PURPLE BLAB

The journey of lab samples to finished product goes something like this…

1. Once approved, testing goes down for the componentry to make sure it is all compatible (I have covered this kind of thing before along with horrendous mishaps that put us in massive holes).

2. The copy I write for product branding – on the component, the box, and the love notes – goes through legal approval. Sometimes, I cry over the tweaks that come back.

3. Branding is conceived – layout of copy, imagery, how the gradient purple shows up on boxes of different sizes, which means different reams of cardboard for boxes. We have a great girl, Chase, who gets the PL “style guide,” which is industry-speak for the dos/don’ts that reflect imagery (consistency is key so that a very specific look/feel conjures Purple Lab across the board – whenever you see someone using it, you just KNOW its ours).

4. The manufacture sends us the translation (we send them art by eps files – not sure what it stands for but I think it’s too late for me to ask without feeling mortified!) and I approve or send back like its burned pizza at a restaurant.

5. We approve! And than manufacture begings production, based on purchase orders plus projections for our own site sales. Components are branded abroad, where they are made, and they take about 12 weeks to arrive – via boat – from Asia. Actual product is made here in the US. If it’s an emergency and timing is crazy tight (which it is right NOW at this very moment), we may air ship which triples the price. Ouch.

6. As components arrive here, they go to product manufacturer to be filled, shrink wrapped, boxed, labeled, delivered (adhere to serious guidelines by retailers for shipping requirements).

7. We then need “comps,” which are samples that look exactly like the real thing but are typically hand-filled (i.e. product filled into the component by hand, one at a time, instead of a factory line which requires a minimum of thousands). These are expensive and we can onlyl afford a few, so we need to handle them with care.

8. Comps are shot for the website, press/marketing material – and PR (i.e. Sharon) starts pitching to the media to get stories and meetings in person (always best to showcase in person – you connect more with the editor).  Use lab samples for photography of smears/swatches of color which must be high rez.

9. Beg media to treat product gingerly – they often do. Branding could literally wipe off because it’s done by hand. Editors understand – they get that all the time.

10. Hope for an editor/producer/blogger to say they’ll do a piece – and that it won’t get cut.

11. Put  strategic lists together of how many finished products we’ll need for sampling – sampling for media, influencers, any gift bags we want to contribute to, ourselves (and believe me, we come last here in the office). We can’t allot ourselves much – $ and there is no profit, even remotely, to our name yet.

12. Ship to retailers as well as our own warehouse, who handles all shipping/handling for e-commerce.

13. Have extras for retailers for photography, in-store display, their own marketing/promotions, etc.

14. Pray for profits.

And that, my friends, is the process!

Mwah!

Karen

Purple Lab Creatrix

Tags: Karen Robinovitz, Purple Lab

This entry was posted on Monday, January 11th, 2010 at 6:50 am and is filed under Karen Robinovitz, Purple Lab Behind the Scenes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.