How technology is taking beauty packaging to the next level

The cosmetics world is a competitive and lucrative marketplace. In order to keep product design innovative and simultaneously be able to connect with consumers on a more substantial level, technology is being utilised on packaging now more than ever before.

Second generation quick response (QR) codes, near-field communication (NFC) and radio-frequency identification (RFID) are some of the methods that brands can use to facilitate consumer engagement and track customer behaviour, as well as enhancing security and ensuring brand protection.

Preserving and protecting the integrity of products can be a challenging task for manufacturers within the industry and different pack formats play an integral role in this.

Products have to deliver quality, be easy to use and fit seamlessly into individualised daily regimes in order to keep a loyal customer base.

As brands become more aware of these challenges, many of them are responding with clever engagement strategies and marketing that addresses consumer needs, with one of the biggest tools at hand being a smart device.

Although the packaging of a cosmetic product may not be the sole influencer of purchase, brands are able to generate excitement through the use of active and intelligent technology.

David Luttenberger, Global Packaging Director at Mintel, says: "Consumers' mobile and smart devices have become the aggregators and curators of their personal, social and professional lives."

Informed and attentive consumers want to know the entire lifecycle of the products they are considering purchasing, which is where the integration of smart packaging comes into play.

Interactive experiences

As packaging becomes smarter, brands are able to create a conversation between the end-user and the company. These customers are able to provide feedback and learn more about the products in real-time, with the millennial generation being one of the largest cohorts.

This age group is used to multiple streams of information, as well as being able to connect instantly to global brands through technology.

With smart devices being ubiquitous in the daily lives of the consumer, a mobile phone is seen as much more than merely a mobile. It is a multimedia device with a range of potential implications for the world of personal care packaging.

For brands, the integration of technology into their packaging is inevitable. They understand that consumers want more information about the products they buy; however, consumers are also looking for novel experiences that packaging and labels can deliver.

One such development is the Internet of Things (IoT), which is transforming the industry through the various solutions on offer.

Relying on ethernet – either in cable or wireless form – to connect to different machines and provide information more efficiently for an enhanced brand user experience, it can drive manufacturing, enable smart packs and contribute to a deeper consumer engagement level.

Last year, L'Oréal tapped into the IoT when it launched the world's first smart hairbrush. Embracing connected devices and the chance to offer the consumer an enhanced and interactive user experience, Kérastase, Withings and L'Oréal created the Kérastase Hair Coach.

Developed in collaboration with L'Oréal's Research and Innovation Technology Incubator, the brush featured Withings' advanced sensors with L'Oréal's patent-pending signal analysis algorithms to score the quality of hair and monitor the effects of different hair care routines.

Guive Balooch, Global Vice President at L'Oréal's Research and Innovation Technology Incubator, said upon the product's launch: "Technology is transforming consumers' daily beauty routines, and smart devices have huge potential to impact how we care for our hair and skin.

By using connected technologies to upgrade the hairbrush – something the average consumer uses every day – Withings and Kérastase have reinvented what a person's relationship with their hair can look like and are showing how connected devices can revolutionise the beauty industry."

Sensors on the hairbrush can count strokes, determine whether the hair is dry or wet and analyse the amount of force used when brushing.

It also includes a microphone that listens to the sound of hair brushing to learn more about frizziness, dryness, split ends and breakage of the user's hair.

Vincent Nida, General Manager at Kérastase, said: "For more than 50 years, Kérastase has pioneered luxury hair care that's at the forefront of scientific research.

Our customers see their hair as intimate expressions of their identities, and we are always looking to provide them with high quality tools and technologies that make their hair as beautiful as possible.

"With the Kérastase Hair Coach powered by Withings' personalised data and real-time product recommendations, we are bringing new insights to customers' homes for an even more bespoke hair care experience."

The brush sends information via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth to a mobile app and will produce a hair quality score before providing hair tips and recommending any of L'Oréal's Kérastase products.

Kérastase’s Smart Brush can rate the quality of users’ hair and monitor the effects of different brushing techniques

Staying connected

According to the latest study from Smithers Pira – The Future of Active and Intelligent Packaging to 2023 – in 2018, the global market for intelligent packaging components will surpass US$1bn for the first time.

The same analysis predicts strong growth at 12.7% across the next five years thanks to the evolution of intelligent pack systems, falling costs and the penetration of smart solutions into new segments.

To keep up this stream of consumer engagement, online marketing experts are advising brands on how to use technology, such as QR codes, NFC and RFID on packaging more effectively.

A two-dimensional QR code is designed to be scanned by smartphones and appears as small white squares covered with patterns of black modules, allowing consumers to access additional information through website links, images and videos on their device.

Luttenberger says: "It just makes sense, in a world where consumers crave instant information, to use mobile-engaged packaging as yet another medium by which to engage consumers on their time and their terms."

RFID technology has also become commonplace and is being utilised in the cosmetics and personal care sector after already being a large presence in industries such as automotives, food and beverage, and animal health care.

The RFID device carries data and serves as an identifier to the product or object. Manufacturers, such as Checkpoint Systems, are now rolling out new RFID labels to cover different market sectors to support privacy, loss-prevention and brand-protection capabilities for retailers and brand owners.

The Windlight RFID label from the company is now available for cosmetic categories where a strong interest was noted.

Umesh Cooduvalli, Senior Director for Business at Checkpoint, says: "Our customers have shown strong interest in broadening RAIN [RAdio frequency IdentificatioN] RFID categories to include health, beauty and cosmetics. The new Windlight, as well as the Wind RFID tags, is designed to help them realise auto replenishment and inventory management goals."

Another example of a connected package technology is NFC. Here information is sent over via a wireless data transfer enabling technology in close proximity to communicate without the need for internet connection.

Dr Liz Wilks, Director of Sustainability and Stakeholder Engagement Europe at Asia Pulp and Paper, says: "NFC technology can increase consumer interaction by offering a wealth of user content.

By scanning NFC chips embedded in packaging, consumers could gain access to tutorial videos, make-up looks and details of complementary products, providing the consumer with an incentive to buy the authentic product rather than cheaper counterfeit goods."

NFC was recently incorporated into Valmont Cosmetics' packaging through collaboration with CMSmartconnect using Thinfilm tags.

Through a simple tap of their smartphone, customers are instantly directed to a customised landing page where they can read more about the brand, learn about ingredients, receive application instructions, preview complementary products and execute online purchases.

Jeremy Cohen, co-founder of CMSmartconnect, says: "We are privileged to help Valmont Cosmetics create powerful content and manage the product integration for this innovative market initiative.

It has a unique story that we're confident customers will embrace, and NFC technology will play an important role.

"Thinfilm's NFC tags were very easy to integrate into Valmont's packaging and we're looking forward to measuring the results of the market trial."

Smart packaging represents an opportunity to revolutionise the everyday routines of consumers by ensuring that they maintain a connection between brand and customer

Delving deeper

Building a loyal customer base ensures that the consumer will make repeat purchases. Earlier this year, Foreo launched the UFO Smart Mask.

The machine is a transcendent smart mask treatment, which combines state-of-the-art technology with Korean mask formulas for an advanced facial treatment in seconds.

The UFO pairs itself with the user's phone through the Foreo app, where they are then able to control the UFO settings, select treatment routines, order replacement masks and buy future UFO-compatible products from their mobile phone.

Depending on the treatment, UFO will instantly warm up to open pores and enhance absorption of the mask ingredients, or cool to lift and firm skin.

UFO uses Hyper-Infusion Technology to adapt to the skin's natural reactions, as well as using T-Sonic pulsations to infuse nutrients deeper into the skin.

As the UFO gradually warms up in Thermo-Therapy mode, it infuses active mask ingredients into the deepest layers of skin, making them more effective in less time – the mask takes 90 seconds, which is timed through the app – while Cryo-Therapy mode lifts and firms skin to diminish the appearance of pores and reduce puffiness.

The ultra-fine microfibre mask attaches easily to the device and it features a full-spectrum LED light to offer three targeted photofacials in one simple, at-home solution.

The blue LED promotes circulation for a clearer, healthier-looking complexion, while green brightens dull complexions and evens the skin tone, and red erases signs of ageing for smoother, younger-looking skin.

Once the user's phone has been paired with the Foreo app, the barcode on the mask needs to be scanned and the corresponding treatment will automatically sync to the UFO device.

To start the treatment the user needs to remove the attachment ring from the UFO, and secure the mask on the device by clipping the attachment ring back into place, before gently gliding the UFO across clean, dry skin in circular motions until the device turns off, indicating the end of the treatment.

Growing demands

The need for connected package applications is steadily growing. Consumers can develop deep-seated loyalties to the brands they have confidence in within the intensely competitive beauty and personal care industry.

Driven by knowledgeable consumers who expect more information about the products they buy or are even considering purchasing, brands now have an immeasurable opportunity to differentiate themselves through the types of experiences and information they offer to their customers by leveraging active and intelligent technology.

The role of product packaging and the additional informative, high-quality content it connects to online is becoming more important than ever before.

When done successfully, both digital and physical product packaging can help enhance the brand's reputation, while reinforcing a consumer's decision to buy the item and act as a repurchase reminder in the future.

For the cosmetic and personal care industry, smart packaging represents an opportunity to revolutionise the everyday routines of consumers by ensuring that they maintain a connection between brand and customer.