Maesa helps Kim Kardashian tap into celebrity fragrance trend

By Katie Nichol

- Last updated on GMT

The trend for celebrity fragrances is here to stay, according to the Fragrance Trends Forecast report from the Fragrance Foundation.

The 2010 report, compiled with the help of top fragrance houses including Givaudan, Symrise and Robertet, also noted that reality series celebrities are gaining momentum in the fragrance industry.

“They are part of the celebrity mix now and a “cultural” phenomenon. Reality stars bring a new, young consumer to the market who might not ever have thought of wearing fragrance,”​ Lyn Leigh, Communications Director at The Fragrance Foundation told CosmeticsDesign.com USA.

Taking advantage of this is reality television star Kim Kardashian, who has just launched a self-titled debut fragrance.

From concept to reality

The owner, marketer and distributor of the fragrance, Lighthouse Beauty, hired contract manufacturer Maesa to develop the Kardashian brand and fragrance from concept through to reality.

According to Maesa, the company wanted to create a classic looking logo that fitted with the modern shape of the bottle.

“The KK logo feels unique yet timeless, which was our ultimate goal,” ​explained Sean Brosmith, senior vice president at Maesa Design.

“The logo not only needed to stand alone as a ‘mark’ which represented Kim, but also had to work on the final bottle shape, ad campaign and collateral material,” ​he added

In terms of visual appeal, Maesa worked to create a color pallet that would change in appearance depending on the light and position of the bottle.

“We accomplished this by spraying the bottle first with a very dark purple/black spray, and then applying a top coat of pink pearl clear coat,” ​said Brosmith.

Complex manufacturing process

The bottle itself was developed, manufactured and decorated by Maesa in China. After being sprayed, the glass bottle was silkscreened and fitted with a custom plaque for the logo.

A black resin PCTA cap tops the bottle, with the aluminum band dressing the cap featuring a 360 degree embossed logo that was achieved through an eye letting process according to Maesa.

The secondary packaging was developed to tie in with the bottle’s design, and used a similar process said Maesa.

“We printed a translucent dark purple/black onto a silver metallic paper, followed up with an offline UV clear coat which had a pearl added to it. The folding carton was then hotstamped, with a registered emboss,” ​said Hoskins.

Maesa also supplied the 30ml collector’s edition of the fragrance, as well as 10ml travel fragrance roller ball.

According to market research company NPD Group, the market for Women's and Men's Celebrity Fragrances was worth $117.8bn in 2009, representing 5 percent of total sales in the Prestige Fragrance market.

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