Grace Kingdom Beauty

There are thousands of Indie Beauty brands emerging daily. The price to entry these days are no longer just a prestige image or just claiming natural ingredients. How do you stand out? There is a Chinese saying that Lotus is precious because it stands tall and clean despite in a pond of mud. With the ever-increasing number of beauty brands, it is paramount to have your unique selling proposition, or even better yet, customer value optimization so you can stand tall and precious in the consumer’s mind.

What works in the past may not work in the present. History will NOT repeat itself when it comes to beauty and technology. Below is the examples on how Beauty Business has revolved.

• Branding– Brands used to spend millions of dollars in advertising to evoke an image that consumers to be associated or aspired to such as Chanel. Consumers may not be able to afford a piece of Chanel suit or handbag, but using a Chanel lipstick or compact with them, they feel a million bucks. HOWEVER, if you enter the cosmetic market today even with Chanel quality products, you will not be successful because many of the legendary products do not abide to the CLEAN beauty principle or the FREE-OF bandwagon. In other words, if today you just use Chanel products and repackaged in your own brand name- you are doomed to fail because branding these days is how do you look on instagram and how clean are you in your product. Retailers are less likely to entertain you if you do not meet the bare minimum of FREE-of claims.
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• Owner Story– Yes everyone appreciate a good story. There are many success stories on how the brand owner can not find a solution with existing products and they come up with their own. However, your pain points may not necessary represent the masses. Are you so sure there is no products out there that can solve your issues? Did you do enough homework or you simply come up with the brand for your ego reason? If you go into the business for the pure purpose of satisfying your ego or thinking cosmetic is a profitable business-you are doomed to fail because unless you have a success formula (fund + technology + media + product + commitment), you will not last. You must have a very clear of the WHY and HOW your brand will help OTHERS, not just you. If your why is to make money (of course it is important), when you don’t see your projected revenue, you will not last. Commitment takes time and money. Are you all in?
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• Flavor of the day– This is the most seen mistake by beauty brands. Unless you are in the bath & body category where different color and fragrance can enlighten your mood and user experience, this is a dangerous route for product development. Yes, people want NEWS. What’s NEW excites consumer but can also lead to consumer fatigue. If you are not the first, you are the last. Remember the Argan oil craze? How much can you build a brand around one single ingredient? Now everyone is doing CBD products but how is your CBD different from others’ CBD? If you build a brand based on one single ingredient, what happens when there is a shortage as everyone followed suit ? It will kill your price point and inventory and also diluted branding as you are no longer unique. What brands should do is focusing on a category of ingredients rather than a single trending ingredient for the longevity of brand.

With the continuous change in the beauty business landscape, it is worthwhile to have an outside consultant to take a deep look of your business. There are many benefits of hiring a consultant as they can point out bluntly your short-comings without worrying about the company politics. Consultants are hired to solve a problem and it is their obligation to state clearly on the issue and provide solutions without ever needing to sugar-coating it.

Not all industry consultants are created equal. There are ones specialized in R&D. There are ones specialized in Marketing. You choose your consultant based on your business needs. However, a good consultant should be someone who delivers more than what your intentions is. If you are hiring a consultant for product development, the consultant must deliver beyond just a product. The consultant needs to be able to see the whole picture and deliver commercially-viable, consumer-loving, instagram-friendly and retailer-wanting products. It is more than just the unique proposition of the product, it is the customer value optimization of what the consultant can provide.

The major difference of using a consultant compared to using a full-time employee is this: consultants are like your dates who can bring you excitement and new perspectives. Employees are married to you and you often divorce them because you got them through the most of 3 rounds of interviews. If you really love your consultant, yes, then you can business-marry them after a consulting period.

In this article, I gave a few pointers on the evolution of beauty business and what should be done for today’s landscape. If you would like further information and find out the TOP 8 reasons to work with Ginger King for YOUR beauty business, comment below or e-mail me at Ginger@gracekingdombeauty.com

Ginger

How many times have you heard the same story- I want to start a beauty brand because I can not find products on the market that will suit my needs? On the surface, yes, it is a solution to a problem but is the scope of problem large enough to start a business?

I am a beauty industry consultant who have been advising many businesses on product development and marketing on beauty brands. My vision is to invest and collect a portfolio of beauty brands one day- yes, be the beauty shark on shark tank!

For starters, there are three fundamental points to consider when venturing out:

• What is the underlying motivation for you to start a brand? If it is to develop something for your own needs- you are creating products, not necessarily a brand unless your needs is an unmet needs for many, the chance of sustaining a brand is slim. Do your research before you dive in especially if you do not have the funds to educate why your products can meet “others” needs. If you can not make it relevant to majority of the consumer groups, rethink your strategy.
• Where do you intend to sell? How many times have you heard that my business plan is going into Sephora and on QVC? While these are the beauty destinations for consumers, do you have local stores you can test market? When you start playing with big players too early in the game it could turn disastrous as once you are OUT, you are never back to the tank. There are also minimum quantity requirements for getting the packaging and products. Are you maximizing your sell-in powers to have PO’s in hand so you do not house excess inventories?
• Why should I buy your products? For brands, especially new skin care brands, building credibility is critical. This partly explained why so many skin doctors ditched their white coat in the office and focus on developing beauty products. Retailers want buzz. Consumers want proof. A great product story may no longer suffice. People want to know who is behind the brand and why I should trust my face with your products. If your products are developed with celebrity make-up artist who know makeup artistry, dermatologists who know skin, cosmetic chemists who custom-design the product to suit your brand need, flaunt them. They are your trump cards. Better yet, if you have clinicals to prove, a picture is worth than a thousand words.

The above three points just scratch of surface on launching a beauty brand. Other factors to consider include what type of budget, how long to plan for launch, what retail windows should I hit, what kind of PR/Social Media campaign should I plan and where to find capitals to sustain the growth.

If you can answer my three questions and still want to launch your beauty brand, let’s talk! Check out my consulting site: http://www.gracekingdombeauty.com