Big thank you for good collaboration

Listening to inspiring talks, having exciting discussions, getting to know new products and their developers – on February 11th, 350 test subjects enjoyed the diverse program of the thank-you event at the Hamburg Beiersdorf Test Subject Center.

The event featured two NIVEA innovations that the invited guests had tested in recent years: NIVEA Cellular Perfect Skin and NIVEA In-Shower Body.

The organizers, first and foremost Dr. Sabine Oberst (Volunteer Management), provided the exciting content: In short presentations, product developers Magelie Siekro (Formula Development Performance Care) and Isabel Balcke (Formula Development NIVEA Body) informed the visitors about the products and the blind studies that were conducted. 

Magalie Siekro highlighted the effect of the ingredient lumicinol which contributes to reducing pigment spots in the products of NIVEA Cellular Perfect Skin. Isabel Balcke explained the difference between classic water-in-oil body care emulsions and hydrodispersions – the innovative technology which first made the development of NIVEA In-Shower Body Lotions possible. With a colorfully marked world map, they showed the guests how successful the In-Shower products have become in retail.

Anyone who wanted to learn more about the products was able to do so afterwards in the foyer at the product development team’s information stands. Especially popular with the public were the UV cameras and the so-called “Feel Boxes” with which the test subjects could test their own sensitivities. The UV camera created a lot of surprise when it made pigment spots visible that are not recognizable with the naked eye. This made the guests all the more thankful when Ivica Zoric from Product Testing explained how they could prevent the development of additional pigment spots with sun care products.

All of the afternoon’s offerings cast a spell on the visitors and exciting conversations sprung up all around. “It was a really successful event”, says Sabine Oberst.

Integrating consumers in product development
In 2015, Beiersdorf conducted about 1,800 studies with about 38,000 participants across all regions.
The primary goal of the researchers in developing new products is fulfilling the needs and desires of consumers. For this, the company has been using the most modern measuring techniques and evaluation processes as well as modern methods of consumer research for decades. Even in testing new ideas and prototypes test subjects are brought in right at the beginning. To this end in March 2009, new spaces in the test subject center were opened with bathrooms and a dedicated research lab. There, wrinkles are measured, sweat levels are determined, the loss of water by the skin as a measurement of barrier function is recorded, observations of use are conducted, how skin feels is evaluated and surveys about product performance that can be experienced are conducted.