Topic of the month October

Tomorrow's luxury packaging for perfumes and cosmetics will be ever more specialised, perhaps even with SMS chips in the cap, but glass will stay favourite. That was certainly the view of Burkhard Lingenberg, Marketing and Communications Director of the Gerresheimer Group in an interview.

"The trend is to avoid trends"

What technical innovations, in terms of shape and decoration, can we now see in glass bottle manufacture that were unheard of a few years ago?

What ever is unheard of...? Basically it has always been possible to meet the most unusual wishes of our customers - it was always just a question of cost. There are three decisive factors here, that have recently changed.

First: Modern processes allow us to produce with much greater precision and higher quality. And that applies to the most detailed glass shapes as well as to decoration by, for example, printing or partial satinising.

Second: The secondary raw materials that we use in addition to glass have improved in quality considerably, such as the durability and processing characteristics of heavy-metal-free inks which are suitable for the finest decorative printing as well as overall coating of flacons and jars.

And last, but not least, a third very important point: perfume and cosmetics manufacturers are now working with our own experts at a much earlier stage in the development process, which means that creative design and production can be combined in an optimum manner.

At the end of the day this increased efficiency has expanded the design envelope enormously, bringing new possibilities within reasonable economical bounds.

Is there still room for revolutionary new developments in luxury packaging?

Certainly. But it's a revolution that will arise principally through the excellence and ingenuity of creative designers - technically we can achieve almost anything today.

What criteria will have to be met by the luxury packaging of the future, and what will it look like?

In general terms the design and quality will have to reflect the claims and promises of the product. The materials must provide the contents with the best possible protection, and the package must have an appropriate degree of convenience. None of this is really new, but will play a particularly important role in luxury packaging. Economic aspects are also taking on greater significance. The second part of your question can't really be answered, with individuality being a very strong feature of this market sector. So I can't really see "the" luxury packaging of the future. No doubt design trends will take off in different directions. In other words there won't really be a trend, other than to stand out from the crowd. We'll see understated, clear, simple lines, and bold unconventionality, as well as provocative designs arousing strong emotions, frivolity and self-conscious opulence. All of these aspects will grow, making luxury packaging "more special".

Added value, in terms of new functional features, will also bring more diversity to this market sector. There are already a number of flacon creations that, for instance, totally hide the spray system from view, and there are integrated dispensing systems for skin care cosmetics. I can imagine that a combination of elegant styling, total convenience and a new understanding of "luxury" will translate with increasing emphasis into the marketing message.At some time or other we are perhaps going to see an eau de toilette with an SMS chip in the cap, or a skin care mask with built-in stop-watch - that sort of thing could happen!

How can glass continue to compete in the perfumery and cosmetics market in the face of the increasingly versatile use of plastics?

Glass, as a natural material, combines so many more different advantages than can be offered by any other single packaging material for perfumes or cosmetics. It provides ideal protection for the fragrances and other ingredients, which is of particular importance with high value products. It is also inert, and so there is no risk of reaction with the contents, such as the transfer of odours. It's no coincidence that many cosmetics manufacturers prefer glass even when it's invisible under a layer of lacquer or coated with some other material. Glass is like a rich treasure that can exert a fantastic attraction. Its optical and tactile qualities themselves transmit those natural values that are so appropriate to top class products. Transparency, gloss, reflection, smoothness, weight - every one of these features, alone and in combination, projects a high class image, and affects the relationship with the product. Design and decoration, as I've said, know almost no bounds. Shape, embossing, relief, surface pattern, printing, colour coating, matt finishing, and combination with other materials - even with plastic, for instance - present no problem. But only glass is glass.


Source: OGIS GmbH, www.glassglobal.com with friendly permission of Mr. Burkhard Lingenberg der Gerresheimer Glas Aktiengesellschaft, Düsseldorf, Germany, www.behaelterglas.de