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Cover Story: Knowing the Consumer Is Part of the Package

There is little (if any) doubt that P&G is a beauty marketplace success. But how has that success come about?

Product innovation certainly has had much to do with it. Recent personal care introductions, such as CrestSpinbrush—available in 30 markets and commanding a 50% volume share of the U.S. battery-powered brush category, according to P&G's Web site—show the company's dedication to product development. It is a continuing commitment that, since P&G's start in 1837, has yielded such innovations as the first fluoride toothpaste, Crest, in 1955, and Pert Plus, shampoo and conditioner together in one bottle, in 1986.

Creating new brands has been instrumental to P&G's success. "Branding is part of P&G's DNA," P&G CEO A. G. Lafley told shareholders on October 8, 2002. The bevy of widely recognized names—Head & Shoulders, Ivory, Max Factor, and Secret, to name a few—attest to P&G's skill at developing brands that consumers identify with and come back to. "P&G has an amazing ability to build global brands that are regionally relevant," adds Amy Brusselback, a P&G design team leader.

But new products and new brands are not solely responsible for P&G's place in the beauty industry. In fact, much of P&G Beauty's success stems from its consumer-centric approach to package design. Through market research, home visits, consumer interviews, and other such means, P&G comes to understand its customers worldwide and thus delivers products in packages that meet their wants and needs.

"We talk with consumers and meet with them in their homes on a geography-by-geography basis to ensure our brands [translate] globally," says P&G's Rich Baginski, associate director, global packaging and device development for beauty care.

This allows P&G to "focus on delighting consumers at the two moments of truth—when they buy a product and when they use it," adds Emily Kokenge, associate director of design, innovation, and strategy for P&G. "Package design plays a big role in both of these moments."

To demonstrate this focus on the consumer, we've looked at some of P&G Beauty's recent moments in package design and now bring these details to you.

Redesigning Pantene ProV

P&G decided to repackage Pantene ProV about two years ago. While it had become P&G's third-largest brand, not to mention the number one hair-care brand in the world, there were some problems. Market research and talks with customers revealed them.

For one thing, consumers weren't getting the cues they needed to make the best selection at the retail shelf. Pantene ProV shampoos targeted consumers with normal, dry, or oily hair. "Our customers were misdiagnosing their hair needs and mispurchasing as a result," says Kokenge.

In addition, "Pantene ProV's brand identity was no longer as strong as the brand itself," says Kokenge. "The packaging was a little stale, somewhat dated." Also, consumers indicated that ProV, Pantene's unique vitamin ingredient, was a benefit not sufficiently communicated through the packaging. "One customer told us, 'Lots of brands have vitamins, but only Pantene has ProV,' " says Kokenge.

Consequently, P&G embarked on a major redesign. It decided that Pantene ProV would no longer target consumers with normal, dry, or oily hair. Instead, the shampoos and styling aids would be recast in collections built around a desired style, such as curly or straight. Packaging would be updated to communicate the new marketing strategy and better convey ProV's benefits.

First, the Pantene ProV brand initiative team had to decide what aspects of the design, if any, it would keep. Consumer data showed the brand's signature pearl-white color had considerable equity. The color stayed.

Next came the changes. Giving the packages the look of a collection was critical. "Our goal was to consolidate to one shape equity while maintaining the elegance of the brand," says Bill Winkler, associate director of hair-care package development for P&G. To accomplish this, "we came up with a sculpted shape and used coinjected parts," says Winkler. A common closure style helped further unify the brand.

The brand initiative team also chose a different package type for each kind of product. Packaging shampoo in bottles and conditioner in tottles, for example, was intended to make product selection more intuitive for the customer. In fact, says Kokenge, "Pantene ProV invented the category of packaging that [markets] conditioner upside-down." Tottles, Kokenge says, make conditioners, which are typically more viscous than shampoos, easier to use because the formulations are always primed and ready to flow out.

Finally, Pantene ProV's logo got a makeover. To communicate the importance of Pantene's ProV vitamin ingredient to consumers, "we created a brand icon around ProV" with high-gloss sheen and matte-finished metallics, says Kokenge. "The intertwined monogram is comparable to Yves Saint Laurent's YSL or Chanel's double C's," she says. "It's iconic. It exploits the brand's identity, [ensuring] a long life for the products."

A number of packaging suppliers helped P&G realize its vision for the relaunch. Seaquist Closures (Mukwonago, WI), a global supplier of mono- and biinjected polypropylene closures, collaborated in the technical design of the closure and provided the custom closures. Zeller Plastik (Libertyville, IL), a Crown Cork & Seal Co., played a key role as the start-up supplier for the custom biinjected oval snap-on closure for the shampoo and conditioner. "Producing the closure entailed the qualification of multiple complex biinjection molding machines and presses," says Steve Nelson, Zeller Plastik's vice president and general manager. Zeller Plastik also provided its standard 2-in.-diam tube closure with a 22-400-neck finish for the hair gel. SeaquistPerfect Dispensing (Cary, IL) provided spray pumps and aerosol valves for the styling products. Alpla supplied custom bottles and played an important role in their early design qualification.  

Outlasting Convenience

For Cover Girl Outlast lipstick to have staying power in the beauty marketplace, P&G knew it needed to offer more than long-lasting color. It had to be convenient to use—something cosmetics shoppers today simply expect.

"The customer we sell to is extremely discerning," says Elizabeth Olson, P&G's director of design, beauty care. "She holds us to some really high standards. She assumes that the functionality of the package is there. She's seeking a complete experience."

To ensure Outlast's packaging would deliver that experience, P&G relied on the expertise of its packaging development team. The group produced two injection-molded cobalt-blue tubes: one tube with an applicator wand for the color formulation, another tube for the lip color's accompanying clear topcoat.

"We found that consumers like the slim-line design for the topcoat," says Rich Baginski. The case's sleek profile enabled users to apply the topcoat to their lips anywhere, anytime, without looking. P&G realized that nothing could be more convenient for Outlast users than not needing a mirror for repeated application throughout the day.

The technical team also made Outlast easy to grip. "We determined the length of the product's handle based on the ergonomics of application to the lips," says Baginski. "The diameter of the cases is also what it is because of ergonomics." Additionally, a proprietary combination of materials gave the lipstick cases "a comfortable feel, a nice softness," he says.

Outlast's convenience-enhancing internal features are "intense engineering at work," Baginski adds. An interior component "serves as a wiper, monitoring the amount of product on the applicator at each use," Baginski says. And users need not worry about the formulation drying out. P&G's packaging developers eliminated the potential for such an occurrence by designing high-performance seals that protect the product from air and other contaminants. "We also did the right kind of science to make packages that protect the formula from UV light, preventing the product from drying out and preserving its color," he says.

Finally, convenience was also a major factor in creating Outlast's secondary packaging. P&G wanted the long-lasting lip colors to be as easy to shop for as they are to use. "Windows in the [metallic silver and blue] cartons allow consumers to see the colors of the formulations on the shelf at the first moment of truth," Baginski says.

By focusing on "the first moment of truth—at the shelf—and the second moment of truth —in-home use—we produce great package designs that meet consumers' needs," adds
Bill Winkler.  

Choices Abound—New Secret Is Out

P&G had its consumers on the brain when it decided to contemporize antiperspirant brand Secret about a year ago. The company, in part, wanted to be sure customers understood all the options that Secret had to offer them.

"We wanted to make clear to consumers the choices they have," says Phil Duncan, managing director of Landor Associates (San Francisco), a design firm that works with P&G on Secret and other body-care brands, such as Safeguard. "Secret offers several subbrands with specific benefits, like Sheer Dry and Platinum Protection," says Duncan, "and we needed to differentiate them on the retail shelf."

To achieve this, emphasis in package design was placed on textures, Duncan says. The label for Platinum Protection, for example, has a metallic-looking finish. The metallic accents communicate the brand's high-tech benefits: the "strongest form of wetness protection available without a prescription" according to www.secret.com.

But P&G also "wanted the brand overall to hang together," explains Duncan. By relying on blue—Secret's signature color—with a few adjustments, P&G and Landor were able to achieve just such a unified look. "We kept Secret's blue hue but softened it for a more-feminine expression of the brand," Duncan says.

Line extensions launched in 2002 also give users of the antiperspirant brand more options. Secret Platinum Protection Clear Gel comes in such fragrances as Mystic Rain, Ocean Breeze, and Glacier Mist. The see-through canister-stick-style packages reveal the clear formula and the inner workings of the package to shoppers at the first moment of truth. The 1.7- and 2.7-oz packages are made of polypropylene and high-density polyethylene.

Olay Gets a Face-Lift

Being a skin-care brand in today's competitive marketplace means always giving your customers the latest, greatest technology, according to P&G design team leader and former Olay global identity director, Amy Brusselback. In this regard, "Olay is ahead of the curve; it's leading the competition rather than reacting to it," she says.

Taking this approach, P&G recently restyled and expanded Olay—a familiar mass-market name that now stands without its "Oil of" moniker. With the relaunch, P&G wanted not only to deliver the latest in technology, but also to present that technology in the context of complete skin-care programs. "The Olay brand believes in the coordination of a total experience for the user," Brusselback explains.

Enter Daily Facials, Total Effects, and Ohm, each targeting shoppers desiring a specific skin-care experience. For example, Daily Facials cleansing cloths are designed to give consumers a salon-type facial at home. The Total Effects product line, from moisturizers to cuticle treatment, is targeted at women combating the signs of aging. And Ohm body washes and beauty bars are geared toward the consumer who wants a cleansing experience that also stimulates the senses.

The packaging development team was charged with delivering these messages to the Olay consumer.

For Daily Facials, the package design needed to communicate the luxury and the indulgence associated with the spa or salon experience. So P&G designed "a container with a finish that feels like cut glass," says Brusselback. The idea was that the user would display the package on a bathroom countertop or vanity.

To make the design a reality, P&G enlisted the help of Precise Technology Inc. (North Versailles, PA). Precise Technology produced the box, which comprises a reusable, hinged outer container and an interior refill unit. "The outer container has a high cosmetic value," says Ray Veno, vice president of technology for Precise Technology. "Using clarified polypropylene allowed us to make the box clear in some places [i.e., on a portion of the top and bottom] and frosted in others [i.e., on the top and the sides]. It has the appearance of a jewel box." Product information is provided on a four-sided carton that slides over the box.

The packaging for the antiaging Total Effects line had to be high-tech. A prestige look, P&G decided, was the way to say it. As such, the packages are delicate and sleek. The brand's key colors—black, gold, and white—reinforce the deluxe image. The secondary packages have, in addition to die-cut windows for product visibility, "a mica finish that's unusual in the mass beauty market, very sophisticated," says Brusselback.

Among the 2002 launches in the Total Effects line is Intensive Restoration Treatment. The product, which contains Olay's proprietary complex of Pro-Retinol and VitaNiacin, comes in 30- and 40-ml multilayer coextruded tubes supplied by Tubed Products Inc. (Easthampton, MA). Decoration on the tubes consists of two-color silk-screen printing and hot-foil stamping.

Finally, Ohm by Olay, a 2002 launch, required an overall package design that could convey the products' sense-stimulating benefits. "We used shape and materials to make the experience [of Ohm] evident to consumers seeing the brand on the retail shelf," says P&G's Elizabeth Olson.

Clear bottles, tottles, and tubes composed of low-density polyethylene, high-density polyethylene, and PET are among the packages that reveal Ohm's colorful formulations. Such product visibility at the retail shelf gives Ohm its "very tactile aspect," says Olson. For instance, the grains in Ohm Citrus & Ginger Exfoliating Body Scrub are clearly visible to the consumer, almost as if they could be touched and felt right through the packaging.

A Masster of Prestige

While P&G is largely a mass marketer, the company is no stranger to the art of prestige. A timely illustration of this is P&G's 2002 launch, Boss in Motion, the latest men's fragrance from brand Hugo Boss.

Designed for high-end consumer appeal, Boss in Motion is active; it is modern; and it is power, according to www.hugoboss.com. "It is the adrenaline-pumping high that comes from a life filled with energy and action." Boss in Motion "reveals the essence of new urbanity where nature and technology merge."

To convey this message to the discerning male consumer, P&G designed a high-tech package with an organic, earthy, tangible aspect. (Silver and orange are the brand's primary colors.) "Shaped like a ball, encased in smooth metal, the flacon invites touch and play," says language on the Hugo Boss Web site. It is "a design that describes a way of life, an attitude of
no limits."

During the development phase, P&G brought international cosmetics-packaging supplier Seidel GmbH & Co. (Marburg, Germany; New York City) onboard to produce the flacon's anodized aluminum spheres for the fragrance's 40- and 90-ml sizes.

The two hemispheres that comprise the spherical package "are deep-drawn on a transfer eyelet machine," says Boris Schaefer, director of customer relations for Seidel. The fragrance bottle and pump are assembled between the two hemispheres, which snap together without glue. Each complete sphere contains a plastic piece that orients the bottle and holds the actuator in place, Schaefer explains.

An innovative dispensing method reinforces Boss in Motion's high-end image. Through a hole in the aluminum ball's lower hemisphere, consumers press the bottle up against the actuator, activating the pump.

Other products in the Boss in Motion collection include the 200-ml Invigorating Shower Scrub, the 150-ml Energizing Shower Gel, and the 75-ml After Shave Balm.

A Bright Design for Crest Whitestrips

For its Crest Whitestrips package, P&G sought graphics that would convey the form, texture, and function of the teeth-whitening product. Though the package launched for retail in May 2001, its design is still being recognized with awards.

Among the carton's decoration is a starburst design that is layered with lenticular film, creating a glowing look that implies the sparkling effect of Whitestrips on teeth. In addition, a textured, translucent picture of a Whitestrip is set over the product name to communicate the product's transparent nature.

New York City–based firm Interbrand, which designed the Whitestrips package, was recently honored for its work by The American Graphic Design Awards, sponsored by Graphic Design:usa magazine. The package was one the awards' 2002 winners and will be featured in the 2002 Design Annual, which is available starting this December. Crest Whitestrips is also the first oral-care product to receive a Best in Beauty award from the Cosmetic Executive Women association.

P&G and Consumers: A Package Deal

Understanding consumer needs and translating them into meaningful, highly functional packages has earned P&G much of its success in the global beauty industry—and CPC Packaging's distinction as Packager of the Year.

Market research, home visits, consumer interviews—such are the tools that P&G uses to create packages for long-standing mass brands like Olay, Pantene, Secret, and others. The fact that the brands are long-standing speaks for itself.

Packaging suppliers like Technimark (Asheboro, NC), which provides roughly 95% of P&G's cosmetic compacts, appreciate P&G's willingness to share what they know. "P&G shares their consumer data with us," says Barry Heller, executive vice president of Technimark. "This helps us [produce] designs that meet their consumers' needs."

And meeting those needs is precisely what continues to excite P&G's package designers. "We're charged with creating the whole experience of a product, from the shelf to in-home use to the memory that is left with the consumer," says P&G's Bill Winkler. "This is what we're always learning more about and being increasingly successful with."

P&G's Elizabeth Olson agrees. "We are challenged to create that moment—the emotional connection of a person with a package." By all indications, many such moments are yet to come.

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