For the last twenty years in Taiwan, Hoyden has been the go-to company for brands and trading companies looking for color cosmetic packaging and mascara in particular. Now the company has taken on the new name of Captiva Packaging as the company extends its reach into the international market. Patricia Shih, Sales and Marketing Manager, explains how Captiva has been benefiting from the rebrand.

What is your position at Captiva Packaging, Patricia?

I am the Sales and Marketing Manager for Captiva Packaging. The position has 3 major elements: Planning the sales and marketing strategy for the company, coordinating customer requests and production management, and analysis of customer feedback to improve the management system. All 3 elements interlink with one another and because I look at the customer relationship management it makes it easier to plan strategy for the future as well as implementing improvements into our system.

In Taiwan, Captiva Packaging is well-known for producing mascara packs. How does Captiva lead the market for mascara packaging?

When the company was started 2 decades ago, it was ambitious and developed a wide range of packaging components. These included different brushes in terms of style, shape and size on offer to choose between. Captiva was the first company in Taiwan to offer a complete set of packaging component options purely for mascara, eyeliner and lip gloss.

We maintain close relationships with our customers here and regularly pay visits to them in order to investigate the latest market changes and requirements. We also share our most up-to-date industrial developments with them. Nowadays with many years of professional experience built up, we are still the first option that many companies turn to, to work with as our designs are ahead of the times and our production knowledge is a guarantee of the finished quality.

Are Captiva's customers Taiwanese or international?

The company headquarters is in Tainan City, Taiwan and because of the company's excellent reputation in Taiwan, most of our business and production is here too. Over 60% of Captiva's sales are to domestic customers and about 40% of sales are to international companies.

Our packaging concepts can be seen in beauty products through the Middle East, Europe, North America and Australia.

How is Hoyden related to Captiva Packaging?

Hoyden and Captiva Packaging are the same company. Hoyden was established in 1994 and then the new name of Captiva Packaging was taken on in 2017 in order to match the company brand to our strategic international marketing plan.

We are well-known in Taiwan and the time is right for Captiva to take on a more global look at the market. The name Captiva stems from the word "captivating", a synonym of beautiful. As we target the beauty and cosmetic business, the name Captiva Packaging was an apt choice.

The rebranding was done in conjunction with Webpac Digital Media Group as the company has experience working with packaging companies around the globe. As a result Captiva now has a modern, sleek, new company identity —a sharp design that explains what we do— which is perfect for introducing the company into the wider, global market. Under the new brand, we look forward to strengthening our R&D ability in order to be even more creative and innovative in cosmetic packaging.

For over 20 years, most of the company's business came from Taiwanese trading companies. This meant that we were already doing business internationally, with different standards met for several countries around the world. As a company we want to do more direct work with brands in order to get first-hand information about fashions and trends in the industry. It's very interesting to work in the beauty and cosmetic industry to witness how designs are constantly evolving or being introduced.

How will the Captiva Packaging brand move forward?

Captiva Packaging will continue on the work that Hoyden started as a professional color cosmetic packaging supplier. Captiva offers many advantages to its customers, including a mold and tooling service, packaging design, contract manufacturing OEM and ODM service from initial project planning all the way through to completion.

We believe that the key to maintaining our success in the future is to keep cosmetic companies happy and making sure they always have new options to look at, and multiple selections to choose between. Being flexible and creative is also critical so that when companies can't find anything suitable for their product, we can present new designs completely from scratch - and that is not an easy job that every company can do.

Does Captiva manufacture all of its packaging, or do you also distribute for other business partners?

Yes, we produce all of the packaging components in house. For brushes and applicators, we have a contract supplier that can provide a complete set of brush options. We also work with contract manufacturers that administer any special packaging decoration that we need, such as the rainbow metallization and other special treatments.

With the rebranding underway, is there anything else happening at Captiva right now?

We've just launched a new web site to reflect the new company branding and now the Captiva is heading in the right marketing direction. In terms of packaging, we have some new designs which will be launched in the near future.

Our R&D team have been looking into different materials for the squeezable lip gloss tube. At the moment, the LDPE gives it its "squeezable" quality, but have been looking at different plastic materials to make the tube harder and more solid, yet still squeezable and offering better application, and this will be ready in the next weeks.

Captiva is at the cutting edge of mascara trends. What observations have you recognized for mascara and other make-up components?

When the company started out twenty years ago, consumers and brands liked simple packaging designs. Many consumers still opt for this style as it is now considered "classic and elegant".

Five to ten years ago, a trend was observed to add "tech" features. Things could be seen like vibrating mascara, or mascara twists, and there were even LED light devices installed into packaging components.

Now the trend has changed again and the current fashion is to focus on decoration options to enhance the look and for clear, identifiable branding. Special packaging treatments are now more in demand than ever before. The rainbow metallization which Captiva has available is getting increasingly more attention.

The form and shape of the packaging is also being used increasingly more to add character to a simple packaging component. For example, the water droplet shape has been a popular item recently.

The cycle of fashion is a very interesting subject, and as a cosmetic packaging supplier, it is interesting for us to see how some of the Captiva's old catalog products dating back to the 1995 are resurfacing on store shelves again. However, this time around the products incorporate different packaging materials, use updated production technology and new decoration techniques.

Fashion cycles and trends in packaging are interesting to see and it is absolutely captivating to be a part of.