Cosmetic gift sets show multiple personalities

Paris-based Bourjois created three distinct personalities for its line of cosmetic gift sets. These personalities provided visual sizzle on the shelf and positioned the gift sets as lifestyle products. They also added an element of fun to the task of purchasing and applying makeup.

How successful was this customization tactic? Nancy Tarantola, marketing director at Bourjois, says that heavy demand required an additional production run during the 2006 holiday season.

The focal point that gives these gift sets their vintage French flair is from illustrator Bruce Sereta.

Working with Dragon Rouge (www.dragonrouge-usa.com), a brand identity firm, Bourjois maximized Sereta’s images to create three distinct personalities for the gift sets, which include products such as eye shadow and lip gloss. The three personalities are the Acrobat (delicate beauty), the Tamer (enchanting vixen), and the Can Can Dancer (vivacious and energetic).

Eye shadow is packaged in a round gold-brush-finished, dome-top tin, manufactured in China and printed in four process and two spot colors. The Astonishing Acrobat tin includes silver, pink, and blue eye shadows while the Tantalizing Tamer features beige, green, and deep bronze eye shadows. Three lip glosses are included in Can Can Colour Show, a paperboard package with a gatefold of die-cut paperboard “dancers” who dance open to reveal the sheer, shimmer beige, and electric pink shades of lip gloss.

By creating “siblings,” the brand ensures that each “performer” is different. Shoppers can easily identify with one or more of the personalities as a gift to pamper either themselves or friends.