We make no secret of the fact that we want to be the world’s leading skincare company. To reach our goal, we know we cannot simply depend on our own internal resources. So for many years, we have relied on Open Innovation, building strong, long-term relationships with external partners such as universities, research institutes and individual inventors and innovators. All these activities are bundled under the term “PEARLFINDERS – We Open Innovation”.
Our international research network is involved in over 300+ partnerships with universities, research centers and start-up companies. These have led to countless innovations, one of which was the NIVEA Black & White range; a range of deodorants that kept black fabrics black and white fabrics white for longer. As well as the significant achievements of our own researchers and developers, a significant share of the solution to this technological challenge was built on our close partnership with scientists from the Hohenstein Institute, an international textile research center in Bönnigheim, Germany. Established raw material manufacturers also contributed to the development of the combination of active ingredients.
As well as Research & Development, our Foresight & Innovation division established in 2012, also serves as a contact for external partners.
In January 2011, we launched our award-winning online platform TRUSTED NETWORK to build a secure and confidential network of companies, institutions and scientists who want to work together to find promising innovations for the future. We now have a global network with 270 registered international partners from diverse industries. In 2014, we re-launched the platform making it even easier for members to share their inventions, new developments and product ideas with us and offer their ideas and solutions to questions posed by our researchers and developers.
In order for the initiative to continue to develop positively, open innovation activities such as the Supplier Fair will be continuously expanded. Another example is the Beiersdorf Innovation Pitch at the annual international cosmetics trade fair ‘In-cosmetics’ at which external partners from all over the world have been able to present innovative ingredients and submit concepts since 2014.
In November 2015, we hosted our first Supplier Fair, an opportunity for three longstanding strategic partners to enter into direct exchange with over 200 of our researchers. On this occasion, we invited partners in the functional raw materials and focused on special cosmetic textures and promising trends in skin care. Suppliers presented innovations, concepts and ideas to our researchers and through intensive discussions, we further deepened our already close collaborations. Since then, Supplier Fairs with additional close strategic partners take place regularly.
In March 2008, Beiersdorf Research & Development launched the ‘Project House’ initiative which intensified our collaboration with selected partners at our Hamburg Research Center. One example is a collaboration with two major perfume manufacturers that takes place at our development lab. Our goal is to evaluate scents and better coordinate joint projects. As a result, the strategic partners' employees are permanently on-site and work as part of our project teams. In the meantime, the ‘Project House’ concept has been reworked to a certain extent and expanded to include raw material suppliers.
Another example of how solutions to scientific questions are being found together is our ‘Incubation Labs’; a collaboration with other companies that are conducting research as well as raw material suppliers. Here the partners work together from the outset, searching for suitable formulas for skin care products. Involving external partners in the process early on and under one roof, makes it easier to transfer knowledge and promotes communication.
