Lisa McTigue Pierce, Executive Editor

March 23, 2015

3 Min Read
Dazzling tube wins over consumers

How do you deliver “spa” quality personal care products to consumers on a budget? Leverage the packaging, of course.

That’s the strategy of Advanced Beauty, purported to be one of the fastest growing health and beauty companies in the U.S. Founded in 2003, the Dallas-based company sells fragrance-based and aromatherapy personal care and hair care products under the Bodycology and Cantu brand names. The products are sold through more than 100 retailers in approximately 30,000 stores in North America, as well as online, at about half the price of competitive items seen in specialty stores.

The company has had recent success with its Bodycology moisturizing body cream packaging. The fully decorated tube, manufactured in a unique injection-molding process by Viva Healthcare Packaging, won its maker a 2014 AmeriStar award in June and a 2015 WorldStar award in November 2014 for packaging innovation in the Health & Beauty Aids category.

The stunning graphics for the line of 13 products are achieved with a metallic in-mold label (IML), giving the tubes a high-end appearance. Adding to the package’s professional look is a flip-top closure that is always oriented to the front of the tube.

Tube, IML and closure are all made of polypropylene, making this entire package recyclable—without separation—in programs that accept #5 plastic.

All three components of the package are made by Viva Healthcare Packaging in the same plant in Toronto, Canada, minimizing transportation costs and speeding up delivery of the finished package. The company has three vertically integrated plants in North America, Europe and Asia producing tubes with the same technology and the same specifications, which is an advantage for global brands looking for consistency across the world.

The labels are produced from cast polypropylene film, extruded in-house on a system from Reifenhauser. They are printed on a 10-station Gallus press, which has flexo, offset, silkscreen and cold-foil capabilities. A rotary tool from Schober cuts the labels and then they are placed into the cavities on the injection molding machines where they are fused onto the tubes as the tubes are made.

Nearby, the polypropylene injection-molded screw-on closures are formed and assembled on a line with custom-built automation by Viva. The complete package comes together, with photo-quality graphics from the base of the tube all the way up through the crimp area. Through careful design, the IML provides a seamless look around the tube.

The Worldstar distinction

Winning a Worldstar packaging award is like getting into the Navy’s “Top Gun” flight school. The program celebrates the best of the best. Only packages that have already won an award from recognized national packaging competitions—from all over the world—are allowed to enter. More than 50 such national competitions from 33 countries and regions qualify.

Bestowed by the World Packaging Organisation (with a European spelling), WorldStars are awarded to packages deemed by a panel of worldwide packaging experts as superior in their own right, as well as better in execution or innovation compared to other entries in their category.

Packages submitted for WorldStar awards are evaluated on these criteria:

  • · Protection/preservation of contents.

  • · Ease of handling, filling, closing, opening and reclosing.

  • · Sales appeal.

  • · Graphic design.

  • · Quality/efficiency of production and distribution.

  • · Environment compatibility.

  • · Innovation and suitability for local conditions.

According to Bruno Lebeault, marketing director, North America, for Viva Healthcare Packaging, Viva was the only tube manufacturer to win a WorldStar this year.

About the Author(s)

Lisa McTigue Pierce

Executive Editor, Packaging Digest

Lisa McTigue Pierce is Executive Editor of Packaging Digest. She’s been a packaging media journalist since 1982 and tracks emerging trends, new technologies, and best practices across a spectrum of markets for the publication’s global community. Reach her at [email protected] or 630-272-1774.

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