Scratch, Rub and Makeup
Readers who have not already been put off by the suffocating mixture of smells which waft from the pages of their favourite glossy magazines will soon face the daunting prospect of pages soaked in make-up as well.
A British printing company is putting the finishing touches to a revolutionary process which for the first time will allow advertisers to include samples of lipstick, eyeshadow or mascara which can be rubbed off the page and applied to the face.
Colorgraphic, Britain's leading printer of scratch-`n'-sniff, rub-`n'-reveal and tear-`n'-perforate magazine inserts and mail shots, has already spent more than Pounds 250,000 on developing the technique, but is still some way off perfecting it.
"It is very complicated, and I am loathe to trumpet it too loudly until I know that we can deliver,'' says Nick Winks, chief executive of Colorgraphic. "We first have to print the page and then lay down the cosmetic in a different `coating' stage.''
The cosmetics industry, nevertheless, is fascinated by the possibility of peddling its expensive products without the need to persuade readers to go into a shop, but is adopting a wait-and-see attitude before committing itself to this latest direct marketing aid.
Martin Avis, a media buyer for Lancome and L'Oreal, says the process is intriguing, but warns that it will be important to make sure that cosmetic samples included in magazines have the same feel as the product itself. "Half the battle of selling skin-care products is the way they feel. If it can reproduce this, it sounds like a good idea.''
The technique also promises to have a big impact beyond the magazine market. Winks envisages applying it to mail order catalogues, which do not currently list cosmetics for the simple reason that the consumer has no way of trying the product first.
"If you can send people a sample incorporated in the catalogue itself, then you have the perfect sampling technique,'' he says.
Developed further, the technique also has huge potential as a promotional tool; within the travel trade, for example, where make-up kits with enough for two or three applications could be given to aircraft passengers.
But direct mail advertisers will be the technique's biggest users, Winks reckons. The direct mail industry is the fastest-growing form of sales promotion in Britain, with spending having grown from Pounds 540m in 1975 to Pounds 1.4 billion in 1986. It accounts for 18% of all advertising expenditure.
But as the daily post has grown ever more cluttered with unsolicited offers, advertisers are constantly looking for different ways to attract the attention of consumers.
By marrying the new "beyond scratch and sniff'' process to their ability to personalise direct mail (Dear MR ACORN, we are sure everybody on MULBERRY DRIVE will be jealous when they see you in your new Ford Granada) they may have found the ultimate: personalised samples of make-up or perfume sent directly to consumers to match their complexions and the colour of their eyes.
A British printing company is putting the finishing touches to a revolutionary process which for the first time will allow advertisers to include samples of lipstick, eyeshadow or mascara which can be rubbed off the page and applied to the face.
Colorgraphic, Britain's leading printer of scratch-`n'-sniff, rub-`n'-reveal and tear-`n'-perforate magazine inserts and mail shots, has already spent more than Pounds 250,000 on developing the technique, but is still some way off perfecting it.
"It is very complicated, and I am loathe to trumpet it too loudly until I know that we can deliver,'' says Nick Winks, chief executive of Colorgraphic. "We first have to print the page and then lay down the cosmetic in a different `coating' stage.''
The cosmetics industry, nevertheless, is fascinated by the possibility of peddling its expensive products without the need to persuade readers to go into a shop, but is adopting a wait-and-see attitude before committing itself to this latest direct marketing aid.
Martin Avis, a media buyer for Lancome and L'Oreal, says the process is intriguing, but warns that it will be important to make sure that cosmetic samples included in magazines have the same feel as the product itself. "Half the battle of selling skin-care products is the way they feel. If it can reproduce this, it sounds like a good idea.''
The technique also promises to have a big impact beyond the magazine market. Winks envisages applying it to mail order catalogues, which do not currently list cosmetics for the simple reason that the consumer has no way of trying the product first.
"If you can send people a sample incorporated in the catalogue itself, then you have the perfect sampling technique,'' he says.
Developed further, the technique also has huge potential as a promotional tool; within the travel trade, for example, where make-up kits with enough for two or three applications could be given to aircraft passengers.
But direct mail advertisers will be the technique's biggest users, Winks reckons. The direct mail industry is the fastest-growing form of sales promotion in Britain, with spending having grown from Pounds 540m in 1975 to Pounds 1.4 billion in 1986. It accounts for 18% of all advertising expenditure.
But as the daily post has grown ever more cluttered with unsolicited offers, advertisers are constantly looking for different ways to attract the attention of consumers.
By marrying the new "beyond scratch and sniff'' process to their ability to personalise direct mail (Dear MR ACORN, we are sure everybody on MULBERRY DRIVE will be jealous when they see you in your new Ford Granada) they may have found the ultimate: personalised samples of make-up or perfume sent directly to consumers to match their complexions and the colour of their eyes.