02.04.08
The names of the fragrances in Victoria's Secret's Dream Angel lines pay homage to the brand's image. |
A successful fragrance makes a fashion statement while staying true to the overall brand image.
By Leah Genuario, Contributing Editor
It’s a beautiful example of glass craftsmanship, featuring one seamless vertical wall and simple, elegant lines. But the bottle created for Revlon’s Flair by Bormioli Luigi goes even further to engage would-be consumers. Take a step back from the packaging and the silhouette of a beautiful female in an evening dress emerges.
Although not all fragrance packaging makes the connection so obvious, Revlon’s Flair has clearly captured the concept that every good fragrance designer needs to understand: “The most important part of fragrance is its link to fashion,” says Eric Bigotte, executive vice president of sales and marketing for Risdon International in Watertown, CT. “Fragrance is a dream. This is the part of our industry where fashion matters most. Look at it as a fashion item.”
Making a fashion statement is not the only goal of a successful fragrance package. It also needs to send a message that entices consumers to buy. “The package has to be the silent salesman. What is it that will make the consumer stop? It has to speak to the consumer. It has to say: Pick me up, touch me, smell me,” says Marc Rosen, fragrance designer and president of Marc Rosen & Associates, New York, NY.
In an ever-increasingly competitive marketplace, attracting a consumer’s eye can be a challenge. The key, according to Rosen, is to do something new and make sure the fragrance resonates with the overall brand image.
Fragrance Design by Fashion Icons
Fragrance’s link to fashion is likely why many fashion designers have forayed into the world of fragrance. Many of last year’s new fragrance launches were connected with a fashion icon. Badgley Mischka Fleurs de Nuit is one of them.
The Daytona 500 fragrance features innovative caps from Risdon International. |
This inspiration can be seen in the white floral notes chosen for the jus and in the white and silver color scheme of the packaging. The glass bottle, supplied by Pochet, features a brocade pattern printed by USS Corporation. The decoration is created using screened Palladium. Fleurs de Nuit’s crowning touch is a Surlyn cap from Bonnay and a silver bezel engraved by Northern Engraving with the words “BADGLEY MISCHKA.”
The packaging design also needed to connect to the overall brand image. In addition to highlighting the brand’s name on its cap, the brocade pattern chosen for the bottle was inspired by fabric used in Badgley and Mischka’s fashion designs. The fragrance also aimed at creating a feeling of “vintage elegance” and “sophisticated glamour,” which is the core style of the brand.
“Creating ‘vintage elegance’ was important to keep in line with Mark Badgley and James Mischka’s design philosophy,” says Noreen Dodge, vice president of global brand development at Elizabeth Arden. “Badgley Mischka fragrances are inspired by the look and feel of 40s Hollywood glamour: distinctively feminine, romantic and chic sophistication with thorough attention to detail.”
The limited edition fragrance launched in October 2007 at a suggested retail price of $90 for 3.4 fluid oz. Badgley Mischka is sold in upscale retail establishments such as Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman Marcus.
To Catch a Consumer
In addition to being fashionable, fragrance packaging must also catch the eye. This is often achieved by incorporating innovative packaging elements. Designers are continually in search of the latest and greatest decorations and techniques to hit the packaging scene.
One major way to differentiate from competitors is through the use of innovative materials. Fragrances are typically housed in glass packages, but there are always exceptions.
Alcan Packaging recently revealed its partnership with Parfums Lolita Lempicka to launch a limited edition of its men’s fragrance, Lolita Lempicka Au Masculin. The fragrance, which debuted in autumn 2006, takes advantage of Alcan Packaging’s over-molding technique to create an innovative look that stands out on shelf.
Foregoing glass, the fragrance packaging marries two other materials to create its look. The thick, green faux leather utilized in the packaging is exactly what it seems: fabric. Placed inside the mold during the injection molding process, the fabric joins with polypropylene to create a clever bottle with a raised leaf pattern. The bronze hue of the leaves and fragrance name on the bottle are created through three pad printing runs.
Alcan Packaging encountered several challenges in the creation of this container. Aside from proper selection and cutting of the fabric, the company needed to determine a way to adhere the fabric to the mold so it fit perfectly with the plastic parts.
Fabric on fragrance packaging is also being used in other attempts to catch the eye, including the use of small swatches glued or tied around the bottle. “In the last 18 months, you see more and more fabric. People are trying to find different things that make a package attractive,” says Risdon’s Bigotte, who notes that adding fabric to a package is labor intensive, but the practice is increasing because of low labor costs in China.
Time will tell if the use of fabric is a passing fad or a future trend in the never-ending job of enticing the consumer to buy.
Current Trends
There are many other ways to make packaging stand out on shelf. Technology has enabled beauty manufacturers to get creative with new components, shapes and finishes. With the deluge of flankers, Marc Rosen has seen a trend in unusual faux finishes, such as marble looks. Rosen also noted the number of new fragrance launches featuring embellishments around the neck.
Valois supplies the pumps for Tokyo by Kenzo. |
Bigotte has seen renewed interest in transparent packaging and the combination of metal and plastics. Metal and plastics are often used in caps, where the molded plastic cap features a Zamac plate or a similar accessory.
Soon, there will be a new weapon in the designer’s arsenal of eye-catching techniques. Risdon International is working on a technique that will significantly increase a marketer’s design possibilities. For the moment, the proprietary technology has not yet been announced, but Bigotte concedes that it will be “a mix of metal and plastic, really a blend. Not just a metal piece over a plastic piece. It’s a new technology.”
Shape is another way to make a package attractive. On the glass manufacturing end, Corrado Lusetti of Bormioli Luigi, Parma, Italy, says, “Industrial designers are increasingly aware of the new possibilities offered by the differentiation between internal and external shapes.” In other words, altering the thickness of the glass in various areas can create interesting effects.
Rock ’n Rose offers a great example of pushing design limits in glass. Marketed by P&G Prestige Beauté for the Valentino line, the fragrance utilizes a bottle created by Bormioli Luigi. The bottle, according to Bormioli Luigi, had to capture the rock ’n roll soul “inside the external appearance of elegance and style, which characterizes the new Valentino woman.”
The perfect sphere features a heavy-glass base that highlights the jus. A simple concept but technically challenging, Bormioli Luigi needed to ensure “a consistent mass of glass at the base,” as well as a smooth, brilliant surface to maintain symmetry of the bottle. Aimed at young women, the fragrance was released in 2007 and is available in three sizes.
Brand Connection
One aspect of fragrance packaging that is timeless is the importance of connecting a package to the overall brand message.
For starters, emphasizing the brand name is an increasingly noticeable aspect of packaging. “The most interesting trend is the engraving of the actuator,” says Patrick Bousquel, product marketing and innovation manager for Valois-Perfumery and Cosmetics Division in Marly-le-Roi, France.
In addition to reminding consumers of the fragrance they are using, strategic branding can play an even more important role. For brands that sell more than fragrances, keeping the brand image consistent throughout all of their product offerings is vital.
To celebrate its 60th anniversary, the Pucci brand set out to design fragrance packaging for its Vivara fragrance that would perfectly convey the brand’s style. To accomplish this, an innovative closure was developed that mimicked the look of a famous scarf from the fashion brand. The closure, manufactured by Rexam, is a Surlyn semi-sphere that has encased a six-color print representing the design on the scarf.
Rexam and pad printer Printing International worked in tandem to develop screens and pads that would conform to the cap’s interior shape.
Limited Brands’ Victoria’s Secret also did an excellent job carrying the brand image revealed in its clothing stores to its Dream Angels fragrance line. The stylish fragrance packaging features mirror-polished, transparent Surlyn caps made by Risdon International, with metallic-colored actuators that peek through the cap. The names of its fragrances—Heavenly, Divine and Desire—pay homage to the brand’s sexy image, as well as its angelic advertising and marketing campaign.
Fashion companies are not the only brands that have thrown their hats into the fragrance ring. International Speedway Corp., together with Elizabeth Arden, launched Daytona 500 Fragrance for Men in 2006, a sporting event-themed fragrance that evokes a strong connection to auto racing. For the project, Risdon International developed an innovative cap assembly that resembles a racing tire, wheel and hub components typically found on a Daytona racecar.
Fragrance: A Poor Renewal Rate
The tire look and feel was created using a black TPE elastomer rubber material. Anodized round red metal pieces serve as faux rims, with the actuator resembling a hub. The Daytona 500 logo is embossed on the tire for a final reminder of its auto-racing image. Packaging was complemented with timing: The fragrance launched several days before the famous race
A strong brand connection, along with innovative, fashionable packaging is crucial in the fragrance industry. With so much competition, first impressions are everything. The fragrance’s future is at stake.
“The fragrance business can be one season and the line disappears. If you look at all the lines done last year, at least 30 or 40 percent are not going to be renewed,” comments Bigotte.
What does the line need to capture the consumer and keep him or her coming back? Bigotte says, “There are two things: the first buy and the re-buy. The first buy is executed through the packaging; how attractive the packaging and advertising is. The probability of the second buy depends upon the fragrance itself.”