There is a great deal of focus on product packaging in luxury cosmetics brands as it helps to add value and appeal to potential customers. Ever since the thick glass containers to golden tinges and the classy fonts, the aesthetics of packaging can go a long way in terms of influencing the customers’ perception of the brand within the highly saturated and saturated beauty products industry.
They will discuss the psychology of luxury packaging – factors such as the material used in producing the package, the color of the package, the shape and size of the pack, and the design of the pack.
An important aspect to consider with luxury packaging is that it triggers instinctual and social impulses that people have, such as the want for beauty and status, and glamour. Opening a luxurious cosmetics’ package is quite similar to opening a gift which excites the senses and emotions unlike what is experienced with an A1 mass-market cosmetics’. The heaviness, the textures, the colors and even the look and feel of the product make it seem more luxurious than the products shoved in isles of drugstores packed in cheap plastic packaging.
Also, the price tag tells a very positive story to the consumer at a subconscious level based on the perceived quality. If you are buying a $100 eye cream in an exquisite jar, then it is implied that the product has to be much better, or at least not worse than a $15 cream for eyes, available at drugstores. The quote of another experienced head of the beauty company Sue Nabi is “Packaging is subtle selling. ” This means that the beautiful but, at the same time, quite noticeable package design conveys the message about the brand being luxurious.
Piratical Lessons Learned from Luxury Fashion and Jewelry
Ludicrous beauty brands emulate the format of luxury fashion brands while designing their cartons. Heavy glass and metal containers embellished with the brand logo provides a feel of the auburn designer handbag, which in turn creates a perception of durability and glamour. Similar to jewellery and watch cases, the caps and hinges are merely ornaments but evoke curiosity while also fulfilling the role of a shield to hide the prized recipe.
The imposition of borrowed codes from the neighboring luxury categories – fashion and accessories –are far more potent in enhancing the desire for cosmetics than the mainstream competitors. The concept of packaging is comprehensive and offers a positive impression to reflect the perceived value of the product enclosed like a jewel encased in a box symbolizes the worth of the gem inside.
Packaging as Status Symbol
This packaging is a way to feel protected and feel the presence of an elite brand in their everyday life for many consumers. Beauty enthusiasts flaunt their products as status symbols within theingroup and on social media platforms. This is well illustrated by unboxing videos showcasing new products from La Mer or Chanel as instances of presentational packaging in action. However, the boxes themselves have also become symbols of luxury and desire, similar to owning an extremely popular and coveted “must-have” branded handbag.
Thus, by openly naming brands and logos luxury beauty product packaging acts as the walking advertisement which signalizes others about your posh and wealthy status. It also translates into the cosmetics bags which, though functional, features quilting, chain straps and loud logo references that are inspired by fashion house traditions, but are used in a more playful manner here.
Creating trial and loyalty through shelf presence
In a heated aisle with many beauty products or in a counter of a department store filled with several price-similar products, it becomes more crucial in establishing a brand appeal or to be eye-catching. Instead of looking like a typical mass-market food, prestige players are silent and discreet, using subliminal signals to remind consumers about the brand.
For instance in the case of Chantecaille, the products in the line are easily recognizable due to the white boxes with a shiny silver logo and black clear font. Thus, NARS uses heavy weighted black rubber packaging for its color cosmetics to support its cutting edge, fashion oriented brand image. As the prestige beauty brands create identifiable and well-defined packaging finishes, they make a signal to remind the consumers and persuade the consumers to purchase even for impulsive buying.
Packaging as Sensory Storytelling
Some of the specialists in the beauty industry have opined that opening luxury packaging triggers a process beyond appreciation of the aesthetic sense. The metallic shiny touch of a Yves Saint Laurent rouge purse is reminiscent of a sculpture of contemporary art: it has a note of a contemporary art piece. Twist the wax seal, open the lid of the Chanel N°5 perfume bottle and you are transported to Paris in the 1920 s on a romantic rendezvous with the feminine side of beauty.
By incorporating every aspect conceivable from the weight of the glass bottles to the magnetic closures, it is as though each element tells the story of the brand’s mythology and imagery. From just the mere perspective of conveying products, prestige packaging shifts to the realm of brand narrative and placing the consumers in the middle of the brand appeal. These visual and tactile touch points manage to sell a dream that mass products cannot mimic with their cheap, plastic feel and outright non-entity of style in their packaging.
The integration of the refillable systems in the luxury goods is in line with the sustainable strategies that create a positive impact on the environment.
While fancy and fancy-looking packaging makes consumers want the product, especially in the luxury sector, environmentally-conscious consumers today are demanding that the brands they support are eco-friendly. Such leaders as Dior and Gucci launch sophisticated refill solutions within makeup, skincare and fragrance divisions to meet luxury, yet the environmental concerns.
Design departments in the packaging sector target products such as metallic vials and mirrored compacts with premium refillable designs that may continue to exist after refill, while still offering the appeal of the new packaging. Through targeting long-lasting packs that are designed to give consumers more than a single-use experience, brands address environmentally conscious Gen Z and millennials consumers while not losing their premiumness. The solutions enable the brands to make significant steps toward sustainability while preserving the image of a distinctive luxurious house.
Final Thoughts
Whether it is through a caress of the fingertips or an embrace of the earth, packaging stays central for prestige brands fighting for their place in the beauty sector. Where mass players stick to normative and cost dumping concepts, luxury labels continuously create new codes by reinventing bottles, compacts, boxes and bags that signify status. In particular, fashion borrowing and retasking as well as brand heritage via packaging make high end products appear as if they are worth their premium prices and generate trial. For the refined palette endowed with the capacity to perceive beauty, it is as much the outer shell that creates perceptions of the value as the products themselves. As more players enter the market, luxury leaders must go on designing innovatively appealing packaging that elicits the kind of desire they want without compromising on their lofty, responsible ethos.
