Sample Packaging: Added Value
The better a sample package is, the better the chance of a sale.
by Jennifer Kwok, Managing EditorA product sample is often a customer’s first impression of a brand’s product—and brands want to leave customers with the best impression possible. The more deluxe a sample, the more valuable—and desirable—a customer might feel that a brand’s product is.
The money spent on developing a high-quality sample package is an investment. As more marketers come to appreciate the marketing power of samples, sample packages on the market are becoming more impressive. Read on to find out how brands and suppliers are making the most of sample packaging.
Charming Details
Considering that product samples are usually handed out for free, sample packages don’t often include value-added accessories. However, if it is within a marketer’s budget, accessories are an immediate way to capture customer attention.
Customers who attended the launch of the Live Jennifer Lopez fragrance in October couldn’t help but be charmed by the blister card–style fragrance samples handed out by Coty’s Lancaster Group. In addition to featuring a photo of the bottle, the blister card included an additional gift for customers—a charm necklace that was wrapped around the card.
“We call this a deluxe sample,” says Elsa Jimenez, marketing director for Lancaster Group. “It’s a limited-edition sample because we only gave it out at our promotional events. Anyone who purchased the product was given the sample as a gift.”
The blister and the card were supplied by Klocke of America. The charm necklace, supplied by Baker Products, is made of a violet suede cord with charms including colorful beads, a miniature replica of the Live bottle, and a dancing shoe. The necklace was wrapped around the card by hand.
“The novelty of the charm necklace added value to the sample,” says Jimenez. “And considering how popular charm necklaces are right now, the timing was just perfect. There are so many ways customers can wear the charm—as a belly band, around their neck, or around their wrists.”
Jimenez says, “In the fragrance industry, it’s always something innovative that will really attract the customer. We’re always trying to find something new that will get our customers into the store to buy the fragrance. For Live, this sample has definitely been one of the sales drivers for the fragrance. Everyone loved it.”
Deluxe Structures
In the sampling market, unique shapes automatically stand out. Marketers concerned about production costs can rest assured that many suppliers offer stock designs that are distinctive but that don’t require custom tooling.
Dr. Jessica Wu chose Xela Pack’s sample packages because they matched the upscale look of the brand.
Dr. Jessica Wu chose Xela Pack sample packages to house 3-ml product samples from her luxurious cosmeceutical line. Because the products, which range in price from $40 to $145, are sold in such stores as Nordstrom and Henri Bendel, upscale sample packages were needed. After looking at more-standard sample packages, Wu says she chose the 5-ml Xela Packs because of their high-end look.
“The reason it took me a while to produce the samples is that I wanted something unique and more substantial than just foil packettes,” says Wu. “My line is clearly an upscale, prestige skin care line, and I wanted the samples to reflect that. The Xela Packs definitely have more of a presence.”
Wu says what helps give the Xela Pack presence is that the 75%-paper-constructed bottle has more dimension than a packette or a sachet. “It’s very easy to lose a foil packette at the bottom of your purse or to have it slip between a couple of pieces of paper and get lost,” says Wu.
As demand for expensive antiaging products continues to grow, so will demand for luxurious sample packages. “I think as skin care products become more expensive and customers become used to paying more, they will also demand more in exchange from the skin care brands—and that includes samples,” says Wu. “If they are going to ask for a sample of a $200 cream, they want a more-substantial-feeling package.”
Anthony Gentile, director of art and marketing for Xela Pack Inc., says that the company has been working with a lot more luxury brands, and, thus, has been expanding its line to meet the needs of these clients. “We’ve been doing more packaging of higher-end health and beauty aids products like eye creams, wrinkle reducers, and age-defying lotions,” he says. To accommodate brands that don’t want to give away large sample volumes of their expensive products, Xela Pack has created a smaller 10-ml version of its most upscale package, the stand-up Xela Pack.
Other companies are also developing unique higher-end sample packages for makeup products. At the HBA Health & Beauty trade show held in September, supplier Sampling Dimensions showcased its newest upscale sample component for hot-pour makeup. Although the package looks like a miniature compact, complete with a hinged lid with a clear window, it is slender enough to mail at a bulk postal rate.
Sample packages for fragrances are also becoming more deluxe. For instance, this year supplier Valois of America launched its sample-sized Easy fragrance vials, a more upscale option to more-standard vials with stoppers.
The Easy vial is available with two closures. The Easy Spray is a miniature pump designed to keep its mechanical components out of sight. Its construction also prevents fragrance from coming into contact with gasket materials or the pump’s metal components. The Easy Cap allows customers to dab on fragrance by using its built-in stem applicator.
Sebastien Belinguier, key account manager for sampling products at Valois of America, says that a pump like the Easy Spray automatically conveys a more upscale feel. “We have studies proving that if a product is sampled in a vial with a sprayer—as opposed, for instance, to being a scratch-and-sniff sample in a magazine—customers perceive the fragrance as being more high-end,” he says. He adds that Valois launched the Easy Cap to be able to provide brands with a less expensive, but yet still upscale, closure for the vials.
Some companies like Marks & Spencer are opting to launch products in both the Easy Spray and the Easy Cap. “It just depends on the market they’re targeting,” says Belinguier. “They can use the Easy Spray to market a product to a high-end department store, and they can use the Easy Cap to market it to a moremass-market distributor.”
Suppliers like Flexpaq Corp. are also adding unique packette shapes to their stock lines. Flexpaq recently launched a new eye-catching round sachet called Beauty Pad. The Beauty Pad is designed to house die-cut round pads that can be pretreated with a brand’s product. A peelable laminate structure allows users to easily open the sachet.
Custom Shapes
Custom shapes are still a good way to ensure that a sample package is one of a kind. Marketers can find creative ways to stretch the money they spend on custom tooling. Lancaster Group is a good example of this. For its September-launched Baby Phat Goddess fragrance by Kimora Lee Simmons, the company fashioned a sample package, which includes a custom-tooled gemstone-shaped blister produced by Klocke of America. The gemstone shape corresponds with the fragrance’s faceted retail bottle, which is shaped after Simmons’s own 30-carat Assher-cut diamond ring.
Coty maximized its investment in a custom jewel-shaped blister by using it for two different samples.
As perfect as the blister’s shape was for the Goddess sampler, Coty had used the blister previously for another fragrance sampler for the Still Jennifer Lopez fragrance, which launched in 2003. On the Still sample card, which features a picture of the fragrance’s bottle, the blister is located on the bottle’s collar. The design simulates the look of the retail bottle, which features a faux-diamond ring around the neck of the bottle.
“When we did the Still gemstone blister, it was very appropriate for the brand because the neck of the retail bottle had a ring in the shape of a diamond,” says Lancaster Group’s Jimenez. “We customized the tooling because the gemstone spoke to the Still brand so well. It just so happened that this was also so appropriate for Goddess.” Coty owns the die used to create the jewel-shaped blister, meaning that the company can use it for any of its sample packages.
When asked if the investment in tooling was worth it, Jimenez says definitely. “We get returns on the investment so many times over,” she says. “We were so glad that we did a custom shape. When customers see the diamond blister, they immediately associate it with our brand.”
Distinct Decoration
Suppliers are continually expanding their decorating capabilities to ensure packages can be decorated to meet the demands of even the highest-end companies.
To help its single-use tubes shine, Unette Corp. offers a metallic pigmentation. The PrismaMetallic tube can be decorated from tip to butt in various metallic colors and further printed with graphics.
“PrismaMetallic gives our tubes a very rich look that adds perceived cachet,” says Terence Sweeney, Unette’s vice president of sales. This summer, Redken used the tube in metallic blue and red to house its Color Extend hair care treatment.
To accommodate high-impact graphics on its packettes, Glenroy Inc. offers its Great White film. The film is designed to hide the foil layer and achieves a 91 brightness level compared with most packaging films, which have a brightness level of 76.
“We were seeing a lot of the sample packages turning out gray in color,” says Katie Tenpest, marketing coordinator for Glenroy. “The reason for this is that the foil can show through, and it tends to dull or gray outside colors. And especially in cosmetic packaging, where they’re using a lot of whites and pastel colors, packages tend to turn out very dirty looking.”
Many cosmetic products, especially high-end treatment products, require the barrier layer that foil provides. Now Great White allows marketers to use foil packettes while ensuring graphics stand out against a very white background. Elizabeth Arden is still using Great White film for its Skin Simple product samples.
Secondary Packaging
Secondary packaging is another way to add value to sample packages. “Customers are coming to us to ask what we can do to enhance the value of our samples,” says Jim Gabilanes, vice president of sales for Flexpaq Corp. “If you have the budget for it, a rigid plastic outer secondary package will enhance your sample.”
Flexpaq is a division of the Ileos Group, which recently acquired Seufert Transparente Verpackungen GmbH. Seufert supplies transparent plastic outer packaging, including folding cartons. Partnering together, Flexpaq and Seufert can now offer a complete turnkey package, which includes Flexpaq’s sachets in Seufert’s outer packaging.
On Target
While some companies aim for ornate sample packages, others say that a more clinical, scientific look can get customers to take a high-end treatment product more seriously. “We find more companies in the cosmetic and treatment area are looking for a pharmaceutical look to their packages—albeit with a higher-perceived look,” says Howard Thau, president of Sonic Packaging Industries. One benefit of pharmaceutical-style packages is that many times, these packages are designed with built-in applicators—a feature especially important for skin care products that require targeted application.
Sonic Packaging’s newest design is a unit-dose blister that can be provided with a flow-through applicator located in the blister’s orifice. The applicator is designed to accurately dispense a premeasured dose of product on the skin or in the nasal or oral cavity. In addition to providing convenient application, the blister keeps the applicator hygienically protected until the customer is ready to use it. “Marketers today are looking for a high standard of quality assurance—in many cases holding their vendors to a pharmaceutical standard,” says Thau.
James Alexander Corp. also offers a range of new applicator tips for its unit-dose plastic ampule. Styles include a cylindrical tip with a centered hole for enhanced product flow, a firmer Hytrel-nylon tip with a tapered design for more-precise application, and a series of brush applicator tips in a variety of materials and configurations. The ampule can be molded from polyethylene or polypropylene. A squeeze of the ampule dispenses product onto the applicator, which can then be used to apply product directly.
Beverly Hatch, sales representative for Unicep Packaging Inc., says that Unicep’s MicroDose vials are the most popular with high-end skin care brands that use them to market antiwrinkle serums, anti-aging products, and high-end skin treatments. The MicroDose features an angled dispensing tip nicknamed The Hummingbird that helps customers with accurate, spot-on application.
Another supplier seeing greater demand from skin care brands is LF of America. “We’ve seen an increase in business for high-end treatment products in the United States and Europe,” says Ignacio Lopez, business development manager for LF of America. To meet demand, LF of America has introduced a new pencil-thin tube that is available with four different applicators, including a silicone one that lets customers massage product into the skin.
To help customers with direct application, Innovative Swab Technologies offers its ProSwab package. The ProSwab comprises a premoistened, single-use hygienic swab package with a patented snap-open design. The ProSwab applicator is pretreated with a product, including liquid, gel, ointment, and cream. Applicator tips can be produced in rayon, foam, or custom materials. “The uniqueness of the ProSwab is that the customer’s chemistry is preloaded on the swab, and the swab is protected,” says Debbie Neikrie, vice president of sales for Innovative Swab.
Neikrie says that several brand-name cosmetic and cosmeceutical companies have expressed interest in the ProSwab. “It’s clearly a clinical-looking package,” she says. “We’re going to appeal to a certain group.”
Appreciating Sales
In addition to perhaps increasing sales, a deluxe sample—whether it is ornate or clinical-looking—can also serve as a way of thanking customers. In January, Too Faced Cosmetics will give away samples of its Diamond Gloss lip gloss. The samples will come in a mini 3.6-g stock tube. The tube looks like a retail package complete with an applicator and a cap. It is supplied by Roberts Cosmetic Containers.
Too Faced Cosmetics gives back to customers by providing deluxe samples of its Diamond Gloss lip gloss.
“That’s a lot of product for a sample,” says Jeremy Johnson, Too Faced’s president. “We appreciate our customers, and it’s a token of our thanks to them. And, we hope that by giving them a deluxe sample, hopefully they’ll come back knowing we have a quality line.”
Johnson is optimistic that the cost of the packaging will justify the returns. “This is the very first deluxe sample that we’ve ever done, so we’re hoping the return on it will be phenomenal,” he says. “But we’ll see. It worked with our normal samples, so we’re hoping to get the same rate of return, if not more so, on the deluxe samples. A more deluxe sample can imply that a brand is more deluxe.”