 |
|
Re: Custom Bottles
Posted by Jean-Maurice
on October 29, 2005 at 07:08:57:
In Reply to: Custom Bottles posted by Phil on October 29, 2005 at 06:51:21:
Technology has opened wonderful new worlds for custom bottles. Now, in addition to glass, we have glass look-alikes which, thankfully, don't break when dropped (think Francois Coty!).As a devoted reader of Cosmetics and Personal Care Packaging (plug! plug!), I've really developed an appreciation for what goes into making a custom bottle, whether it be real glass or faux glass. But I've also come to realize that this isn't the perfumery end of the business -- this is the marketing and public relations function. They are selling by catching the EYE, not the nose, just as the cover of a book sells by its graphic (eye catching) appeal, rather than by the content. (If books were sold by their content at airport newsstands, the cover would be nothing more than excerpts of the content!) So now perfumes are sold by what the package LOOKS like.But, in a way, this is practical and ESSENTIAL for the mass marketer. While we may long to SAMPLE a new perfume, most stores don't allow this. For example, a Sephora store in an "upscale" neighborhood may offer testers of ALL its fragrances while a Sephora store in a location that gets a high volume of office workers will only have samples of a select FEW fragrances available for testing.So selling by PACKAGING is essential! Selling by CELEBRITY is essential! To sell by scent, you have to make your scent available (as in magazine inserts, but this is expensive and not everyone is reached.)For the mass marketer, custom bottles are a necessity. Hermes is NOT what we would call a mass marketer, hence they don't need the fancy bottle. But Coty and Avon and Parlux and Inter and Estee and Lancome DO ... they very much DO.For the "mom and pop" operations, it is important to realize what function the custom bottle is playing -- being a substitute for the unavailable test scent -- and use this understanding to "think" their own marketing strategies.
Follow Ups:
|
|
|
