Lucky Tiger’s current gift set tin was inspired by the brand’s original 1930s packaging.

Ready, Sets, Go

Brand owners are responding to consumer desires and a challenging retail marketplace with a flurry of innovative gift set packages.

By Leah Genuario, Contributing Editor

For anyone keeping up with current events, it’sno surprise that market research companies are predicting glib holiday sales for 2008. Overall holiday sales—not including automobiles and gas—are expected to rise a scant 2.5-3.0% during the November-to-January time period, according to New York-based Deloitte LLP.
  
How do beauty product sales specifically fare during the holidays? In 2007, personal care and beauty item expenditures dropped 3.2% compared with 2006 figures, grabbing 23.9% of the holiday expenditure market as compared to 27.1% the year prior, according to Packaged Facts’ October 2008 report on Holiday Spending in the U.S.: Spending on Gifts and Charity.
  
While this data isn’t all merry, brand marketers must still persevere, offering the latest holiday gift sets to dazzle the eyes and excite the senses. The Christmas season has traditionally been the most popular time to purchase gift sets, says John Dudlak, president of Chicago Paper Tube & Can Company, Chicago, IL, followed by Mother’s Day and Valentine’s Day. And so, the show must go on, despite the ho-ho-hum economy.
  

The Dermal Renu brand offers an anti-aging system housed in a paperboard container.

Offering advice to retailers, which is equally applicable to brand owners, Deloitte’s U.S. Retail Leader Stacy Janiak says, “Consumers are in a cost-conscious mood and more focused on value than ever before. Retailers that can offer unique value propositions—in terms of price, customer service, loyalty programs, or some other means—will be best positioned to attract the consumer’s attention.”
  
Gift sets have an advantage to single products, some argue, because by their very nature, they offer the added value that today’s consumers are craving. “I think the economy will just drive more sales in the gift set arena, based on the added value and usually lower price tag,” comments Glyn Eppy, president of The Design Spot in New York City.
  
The convenience of having multiple, complementary products in one set is an attractive proposition for savvy shoppers. Referring to multi-purpose gift packaging, “Our sales have gone up in that category. It’s also the convenience factor, having everything you need in one kit. Women like one convenient kit with everything they need,” says Serena Eng, vice president of marketing for Topline in Wayne, NJ.
  
Aside from the value gift sets bring via their inherent nature, brand marketers still must differentiate their products on the shelf from other sets. Innovative packaging in today’s business
climate is a must as it can be the deciding factor between whether or not a consumer feels like
he or she is getting a good deal.
  
“With the economy down, it is even more important for our clients’ products to stand out on the shelf, so that they are the brand the consumer chooses. In many cases, the packaging or the gift is seen as an added value and drives the sale,” says Dishanya Weerasinha, marketing executive for MaCher, Venice, CA. “The packaging has to be that much more innovative and eye-catching, to beat out the competition in the marketplace.”
  
Competition is fierce this year and an appropriately packaged gift set remains more important than ever.

Innovation Is King

“The story is the same old story. Everyone is looking for something new. That’s the one constant all the time,” comments Dudlak of Chicago Paper Tube & Can Company. “Some type of new handle, see-through top, new color… what’s going to make the package a little different?” Every brand’s search for something different this year has resulted in a few trends.
  

Tarte’s trés cheek holiday set is housed in a vintage-inspired, reusable gold and purple pouch.

Samuel Herzog, executive vice president of Noble Gift Packaging, Cedar Grove, NJ, has noted “one specific shift in packaging to more hot colors like purple, black and silver.” He’s also seen beauty brands leveraging spot flocking, hot stamped company logos, and other innovative ways to convey brand images.
  
Another trend has emerged regarding gift set constructions this holiday season, notes
Scott Kestenbaum, senior account manager-principal of Zorbit Resources, New York City. “Compared to last year’s holiday, I’m noticing more customers pushing the envelope in terms of shape and construction; more involved and complex constructions. Last  year, people used simpler constructions and invested more in decorations. This year, the decoration aspect has been toned down.”
  
One example of construction innovation is Viktor & Rolf’s Flowerbomb Holiday 2008 three-tier dancing box set, a packaging masterpiece that includes five products, and retails for $180
at Saks Fifth Avenue stores.
  
Borrowing inspiration from the Viktor & Rolf spring/summer 2008 fashion collection, the pink, harlequin pattern pays homage to the brand image, as do V&R wax seals. The paperboard boxes that comprise the three-tiered set are wrapped in litho, and feature matching color and spot pearl varnish for extra dazzle.
  
The “animated quality” gives the set interesting perspectives from all angles, according to a L’Oréal spokesperson. The whimsical centerpiece has three compartments, which showcase the product in a unique manner. L’Oréal says the three compartments are held together with “strategically angled and placed wrapped paperboard wedges glued in between each of
the boxes.”

Increased Use of Paperboard

Viktor & Rolf is not the only brand this season to utilize paperboard—which has seen tremendous growth in recent years.
  
“We used to do a lot more fabric boxes, but now we are moving toward paperboard boxes,” says Kestenbaum, adding that environmental concerns and costs are driving the switch.
  
Eng of Topline has also seen a move toward paperboard. “That trend is because of the environmentally friendly concerns,” she adds, but says that paperboard is not without its disadvantages. “It’s very manual and the price is relatively expensive versus plastic. That’s a problem a lot of brands have with paperboard.”
  
Despite this, paperboard is popping up everywhere in recent years, from luxury, to boutique to mass applications.
  
The Dermal Renu brand, owned by Wellness Formulations, LLC, recently teamed with Chicago Paper Tube & Can Company to release its five-piece, anti-aging system, housed in a 100% paperboard gift set container. The upscale container, intended for sale year-round, was chosen because it’s recyclable and biodegradable.
  
Designed by LPK Beauty, Cincinnati, OH, the package “is a show stopper,” says Anthony Cicini, vice president of Wellness Formulations, LLC. The outer package features a “clean, sophisticated look, but it is very simple, just like the system is simple to use.”
  
Nivea for Men is getting into the holiday spirit with a cleverly decorated Head to Toe Holiday Kit. The paperboard outer package is printed with Nivea for Men’s signature blue color and features crisp likenesses of the products—full size Extreme Comfort Shaving Gel, Extreme Comfort Post Shave Balm, Energy Body Wash and Energizing Face Scrub.

Reusable Containers

Another trend to emerge in the world of gift sets is the use of reusable gift set containers.
  
“Packaging is becoming more reusable, which is great for the environment, but also great for brands that can capitalize on this by producing functional, stylish items that become permanent brand reminders in homes,” says Weerasinha of MaCher.
  
Brand owner tarte recently released its line of holiday sets and new lipsticks. Among its offering is its trés cheek holiday set, a charming three-piece assortment of limited-edition mini cheek stains housed in a vintage-inspired, gold and purple pouch.
  
“It truly reflects the holiday season with gold accents, but keeps to tarte’s fashion heritage with a purple base,” comments Candace Craig, public relations and marketing manager for the brand.
  
The tarte brand is smitten with reusable accessories. “We like to think of tarte as being health couture—the marriage between health and nature. All tarte products and packaging are reusable accessories—whether it doubles as a clutch or business card case, we want to give our customers more than just makeup. It’s about the tarte lifestyle,” adds Craig.
  
At Last Naturals, Inc. has also provided its customers with a lasting keepsake for its everyday gift set. The company offers a four-piece Lucky Tiger Essential Grooming Kit for men, featuring four full-sized Lucky Tiger products in a vintage-inspired metal tin, supplied by Tin Scapes LLC in Chicago, IL.
  
The graphics on the tin and corresponding bottle hold particular brand value as they are a replica of the original 1930s gallon tin that Lucky Tiger Shampoo was sold in. “The vintage look speaks to Lucky Tiger’s true heritage as the classic American men’s grooming brand,” says Stacey Rosen, president of At Last Naturals, Inc. The lady and the tiger featured in the graphics “were icons back in the day,” comments Rosen.

Environmentally Appealing

Reusable containers aside, many beauty brands are searching for other ways to offer stunning, environmentally friendly packages.
  
“This season’s holiday buzz seems to be about ‘green’; not the ‘evergreen’ of seasons past, but the less-is-more-kind-of-green—eco-friendly, wind-powered, sustainable packaging,” says Eppy. “This season, eco-friendly or recycled packaging is taking front and center stage.

And in terms of staying environmentally friendly, there is the use of less packaging,
especially plastic.”
  
“People seem to be looking for more and more environmental choices. They are looking for greener product, recycled content; they are looking for a natural look. If there is one thing significantly different this year, I would say that would be it,” says Dudlak.
  
“Most beauty product packagers simply can’t afford not to consider going green,” states Herzog of Noble Gift Packaging.
  
To meet this growing demand for eco-friendly packaging, Noble Gift Packaging has recently released an eco-friendly packaging catalog highlighting its 1190-item ZeroTree collection. The company’s ZeroTree collection “offers stylish, yet eco-friendly bags and packaging items that are made from a variety of environmentally sound materials,” notes Herzog.
  
Aside from good stewardship, moving toward environmentally friendly packaging may make good business sense as well. The Deloitte retail study suggests that retailers who “take advantage of innovative marketing concepts,” such as “green,” may help “expand a retailer’s customer base.” If it’s true for retailers, perhaps it holds true for beauty brand owners as well.