Beiersdorf Awards Innovation Pitches at in-cosmetics

At the first-ever Beiersdorf Innovation Pitch at the 2014 in-cosmetics in Hamburg, Germany, the global skin care company announced the three winners at the show’s awards ceremony on April 2, 2014. Ashland, Croda and KPT convinced the judges with their original ideas, giving them chance to market them under the umbrella of Beiersdorf‘s brands like Nivea and Eucerin.

The Beiersdorf Innovation Pitch was an extension of its open innovation initiative Pearlfinder, which aims to further increase the company‘s innovation power by integrating external knowledge into its research and development. For this pitch, Beiersdorf teamed up with in-cosmetics when it returned to Germany after five years, this time in Hamburg—Beiersdorf’s birthplace. Of 66 online entries from exhibitors at the event, 23 were selected to go through to the finals at in-cosmetics. The ideas were evaluated by a Beiersdorf jury consisting of experienced R&D, marketing and scouting heads. Key criteria were uniqueness, feasibility, consumer benefit, fit with Beiersdorf brands and market potential—with the winners excelling in these areas.

  • The British innovator and world leader in natural-based specialty chemicals, Croda impressed the judges with its unique concept that has potential for application in several categories, especially body and sun care.
  • A U.S.-based provider of specialty chemicals and technologies, Ashland has long been one of Beiersdorf’s strategic partners and is well known by the skin care giant for having its roots based firmly in creating innovative ingredients. At in-cosmetics, Ashland was praised by the jury for a promising idea relating to the sun care category.
  • And the Beiersdorf judges detected high potential in the idea of the exhibitor Korea Particle Technology (KPT). This relatively young company—established in 2004—was honored for its innovative ingredient technology which Beiersdorf considers valuable for its selective cosmetics business.

At the ceremony, Ulrich Schmidt, member of the executive board at Beiersdorf, announced the winners and thanked each participant for the dedication demonstrated during the pitch process. He said, “Innovation is a key factor for our company’s success. With our strong brands, we want to become the number one skin care company in our relevant markets, but we can only achieve this with the innovative input from external partners. We are happy to call this Innovation Pitch a great success. The overall quality and potential of the submitted ideas exceeded our expectations.”

Cathy Laporte, exhibition manager for in-cosmetics, added, “The high caliber of entries to the Beiersdorf Innovation Pitch is testament to the innovation on display at in-cosmetics, and I would like to congratulate the winners of this prestigious award. It is through this type of collaboration that the industry can create groundbreaking products that will appeal to a wide range of consumers. It has been a pleasure working with Beiersdorf on this unique project.”

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