Features

HBA Global Expo Recap

August 29, 2011

By: Jamie Matusow

Editor-in-Chief

HBA Global Expo Recap

The event’s move to mid-year didn’t deter booth traffic and interest.

The beauty industry adapts to change very well. When consumers began demanding eco-friendly products and packaging, brands and suppliers researched and developed ingredients and materials to meet the need, and they’ve done it without sacrificing style or substance. When the global economy took a nosedive, brand owners paid attention, and offered products tailored to the price-conscious consumer. And when the beauty packaging industry changed the timing of its biggest event of the year—the HBA Global Expo & Conference—suppliers not only took the change in stride, they thrived.

This year, HBA Global Expo was held June 28-30, at the Jacob K. Javits Center in New York City. In recent years, the event had been held in September. But despite the change, exhibitors by and large reported a successful show, with lots of booth traffic and interest.

The event drew nearly 16,000 attendees and, based on the numbers, the key decision makers were on hand. HBA’s detailed audience analysis showed a17% increase in brand manager titles in attendance, a 15% increase in product development/management titles, and a 12% increase in CEO/owner/corporate management titles.

HBA Global 2011 also saw a 17% increase in attendees who worked for either a marketer, manufacturer, or distributor of cosmetics, fragrance and personal care products as well as an uptick in retailers and wholesalers attending the show. In addition, HBA Global found that these qualified attendees are starting to invest again in new innovations and product development resources. According to HBA, the event drew a 10% increase in those able to approve or recommend suppliers seen at the show, and a 3% increase in attendees who have a budget of $500,000 or more to spend on HBA products and services.

Key Communication

This year’s HBA Global kicked off with a keynote address by Dan Brestle, the long-time Estée Lauder executive and chairman of the board of directors of the Personal Care Products Council. Brestle paid tribute to the industry’s founding icons, as he discussed the challenges they faced and overcame. He also emphasized some of the complexities of today’s market, including government regulations and, in particular, digital communications.

Speaking of digital communications, this year a new feature at HBA emerged which proved to be a big hit. At the Social Spot, HBA conducted its first “Tweetup,” and hosted the well-attended beauty blogger “Meet and Greet.” This was a place for the many industry professionals who use Facebook, Twitter and other social media outlets to get together for some “real life” networking. The spot featured a large video monitor highlighting the HBA Twitter feed.

On the show floor, the aisles were filled with activity as Mintel hosted the “Down to Earth” Zone where attendees discovered and tested new products from around the world. And the return of the Trend Spot theater featured popular hands-on makeup demonstrations and beauty trends. The Trends Pavilion was another popular spot. Here, attendees were able to get a first-hand view of some of the latest primary and secondary packaging innovations from a wide range of suppliers.

In order to get a deeper sense of the latest packaging trends and innovations, Beauty Packaging editors walked the show floor, visiting exhibitors’ booths and getting the details from company representatives.

One-Stop Shopping

Some suppliers, longtime specialists of producing certain products or components, used the show to emphasize that they should be thought of for more than just one product.

At the Diamond Wipes booth, representatives were eager to discuss the company’s latest product offerings that complement its broad range of wipes. The private label, contract manufacturer now offers customers sample fillers, single sachets, canisters, tubs, refill pouches, jars, zipper bags and more. These products were on display at the booth along with the signature wipes.

An HBA Education

By Sanam Foroughi

The conference portion of HBA offered sessions ranging from marketing innovations to new retail distribution outlets and tips on creating a successful beauty brand. Beauty Packaging was on hand, and keyed in on the packaging-focused sessions.

The Potential of Packaging

Your packaging does half the work of marketing for manufacturers; it attracts the eye of the consumer on the shelf, reinforces your brand image, and lets your customers know exactly what makes your brand special. Designers, branding and packaging professionals discussed how to make sure that it also reflects brand image, providing tips on marketing and design at every level.

Marcus Hewitt, chief creative officer at Dragon Rouge, places design at the center of all product strategy. He stressed how “signature packaging creates powerful brands,” and provided details that transcend packaging to make marketing an emotional experience. “While powerful graphics are a must, it is important to incite touch by provoking the senses. How the package feels is crucial as it is a sensation that lingers. But never ignore the structure of the package,” Hewitt said.

India’s Beauty Market

India is one of the world’s most vital emerging markets, offering huge and exciting opportunities for cosmetics and personal care companies that take the time to do their research.

Christian Bardin, president of CBA Beauty Associates, started off by presenting the key advantages of the Indian market. “Unlike other international growing economies such as China, Brazil and Russia, India is an open market space with almost all business and administrative transactions dealt in English,” Bardin said. India is also a young country, he added, with 75% of the population being under the age of 35. “With an upper class population of 60 million, a middle class of 350 million and an aspiring middle class of 300 million, Indian consumers are accustomed to high personal service.”

As an immensely value driven market, customers strive for affordable, long lasting and smaller more flexible packaging. As a result, there is widespread use of sachets, as package sizes must address the limited budget and storage constraints of the Indian consumer. Bardin stressed that it is also important to bear in mind that living conditions are subject to extreme heat and moisture.

Sustainable Packaging

During a sustainable packaging session, new green initiatives were provided. In order to keep ahead of the curve, Mintel presented attendees with leading trends data to show the latest updates in green and sustainable cosmetics and packaging around the globe. The Shelton Group also offered a close investigation into what consumers really think about green, sustainability and packaging in personal care products.

About 50% of the Shelton Group’s consumers do not believe in global warming. Adam Kustin, vice president of Shelton Group, stated, “Consumers don’t go green to save the planet, so it is vital to understand that the consumer market is not monolithic and that it’s not one size fits all.”

Today’s Prestige Market

The past few years have been a roller-coaster ride for the prestige health and beauty market. This session was designed to offer a clear look at where the prestige market stands today, and included market data from the past few years and key perspectives from prestige brands and retailers.

Howard Kreitzman, vice president of cosmetics & fragrance at Bloomingdales, provided an insider’s viewpoint into the ups and downs of the prestige market. After September 2008, the prestige market plummeted. Critical treatment products were the only cosmetics being purchased, while peripheral products completely shut down, he said. “As a result, this gave birth to niche markets and alternative products and solutions. This phenomenon fueled the organic and green movement, leaving prestige behind until early 2010,” Kreitzman said.

Aspirational consumers are the main reason why the prestige market has bounced back since last year. Kreitzman had anticipated that “consumers would come back for luxury” as shoppers started demanding value from prestige brands and there was a strong movement in brand invention and reinvention.” Packaging was encouraged to be traditional and iconic but fresh at the same time. Establishing and maintaining brand loyalty is a key factor for prestige markets to thrive in today’s market. “Think about a brand that you like. You like it because it says a lot about who you are or what you’d like to achieve,” said Kreitzman. “Most luxury purchases are design driven and we should expect the prestige market to stay on top of their game in the coming years.”

Spotting Trends for 2012

HBA’s final session for 2011 was designed to make sure you’re ready to jump into planning for 2012. The session included a comprehensive beauty prediction from the Doneger Group and a close look at color from Pantone, as well as trend-spotting tutorials with Trendincite that were designed to keep attendees ahead of the curve.

Jamie Ross, creative director of The Doneger Group, anticipates architectural designs to become popular, with silver and aluminum geometric shapes that play on futurism and androgyny. With recent fashion and entertainment heading toward film-noir visual styles, body art is a hot topic, she said. “As a result, there is increasing focus on the nail care market, with art-deco effects on long nails with an emphasis on texture.”

On the other hand, there is growing demand for organic beauty. Laurie Pressman, executive director of Pantone Color Institute expects a “Rurban Revolution” to take place with a growth in smaller-scale, artisan styles and packaging designed to minimize waste. The color green itself is set to be a trendy shade for 2012, combined with matte effects designed to promote a natural look, Pressman said.

Express Tubes is another exhibitor that showcased its expanded portfolio. Since 2003, cosmetic and personal care customers have relied on Express Tubes for low minimums and quick lead times on tubes—and now they can come to them for packaging solutions that extend well beyond the tube. The firm has expanded its roster to include PET and HDPE bottles, jars, airless pumps, aluminum cans, shrink sleeves and more.

Nail polish bottles remained in demand as ever at the Arrowpak/Baralan booth, where Jim Slowey showed Beauty Packaging how extra glass at the bottom of one range provided a weightier, more beautiful look. But Slowey also emphasized the new Classic line of fragrance bottles with flush fitting caps, which, he said, had received a lot of attention at the show. “There’s been a lot of interest at HBA in nail polish and skin care,” Slowey said, adding, “prestige skin care is coming back.”

Integrated among many “more serious” offerings, cutesy packaging stole the show at Seacliff Beauty Packaging & Laboratories, where company president Vonda Simon told Beauty Packaging, “The masstige market is interested in fun stuff.” For instance, to meet such demand, Seacliff has created stock molds for a variety of categories, including lipgloss and nail polish, with fruity tops in the shapes of apples, peaches and tomatoes. Simon said they can turn around molds in 30 days; all manufacturing is done in Korea.

In addition to its popular Crystal Round apothecary-looking range of bottles that look like glass (for more info see Beauty Packaging, July/August 2011), PKG Group, LLC, offered a wide variety of solutions for everything from compacts to serums. One innovative tool featured a unique delivery system for a targeted application, in which the user can tap a formulation directly onto the scalp.

Package Decoration

Avery Dennison featured its Fasson Curvy film labels at HBA. These labels combine a wraparound look with the shelf appeal of pressure-sensitive graphics, creating opportunities for a whole new range of bottle shapes and sizes. Curvy allows up to 30% more space for primary labeling than flat surfaces, and because it reduces the need for two-ply label constructions, the labels enable larger back panels to carry more product or multi-language information.

Label printer Overnight Labels showcased its shrink sleeve products, as well as neck bands and multi-packs. The company says its shrink sleeves are a perfect fit for uniquely shaped bottles and containers, while also offering a combination of form and functional advantages.

Packaging materials can be as appealing as the products they protect. The GreenWrap line of shipping materials featured by Geami provides two layers of protection, and is designed to reduce crushing, denting, scratching and breakage for cosmetics, health and beauty products. The outer honeycomb layer comes in natural and white. The inner tissue is available in bright colors and can be printed with logos or other branding graphics.

At HBA, Americhem offered free 24-hour turnaround on color matches designed at the company’s booth. With access to the latest version of the company’s web-based vDesign color and property matching software, booth visitors were invited to bring in a color standard for a starting point on the design or take advantage of the other color tools within vDesign to create an entirely new color.

Special Deliveries

Yorker Packaging featured the VariBlend dual-dispensing system, allowing for custom blending of two formulas. Based on the technology of variable ratio dispensing, VariBlend allows consumers to create a personalized formula by turning a dial. The dual-dispensing system is designed for use in cosmetic, skin care or personal care bottles (for more info see Beauty Packaging, July/August 2011).

Lumson featured its TAG System, a glass cosmetic packaging product. TAG, which stands for Techno Airless Glass, combines the luxury of a glass bottle with the technical and functional advantages of an airless dispensing system. It is 100% recyclable, repeatedly, and suffers no loss in quality, as glass is an eco-material. Different shapes and designs can be developed to fit customer needs.

Lablabo showcased its newly launched EasyFoil aluminum foil pouch for its Brio line of airless dispensers. The aluminum provides multilayer protection for the most sensitive of formulations, and provides an ideal barrier against oxygen and UV. The company’s Brio line features a self-sealing lockable actuator, adaptable pump dosage, and is suitable for the highest viscosities down to liquids. Brio decoration options include offset, screening, hot stamping, coloring and metallization.

Pump It Up

Global One-Pak, a UK-based provider of plastic packaging components, used HBA to launch its new Puro lotion pump in the U.S. Puro features a crystal clear actuator with an anti-contamination external pump spring to ensure fragrance and lotions remain pure and untainted. The sleek, innovative design can be custom made for a brand’s specific requirements. The plated aluminum finish can be extended with an array of metallized colors and finishes, and colors can be matched to exact Pantone colors.

Single Dosing

At HBA, Ampac exhibited the Butterfly Pack, a uni-dose package manufactured from two high-barrier films—a web and a semi-rigid forming web. It is created in a sachet format with single-format dispensing. To dispense, hold the pack with one hand and push towards the middle to fold the edges to open. It offers complete folding with fingers to dispose the entire contents. The pack features accurate product dosing by eliminating product overfill and offers controlled dispensing by avoiding accidental spills.

Padtech has developed and patented a single use, packaging system for actives including liquids, creams, lotions, gels, ointments and powder. Its technology enables application of these actives directly onto a surface in a “hands-free” manner. The pad is comprised of multiple layers of materials, allowing for an area for the user’s fingers to be fully protected in a pocket, a storage layer that allows the active to be filled and stored, a custom layer that comes in contact with the surface and a top sealing layer that allows for the complete protection during shipment.

Unicep unveiled two new products at HBA. The first, MicroDose, is a plastic, single-use vial that combines the convenience and accuracy of a syringe with the simplicity of a tube, and the disposability of a vial or ampoule. MicroDose units are manufactured and filled using proprietary modified blow-fill-seal technology. The dainty packaging is perfect for skin care creams, lotion and serums. The MicroDose design features a distinctive angled and tapered dispensing nozzle, inspired by a shape common to many dental instruments.

It’s All in the Application

Lou Della Pesca, president of 3C, Inc., told Beauty Packaging about two areas of interest that had been strong at their booth: square bottles and pens. 3C now offers applicator pens with 16 different heads, with uses ranging from lipgloss to shoeshine. He commented: “If it works in a container, we make a head for it.”

Green Scene

“We’re the only company left in New York City still making cartons,” stated Ares Printing and Packaging’s Jack Dub. Dub extolled the virtues of the 38 year-old company’s environmentally sustainable practices. “We’re FSC certified, and we use 100% co-generated electricity. We also exclusively use soy inks, and are alcohol- and solvent-free,” Dub said.

Ares, which recently opened a new plant in College Point, Queens, has two of the largest sheetfed printing presses in New York State, and also has the only E-flute and B-flute manufacturing and laminating facility in New York, according to Dub. In addition to E-flute and B-Flute cartons, the company also specializes in paperboard folding cartons, POP displays, fluted liners and more.

At Xela Pack, Anthony Gentile revealed that while their sample packs are made of recycled materials, they are not currently recyclable due to the laminate. However, things may soon change as Gentile said they are working on a new project for packaging that’s recyclable. He also commented that they had “had lots of good, high-quality leads at the show.”

The VIP Experience

Another highlight of HBA Global was a 13% increase in VIP participants.The HBA VIP Program provides buying teams from major brands and niche players with specialized, on-site amenities to enhance their HBA experience. The program featured a business lounge with private meeting rooms and an area to relax away from the show floor.

In 2012…

A priority for HBA Global in 2012 is to bring even more qualified buyers to the event. “We are setting up focus groups, listening to what brands want from the event and communicating with industry suppliers to make sure that we continue to provide the best forum and real value for everyone involved in the beauty and personal care industry,” said Jill Birkett, brand director, Beauty & Wellness, UBM Live, the event’s management company.

The 20th Annual HBA Global Expo & Conference will take place June 19-21, 2012, at the Javits Center. For more information, visit www.hbaexpo.com.

Some Highlights from HBA Global 2011