production with larger and smaller volumes of packaging, according to DBE’s Bakic. “One way to reduce development time is to use standard packaging. Standard packaging is available. Design, development and potential concept extensions are at hand. The mold, which represents a significant investment, is manufactured. The packaging simply needs to be produced, filled, and delivered.”
Standard doesn’t mean boring. “The targeted and coordinated use of selected materials, printing, decoration and upgrading techniques allow the packaging to be customized according to the wishes of the customer, or to be tailored to the requirements of the brand,” explained Bakic.
Sourcing from the Far East
Over-riding fashion trends in beauty packaging is the sea change in the significance of suppliers in the Far East. Kan said that suppliers in China and the Far East have improved by leaps and bounds recently. Kan explained, “These companies have always offered lower cost of materials and faster lead times, but now they have improved the quality as well. With today’s electronic communication, we can literally have art and blue prints submitted and approved in the time it takes to make the flight. This is a tremendous opportunity for everyone in the industry. However, as a designer, I think that the heritage and history of European craftsmanship and passion in glass and decorating especially, just cannot be replicated. I, as a consumer, would be terribly disappointed to see ‘made in Korea’ stamped on a bottle of Chanel No 5.”
The shift has made it more important to be a truly international supplier, according to Paul Horgan, vice president of sales for injection molder Inoac Packaging Group Inc., Bardstown, KY. “More of our customers now want to know if they can develop tools and specifications for a product here in the States and then be able to run the same product with the same tools in Europe or the Far East. The answer is ‘yes.’”
Horgan said that Inoac can take a set of tools developed in the U.S. and ship them to either its joint venture plant (with Pochet) in France or its wholly-owned facility in Shanghai and run the exact same package.
Charles Chang, president of Topline Products Company Inc., Wayne, NJ, pointed out that China and the Far East are increasing in importance as a source, not only for packaging components, but also for formulating and filling. Topline has joint ventures in some instances or wholly owns plants to provide the entire range of services. In some instances, the bulk is made to a client’s specification, in others it is sourced as a private label project or the customer may choose to ship its bulk to be filled.
“Filling the packaging makes sense,” Chang said. “It is essentially the same cost to ship the components empty or full. And when empty containers come into the United States, there is a 3% tax. If the containers are filled, there is no tax.”
