Luxe Pack Monaco’s Feel-Good Factor

Attendees with an upbeat attitude mirrored packaging launches
full of whimsy and lightheartedness.

By Jamie Matusow, Editor

Regardless of the impact of the current world economic climate on the beauty industry, at the 22nd edition of Luxe Pack Monaco (October 21-23), it translated to a positive gathering of suppliers and attendees eager for a healthy future. While visitors were down by 8% over the previous year—at just shy of 6,000—they were highly qualified packaging professionals and, according to Luxe Pack management, “had come with concrete projects they wanted to take forward.” And there were options galore for them to choose from.

A record 330 companies traveled to set up shop at the seaside Grimaldi Center, providing a vast array of luxury packaging products for fragrance, cosmetics, personal care, wines & spirits and chocolates. Bottles, jars, cartons, bags, single doses and finishing techniques—including plastic, glass, metal, leather and wood—were all on display. In addition, a number of packaging designers presented their capabilities through recent innovations.

According to Nathalie Grosdidier, general commissioner of the show, 60 new exhibitors were accommodated this year, “due to revised floor plans and certain suppliers downsizing the space they’d held in previous years.” Grosdidier said the increase provided attendees with even greater opportunities for packaging possibilities that would attract end users. “Consumers are looking for something different,” she said. “Then they will buy.”

The majority of new vendors were companies based in Europe, particularly in Italy. However, others came from the U.S., India, Switzerland and Asia.

Jeremy Cohen, president & CEO and Joanna Sasso, VP of operations, Knoll Printing & Packaging, Inc.

Joanna Sasso, VP of operations at Knoll Printing & Packaging, which was new to the show this year, expressed great satisfaction with booth visitors. “We couldn’t have been happier,” Sasso told me. “Just about everyone we could have hoped to reach stopped by during the first day.” Knoll, which is headquartered in Syosset, NY, and maintains global sales and manufacturing offices, displayed a number of rigid boxes and folding cartons created for luxurious gift sets. The focus of its booth space was a structural column covered with hundreds of its newly created multifaceted Jewel boxes, lined with 28 different patterns and materials to illustrate the company’s decorative capabilities. And to add to the pop: Inside was an unexpected Chupa Chups lollipop, a European-created confection with the tagline “Life Less Serious,” a sentiment that, whether intentional on Knoll’s part or not, echoed not just in the multi-level halls and among the crowd, but also in much of the packaging presented.

Lighthearted Approach

Packaging designer Marc Rosen with Jamie Matusow, editor, Beauty Packaging

I spoke to internationally renowned packaging designer Marc Rosen about the trend prior to our annual tour of the show floor. It was a topic, too, that would define his Luxe Pack seminar the following day (see sidebar “Luxury Without Guilt“). “Right now,” said Rosen, “the challenge is to create packaging that makes consumers want to purchase in a recession, to make impulse purchases without feeling guilty.” They want to be given permission to purchase. One such way, he enthused, is by using a touch of humor. He cited over-the-top examples in fragrance, such as Marc Jacobs Lola, Juicy’s Couture Couture and Viktor & Rolf Eau Mega—“all of which,” said Rosen, “bring fragrance from sexy to an inside joke, a new way of getting to consumers who react with ‘I can use a laugh.’ ” Whether subliminally or outwardly, consumers will purchase if they feel good about a product.

Tactile Design

Rosen added that the key word to any purchase is “quality;” quality of the product. “The packaging,” he said, “underscores the product, because it can make the customer think ‘it looks like it’s going to do something for me.’ ” This is where tactile design comes into play, said Rosen—a package that’s so beautiful, that the consumer wants to pick it up—and if it feels good, they’ll buy. Afterward, of course, it has to perform.

The trends toward humor and tactile elements appeared repeatedly as Rosen and I surveyed many of the products on the show floor. Indeed the larger-than-life, over-the-top metallized plastic atomizer (by MBF Plastiques) that adorned the Viktor & Rolf fragrance bottle at Bormioli Luigi’s booth cried out for it to be removed from the showcase for an up-close look. Another of the Italian glass manufacturer’s creations—the four-leaf-clover-shaped bottle for Lolita Lempicka’s new fragrance—not only brought a smile, but made us want to touch the leaves for good luck. And the bottle for True, by American Eagle, was made to look high-end and inviting thanks to a spray applied to the side walls and the depth created by glimpsing the screen-printed logo through the glass.

Maria Manuela Viegas and Nick Thorne of Alcan Packaging Beauty show off some of the company’s latest innovations.

For a twist on the phrase “paint you face,” Alcan Packaging Beauty delivered the goods with its Roll’on Accord Parfait, a recently introduced foundation from L’Oréal Paris. The mini “paint roller” is based on the concept of a cylindrical sponge applicator. Envisioned by Alcan’s creative director Michel Limongi, the easy-to-use roll-on applicator was devised to cover flaws and deliver the exact amount of foundation to all areas of the face. Rolling along, marketing director Maria Manuela Viegas showed me Alcan’s Tri-ball, which makes consumers look forward to applying skin care products to delicate areas of the face—and lasts longer due to its advancement in dispensing. Press the button at the bottom and release a dose, which gets separated from the rest of the formula; then roll on for a gentle massage, without releasing additional product.

Material Combos

At Toly, marketing manager Dorien Bianco pointed out a number of innovations that make consumers want to reach out and touch. Many focused on compacts. One, with a new, patented opening system uses magnets integrated into a pushbutton, enabling the user to press a button and pop the lid. The company’s new one-touch luxury compact is sure to generate delight: When the two side buttons are pressed, a hinged mechanism smoothly opens the lid. Yet another compact featured a snap-off mirror that the customer can retain when the product has been depleted.

The towering display showcases at Inca, an Italian packaging firm, held a creative assortment of aluminum and plastics packaging for cosmetics and perfume. Alessandra De Giorgi explained that the company specializes in aluminum, which it enhances with decorative effects that call out for attention due to the vibrancy of the color and the nature of the graphics enhancements. Images such as clusters of ladybugs and bunches of balloons were particularly appealing. A range of customized lipstick cases, in metallized plastic, included a tube that resembled a flower stalk and leaves. A standout bottle at Inca was one they’d decorated for Versace, following the current, popular trend of applying metal plates and pieces to glass. In this case, the special “coin” utilized invisible glue to appear seamless with the glass.

At Pivaudran/Solev, known for its technical decorations, seamlessness was evidenced in the bottle for Guerlain’s new fragrance Idylle. A new technology enabled the firm to metallize on a selected area—in this case, on the sides of the glass, but not in the center. The top of the bottle is metallized plastic, electroplated and perfectly matched to the bottle’s metal base.

Zamac tips received lots of attention at HCT.

Metal had also been teamed with plastic for a winning combination at HCT, which holds a number of patents—and awards such as a 2009 International Package Design Award—for its innovative Zamac tips, used on a variety of tubes, tottles and click pens, for cool—and cooling—applications. Rebecca Goswell, global creative director, explained the growing demand for electroplated Zamac by premium brands.

SGD’s bottle for Ricci Ricci is illustrative of the “playful” trend in packaging.

“Even though the unit price may be higher,” she said, “the injection molding cost is lower than for plastic—and the lower minimums required make it ideal for custom launches.” HCT’s new brush for Bare Escentuals features the brand’s trademark twist-up brushes, this time with a brush head that pops off for easy washing. Continuing with its emphasis on turnkey services, HCT has also developed a range of Ecocert formulas.

Fruitful Collaborations

Materials weren’t the only successful combination at Luxe Pack Monaco. Another trend noted was the fruitful collaboration between packaging partners.

SGD offered a look at both. One standout was the new Ricci Ricci bottle for which SGD had supplied the glass, which was capped with a plastic metallized flowing pink fuchsia ribbon, just tempting the consumer to gently tug and unfurl what the brand calls its “new mischievous fragrance.” The mirrored appearance of the Narciso Rodriguez bottle will have narcissists everywhere snapping it up. One of SGD’s premier introductions at Luxe Pack surrounded its Naya range—a cosmetic jar follow-up of sorts to the launch of its Infinite Glass, the first 100% recycled and recyclable glass for perfume. For Naya, five industrial partners worked together to satisfy a common objective described as “the first industrial project integrally eco-designed for the creation of a dermo-cosmetic skin care line,” which proposed new and sustainable solutions in the cosmetic market. From raw materials to manufacturing, the eco-based design, the 100% recycled and recyclable glass and PET, the Bagasse paper (extracted from sugar cane residue), the vegetable inks and the bio skin-care cream are all validated by Ecocert. “We wanted to show what was possible,” explained Sheherazade Chamlou, vice president sales & marketing at SGD North America.

Marc Rosen and Kevin Marshall of Marc Rosen Associates (MRA) were also at the core of an innovative skin care project that brought together multiple parties—and which was unveiled to rave reviews at Luxe Pack Monaco. To showcase the development of its new glass polymer, Eastman Chemical enlisted MRA to design a collection of skin care jars that pushed the limits of the resin. Not only did MRA create five innovative jars, but four leading packaging suppliers signed on to take ownership of each of the designs.

The Luna jar, one of two designs produced by C+N Packaging—from a design by Marc Rosen Asociates—showcases Eastman Chemical’s new glass polymer.

While Alcan Packaging Beauty, C+N Packaging (two designs), CPP Global and Leidel each produced striking jars true to MRA’s designs, and that are sure to captivate consumers’ attention, the project also highlights the possibilities of the material and how its glass-like appearance offers a myriad of options that would be near impossible to achieve with glass, such as hollow interiors, thick walls and sharp edges. A range of cosmetics packaging is in the works.

The Lollipop mascara sampler from Geka Brush offers consumers the same size brush as that available in the full-size package.

MWV and Calmar continue to collaborate on joint projects that combine primary and secondary packaging, offering clients more of a “one-stop shopping” experience, with a wide variety of pumps, dispensers and cartons. New customizations and decorative options for the fragrance pump Clikit IP, which replaces traditional metal components, bring plastic to the prestige market. Snap-on and ready-assembled, it’s available in pure white, colors, patterns and even sparkles, making the pump an integral part of the
packaging.

At Ileos, a partnership between Socoplan and Geka Brush resulted in another lollipop—this one, not a candy, but the Lollipop mascara sampler created for Geka’s new molded, push-up mascara brush. The design allows consumers to test the actual product in-store without buying or having to rely on a small tester. They can simply break and twist to apply the formulation with the same-size brush offered with the full size package. Here, too, among the moss and trees of the creatively designed Ileos booth, Ludovic Anceau, CEO of the sampling division, told me he was pleased with results, that Luxe Pack Monaco, “is a very good quality show.”

Luxury Without Guilt

One of many sessions in Luxe Pack’s educational program was “Forgetting Desire—Creating the Need for Luxury,” Marc Rosen’s panel discussion at the Monaco event. The internationally acclaimed packaging designer, headquartered in NYC, started out the session by saying that while “I want it” was once a good enough reason for luxury consumers to purchase, they now pause to ask “Do I need this?” “Our job as packaging designers,” said Rosen, “is to allow them to purchase without guilt, to make need a part of the product development process and luxury a part of the consumer value.”

Guest panelists Marie-Rose Tricon (Clarins, Paris), Nick Thorne (Alcan Packaging Beauty), Janine Roxborough Bunce (Fragrance Foundation UK) and George Kress (Estée Lauder) contributed their views, all agreeing that packaging is key, because the consumer experiences the packaging prior to the product.

Tricon stressed that “in every crisis there is opportunity,” and that it’s up to the luxury brands to generate ideas and new codes of luxury, for instance by using noble or multi-sensorial materials. “A lipstick has to close like a Mercedes-Benz,” she said.

Moderator Marc Rosen (center) with panelists (L-R); Nick Thorne, Marie-Rose Tricon, Janine Roxborough Bunce and George Kress.

Thorne said Alcan has been successful in taking the consumer experience to heart, working with consumers to discern precisely what they want in packaging, from an applicator to a foundation. “When they get results,” said Thorne, “they’ll say ‘I want it, I need it’ and they’ll purchase again.”

“When times get tough, the sophisticated go back to nature,” observed Bunce, who believes that luxury consumers want “less visual” luxury, and more of a health and well-being “save the planet” motive in order to purchase without guilt.

Kress agreed that “quiet elegance and luxury” is now the trend, citing examples such as Lola, Natori and Idylle fragrances and TurboLash mascara. “Everyone wants a good value,” said Kress, who echoed Rosen’s sentiments in closing: “The price is what you pay, but the value is in the experience.”