Efficacy is everything: claims sell products, and testing labs provide marketers with the sites, services and scientific proof they need to stand behind them.

AS CONSUMERS BECOME SAVVIER regarding the skin care, cosmetics and household products they use every day, formulators must do more than package the same old cream, lip product or cleanser and ship it off to retailers. After all, according to some industry estimates, more than 150,000 personal care products debut on store shelves every year. Unfortunately for most, they never celebrate a one-year anniversary. To stay competitive in this increasingly competitive market, today's most successful companies are constantly investigating the latest in raw material technology to deliver improved results.

By incorporating more robust actives, marketers have developed increasingly sophisticated products and are making greater claims about what these products can do for consumers. Nowhere else is this more apparent than in skin care, a market being fueled by the anti-aging craze. From mass to class, skin care treatments are boasting greater and multiple claims.

The reason is simple: "What sells products, along with packaging, are claims," said Craig Weiss, president of Consumer Product Testing Co. in Fairfield, NJ.

It should come as no surprise then, that labs are reporting an increased demand for testing that incorporates a multitude of factors.

"There has been a shift from single piece efficacy studies to multiple piece," Mr. Weiss noted. "Companies want to test wrinkle reduction, skin firmness and tone, all in a single product."

For example, a skin care marketer recently came to Consumer Product Testing Co. wanting to run a large-scale wrinkle reduction study with five different efficacy tests and 400 participants. In this 12-week study, the company's goal was to compare clinical significance including wrinkle reduction, evenness of skin tone, elasticity, firmness, moisturization and external changes. "They wanted to have a complete package," Mr. Weiss said.

Need for Testing Grows

Business has been booming for testing companies serving the personal care marketplace, fueled in many cases by the entrepreneurial nature of the beauty business.

"Venues like Sephora and QVC have created so much interest in getting into the business," said David Hinden of Verona, NJ-based Essex Testing Clinic, Inc. "These outlets have made it possible for dermatologists, plastic surgeons and niche marketers to become hugely successful. Smaller companies are acting like the major players to insure product safety and efficacy."

But in the race to get the latest in cosmetic technology on the shelf, marketers run a risk of losing valuable customer trust (and dollars) if a product falls short of expectations. Smart consumers can usually recognize something that's too good to be true. If a company can't back the hype with sound science and proven results, consumers will quickly take their hard-earned dollars elsewhere.

With such a strong focus on anti-aging and money to be made from appearance-conscious consumers willing to pay top dollar, there's added pressure to go further with claims.

"We are beginning to see companies 'push the envelope' of the cosmetic claims," said Mr. Hinden.

Using Science to Sell

Marketers have always turned to testing service companies to ascertain the safety and efficacy of their products and get the claims support they require. What's different nowadays is how personal care marketers are more heavily promoting this to consumers.

In Europe, for example, the Nivea brand has enjoyed its stature as a quality skin care line with a focus on safety and excellent skin compatibility. When it was ready to relaunch its Nivea Baby line last year, Beiersdorf decided to put a greater emphasis on the line's extensive dermatological testing, which included stringent in vitro and in vivo compatibility tests. The company worked with an external contract research institute to accomplish studies under supervision of a dermatologist and a pediatrician.

The relaunch was accompanied by a campaign that more strongly emphasized the line's clinical testing, with advertisements providing more detailed information about product benefits, according to Beiersdorf.

"Clinical tests have always been a standard in the development of Nivea Baby products," commented Ingo Hahn, lab manager product development skin care, for Beiersdorf AG in Hamburg, Germany. "However, with rising expectations of parents regarding product safety and skin compatibility in baby care, we decided to put more emphasis on this fact with the brand relaunch in 2005, providing our consumers with even more insights in the extremely high standards of the Nivea Baby product safety policy."

Enhancing Their Capabilities

With a greater emphasis being placed on the efficacy and safety of their products, personal care marketers are asking for more from testing providers. The major issues faced by testing labs include the increased demands for multi-faceted tests as well as faster turnaround times and tighter budget constraints. Many firms have invested in their businesses, adding new and more sophisticated equipment and services to meet the increasing demands of their personal care and household products customers.

Essex Testing has recently added the Canfield VISIA CR--which delivers standardized image capture for wrinkles and fine lines, skin texture, coloration/evenness, photodamage, vascular features and porphyrins--and Image Pro Software. Mr. Hinden said the firm is also acquiring "instruments with non-invasive applications" for measuring collagen and pigmentation.

With a heavy focus on wrinkle reduction, Consumer Product Testing has invested in a Primrose 3D imaging system, which delivers measurement of wrinkle reduction in situ, delivering speed and accuracy, according to Mr. Weiss.

In addition, Mr. Weiss said the emphasis on everyday sun protection in skin care is also fueling demand for SPF-related testing. "We offer chemistry, which is very important for the SPF market. As drug products, they need to undergo complete cGMP testing, including release and stability. Our chemistry department, in conjunction with our photobiology department, allows us to conduct final formulation to market testing for this industry."

Offering expanded services is another way testing labs look to build their business and set them apart from other providers.

Along those lines, BioScreen Testing Services, Torrance, CA, has added Asian subject panels for Repeat Insult Patch Testing (RIPT) in China. Starting this fall, Asian subject panels will run in China at a major university, with all testing to be overseen by dermatologists who will manage the entire study process.

Clinical Research Laboratories' newly expanded 25,000+ sq.ft, bioinstrumentation laboratory provides the newest in claims support technology as well as a micro laboratory which specializes in testing of antimicrobial products, disinfectants, mouth rinses, toothpastes, antibiotics and sanitizers, the company reports.

Making capital investments is critical for all testing labs that want to grow their business. Earlier this year, Hill Top Research was acquired by DW Healthcare Partners (DWHP), a Salt Lake, UT-based private equity firm. The acquisition will allow Hill Top to expand capacity, add new technical capabilities and provide additional resources for growth. In addition, the acquisition will also provide funds to be earmarked for growth initiatives, including further expansion into the personal care and oral care markets and possible industry acquisitions, according to DWHP.

Selecting a Partner

Testing services companies are building their arsenals with one basic goal: they want to be providers of choice. But marketers must make sound decisions when it comes to selecting their testing partners. Choosing the wrong company can set a timeline back substantially, which could potentially compromise a product's scheduled launch date.

For example, Essex Testing recently received a call from a company that urgently needed a fairly simple efficacy test. According to Mr. Hinden, the day before the company's study was to begin, the client's lab said they were unable to do the study, even though it had been placed there two months prior. Luckily, Essex Testing was able to step in and help out.

"We normally start studies, large and small, within one to two weeks after we receive the product," said Mr. Hinden, who was also surprised that the client was willing to wait two months to begin the test in the first place. "In this industry, timing is everything."