2008 Editors’ Choice Award Winner: Fragrance
Clinique Happy Personalized Photo Bottle
by Clinique
With so many products to choose from in the marketplace nowadays, it takes something extra special to catch customers’ attention. Clinique’s customizable Happy fragrance bottle—the first fragrance bottle that can be decorated with a customer’s photo—does just that.
“With so little time and a multitude of ways to shop, people are looking for something that speaks to them individually,” says Catherine Frieder, executive director of Clinique Global Marketing. “Consequently, personalized items have been all the rage, from sneakers to handbags to music players.”
Awards panelist Steve Corsi, director of design development for Markwins International, agrees: “Today, customers are increasingly design savvy. They embrace any opportunity to be their own designers.”
While it would seem that personalizing each bottle with a customer’s photo would be a complicated process, Clinique’s team has streamlined the process so that, impressively, it only takes two weeks, from the time the customer orders the bottle to delivery.
First, customers upload their digital photos on Clinique’s Web site. On the site, they are able to crop photos to fit the dimensions of the bottle and preview how the image will look on the bottle.
Next, the digital photo is sent directly to Clinique’s label printer, Print International. The image is first printed on special printing paper and then transferred to the label using a die sublimation press. This process ensures that the label’s inks won’t rub off. The label is then peeled off and placed by hand on the fragrance bottle at Clinique’s fulfillment center. (For in-store customers, Clinique had computers, cameras, and printers set up in select stores so that bottles could be customized on site.)
Just because it’s the customer’s photo on the bottle doesn’t mean that brand identity is sacrificed. The bottle still looks very “Clinique” because it is Clinique’s signature Happy fragrance bottle, used for all of Clinique’s Happy fragrances and flankers. This bottle is instantly recognizable. (The bottle is supplied by Pochet, the pump by Rexam, and the cap by Jackel.)
Another reason that brand identity remains is that the look of the label is somewhat subtle. “We chose to make the photos on the labels look fairly transparent so that they did not overpower the bottle,” says Frieder.
She continues, “However, the personalized bottle is not just for those clients who love Happy; it is a platform for anyone who wishes to capture a moment and share it with someone they love.” These include a range of customers. “Originally, Clinique had created this program to attract new and existing younger customers through this new innovation; however, we have noticed that this program has attracted clients of all ages who are capturing [photos of] anniversaries, weddings, moms with their children, and graduations,” says Frieder.
It also makes a perfect gift. Awards panelist Nicole Smith, environmental director for Design & Source Productions Inc., mentions that employees in her own office have purchased this bottle for just that reason.