Louise Marsland (@Louise_Marsland)’s weekly pick of recent product, packaging and design launches:
- New vodka inspires luxury lounge
- Elizabeth Arden launches through Salon Media, and
- Smeg goes professional in South Africa.
Liquid luxury
The new headline act at Club VIP in the Michaelangelo Towers, Sandton, is a luxurious ‘parlour’ designed to enhance the experience of highly refined, handcrafted vodka, Absolut Elyx, which was recently introduced to the South African market.
Alcohol brands always have the best boilerplates: “Elyx is hand-distilled by a select few in a heritage rectification still made entirely from copper and dating back to 1921. The resulting vodka has a silky and textured taste that is partly thanks to this manually operated old copper still, and due to wheat that is sourced entirely from a single estate. This rare process and its result redefine luxury in a world of mass production and commodification…”
The Elyx lounge custom interior design is by Inhouse Brand Architects, which was commissioned by Pernod Ricard to create a luxurious space-within-a-space that would not only complement the upmarket nature of the hotel destination but also reflect the premium nature of the Absolut Vodka’s new product extension.
To embody the character of Elyx, Inhouse’s design team Night Vision created an 18.6m2 ‘parlour’ with a series of special features. These include custom-made seating that seamlessly merges into the ceiling, and a striking chandelier created out of Elyx bottles that runs the length of the room and flows into the back feature wall.
Inhouse writes that the lounge takes its cue from the standout copper still itself and the overall identity of Elyx: “The interior features laser-cut iconography, and a copper-hued palette that reflects the essence of the brand. There is a heady sense of luxury conveyed by the plush deep-buttoned seating, mirrored surfaces and velvety finishes.”
Very sensuous.
Mirror, mirror
Clever Primedia — it’s in hair and beauty salons now with the aptly named Salon Media, part of the TLC Unlimited division. Talk about a captive audience!
Most women spend at least an hour to three hours having their hair done, sometimes interspersed with various beauty treatments to while away the time. That’s how long highlights or extensions take guys, okay?! Plus — TMI — but, when you’ve got kids, it’s about your only monthly ‘me’ downtime!
Elizabeth Arden recently launched its Flawless Finish Perfectly Nude Makeup SPF15 to SA salon consumers in specially selected high-end salons, as well as choosing Salon Media’s mirror decals as part of its wider marketing campaign. The decal campaign ran in 25 ethnic salons nationwide in March and April 2014, targeting women between the ages of 20 and 44 with a household income of over R8 000.
The new range of the lightweight, complexion-illuminating and correction foundation includes a selection of darker shades developed to cater to the skincare and beauty needs of African beauty consumers.
The Elizabeth Arden Foundation Reader will be used to help women in the selected salons find the Elizabeth Arden foundation that best matches their skin type, shade and preferences. The target audience is women in the LSM 7-10 bracket, who are between the ages of 25 and 40 years.
Smeg Professional launches in SA
Catering equipment industry service provider, Munaaz, has launched the new Professional range of equipment from Smeg in SA. The offering includes the new Smeg range of foodservice solutions, such as refrigeration, professional cooking and dishwashing equipment.
Munaaz also assists with kitchen design layout for its professional catering clients.
Smeg is described as the epitomy of style in “the way a product communicates with its surroundings and enables users to interact with it”.
Shelf Life by Louise Marsland is a weekly column on MarkLives. Tweet new product, packaging and design launches to @louise_marsland or email her at louise.marsland at gmail.com. Want to sponsor Shelf Life? Contact us here.
Louise has written about the FMCG, media, marketing and advertising industry for 19 of her more-than-25-year career as a former editor of magazines AdVantage, Marketing Mix and Progressive Retailing, as well as websites Bizcommunity.com and FMCGFiles. She currently edits the weekly Wednesday Media & Marketing Page for The New Age newspaper and is the publishing editor of industry trendwatching portal, TRENDAFRiCA, for consumer insight, research and trends in Africa.
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