With the constant quest for innovation in the beauty industry, from packaging to formulation to environmental and CSR challenges, Beauty Packaging asked industry experts:

How do you start the innovation process?

Following are some of their responses.

Ludovic LeCaro, SVP operations & product development – Shiseido Americas

“Innovation starts with an open mind, constantly challenging the status-quo while searching for more efficiency, simplification, and ease of use for the consumer. We are always brainstorming new gestures and new delivery systems. One of the best sources of innovation comes from looking outside of the beauty industry. Some great examples to explore are automotive, food, architecture, and writing implements.” 

“Often ‘what’s old is new again’, so a big part of the innovation process involves looking back at the history and evolution of a package type and either reverting to early ways of implementation with a modern spin or improving outdated methods of execution. As we are ideating specific projects, the functionality/gesture and aesthetics go hand in hand.”

Thomas Chun, project engineer packaging innovation, HCT Group

“We start the innovation process by drawing inspiration from many different sources—we have a team of industrial and graphic designers that can create novel forms, gestures, and decorations to re-invent packaging.”

“We also draw inspiration from more industries and apply their manufacturing processes to cosmetics. Another approach for our innovation is more formula driven—unique formulas require unique packaging to optimize the consumer experience so we iteratively tweak the two until we can create the perfect combination. Functionality and usability are always top of mind for us.” 

Isaure de La Noue, sales manager, Metapack

“Innovation is a combination of several factors. It usually starts from a concept, then it is developed by our design office relying on the industrial processes of our factories. But it can also be a response to a market need which today is mainly motivated by sustainability.” 

Alexander Kwapis, executive director of product design + development, FusionPKG

“Our innovation process starts with ideas derived from a variety of different sources including inspiration from other industries, internal brainstorming, consumer feedback, user testing, customer collaborations and continuous improvement of our existing packages.”

Kevin Jean, lead, creative innovation, WWP

“Our team often looks outside of the cosmetic field for inspiration. Examples like architecture and vehicle design can spark a new and exciting idea. By co-adapting particular point of views from other industries, we often find a new user experience.”

Rhonda Wehbe, senior packaging engineer, Milk Makeup

“It always starts with asking ourselves what we are trying to achieve. At first, we were about ease, accessibility, and acceptance. We wanted to welcome all people who love expression through makeup and make it easy to use. This led to a no-fuss line and a campaign using unconventional models to push the idea that makeup is for anyone: men, women, anyone in between.”

“Now that we’ve established who we are, our focus for newness is on sustainability. For this we began by researching product lifecycles and how waste management facilities operate. We asked ourselves what happens to our products after they run out and go into the trash or the recycling bin. The insights we gained taught us which steps to take in order to make the least impact on the Earth, which brought us design, manufacturing, and even business innovations.”

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