StriVectin, a leading international skin care company offering high-performance skin care solutions with the latest clinical advances, sought a packaging partner for its first foray into the hair care sector.

The company’s overall packaging mantra leans toward a clean-line, high-end image, and evokes a clinical, science-driven appeal. Similarly, packaging for StriVectin’s new hair care line needed to portray this “bold science, no nonsense” positioning to complement the company’s “smart beauty for smart women” marketing zeitgeist.

StriVectin Hair would be marketed as the company’s way of going beyond skin care to harness its breakthrough innovation—its patented NIA-114 technology—and combine it with skin care-inspired ingredients to promote healthy, youthful hair from root to tip.

Strong Partner

“In searching for a packaging partner, I immediately thought of World Wide Packaging LLC,” says Seth Barnett, technical director, package development & sourcing for StriVectin. “I had worked with the company previously, and found its approach to be innovative and collaborative, as well as reliable and consistent.”

Packaging Goals and Challenges

Specifically, StriVectin was looking for a design partner that could provide custom closures for its new line of shampoos and conditioners. The brand was seeking a custom disc-top delivery dispensing system that could remain constant throughout the line, along with packaging that had color brand SKU differentiation with clear delineation between shampoo SKUs and conditioners. The packaging also required perfect orientation to achieve the graphics goal, and needed to be completed within a tight schedule to meet retail customer demands.

Jim Farley, vice president of global business development for World Wide Packaging, was confident WWP could handle the challenge: “Our design team has deep expertise in the development of custom closures, and I knew the team would relish the prospect of designing product packaging that could espouse StriVectin’s clean lines and high-end appeal, as well as help it stand out from other upscale shampoo and conditioner retail packaging.”

Custom Requirements for Disc-top Dispensing Cap

StriVectin was very exacting concerning the requirements for its desired disc-top dispensing closure system, which WWP was charged with both designing and manufacturing. This type of dispensing system, which is achieved without removing the closure, typically requires the consumer to dispense product by opening a flip-top. In this case, however, StriVectin wanted the disc to be a flat inset on the top surface of the system that hinges or pivots, allowing product to dispense from the opposite side of the finger’s depression point. Additionally, StriVectin wanted a custom bottle/closure system comprising tailored closure rings that matched discs of the same color, with each color distinguishing a different SKU.

Creative Collaboration

The WWP design team worked closely with StriVectin to interpret its vision for the hair care line. Ultimately, a bold, striking color was chosen for each of the three franchises that would form the product line’s core:

Magenta for the Ultimate Restore Shampoo and Conditioner targeted to visually transform damaged or thinning hair with deeply nourishing formulas

Teal for the Max Volume Shampoo and Conditioner targeted to delivering weightless lift, luster and fullness while promoting strengthened strands

Coral for the Lasting Color Shampoo and Conditioner targeted to treated hair to help leave it fortified, shiny, vibrant and protected against fading and signs of over-processing

Working Through Challenges

The team faced several challenges in developing a successful customized solution

• The need for perfect orientation to achieve graphics goal
• The need to coordinate with bottle supplier Tricor Braun
• The need to coordinate building of injection molds to manufacture parts at StriVectin’s Suzhou, China facility
• The need to complete production in a tight timeframe

All of these challenges were addressed by closely coordinating the activities at both WWP and Tricor Braun. The timeline was so constricted that there was very little room for tweaking molds during the development. Both engineering teams had to get this right the first time. The result was an innovative package that was delivered on time and within budget. StriVectin credits WWP’s technical expertise and collaborative working style as pivotal to the success achieved.

“WWP was instrumental in helping to interpret the vision for the program right from the beginning,” said StriVectin’s Barnett. “Additionally, their speed to market and technical know-how were crucial in the development phase. Working in conjunction with our design team, WWP was able to provide a totally custom solution that worked seamlessly on the production floor.”

Successful Product Rollout

Retail placement of the new line of shampoos and conditioners began in mid-December and has already generated a great deal of excitement and interest among StriVectin’s customer base. The new line of products is also available online at numerous sites including Sephora.com and Ulta.com.