Cécile Tuil, Group Communications VP at Albéa

Premium Beauty News - Your Group’s dynamics in the past months is impressive to say the least!

Cécile Tuil - It was not started just yesterday and it is not unrolled to impress but to convince! Dynamics that seek to address the ten main trends (or needs) of the moment on the marketplace.

Namely:

 trade up (growth is driven by the premium segment),
 a change in the status of major brands (with the surge of a plethora of small and medium brands),
 "It" categories and brands: boosted by selfies and fun,
 the search for naturalness (preservative-free, vegan, organic products, etc.),
 the need to go fast (Fast Beauty) with a consumer crave for novelties,
 the fantastic rise of online sales and the influence of bloggers,
but also the importance of customer experience with the resurgence of modernized shops.
 the concern for transparency, meaning, inclusion,
 the new business model for turn-key products to meet the trend for "speed to market" and new segments,
 eco-consciousness.

Premium Beauty News - What are the strong points of Albéa to address these many challenges?

Cécile Tuil - First, we are capable of serving all categories of clients (heritage and indies, key and small, global and local). We can rely on a fully developed an extraordinary range of solutions in packaging, the core of our business where we are constantly innovating, but also with typical turnkey solutions with a pack, a formula, an applicator or a kit, and of course a creative offer, via our graphic studio, for accelerated launches or limited editions.

We also stand apart concerning everything that goes beyond products. We are present in 16 countries with 39 industrial sites including 9 in North America. It enables both to support international customers and to meet the needs of local brands, to deliver quickly, to ensure proximity in relationships, to speak the same language. We have a robust CSR programme, which we share with most of our customers and which enables us to secure and promote the commitment of a entire value chain. We believe in partnerships, co-development, and we strive to develop a highly dynamic "ecosystem". And in a context of acceleration of projects, sometimes complex, support to customers is more important than ever - our experts know how to guide and serve customers, with passion and concern for quality...

In short, we want to be a fully fledged partner for all our customers, to help them launch their new brands or build the future of their brands.

Premium Beauty News - In such a context, time to market and full service are your new watch words?

Cecile Tuil - Time to market, and even speed to market, are definitely the key! The world is accelerating and we must be able to meet the requests and requirements of our customers in time... But that is not enough! We are working to make our production tools more flexible, to develop our new products faster, the design of new moulds (which is done in-house!) more agile and the quotation process simpler, etc.

This is a huge challenge, for both the packaging industry and our customers. This involves using the possibilities offered by digital, big data, artificial intelligence, automation, but also to built on and reinforce the creativity and inventiveness of teams, their skills, to ensure the Company’s attractiveness to attract expertise in a context of war of talents... This is the challenge of Industry 4.0: combine a robust operational performance and develop agility!

As for full service, our offer must make life easier for brands, our packs must protect and enhance formulas, our applicators must reinforce the pay-off of formulas, etc. In a nutshell, we design, develop and deliver turnkey and bespoke projects, relying on a global ecosystem with reliable partners and Albéa’s strong points. We follow formula innovations very closely, to propose solutions with a pre-tested and guaranteed compatibility, as it is with distribution and application.

Premium Beauty News - Tell us a word also about your innovations in the field of make-up and perfume...

Cecile Tuil - Our latest innovation on the side of mascara brushes, the "Discovery Brush" which enables to achieve a perfectly defined volumizing effect with a unique multi-zone shape and the "Vision Brush" which lengthens and curls lashes with its sophisticated construction of short and long bristles. Made in America in our Tennessee studio!

As for perfumery, our teams are working on different gestures, new formulas, new customizable packagings and solutions fully adapted to "nomadism". And in line with this same ecosystem approach, we have partnered with Centdegrés and other industrial leaders to create an offering centred on blending which allows a personalization of the perfume experience, a first in the field of perfumery!

Premium Beauty News - You are also innovating in skincare and lotion?

Cécile Tuil - We are proud of our industrial production, in Connecticut, of our high-tech mechanisms, as well as of an array of designs and finishes for all skincare applications ... Our catalogue is constantly expanding to facilitate customer launches, in addition to our technical capabilities for tailor-made developments!

PremiumBeautynews - And what about tubes?

Cécile Tuil - In terms of supply, we are about to launch Fast Track Tube, an offer targeting small and medium customers and limited series since the aim is to offer series below 10 000 units in 4 weeks !

In terms of products, you know that our range is particularly wide in the area where we are the world leaders. There too a lot of novelties. We recently launched the TearDrop Tube a drop-by-drop dispensing tube for liquid formulas.

Premium Beauty News - A last word on Mix& Match, your online products configurator?

Cécile Tuil - Our customers can select and personalize the decor of their pack in one click, for marketing tests, limited edition designs, etc. We can create a 3D preview in real time and download one’s personal realization.

Albéa also presented at Luxe Pack New York some of its latest U.S. achievements: mascara Gigi Hadid by Maybelline, KKW Fragrance by Kim Kardashian, CLEAN fragrance, SuperStay Matte Ink by Maybelline, Hydra Boost by Neutrogena, Mega Multiplier by Revlon, Peacoke Flare by Covergirl, Chromat, Pure Color by Envy Lash, Super Fan by Smashbox, Full Exposure Mascara by Smashbox, BadGal by Benefit.