NEW YORK — HBA Health & Beauty America, the annual packaging show at the Jacob K. Javits Center here, expanded in its 14th year even though the event, held Sept. 12 to 14, coincided with New York Fashion Week for the first time.
This year’s HBA show attracted 18,152 attendees, a slight rise over last year, and 650 exhibitors, a 6 percent increase.
Eric Thoreux, president of Coty Beauty Americas, was the event’s keynote speaker and he opened the show by discussing “brand-building innovations.” He characterized this as companies that build exciting brands in an environment of diversified communication and retail channels amid shifting consumer attitudes.
“Consumer attitudes are shaped by fast-fashion trends; constantly evolving phone, computer and game industries, and new transaction platforms like eBay, which allow consumers to recycle products like never before,” said Thoreux. “As a result, what some are calling fragrance launch madness may simply be a reflection of the new consumer need.”
For the last century, he contended, the fragrance industry has built a conservative reputation in the traditional eau de toilette market. But reframing product categories, such as deodorant, has grown the fragrance market, noted Thoreux, who pointed to Unilever’s Axe deodorant spray as an example of an emerging market — for deodorants presented as fragranced body sprays to young men. Following the 2002 launch of Axe in the U.S., this category is now a $150 million business, he said, demonstrating that new fragrance categories are dynamic.
“If you look at all the new fragrance gestures [such as] body mists like Calgon or Bodman, body sprays like Axe or the explosion of trade channels, then the fragrance industry has been pretty dynamic,” said Thoreux.
Citing celebrity fragrance trends since 2000, he said 25 percent of the fragrance market is generated by celebrity fragrances, adding Coty’s Celine Dion fragrance franchise has generated $300 million in retail sales since its 2003 introduction.
Thoreux also emphasized the importance of partnerships with retailers, in-store execution and the role of media when launching a new product.
A blurring of traditional fragrance distribution channels and the emergence of newer specialty retail concepts such as Sephora, Bath & Body Works flagships, Victoria’s Secret beauty formats and eBay has driven organic growth in the industry, according to Thoreux, who advised companies to understand their consumers’ shopping patterns.
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All in all, “it’s about emotionally connecting to your consumer,” Thoreux said, “and having creative people in your leadership. Innovation needs to come from all departments and feed the business model.”
On the first night of the HBA show, the event’s fifth annual HBA Industry Awards dinner at the Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers drew some 650 people.
Among the honorees were Joseph Gubernick, Estée Lauder’s chief marketing officer, who received the Lifetime Achievement in Product Development Award, and John Butcher, Revlon’s senior vice president of packaging and equipment development, who was named Packaging Executive of the Year.
Dermatologist Zoe Draelos received the Lifetime Achievement Award: Advancement of Beauty Through Science, while the New Product R&D Technical Team Award was given to the product development team for Clairol’s Nice ‘n Easy Root Touch Up hair coloring.
Also presented at the dinner were the International Package Design Awards, in their seventh year. Awards were given in 10 product categories ranging from mass skin care to prestige fragrance (see HBA Snippets, below).
The number of educational programs and conference sessions — on marketing, product development, packaging innovation and natural and wellness trends — was increased this year. HBA featured roughly 60 sessions, up from 40 last year. Inside Beauty, a finished-package, beauty and wellness-themed event at HBA, also increased its offering of classes.
Highlights of the schedule included an Anti-Aging Panel that featured dermatologist Albert Kligman. There was also a session called Star Series: A Multi-Channel Marketing and Distribution Success that featured Amby Longhofer, president and founder of DermaNew. And, the Green Beauty Economy featured speakers Chris Molinari, Aveda’s vice president of global communications, and Daniele de Winter, author of “Inside Out Beauty.”
“The beauty, health and wellness educational programs are designed to serve everyone, from natural ingredients suppliers to brand manufacturers,” said Jack Gonzalez, HBA’s show director. “The [educational] program is focused on educating [one] on how to go from a product concept to bringing that product to the market.”
While last year’s educational program was aimed at manufacturers, according to Gonzalez, this year’s was focused on helping retailers understand their consumer.
Next year’s show, slated for Sept. 18 to 20, will emphasize a finished-product section within the HBA event. Though there is a greater presence of finished products at Inside Beauty, organizers hope to grow this category within the main trade show, said Jay Gorga, HBA’s director of sales, who is expected to succeed Gonzalez, who is retiring, as HBA’s show director early next year.