Business Beat
Stars Shine at FiFi Awards
Actress Sarah Jessica Parker accepted the Best National Advertising Campaign Award for Television for her fragrance Lovely Sarah Jessica Parker.
The spotlight shined bright on celebrities and award-winning packages at this year’s FiFi Awards. Hosted by The Fragrance Foundation, the 34th annual awards were held April 3 at New York City’s Hammerstein Ballroom. Academy Award–winning actress Geena Davis hosted the dinner. Presenters included actors Sarah Jessica Parker, Vivica A. Fox, Bo Derek, and John Corbett; celebrity fashion stylist Philip Bloch; fashion designer Betsey Johnson; and “Entertainment Tonight” correspondent Vanessa Minnillo.
Awards presenter and actor John Corbett (left) with package designer Marc Rosen (right).
The bottle for Armani Privé, designed by Giorgio Armani, received the Best Packaging award in both the men’s and women’s Prestige categories. La Tournerie d’Armor supplied the fragrance bottles, VPI provided the caps, and Valois produced the pumps.
In the awards’ Popular Appeal category, the women’s Best Packaging award went to the bottle for Celine Dion Belong, which was designed by Ken Hirst. Pochet supplied the bottle, Eyelematic the collar and cap, and Emsar the pump. In the men’s category, the Best Packaging award went to Avon’s Today.Tomorrow.Always fragrance bottle, designed by Eric Lee, senior manager of package design for Avon Products. HeinzGlas supplied the bottle, FAR produced the cap, and Emsar provided the pump.
The Technological Breakthrough of the Year award went to Valois for its new Imagin’ scent sampling device. The Imagin’ sampler created for The Estée Lauder Companies’ pleasures fragrance is one of the winners of CPC Packaging’s 2006 Editors’ Choice Awards.
FiFi’s most coveted award, the Fragrance of the Year award, was given in four categories—Luxe, Nouveau Niche, Private Label/ Direct Sell, and Popular Appeal. In the Luxe category, the euphoria Calvin Klein fragrance by Coty Prestige received the women’s award, while Armani Code by Giorgio Armani Parfums received the men’s award. In the Nouveau Niche category, Narciso Rodriguez ‘for her’ by Beauté Prestige International won in the women’s category, and Armani Privé won in the men’s category. In the Private Label/Direct Sell category, the women’s winner was So In Love by Victoria’s Secret Beauty, while Today.Tomorrow.Always was the men’s winner. Finally, in the Popular Appeal category, the Fragrance of the Year award went to Spirit Antonio Banderas for Women by Coty Beauty (formerly Puig Fragrances) and Stetson Black by Coty Beauty.
The FiFi Awards also paid homage to bath and body products, naming the Island Michael Kors by Michael Kors line Bath and Body Line of the Year. The Island Michael Kors line, owned by The Estée Lauder Companies, is also a CPC Packaging Editors’ Choice Award winner.
Evelyn Lauder, pictured with her husband Leonard Lauder, received FiFi’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
Other FiFi Awards included the Hall of Fame Lifetime Achievement Award, which went to Evelyn Lauder, senior corporate vice president of The Estée Lauder Companies. The award for Best National Advertising Campaign for Television was given to the campaign for the Lovely Sarah Jessica Parker fragrance by Coty Prestige. The award for Best National Advertising Campaign for Print was presented to L’Oréal Designer Fragrances for the firm’s Flowerbomb by Viktor & Rolf scent, which is also a CPC Packaging 2006 Editors’ Choice Award winner.
In addition, the Interior Scent Collection of the Year was Apothia Aromatic Collection Candles by Latitudes International for Apothia. The Retailer of the Year was Nordstrom.
On a final note, Fracas de Robert Piguet by Fashion Fragrances & Cosmetics was inducted into the Fragrance Hall of Fame.
Paperboard Packaging Council Wraps Up 2006 Awards
The Paperboard Packaging Council (PPC; Alexandria, VA) announced the winners of its 63rd National Paperboard Packaging Competition. Judging was held January 8–13 in Arlington, VA. According to PPC, based on this year’s entries, judges noted a trend for using paperboard packaging not only as protective packaging but as a tool for brand marketing.
The National Paperboard Packaging Competition’s President’s Award went to these cylindrical Kleenex cartons.
The competition’s top honor, the President’s Award, went to Smurfit-Stone Container Corp. in the personal care and accessories category. (This is the second time in three years that Smurfit-Stone has won the President’s Award.) The winning package was holiday promotional cartons created for Kimberly-Clark’s Kleenex Facial Tissue.
The Kleenex cartons featured several elements unique to tissue packaging. First, the cartons were cylindrical. This shape helped the packages stand out among standard rectangular tissue boxes. Secondly, the cartons featured high-impact holographic decoration. To achieve this effect, the cartons’ .016-pt solid-bleached-sulfate board was laminated with holographic film. Printing was done in seven colors, and a UV coating was applied. The cartons also feature a custom dispenser.
According to PPC, judges were impressed by Smurfit-Stone’s excellence in meeting critical registration requirements during laminating, as well as its achievements in sheeting, offset printing, and die-cutting.
The competition’s next highest honor, the gold award, went to several personal care packages. A gold award was given to environmentally friendly folding cartons for Origins, an Estée Lauder brand. Curtis Packaging, the cartons’ converter, worked with Mohawk Papers to create the cartons. Mohawk Papers supplied the paperboard, which is made using wind power and comprises 75% postconsumer waste.
The .018-pt unbleached paperboard is bright white and has a bumpy surface for a natural feel. According to Curtis Packaging, the carton afforded Estée Lauder a significant cost savings over European virgin paperboard.
AGI/Klearfold received a gold award for gift set boxes created for Parlux’s Ocean Pacific fragrances.
AGI/Klearfold received a gold award for gift set boxes it created for Parlux’s Ocean Pacific fragrances. The supplier’s challenge was to create a carton that matched the image of the Ocean Pacific fragrance bottles, which feature colorful liquid swirling between the bottles’ walls. AGI/Klearfold found a stock holographic film whose pattern matched the look of the flowing liquid. The .020-pt solid-bleached-sulfate board was laminated with the holographic film.
The next awards tier, the excellence awards, honored a number of beauty companies. Thoro Packaging received an excellence award for cartons it created for personal care brand Jaqua. Curtis Packaging was honored for cartons for the DKNY Be Delicious fragrances by Estée Lauder.
All Packaging Co. received three excellence awards in the cosmetics and personal care categories. The first was for a counter display created for GloMinerals. The second was a carton called the Osmotics Beauty Take Out Carton for Osmotics Cosmeceuticals. A third was given to Amlavi Natural Soap Bar cartons.
Finally, an innovation award, which honors unique new packaging structures, was presented to AGI/Klearfold for Lancôme holiday cartons that feature the supplier’s Accents Dimensional Coating.