Packaging for Youths and Teens
More kids spend their own money for cosmetics. Packaging has to reflect their wants and needs.
By Jim Wagner EditorKids say the darnest things. "You can make popcorn without a microwave?" "What's a record?" And of course, "I'm going back-to-school shopping. Can I have $400 for makeup?"
Actually, the last request is a bit of an exaggeration. Kids don't ask for money anymore: They have their own and they aren't afraid to spend it.
Globally, the annual growth rate for youth spending is six percent according to the latest report from Reuters Business Insight, London, UK. Future spending in the US is estimated to be 7.5 percent. By the year 2003, the youth market will be an $8.025 billion business. Small wonder there has been a proliferation of products aimed at young consumers.
However, success in the youth category doesn't come from automatically adding glitter to products already on the shelf. Kids have more money, but they also have access to the internet. They are savvy shoppers with more choices than you can imagine.
"It is no longer enough to copy a trend with color and a product. Success hinges on a clever presentation, by that I mean a package with entertainment value," says Myra Solomon, principal, Just Having Fun Inc., a Brooklyn, NY private label manufacturer that specializes in teen products. "Because teens rapidly recognize 'been there, done that,' the product must be in components that are unlike anything that came before."
Solomon knows what teens like. Before starting Just Having Fun, she created the Sweet Georgia Brown cosmetics line, one of the first aimed at teens, for RH Cosmetics. At Just Having Fun, she designed the Petunia line specifically for the teen market. "Petunia cosmetics are geared toward teenagers with the understanding that they like to experiment. The teen years are times when you try on different personalities and the line is designed around the idea that kids may not know what they'll what tomorrow. For one thing, the Petunia range is allowance-friendly. If you want to know what you will look like you can try with latitude."
Just Having Fun also designs packaging for teens. "Sometimes you get a different spin with a finish or color and sometimes with the presentation," says Solomon. "For example, nine months ago I came up with pots of lipstick with the applicator in the middle. It's all about being different and supplying variety at a price that teens can afford." In terms of packaging concepts, Solomon sees softer, more playful packages ahead. "As an overall trend, the millennium started out as a much more gentle time than the 90s," she explains. "Remember how the last decade was dominated by heroin chic? Models looked anti-social. Today we see soft colors like pinks and colors in face and nail colors. There is a generalized trend toward sweeter."
Barbie Girl
Nothing personifies sweetness-or merchandising prowess-like Mattel's Barbie™. In July, Mattel extended the brand even further by launching the 25-SKU Barbie cosmetic line and a 40- SKU line of Barbie Bath and Body products in biodegradable, flexible spouted pouches.
Mattel's creative group, headed by Cynthia Rapp, vice president of creative, commissioned New York design firm Handler to come up with concepts for a unique package. Mattel also worked with its long-time partner the Cosrich Group, Bloomfield, NJ. The project was the first time Cosrich marketed a product using outside design concepts. The cosmetics feature collectible charms designed by the Cosrich Group's in-house creative department. The idea keeps within the Cosrich philosophy of high quality product with play value.
The Bath and Body line in particular depends on packaging to get the message across to young consumers that Barbie is "girl demanded and mother approved," according to Mattel. Environmentally friendly packages are supplied by Kapak, Minneapolis, MN.
Mattel's marketers believe that the cosmetic and bath and body lines will do well in stores, but this they know for certain: no line receives more brand support than Barbie. This year, Mattel will spend $100 million on print and media including themed cross-sell inserts packaged in 12 million doll boxes. Scary Spice Barbie is a soft sell. "Even when Barbie was a rocker, she never was a left-wing bad girl," observes Just For Fun's Solomon. For teens looking for a harder edge, Cover Girl, New York, NY, launched the Magic Spell limited edition line just in time for Halloween. The line consists of Crackle Lacquer in four shades and DipStick Hair Crayons also in four colors with names like CatsEye and Blue Magic.
"The Cover Girl "Magic Spell" promotion was specifically designed to grab the attention of teens with a great product that reflects the hottest trends and packaging that is fun and hip," says Cheryl Hudgins, manager, public affairs, Procter & Gamble Cosmetics.
Crackle Lacquer is packaged in bottles with a "cracked" metallic lid to communicate it's the finish and Halloween occasion. DipStick Hair Crayon is the biggest, chubbiest pencil in the Cover Girl line and requires the bigger DipStick pencil sharpener. It also has a see-through lid.
The Procter & Gamble Cosmetics Trend Team works with Product Development and outside contractors to identify and develop cosmetic products that are timely and reflect trends that the Cover Girl consumer is looking for is a cosmetic product.
The concept and package design was developed in conjunction with the Cover Girl Brand Team and the brand's advertising agency, Grey Worldwide.
Glitter, Glitter Everywhere
Glitter is the mainstay of the teen market, a fact that Limited Too knows well. Last year, the teen-targeted chain rolled out Glitter n' Go, products that use the packaging to make the products teen magnets. The concept was the personal brainchild of Melanie Dir, manager, creative marketing, Gryphon Development, New York, NY. "Glitter n' Go appeals to girls because it is new, unique and serves a dual purpose," she says. "Our girl is no longer limited to how much glitter she wants in her nail polish or lipgloss. Now, she can dress up her lips and nails depending on what kind of mood she is in."
Dir and the internal packaging group at Gryphon Development perfected the design. Topline, Wayne, NJ, executed the concept and created the tools/mold. Limited Too offers Glitter n' Go in two packages, a .47 fl. oz. nail polish and a .25 oz. lipgloss. The packages are the same dimensions as conventional cosmetics, but the caps make clever use of space according to Charles Chang, president, Topline. "The cap design is really just a simple way to bring an extra consumer benefit to nail polish and lipgloss," explains Chang. "The cap brings the products together with glitter."
The nail polish cap is molded from polypropylene. At one end of the hollow cap is a brush stem. On the other end is a cover attached with a hinge. Unscrewing the cap reveals the brush. Flipping open the cover allows glitter or crystalina in Limited Too parlance, to sprinkle out of the end. Topline supplies the caps filled and ready to run.
The lipgloss cap also is made from PP. A divider separates the lipgloss from the glitter. Removing the cap allows access to the gloss; flipping open the cover allows glitter to pour through a sifter which is press fit into the cap. "Glitter n' Go has been received extremely well by the Limited Too girl," says Dir. "Sales reports state nail as being ranked the number one best selling item in the category while lip currently still stands strong as one of the top five best sellers."
Problem-Solving Label
Limited Too also used packaging to differentiate its Glitter Glam cosmetics and toiletries. The trendy body glitter is available in a .86 oz. clear stand-up accordion-shaped tube by in five colors. Going to market in a clear stand-alone tube created one problem: how to present the ingredient label. The answer was a custom-designed label that adheres to the top, bottom and sides of the tube. Nu World, Carteret, NJ, was the private-label manufacturer responsible for Glitter Glam including the specialty packaging. The label was printed by Label Graphics, Little Falls, NJ.
The label is a laminate that provides aggressive cohesion and superior tear resistance. Printing a two-stage process. The material is delaminated and the adhesive side is imprinted with all necessary label information. The adhesive is patterned so that the label sticks to the accordion tubes along the ridges and adheres to specific areas along the top and bottom of the tube. The four-color process labels are re-assembled, printed, re-laminated and die cut before application.
Trends move so quickly in the youth and teen market, by the time packaging is developed, the trend can be in the waning stages. This presents a special challenge to package designers. "The frenzy is like nothing I've ever seen," says Solomon. "You really have to move fast. Kids are throwing their money around, so as manufacturers, we want to be their target. It takes special packages to draw their fire."