Inside Design : Male Attitude
Launching this March, Suave for Men's Active Sport Body Wash stands out in a red bottle supplied by Silgan Plastics. What men want in packaging.
By Marie Redding, Senior EditorIf you walk down the aisles at your local drug store, you are likely to see many more men's personal care products. For instance, Nair For Men, in its shiny silver carton, sits right alongside the women's pink version. It is the same product, but the color change illustrates the fact that more companies are now trying to come up with ways to target the male consumer—and thinking that it might be as easy as changing the color of the box. That may be one solution, and it may save many men (who may already be Nair users) the embarrassment of having to stand in line with the pink box. However, experts say it's not that simple. If a brand is going to successfully compete in the men's market, its entire image needs a makeover.
"There is a difference in packaging for a men's line and a women's, and some brands don't understand this," explains Laurent Hainaut, president of the design firm Raison Pure (New York City). "The attitude of the brand needs to be extremely different, and not just mimic a women's brand. Men have different needs."
Some brands will take a practical approach to packaging, but others will go further and try to address men's emotional needs through design and marketing. "What you'll see is less consistency, because this is a newly emerging market," says Hainaut.
Simple Designs Score
The first step for mass marketers is to educate their new customer. To do so, marketers must learn a new language in order to communicate product benefits.
"The last thing you want to do is intimidate. In order to get more men interested in skin care, you need to help them get over the initial hurdle," says Joe Venezia, marketing manager for Nivea for Men. "Only 10% of men understand the word exfoliate. Yet, deep clean will drive sales, so we had to change the name of our face scrub. Noncomedogenic was also changed to won't clog pores. It is a learning process, for us and for our customer."
When designing label graphics, a clear typeface and a clear name are important. Kyan Douglas, who stars as the Grooming Guru on the hit television show "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy," explains, "I have found that there is nothing that most men aren't willing to at least try once. But if they are going to keep up with a grooming routine, it needs to be simple and straightforward, or else they won't bother. It helps if the label clearly states what the product is and what it will do."
Douglas has three words of advice for package designers and brand marketers: plastic, pumps, and locks. "Men like packaging that will travel well. They don't want a component opening up in their gym bag. A no-mess shaving kit, with locking mechanisms on easy-to-use components like pumps, would be great. Plastic, shatterproof components are also important," says Douglas.
Gillette looks beyond shaving products with its new men's skin care line, launched in February. Simple styling gives the line's packages a modern and masculine appeal.The intimidation factor must also be considered. "Lots of clients come to us wanting to design a brand men will want to be seen with. Simple graphics will help suppress intimidation and also help convey what the product is about," says Hainaut. The success of a brand may be as simple as it passing the "locker room test"—a term often used by Raison Pure's clients, to describe their ultimate goal in designing a brand's image.
"Package structures may vary in the male market, but convenience is job one," says Shane Wolf, marketing director, Aveda Men. "For this reason, tubes, tottles, and simple flip-top closures are favorable. Linear shapes with sharp lines are also preferable over softer edges and rounded shapes. When considering decoration for packaging, we believe that men respond favorably to uncomplicated primary and secondary colors with copy that communicates clearly."
Future Growth
"The male grooming category has become larger over the years, with an annual growth rate of 11%, which is twice the rate of the women's domestic category," says Allison Harmon, public relations manager, Unilever. Despite this and the fact that men's magazines and "Queer Eye" have helped get more men interested in using different types of products, there is much more work to be done.
"Men are more aware of their choices today and more concerned about many facets of fashion and personal care that were once taboo," says Wolf. "This isn't to say, as some reports may suggest, that men are 'coming out of the grooming closet' in droves. Rather, more men are simply interested, and as a result, they now expect more choices."
Still, according to Venezia's research, only 30 to 40% of men are going out and buying products on a regular basis. "We can clearly see that there is a lot of room for growth," says Venezia. In order to win over more male consumers, sampling is critical. "We have found that when men try something and like it, they will buy it and stay loyal to the product."
In order to grow the Suave for Men brand, for instance, Unilever has partnered with the health and fitness promotions agency, Promote It International. Health club members in 1900 clubs nationwide will have the opportunity to sample items from the Suave for Men personal care line.
The best part about the men's category right now is the fact that there is a whole new generation of consumers growing up right in front of every marketer's eyes. "There is a new acceptance of skin care products among teens and men in their early twenties, and this is key," says Hainaut. "As soon as this generation earns the spending power to purchase the higher-priced products, the industry will really see the profits. One thing is certain—the men's market is going to explode."
Nivea for Men, one of the first mass-market men's skin care lines, recently launched a Revitalizing Lotion Q10 in an airless foam-dispenser. .Recent Men's Launches
Nivea for Men, a brand of the German-based company Biersdorf, was one of the first skin care lines for men on mass-market shelves, hitting back in 2001. Last July, its Revitalizing Lotion Q10 was launched in an airless foam-dispensing pump. Now the company is one of the first to tap into the young men's market with a new line shipping to stores. Its core target age is 18 to 24, and it addresses oily-skin problems. Hainaut says, "Nivea looks sophisticated for a mass-market brand. Its blue, gray, and silver colors are fresh and basic."
Gillette, the world's leading company in the shaving category, launched its men's skin care line in February. The Gillette Complete Skincare Line consists of a Cleansing Wash, Cleansing Bar, MultiGel Shave Gel, After-Shave Skin Soothing Gel, and Facial Moisturizer with SPF. Company representatives say that "the design of the line is meant to convey a modern and masculine notion with a clean look and feel, so we opted for simplicity in the packages." Clear bottles feature the cleanser and after-shave gel's ice-blue color.
Suave, a Unilever brand, launched the personal care line Suave for Men last spring, and this March, the new Active Sport Body Wash will be on shelves. While most men's lines opt for blue, white, silver, or gray, the red hue of this product sets it apart from the rest. This bottle is supplied by Silgan Plastics (Norcross, GA). The men's products represent the largest subline Suave has ever introduced. In January, the product lineup was changed slightly in response to consumer sales. Besides body washes, it includes shampoos, conditioners, and styling gels. The line is meant to target men through the use of simple graphics, straightforward product names, and a clean, fresh scent. "We felt it was time to give the guys a line made exclusively for them and to address male hair care needs—from dandruff control to thickening formulas," says Harmon.
In the prestige category, men's skin care line Zirh includes packaging like a streamlined PET jar for its Rejuvenate Anti-Aging Cream, launching in April. Zirh International Corp. develops, manufactures, and distributes the Zirh Skin Nutrition line. Simply named and easy to use, the Zirh product line includes shaving, cleansing, and treatment products. Zirh is the fastest-growing prestige-level men's skin care brand worldwide. Last November, an oil-control astringent was added to the line called Refresh, in a bottle by supplier Fiampack. Proving that men also want advanced formulations, an anti-aging face cream called Rejuvenate is launching this April. The hot-stamped PET jar and cap are supplied by ATP Packaging Box by Arco. This summer, an SPF Facial Moisturizer called Defend will be added to the line. Zirh is also launching menswear designer John Varvatos's skin care line this spring, called John Varvatos Skin, as a follow-up to his new fragrance.
Pookie, the very cutesy brand of lip balms and fruity glosses, takes on a whole new look with the introduction of its Gatorade-like lemon-lime flavored Sport balm, in an effort to expand into the men's market. The lip balm tube is supplied by Stuff Julie Likes (Amesbury, MA) and the label is by Tiffany Press (Oceanside, NY). "We didn't purposely think about the men's market with this launch--we just didn't want our guy friends using another company's lip balm," says Gianine Rothschild, co-founder of Pookie. "We had to completely change our look and not use our girlie logo. [Also], we found that we had to ditch the fruity scents and make it colorless."
Typically a brand known for cutesy packaging, Pookie instead chose a sporty look for its Sport lip balm to appeal to the men's market. Aveda Men Tonic was launched in 1998, but the company has plans for new launches to follow this style in terms of design. It's an aroma with natural and essential oils packaged in a flask-shaped bottle, topped with a brushed copper colored actuator. Its outer box is a simple paperboard carton with the word Men in capital letters, surrounded by a geometric rectangular box, debossed on the front. "Aveda is naturally predisposed to the men's grooming market," says Wolf. "As a brand based on elements common to nature with unpretentious packaging, we have long appealed to this now-booming category." New signage in Aveda Lifestyle Salons directs men with unmistakable bold graphics to a selection of products long used by men. The result has been an increase in men shopping for themselves in Aveda stores. According to Aveda's research, men are also very receptive to the product recommendations of stylists in salons. "This objective to drive men into the stores has been critical," says Wolf.