Why It’s Time to Update Your Perfume Bottle Labels

Outdated label designs and inconsistent applications can send the wrong message to consumers.

Stagnation occurs when a change IS necessary, but the manufacturer refuses to accept progress or fix a glaring flaw. 

If your perfume labels look dated, don't stay put, peel off, or fade easily, these are just a few compelling signs that it might be time to make a change — one that might cost money upfront but could save your brand reputation and influence customers in a way that improves sales. 

The fact is, if consumers get a sense that quality control and consistency aren't crucial to you, it's likely that they won't even give your fragrance a chance. 

Making changes to your label design and application can make all the difference between stagnation and growth. These types of changes are necessary and beneficial. They help your brand earn consumer trust, which helps increase sales that will improve your bottom line.

Let's put label quality and design in perspective:

• 45% of customers expect great design on your labels and in your marketing.
• 5 to 7 impressions are necessary before someone will remember your brand.
• Presenting your brand consistently results in an average revenue increase of 33%.
• Color increases brand recognition by up to 80%.

Do you think 94% of the world would trust the Coca-Cola logo if the labels kept falling off the bottles and they looked off-brand? Probably not. In light of what a good title can do for you and making changes can be a good thing, let's go over how you can analyze whether or not it's time to update your perfume bottle labels.

When Labels Fall Down on the Job

Let's start with label quality before we discuss logos and graphics. 

Your label design could be gorgeous, heavenly, adhering to the golden mean ratio and Fibonacci sequencing — a label that will be discussed in textbooks for centuries. But if it doesn't stick to the container? Then none of that matters. Instead, the narrative as the customer understands it is: "If they don't care about their packaging, why would they care about the perfume inside?" 

Non-adhering pressure-sensitive labels could be a result of a few issues. Here are a few.

1. Poor quality containers. Wrap-around labels need perfectly cylindrical bottles, jars, etc., to stick. Rough or uneven surfaces can cause air pockets to form under labels and lead to peeling or tearing. Make sure your containers are sourced from reputable dealers, have consistent shapes and sizes, and smooth surfaces for maximum adhesion.
2. Poor quality labels. If your containers are up to snuff, but your labels are still trying to escape, it could be that you have inferior adhesives. The adhesive quality has to match the job. If you want a permanent label, the glue needs to be up to the task. Even labels that are meant to be peeled and restuck need to be able to do so hundreds, even thousands of times before adhesion starts to give up. Invest in quality labels to match your quality containers.
3. Poor application. If you still rely on manual label applications, this could be the source of your issues. Humans aren’t as fast or consistent as machines, and stepping up to an automatic or semi-automatic labeler will result in even, consistent pressure, straight application, and higher labeling speed. If you’re already using a machine and results are still poor, it could be time to repair or replace the machine or retrain your employees.

Perfume labels need to be able to endure a lot, especially since perfume bottles will mostly exist in bathrooms where water and humidity are a given or in purses where they’ll be coming into contact with keys, cell phones, and other items. This is why many perfumes and cosmetics manufacturers are moving to shrink sleeves. They’re moisture-resistant and cover containers from top to bottom for maximum graphic design space. The label size increase is significant enough that many brands see sales go up by 20% over traditional wrap-around or front and back labels. 

That said, you may still have great success with wrap-around or front and back labels since you can do cool things like die-cut labels or clear labels that let customers see the product inside the bottle. And, if you’re planning on labeling a box or soft pouch, you’ll need traditional pressure-sensitive labels for those applications anyway. 

The choice of label type is borne from your overall design, container material and shape, and what you wish to communicate to your customer.

Label Design Miscommunications

Sometimes, a brand will realize it made a huge mistake and backpedal. This is good for the rest of us because we get the object lesson without having to reap the consequences. Such is the case for Tropicana and its disastrous 2009 redesign. 

You’re probably familiar with the Tropicana logo, that luscious, ripe orange with a red striped straw sticking out of it. So was everyone else. And when it was replaced with a closeup of a glass of orange juice, along with a font change, cap redesign, new wording, and brand new marketing campaign, customers were baffled, and sales plummeted. After losing 30 million dollars, Tropicana realized they’d changed too much all at once and had to revert to their old design to stem the tide of lost revenue.

If your design works, don’t change it. Or only do subtle updates. Perhaps your logo colors and fonts aren’t consistent across your products, leading to confusion among customers. It’s time to shore them up and create a consistent design language across your labels and marketing materials. 

If there’s any kind of attachment on the part of your customers regarding your branding, don’t make global shifts. Change one or two small things at a time. If the design feels old but is still popular with a portion of your customer base, update it without alienating them. 

Continue to satisfy the FDA requirements regarding your labels, of course, but consider hiring a graphic designer or graphic design firm to bring consistency to your brand and give your labels a fresh feel. If you’ve handed projects to different designers over the years, you might have noticed that your branding is muddied among the varied design ideas your products display.

Do Your Labels Support Your Brand Identity? 

If your labels don’t represent your brand and the message you want to communicate to your customers, it might be time for a label update.

Great labels don’t happen by accident. They’re the result of careful planning and quality application equipment.

Pack Leader USA wants to make sure your labels are winning over customers. So, in addition to making top-quality, durable labeling machines, we’ve put together some practical advice to help you evaluate your perfume labels and determine if they need an update. Read Perfume Packaging: Design & Label Application Tips for Your New Perfume Bottle to learn more. 

More reading

• From Perfume to Eyeliner, Labeling Tips for Cosmetics Manufacturers
• 3 Types of Labelers Made Specifically for Cosmetics Packaging
• Is it Time to Refresh Your Brand (and Labels)?
• 6 Steps to Outstanding Custom Cosmetic Labels
• 7 Reasons to Update Your Packaging Labels
• Labeling Equipment for Cosmetics & Perfume
• More articles about cosmetics labeling