Nivea Soft - Limited Edition

In one of my blogs last year I championed the use of Limited Edition packaging. In summary i wrote -


'Limited editions allow your brand to be free, to pull down the economic gloom and change the mood of the consumer. Limited editions by their very nature are engaging, quirky and full of story telling. They have very little brand architect to maintain, minimal colour retention and confined only by the canvas they belong too. A designer and marketers dream at a fraction of the cost of both Ad campaigns and Brand redesigns.'


This summer in the UK we are scheduled to have a flood of limited edition packaging. 
During the Great British Summer many brands will have union flags, sporting icons, diamond jubilee souvenirs and football memorabilia spawned across their packs.
It is great to see that iconic brand Nivea is launching 3 limited edition packs this summer under a completely different guise. When your brand is 100 years of age I guess you can set your own agenda...how refreshing.

We are told that 'The light-hearted and colourful design, which features springs birds, adds to the feeling of the season, sunny cheerfulness and warmth and echoes with the brand’s attitude of making life beautiful.'


The packs have been designed by the fashion designer Nicola De Main in conjunction with design agency Bulletproof.
“Initially we thought it would be quite a challenge to find an up-and-coming fashion designer to work with us on the Nivea Soft limited edition packaging range, but then we found Nicola de Main whose designs were the perfect fit with the brand. Nicola was a delight to work with and it was serendipity that she was already a Nivea Soft consumer. We are extremely happy with the result that Nicola and our design team have created and look forward to seeing it on the shelves,” says Kellie Chapple, client services director at Bulletproof.


I like the designs, they feel tranquil and calming, perfect for a sub brand called 'soft'. Well I like the birds and butterflies I can't quite comprehend the remaining design, this definitely looks out of sync. The third design appears more aggressive and a use of a deeper darker blue is no where near as feminine.
Overall as a handbag accessory or dresser table brand you want the product to give you an uplift and these limited edition packs do this nicely.  I hope more global brands like Nivea embrace limited edition.


P.S
This isn't the first partnership between the brand and a fashion designer. Nivea had previously linked up with both Josep Font and Manish Arora for similar projects.