Dominique Bouvier

Premium Beauty News - Cosmetology and plastics processes... many subjects are common. And you have everything to gain by working together.

Dominique Bouvier - Absolutely! I would even go further: We have no other choice! Because to address at the same time, regulations, often groundless concerns on the safety of our products, the organic wave and sustainable development, media campaigns harmful to the industry, changes in attitudes, consumptions habits, the pressure of decision-makers and globalization ... it is an absolute necessity for manufacturers specialised in contents and those specialised in containers, to talk to one another, exchange and share ideas. We must Co-fertilize ideas and test them together.

Let’s be frank, we must avoid the situation where "full service" would result in "full" customers, getting richer by the day, facing "empty" exhausted and poorer suppliers!

Premium Beauty News - This looks like a real call to resistance!

Dominique Bouvier - Yes, almost! Given the complexity of the world surrounding us, plastics specialists and cosmeticians would be well advised to support one another! If only because of changing regulations. But we must also resist to low-cost competition (products and packs), respond through quality and innovation, meet requirements of sustainable development (carbon footprint), respond to the needs of fast growing markets and, most importantly, sustain the high quality level of "Made in France" cosmetics, guarantee the origin and quality of products and their packaging in compliance with market regulations. Some regions of the world but also Europe are imposing us new rules which have set the bar very high! It is therefore necessary to pool our resources.

Premium Beauty News - Partnership, indeed, but good old "individualistic" habits and a lack of enthusiasm to unveil carefully kept trade secrets are difficult to get rid off! Don’t you agree?

Dominique Bouvier - It’s true! We often hear the following sentence: "My customer is mine" or "my teams are the best." We must find a way. Decision makers, brands, are common to all, and what they expect from us is a perfect understanding of our industrial domain, practical inventiveness, solutions, innovation... This implies that we share common data to better meet consumer needs.

As for the argument "my team is the best", no doubt about that! But this should not keep us from uniting, teaming up, while preserving qualities essential for success. That is to say, autonomy and freedom of movement, dynamism and versatility. Creativity is not the prerogative of large structures, but comes from well "sourced" human beings functioning with well "connected" brains and ideas emerge from exchanges and openness.

We must lift barriers to promote horizontal co-operation between the different trades. Conditions for success lie in mutual respect, the sharing of value and information, the equity of contributions and transparency. To work together successfully, you don’t need a legal contract, you just need a charter of common and shared values.

Premium Beauty News - Hence, this rapprochement with packaging converters is essential!

Dominique Bouvier - Vital! The functionality in primary cosmetics packaging can be found at different levels: what I call "Cosmetability" is the intelligent answer of the product/pack duo, depending on the purpose of use. The more the sought benefits are sophisticated, the earlier the collaboration should begin. And ideally, in our businesses, marketers, designers and scientists should be working together... You do understand that this challenge is more than ambitious, and finally small businesses, with their lighter and more mobile structures have quite a few cards to play!

In addition, the content/container compatibility calls upon a wide variety of scientific disciplines, so we obviously also need the support of academic laboratories. Among the CED members, there are some highly skilled researchers who can address appropriately, raised issues.

Premium Beauty News - But there is also what you call "the economic interest" in a good content/container partnership?

Dominique Bouvier - This economic interest should not be overlooked. Through a common market approach and therefore a joint offer, there are on top of it, possible economic gains in packaging operations.

Premium Beauty News - The concept of sustainable development also generates new constraints?

Dominique Bouvier - Yes, absolutely! And the issues concern material recyclability, biodegradability, waste disposal. The nature of materials changes with "green" materials ... Carbon labels to be placed on products in a near future (2011) will result in significant changes and these changes will need to be addressed in partnership between the two industries.