On the 37th floor of New York's General Motors building, that sits on the south east corner of Central Park, is the corporate headquarters of one of the world's biggest skincare and cosmetics brands – Clinique. One of the company's corner offices that looks straight out over the park, belongs to the woman who is responsible for creating a number of the brand's most-loved products. Think Chubby Stick; last year's huge launch –Fresh Pressed™ 7-Day System with Pure Vitamin C; and the recently released Moisture Surge 72-Hour Auto-replenishing Hydrator.
Her name is Janet Pardo and she is Senior Vice President, Global Product Development for Clinique.
Back in February of this year, Pardo visited Australia to celebrate the launch of the new Moisture Surge cream. Following an intimate media event, BEAUTYDIRECTORY had the pleasure of chatting to Pardo one-on-one to find out more about where she finds the inspiration to create products that can change her customers' lives.
A collaborative culture
Where better to start than what it's really like to work in New York for a global beauty brand? While it's not strictly the only office in the city – Clinique also occupies spaces on 23rd and 59th Streets, as well as in California – the marketing department, product development, the education team, the global communications team, half of the consumer engagement team, the creative team and human resources, all sit on one floor in the General Motors building. Oh, and Jane Lauder is there too.
It's very unmistakably Clinique, Pardo says. Everything is white and silver. And with an open plan office comes a very collaborative environment, something that Pardo believes is essential when developing beauty products that go through such a rigorous production process.
"The spirit of Clinique was always about it being a tight knit, collaborative group of people," Pardo says, "There’s a lot of free thinking, a lot of conversations in the hallway, it’s very intimate – I’ve had countless conversations in the ladies room!"
This breeds a good office culture she believes, because everybody from the in-house chemists to the creative team can have an input.
"People are very pleasant [at Clinque] and I think whenever you have an environment that’s about collaboration everyone really respects each other. You can basically be creative because you’re not frightened of anything – when your brain is fearful of something, you can’t be creative and people tend to shut down," she points out.
Another upshot of working in such an inclusive organisation is that everybody has the same goal. They don't want to come up with wild and disruptive ideas, Pardo explains, they want to surprise and delight their consumers. End of story.
Channeling creativity
She might know what the end goal is but where does Pardo begin when tasked with conceptualising a new best-selling product for Clinique? At the media event, she credited cooking shows as once being a source of inspiration for her, and also described the importance of not being called upon to come up with the next big thing while sitting around a boardroom table. But rather, "When it’s an unexpected, out-of-the-environment kind of thing," she says.
"Because I know the brand so well and I know what it stands for, I can be creative in a way that isn’t just for creativity’s sake. I can really find a way to bring somebody joy in their life."
Pardo works closely with the lab team, including Clinique Vice President Dr Tom Mammone, and often they will come up with a new product idea while travelling. Pardo says Dr Mammone and herself will often bring different components to the table: "Our brains are so different but together we're the perfect person," she says.
Testing and trust building
With Dr Mammone involved a concept will really start to gain momentum and the lab team will start bringing it to life through the formula. An in-house biological researcher will have a look at which raw materials will complement each other and what will penetrate the skin to give better results: "Everything in the formulation has to do something, we don’t just throw ingredients in to say we have something in it," says Pardo.
From there, it's testing, testing and more testing. "They call me the Queen of the Clinicals in the New York office," says Pardo, "Nothing goes out the door unless I see that it works."
Clinique products go through a hell of a lot of tests and trials. There are dermatology tests, ophthalmology tests, vitro ocular sting tests, repeat and cell patch tests for allergies, and many, many more. If any one of the participants' skin reacts, they go back to the drawing board and start over.
Pardo says that clinical tests involving panelists can prove quite an emotional endeavour, especially when they're shown how the products have transformed their skin.
But working at Clinique does sound emotional. Pardo talks about when the brand first launched in the 60s and finally offered a non-medical solution to problem skin. And now, because the Clinique counter is often the first place a mother will bring her child suffering from acne.
"We’re held to such a high standard of safety and we are trusted. That trust is guarded. The whole Lauder family guards it," she says.
It's no wonder that Pardo remains motivated year after year. She believes her idea generation has subconsciously evolved since she began, but also because her end goal is always to make someone feel better about themselves. And she believes that product development is about being curious. "You have to be inquisitive. You have to challenge things and most importantly you have to ask the big ‘What If?’ all the time," she says. "That’s always been the DNA at Clinique."
Carousel image courtesy of Mecca.