11.05.09
BYE-BYE BAH, HUMBUG
In today’s tough economy, holiday gift sets deliver just what consumers need to heighten their spirits, brighten their days and lighten their woes.
By Jennifer Hagemann, Contributing Writer
If today’s economy had a face, it would probably look like the Grinch…a merciless ugly green creature whose sole mission in life was to destroy people’s happiness during the holiday season. But if you recall the story, the Grinch had a change of heart, and it would seem that the economy is taking a turn for the better as well.
Fortunately, ‘tis the season for marketers to don their elf hats and offer something that by its very nature portrays variety, value, convenience and of course visual appeal: the holiday gift set.
Eye-catching Techniques
“This holiday season is a prominent year for innovation and creativity,” says Joanna Sasso, vice president of operations, Knoll Printing & Packaging, Inc., Syosset, NY. “Consumers are buying more carefully, so their purchases have to be special for them. The impact that gift sets have on the counter is the key element in attracting consumers to the product. If the gift set is lavishly [packaged], not only does the consumer get the product, but the gift box becomes a keepsake.”
Carefully selected packaging shapes that are skillfully executed can capture the brand essence while adding both visual charm and distinction (and without adding too much to the bottom line)—a must for brand marketers who want their sets to stand out from the crowd. One novel approach to this season’s holiday gift sets that’s both whimsical and imaginative is the gift collection by Re-Treat, a Dylan’s Candy Shop candy-inspired bath and body product line. Designed by Schiffman Creative in New York, each gift set has a unique culinary theme and an underlying consumer message: Sweets can even make a sour economy more palatable. Strine Printing, York, PA, executed the package design while Chicago Paper Tube & Can Company, Chicago, IL, provided the Ice Cream Dream container. John Dudlak, president of Chicago Paper, says, “The majority of packaging seen on store shelves is square boxes. Due to this fact, our round packaging has value built directly into its aesthetics.”
One brand that utilizes a diverse array of materials and decorating processes for its annual holiday collections is Victoria’s Secret Beauty (VSB). “The team at Victoria’s Secret Beauty has done an exceptional job of continually challenging industry-accepted norms, pushing the envelope in terms of ground-breaking design, and setting the benchmark in terms of creativity,” says Scott Kestenbaum, VP of marketing at Maesa Group’s New York location.
The hexagonal boxes constructed for this year’s VSB prestige brand gift collections are an example of craftsmanship that combines beauty and function. Each box is wrapped in both paper and Mylar, and features a large-scale registered hot stamp pattern and deep embossed crest.
Movement, even if only an illusion, is another way gift sets grab a consumer’s attention. Curtis Packaging Corporation’s CurtCrystal, used for lettering and imaging, is a process whereby two coatings react to each other to create visual and tactile sensations, and an animated quality that seemingly makes the package shimmer and move with the changes in light and angles. Mike Simko, director of new business development for Curtis Packaging Corporation in Sandy Hook, CT, says the material was chosen for Elizabeth Arden’s holiday 2009 gift collections.
For technological packaging design that really packs a punch, Cosfibel Group created Christmas coffrets for Diesel’s Fuel for Life and the brand’s newest fragrance, Only the Brave.
“The gift set category is critically important to the overall volume of men’s fragrance and accounts for almost 40% of annual sales,” says Karen Grant, senior beauty industry analyst with The NPD Group, and a member of Beauty Packaging’s board of advisors. “In 2008, sales of men’s gift sets declined by 10% in the month of December, so we are hopeful that as the comps are relatively low, the 2009 sales of men’s gift sets in December will at least be on par with 2008.”
Marketers’ Seek Value
After trying times in 2008 and the ongoing downward spiral that resulted in a 7% overall dollar decline in the U.S. beauty retail industry during the first half of 2009 compared to the year prior, according to an NPD report, marketers will likely agree that even a flat holiday spending forecast is better than the alternative.
One way marketers can monitor dollars as well as lead times is to choose stock items for their holiday gift sets. “By having shorter lead times, marketers have more time to react to market trends,” says Jack Albanese, sales engineer for Lombardi Design & Manufacturing, Freeport, NY. An example of stock item success was the Juicy Tubes by Lancôme 2008 holiday set, which featured three-pass hot-stamping and a holographic foil.
Stock bottles, jars and tubes for holiday gift sets also offer convenience. “In today’s economy when ‘just in time’ is not a chapter in a business school textbook, but rather a necessary business practice, those who offer the widest range of components also offer the most convenience,” says Jim Slowey, VP of marketing and sales, Arrowpak, which is headquartered in Richmond Hill, NY. “Specializing in one category is great, but being able to buy your components from one source and having the decoration included means less time searching, sourcing and shipping.”
Technology breeds convenience, too. Fortunately, despite the holiday season’s chilly forecast, technology never seems to cease in its forward momentum.
“With the economy being such that it is, people are trying to make the most of something as simple as a carton with a window…and nice registration,” says Olivier Trevidic, Meadwestvaco’s director of folding carton North American sales, beauty & personal care division. Making good use of its latest investment—a DuoFold machine—MWV can offer tighter registration, multi-crate gluing technology and the opportunity to combine up to three different substrates. “This process is the perfect mirror of the economy because it can give value to an existing package,” he says.
Gifts That Give for Years to Come
Whatever their reasons—concerns about the environment, the product, their health or the future—consumers want to do more then save money these days; they want to save the planet, too. In fact, according to a 2008 end-of-year NPD report, two out of three beauty product users are interested in some sort of eco-beauty product, which is defined as being “natural, organic, green/eco-friendly, or socially conscious/ responsible.”
“Many of our clients are very excited to choose packaging that complements their natural and organic beauty products,” says Dudlak. “We guide clients through the process of how ecofriendly they want to be. By the end of the education process, our clients can clearly communicate their sustainable message to their customers by printing the information directly on the package or listing it on their website.”
One such customer is Dream Organics, which was founded upon the idea of healing beautifully. “Launching their products into the luxury market without sacrificing their ecofriendly principles meant developing a secondary container that fit the upscale brand image, and both protected and displayed their trademark pink, frosted Pochet glass without leaving environmentally unsound packaging behind,” says Dudlak. Chicago Paper’s sturdy round DisplayPak was the perfect solution. It’s made from 100% paperboard that is recyclable and/or biodegradable and offers light-blocking capabilities to protect the product’s precious oils.
MWV’s PrintKote Eagle boasts a 30% postconsumer recycled component, ideal for ecoconscious brands that are willing to spend a little more on sustainable packaging. An example of this is Aveeno’s Active Naturals. While not gift sets in the traditional sense, both Aveeno and Dream Organics can be mixed and matched for holiday-shopping ease.
Size and Function Matter
While the majority of consumers are interested in eco-beauty products, most have never even tried them. According to an NPD report, the gap between interest and actual usage ranges from 15-45%. However, one progressively popular and sustainable trend that is likely “taking form as a result of the cost-cutting pressures of a recessionary economy, coupled with a continued desire to be more environmentally conscious,” according to Kestenbaum, is what he calls the “less-is-more approach.” He explains, “Smaller gift sets use less material, they cost less to transport, and they consume less space on the shelf— all of which serve to reduce costs.” And less material means less waste.
Another eco-conscious gift set alternative that offers value is the reusable solution, such as a bag, basket, bucket or, as in the case of the women’s Still Jennifer Lopez fragrance gift set, a jewelry or valet caddy. This set’s matching knock-down custom-dyed satin tray is adorned with the same decorative jewels that are affixed to the board of the complementary emerald-cut gift box manufactured by Knoll Printing & Packaging.
While reusable gift sets typically cost more, the additional expense can often be justified by the brand marketer. “A reusable gift set drives sales at counter while the added value entices the consumer to buy,” explains Kestenbaum. “[It] can also be viewed as an advertising expense, since the branded vehicle will stay with the consumer for an extended period of time in plain-sight. Lastly, a reusable gift set is not likely to become refuse, possibly making it more environmentally friendly than an apples-toapples non-reusable gift set, which gets thrown in the garbage immediately after opening.” After all the effort that goes into producing a holiday gift set package, throwing it away might even make Ebenezer Scrooge cry out, “Bah, Humbug!”
