Package Design - November/December 2014 - 21

Gilchrist & Soames' vice president of marketing (left) and COO (right) show off a
few of the many bottle shapes that can be ﬁlled at the facility. The packaging
operation's ﬂexibility enables the company's marketers and designers to
innovate with bottle shape and style as well as label design.

ilchrist

& Soames, a personal care company, might be best known for its
British roots, but the most interesting part of the company's history is happening now.
For this installment of Package Design
Matters, the company's COO Josh Kirschbaum
and Roys Laux, vice president of marketing, will
speak about how the brand has survived,
succeeded and transformed itself over the last
three decades. They also discuss how Gilchrist
& Soames' female leadership is elevating its
creative culture, how package design is ushering
in a new era, and retail opportunities that are
changing the way it sells its products.

B R A N D T R AV E L S
Founded in London, Gilchrist & Soames' early
product line focused on home fragrance and
candles. It launched its spa, bath and body
collection in the U.K. in 1984 when it was
purchased by Potter & Moore.
Today, Gilchrist & Soames is headquartered
in Indianapolis, but its reach is international. Its
core customer base is largely comprised of
hotels, spas and resorts. "We service 6,000
customers across 90 countries," Laux explains.
"We are a global brand, but we draw upon that
British heritage.
"In the luxury toiletries' market, it all comes
down to attention to detail," she adds. "As we're
developing new designs and creating new
products, we're thinking about infusing that
attention to detail and quality craftsmanship in
everything we do. We draw upon our history to
be relevant going forward."
That history includes not only the company's
pedigree, but the pedigrees of its leadership.
Kirschbaum brings over 10 years of experience
in the bath, body and beauty industries to his
role. "I've worked for large global supply chain
organizations, such as Colgate Palmolive and
L'Oréal," Kirschbaum explains. "But I've also
worked for smaller companies in cosmetics and
personal care. Before coming to Gilchrist &
Soames, I was the COO of NuWorld Beauty. One
of its brands is the Hard Candy cosmetics line
that you'll see in every Walmart. I'm able to take
that retail experience and help Roys' team in
growing our ecommerce portfolio and really

touching retail customers."
As vice president of marketing, Laux draws
on over 15 years of multi-industry experience in
brand strategy and management, marketing,
global launch strategy, product development,
lifecycle planning, and sales leadership. Laux
honed her brand development, marketing and
management skills at Hormel Foods and Eli Lilly
& Company, and her online marketing and
customer-insights skills at Angie's List.
Although Laux is vice president of marketing,
her role is more accurately described as vice
president of brand management and creative. "I
oversee all marketing, brand partnerships, brand
development, product development, and
packaging design and creative work we do," she
explains. "My long history in brand building,
brand equity, and understanding customer
insights helps my team eﬀectively deliver against
the motivators and drivers of our customers in
what's really a specialty piece of the marketplace.
Our primary customers are hospitality
customers, we service four- and ﬁve-star hotels,
and we put beautiful bath and body products in
their bathrooms for their guests' use. Gilchrist &
Soames is much diﬀerent from your everyday
beauty company."
COMMON CHALLENGE,
SPECIALIZED EXPERTISE
But brand challenges and opportunities aren't
necessarily exclusive to the company. "What's
been interesting, especially in the beauty space,
is there's a big trend toward niche brands," Laux

Package Design - November/December 2014

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