Joanna Cosgrove, Contributing Editor10.01.14
Retail shelves are flush with exciting skin and hair care products that promise a variety of benefits. Packaging plays an important role in these competitive market segments, not just by attracting consumer attention and conveying product benefits, but also by following through and offering dependable functionality at home.
A caveat of such a wide range of choices, according to Dominic Bakic, CEO, Munich, Germany-based DieterBakicGroup, is a sign of a more demanding consumer culture. “The shelves of drugstores and supermarkets are filled with semi-successful brands that struggle to meet steadily growing customer expectations while at the same time trying to differentiate themselves within a sea of equality,” he says. “The most important task in brand management today is to find a unique positioning and to assert it in the long term; rational factors play only a subordinate role in this equation.”
When creating successful packaging solutions, Bakic says it’s important to “carve out a brand’s value and put it in the spotlight,” with an emphasis on a product’s character, tonality and benefit.
“The benefit may be functional or emotional,” he comments. “This can be illustrated with the example of a professional hair care brand, where color competence is at the core of the brand. Values like science, professionalism, and technology can be inferred, and this should be reflected in a clear and reduced style of the product design.”
DieterBakicGroup put those principles into practice when it conceptualized
The recently redesigned Wunderbar hair care line was revitalized with DieterBakicGroup’s Kronos container for a professional yet charismatic new look.
the idea behind the new packaging design for the Wunderbar hair care line. “The goal was to revitalize the brand essence with new graphics in the packaging design—strong and shiny basic and contrasting colors in the graphics which support the line differentiation at the same time,” explains Bakic. “The ‘professional’ look and the brand recognition of the new products were conveyed through the effort of the gently modified logo, the typography and the information structure.”
The brand is housed in DieterBakicGroup’s trendy yet professional Kronos container line, accented with aluminum and topped with a “smiling” closure that gives the product “positive charisma.”
In addition to being choosier, consumers are also experiencing tighter restrictions on their free-time, with the lines between daytime and nighttime activities increasingly blurred, asserts Robert Brands, president and CEO of VariBlend, Greenville, SC. Just as formulations have adapted to become more effective and longer-wearing, packaging has also had to adapt. “Packaging must help brands appeal to consumer pressures and desire for packaging that performs well, protects the formula and is enjoyable to use,” he says, adding that packaging “premiumization” has become the norm rather than the exception.
“Companies—in the prestige categories and on down—look harder for differentiation as a flood of new products and flankers hits the market,” he says.
VariBlend’s custom-blending, dual-dispensing technology was designed to help product developers deliver on their goal of packaging with enhanced consumer benefits because it allows for the precise delivery of two formulas of varying viscosities and flow rates system. The technology features an easy rotating dispenser head that enables the consumer to select multiple formula strengths and, in the case of hair color products, vary a shade’s intensity. “As the dispenser head is rotated, it changes the position of the actuating disc, which interacts with the pump pistons,” Brands explains. “When actuated, this disc pushes each pump piston at different angles depending upon the selected mixing ratio.”
Redken’s Blonde Idol Custom-Tone Violet and Gold is housed in VariBlend’s ergonomic, 49mm MaxiMix dispenser with a custom label and color.
When Redken, a L’Oréal company, launched its Blonde Idol Custom-ToneViolet daily conditioner for cool or platinum blondes and Gold for warm blondes, it chose VariBlend’s ergonomic, 49mm MaxiMix dispenser with a custom label and color. The patented custom-blending technology proved ideal for this hair product, which required a larger dosage per stroke. “The six-position, custom-blending design of the dispenser helps consumers design a personalized, six-week hair regimen, by simply turning the dispenser head one stop each week to gradually dial in more color,” says Brands. “The dispenser’s design, therefore, holds tremendous appeal for brand owners in a variety of ‘regimen-based’ product categories that deliver a different multi-element formula over time.”
The shift toward airless packaging underscores a need for packaging that’s designed to protect and expertly deliver sophisticated body and skincare formulations. “Airless pumps handle specialized ingredients and eliminate the risk of oxygen reaching the contents,” says Cindy Vogel, director of marketing, MJS Packaging, Livonia, MI.
Though she could not divulge the brand, MJS recently outfitted a prescribed skincare product with a sophisticated, 2.5ml, PP airless dispensing configuration. “The customer was looking for a sophisticated delivery method to use for samples distributed to consumers via doctors,” Vogel says. “The customer moved from a tube to an airless pump, achieving a differentiated, high-end look that resonated with both doctors and end users [with a] more precise, cleaner dispensing unit for on-the-go use.”
Channeling Other Market Segments
Standing out among the competition at retail is a critical factor in a brand’s chance for success. That’s where smart packaging choices come into play. But rather than re-creating the wheel, some brands are drawing inspiration from other market segments. The biggest influencer in hair care packaging right now is the skin and beauty care segment.
“Much like all the beauty industry which is becoming more competitive each year, we are seeing companies adding more value into products to differentiate themselves from their competitors,” comments Walter Dwyer, joint CEO, Cosmopak USA, Port Washington, NY. “This is not just restricted to packaging, but it’s easier to show packaging innovation on the shelf and in advertising than it is to show formula innovation. Formula innovation or benefits need to be experienced, but packaging development or innovation can clearly be shown.”
Dwyer added that the biggest trend is luxury skincare packaging migrating into hair care packaging, in particular, the use of airless dispensers and thick wall acrylic jars. To illustrate the trend, he pointed to the thick-walled, custom acrylic jar and cap Cosmopak provided for Moroccan Oil Body Souffle and the Keratin Complex Infusion Replenisher series. Both brands employ high-end, skincare-like packaging to convey a premium look and feel.
“It highlights how a luxury hair care brand can compete in the premium space against non-traditional competitors and use packaging as a way to stand out,” Dwyer said.
Adding an element of functionality can also enhance a hair care product. This was the case for Cosmopak’s contribution to the Ardell Touch of Color pen. Launched in 2013, the product allows the consumer to apply color to the hair with precision via an easy-to-use flow through comb applicator that reduces mess and speeds up the process.
Personal care brands are also taking packaging cues from the food industry. Alpha Packaging, St. Louis, MO, recently built a stock bottle for a line of body washes that resembles a clear glass mason jar. It was even topped with a custom metal lid that looks like a canning jar lid, except this custom lid also has a pump.
“The clear polyethylene terephthalate (PET) custom mason jar design, which is usually associated with fruits and vegetables, was a perfect fit for this line of body washes because they are all fruit-inspired fragrances,” says Alpha Packaging’s Marny Bielefeldt, director of marketing. “The clear plastic looks like glass, so it resembles a traditional mason jar, and because the body wash products are all brightly colored, the clear plastic allows the product inside to really stand out.”
Bielefeldt was not permitted to reveal the brand behind the package, but said the clear bottle had almost no decoration other than an embossed logo and a very small label applied to the bottom of the front (embossed) panel. “The most dominant attributes of the line include the vibrant colors of the product contained in the package, as well as a custom metal pump,” she says. “Alpha used the 2-stage PET blow molding process with a spin-trim neck finish to accommodate the threads on the custom pump.”
Upping the Deco Ante
For some brands, tubes are proving to be increasingly attractive alternatives to bottles, especially when it comes to hair care products. Not only are they easy to hold and manipulate, they’re also terrific vehicles for high-end decoration techniques involving metallics, vignettes and hot foil stamp decoration for increased shelf appeal.
Got2B hair gel transitioned from a plastic, extruded tube into a plastic barrier laminate tube, with a custom silver colored laminate created by Essel Propack.
When Henkel Beauty Care’s Schwarzkopf hair care brand decided to transition its Got2B hair gel from a plastic, extruded tube into a plastic barrier laminate tube, Essel Propack created a custom silver colored laminate tube that perfectly captured the brand aesthetic.
The new configuration’s 400-micron laminate gives the tube a terrific body, and has excellent bounce back properties so it stays intact when squeezed. Wendi Caraballo, marketing manager, Essel Propack Americas, Danville, VA, explains, “To keep this tube’s color vibrant, we print the color underneath with a combination of flexo and silk screen. By using these methods we are able to achieve the serrated, jagged look in the ‘XL’ at the top of the tube, showing a rigid and worn down look, which can be difficult to achieve,” she says.
The bold, custom silver-colored laminate conveys an almost metallic quality to help the brand stand out against the competition. The package is finished with a flip top cap made in-house by Essel Propack, which Caraballo says flawlessly matches the silver color of the tube. “It is finished with a perfect straight edge seal to enhance the sleek body of this tube,” she adds.
Eufora International recently reorganized its entire range of salon hair care products and teamed with TricorBraun Design & Innovation, Oak Brook, IL, to update the line’s packaging to project the new brand identities and their promise. The existing packaging consisted of custom square white plastic bottles with soft corners and pressure-sensitive labels across two panels, topped by a custom-molded closure with the Eufora leaf molded into the top. The company sought packaging that tapped into the brand’s heritage but with a fresh, contemporary flair.
Eufora worked with TricorBraun to swap out square-cornered white plastic bottles in favor of a colorful new “waterfall” design that softened and lightened the shape of the original package.
TricorBraun delivered a “waterfall” design that softened the shape of the original, custom, square Eufora bottle. The overall look of the line was unified by the Eufora brand label on the lighter colors matching the body colors of the darker bottles. The pressure-sensitive label simply features the name Eufora against a subtle background of a stylized version of the Eufora leaf brand image. The colors convey a subtle metallic look, and the bottles are also molded with a soft-touch feel, both for an added touch of elegance and for ease of handling with wet hands.
The bottles were molded by Classic Containers using molds designed and built by TricorBraun. The bottle pumps are made by Aptar and MeadWestVaco, the bottle closures by Giflor and the tube closures by Aptar. Berry Plastics manufactures the tubes. Eufora designed and provided the labels.
Eufora CEO, Beth Bewley, was pleased by the balance achieved with the new packaging. “Packaging is an important part of our connection with the stylist and our consumer,” she says, “and making a change in that packaging creates a challenge. If we made too dramatic a change, we risked losing ten years of brand equity; if we didn’t make a dramatic enough change, we risked not communicating the improvements and product additions we have made to the lines.
“With [TricorBraun’s] help, we were able to retain enough visual cues to our earlier packaging to protect equity but still project newness, freshness and excitement.”
According to three recent Mintel market reports, the bath, body and hair care market segments are poised for growth.
Hair Care Products
Sales in the hair care category have been slow, yet steady, rising by 12% between 2008 and 2013. Despite being a mature and competitive market, improving economic conditions, high household penetration, and the introduction of new brands and skincare-inspired benefits have helped the category stay on a positive growth path. Steady growth trends are expected to continue in the hair care category, with Mintel forecasting gains of 12% through 2018 (Shampoo, Conditioner and Hairstyling Products - US - April 2014).
Bath Products
Growth has been solid for the soap, bath and shower category, with sales increasing by 18% between 2008 and 2013 (est.). Despite the highly functional nature of these products, added skincare benefits, gender-specific products, and ease of use have encouraged spending, helping to drive category growth. Consumers have expressed high levels of interest in virtually all listed claims, suggesting growth potential for retailers and soap, bath and shower brands. However, shoppers are more likely to report willingness to spend for added skincare benefits such as long-lasting moisture, deodorizing and antiperspirant effects (Soap, Bath and Shower Products - US - March 2014).
Body Products
After sluggish growth between 2009 and 2011, the body, hand, and foot care category has experienced an uptick in sales, increasing by 9% between 2012 and 2014 to reach estimated sales of nearly $2.9 billion. The category has benefited from innovation surrounding packaging formats, growing consumer interest in therapeutic products, and a notably cold 2013-14 winter season. This category is also marked as one in which shoppers express a high interest in packaging formats. Packaging formats generate fairly high levels of interest, regardless of if shoppers have tried the format or not. While formats such as bottles and tubes are familiar to shoppers, formats that promote ease of use, convenience, and beauty benefits also generate fairly high interest, suggesting opportunities for more innovation surrounding new packaging types (Body, Hand and Footcare - US - June 2014).
A caveat of such a wide range of choices, according to Dominic Bakic, CEO, Munich, Germany-based DieterBakicGroup, is a sign of a more demanding consumer culture. “The shelves of drugstores and supermarkets are filled with semi-successful brands that struggle to meet steadily growing customer expectations while at the same time trying to differentiate themselves within a sea of equality,” he says. “The most important task in brand management today is to find a unique positioning and to assert it in the long term; rational factors play only a subordinate role in this equation.”
“The benefit may be functional or emotional,” he comments. “This can be illustrated with the example of a professional hair care brand, where color competence is at the core of the brand. Values like science, professionalism, and technology can be inferred, and this should be reflected in a clear and reduced style of the product design.”
DieterBakicGroup put those principles into practice when it conceptualized
The recently redesigned Wunderbar hair care line was revitalized with DieterBakicGroup’s Kronos container for a professional yet charismatic new look.
The brand is housed in DieterBakicGroup’s trendy yet professional Kronos container line, accented with aluminum and topped with a “smiling” closure that gives the product “positive charisma.”
In addition to being choosier, consumers are also experiencing tighter restrictions on their free-time, with the lines between daytime and nighttime activities increasingly blurred, asserts Robert Brands, president and CEO of VariBlend, Greenville, SC. Just as formulations have adapted to become more effective and longer-wearing, packaging has also had to adapt. “Packaging must help brands appeal to consumer pressures and desire for packaging that performs well, protects the formula and is enjoyable to use,” he says, adding that packaging “premiumization” has become the norm rather than the exception.
“Companies—in the prestige categories and on down—look harder for differentiation as a flood of new products and flankers hits the market,” he says.
VariBlend’s custom-blending, dual-dispensing technology was designed to help product developers deliver on their goal of packaging with enhanced consumer benefits because it allows for the precise delivery of two formulas of varying viscosities and flow rates system. The technology features an easy rotating dispenser head that enables the consumer to select multiple formula strengths and, in the case of hair color products, vary a shade’s intensity. “As the dispenser head is rotated, it changes the position of the actuating disc, which interacts with the pump pistons,” Brands explains. “When actuated, this disc pushes each pump piston at different angles depending upon the selected mixing ratio.”
Redken’s Blonde Idol Custom-Tone Violet and Gold is housed in VariBlend’s ergonomic, 49mm MaxiMix dispenser with a custom label and color.
The shift toward airless packaging underscores a need for packaging that’s designed to protect and expertly deliver sophisticated body and skincare formulations. “Airless pumps handle specialized ingredients and eliminate the risk of oxygen reaching the contents,” says Cindy Vogel, director of marketing, MJS Packaging, Livonia, MI.
Though she could not divulge the brand, MJS recently outfitted a prescribed skincare product with a sophisticated, 2.5ml, PP airless dispensing configuration. “The customer was looking for a sophisticated delivery method to use for samples distributed to consumers via doctors,” Vogel says. “The customer moved from a tube to an airless pump, achieving a differentiated, high-end look that resonated with both doctors and end users [with a] more precise, cleaner dispensing unit for on-the-go use.”
Channeling Other Market Segments
Standing out among the competition at retail is a critical factor in a brand’s chance for success. That’s where smart packaging choices come into play. But rather than re-creating the wheel, some brands are drawing inspiration from other market segments. The biggest influencer in hair care packaging right now is the skin and beauty care segment.
“Much like all the beauty industry which is becoming more competitive each year, we are seeing companies adding more value into products to differentiate themselves from their competitors,” comments Walter Dwyer, joint CEO, Cosmopak USA, Port Washington, NY. “This is not just restricted to packaging, but it’s easier to show packaging innovation on the shelf and in advertising than it is to show formula innovation. Formula innovation or benefits need to be experienced, but packaging development or innovation can clearly be shown.”
Dwyer added that the biggest trend is luxury skincare packaging migrating into hair care packaging, in particular, the use of airless dispensers and thick wall acrylic jars. To illustrate the trend, he pointed to the thick-walled, custom acrylic jar and cap Cosmopak provided for Moroccan Oil Body Souffle and the Keratin Complex Infusion Replenisher series. Both brands employ high-end, skincare-like packaging to convey a premium look and feel.
“It highlights how a luxury hair care brand can compete in the premium space against non-traditional competitors and use packaging as a way to stand out,” Dwyer said.
Adding an element of functionality can also enhance a hair care product. This was the case for Cosmopak’s contribution to the Ardell Touch of Color pen. Launched in 2013, the product allows the consumer to apply color to the hair with precision via an easy-to-use flow through comb applicator that reduces mess and speeds up the process.
Personal care brands are also taking packaging cues from the food industry. Alpha Packaging, St. Louis, MO, recently built a stock bottle for a line of body washes that resembles a clear glass mason jar. It was even topped with a custom metal lid that looks like a canning jar lid, except this custom lid also has a pump.
“The clear polyethylene terephthalate (PET) custom mason jar design, which is usually associated with fruits and vegetables, was a perfect fit for this line of body washes because they are all fruit-inspired fragrances,” says Alpha Packaging’s Marny Bielefeldt, director of marketing. “The clear plastic looks like glass, so it resembles a traditional mason jar, and because the body wash products are all brightly colored, the clear plastic allows the product inside to really stand out.”
Bielefeldt was not permitted to reveal the brand behind the package, but said the clear bottle had almost no decoration other than an embossed logo and a very small label applied to the bottom of the front (embossed) panel. “The most dominant attributes of the line include the vibrant colors of the product contained in the package, as well as a custom metal pump,” she says. “Alpha used the 2-stage PET blow molding process with a spin-trim neck finish to accommodate the threads on the custom pump.”
Upping the Deco Ante
For some brands, tubes are proving to be increasingly attractive alternatives to bottles, especially when it comes to hair care products. Not only are they easy to hold and manipulate, they’re also terrific vehicles for high-end decoration techniques involving metallics, vignettes and hot foil stamp decoration for increased shelf appeal.
Got2B hair gel transitioned from a plastic, extruded tube into a plastic barrier laminate tube, with a custom silver colored laminate created by Essel Propack.
The new configuration’s 400-micron laminate gives the tube a terrific body, and has excellent bounce back properties so it stays intact when squeezed. Wendi Caraballo, marketing manager, Essel Propack Americas, Danville, VA, explains, “To keep this tube’s color vibrant, we print the color underneath with a combination of flexo and silk screen. By using these methods we are able to achieve the serrated, jagged look in the ‘XL’ at the top of the tube, showing a rigid and worn down look, which can be difficult to achieve,” she says.
The bold, custom silver-colored laminate conveys an almost metallic quality to help the brand stand out against the competition. The package is finished with a flip top cap made in-house by Essel Propack, which Caraballo says flawlessly matches the silver color of the tube. “It is finished with a perfect straight edge seal to enhance the sleek body of this tube,” she adds.
Eufora International recently reorganized its entire range of salon hair care products and teamed with TricorBraun Design & Innovation, Oak Brook, IL, to update the line’s packaging to project the new brand identities and their promise. The existing packaging consisted of custom square white plastic bottles with soft corners and pressure-sensitive labels across two panels, topped by a custom-molded closure with the Eufora leaf molded into the top. The company sought packaging that tapped into the brand’s heritage but with a fresh, contemporary flair.
Eufora worked with TricorBraun to swap out square-cornered white plastic bottles in favor of a colorful new “waterfall” design that softened and lightened the shape of the original package.
The bottles were molded by Classic Containers using molds designed and built by TricorBraun. The bottle pumps are made by Aptar and MeadWestVaco, the bottle closures by Giflor and the tube closures by Aptar. Berry Plastics manufactures the tubes. Eufora designed and provided the labels.
Eufora CEO, Beth Bewley, was pleased by the balance achieved with the new packaging. “Packaging is an important part of our connection with the stylist and our consumer,” she says, “and making a change in that packaging creates a challenge. If we made too dramatic a change, we risked losing ten years of brand equity; if we didn’t make a dramatic enough change, we risked not communicating the improvements and product additions we have made to the lines.
“With [TricorBraun’s] help, we were able to retain enough visual cues to our earlier packaging to protect equity but still project newness, freshness and excitement.”
According to three recent Mintel market reports, the bath, body and hair care market segments are poised for growth.
Hair Care Products
Sales in the hair care category have been slow, yet steady, rising by 12% between 2008 and 2013. Despite being a mature and competitive market, improving economic conditions, high household penetration, and the introduction of new brands and skincare-inspired benefits have helped the category stay on a positive growth path. Steady growth trends are expected to continue in the hair care category, with Mintel forecasting gains of 12% through 2018 (Shampoo, Conditioner and Hairstyling Products - US - April 2014).
Bath Products
Growth has been solid for the soap, bath and shower category, with sales increasing by 18% between 2008 and 2013 (est.). Despite the highly functional nature of these products, added skincare benefits, gender-specific products, and ease of use have encouraged spending, helping to drive category growth. Consumers have expressed high levels of interest in virtually all listed claims, suggesting growth potential for retailers and soap, bath and shower brands. However, shoppers are more likely to report willingness to spend for added skincare benefits such as long-lasting moisture, deodorizing and antiperspirant effects (Soap, Bath and Shower Products - US - March 2014).
Body Products
After sluggish growth between 2009 and 2011, the body, hand, and foot care category has experienced an uptick in sales, increasing by 9% between 2012 and 2014 to reach estimated sales of nearly $2.9 billion. The category has benefited from innovation surrounding packaging formats, growing consumer interest in therapeutic products, and a notably cold 2013-14 winter season. This category is also marked as one in which shoppers express a high interest in packaging formats. Packaging formats generate fairly high levels of interest, regardless of if shoppers have tried the format or not. While formats such as bottles and tubes are familiar to shoppers, formats that promote ease of use, convenience, and beauty benefits also generate fairly high interest, suggesting opportunities for more innovation surrounding new packaging types (Body, Hand and Footcare - US - June 2014).
