Opening Lines
Natural Evolution
By Marie Redding, Senior EditorOn November 2, Target presented a seminar called Building an Innovative Business: The Future of Beauty. The event was held at New York City’s Fashion Institute of Technology. Among the topics discussed were the design challenges that beauty companies face. Speakers described how their businesses have responded to these challenges.
The day began with a keynote speech by Paul Bennett, chief creative officer of design firm IDEO. IDEO designed the packaging and brand identity for Pangea Organics, the focus of CPC Packaging’s Applications. Bennett explained how companies are finding new ways to use design to connect with consumers.
Another speaker was Elizabeth Olson, general manager of global design at P&G Beauty, CPC Packaging’s 2006 Packager of the Year. Olson described how P&G Beauty’s nature-inspired Herbal Essences brand has evolved its packaging over the years to accommodate the changing ways in which consumers view nature.
“I remember when nature was seen through the eyes of a flower child,” Olson said. At the time, she said, Herbal Essences’ packaging featured fruits and flowers.
Next, Olsen continued, Herbal Essences found that consumers pictured botanics when thinking about nature, and thus, flowers and twigs were depicted on the brand’s labels. Special designs were even used to show off these graphics. For instance, the product formulations were made to be transparent so that customers could see through the clear PET bottle the image of a flower on the bottle’s back label. A smaller label was applied to the front of the bottle, creating a three-dimensional effect so the flower on the back label appeared to be inside the bottle.
Today, the consumer’s definition of nature has changed again. It is visualized in a less literal way and described by consumers as “alive, fruity, and juicy,” according to Olson. Recently, Herbal Essences redesigned its packaging to reflect these new consumer preferences. The new packaging is featured on the cover of this issue.
Our Packager of the Year article honors the team at P&G Beauty. It provides a look at how it has successfully evolved its packaging—a talent that seems to come naturally for the brand.
A complete story about this seminar is available on our Web site, www.cpcpkg.com.