We’ve all been there: idea – plan – implementation – unexpected obstacles – the right people around you – ups and downs and – all being well – solid growth and success.
I’ve watched brands launch from literally day one through to their debut at Liberty of London or Naturisimo. Behind the scenes are numerous coffees, long hours, and a side line of hustle and luck. And fortune favours the brave!
New beauty brands keep launching (even through lockdowns) so if you’re starting out, here are five tips to note, some more obvious than others perhaps but hopefully all helpful to you.
1. Don’t enter Awards until you’re really ready. It’s better to wait an extra year – for numerous reasons.
2. Don’t officially launch before everything’s in place: your USP, branding, a good site, social media (with a strong logo and easy to recall account name, not full of underscores or cluttered random letters that mean something to you but not to us!)
Why is this so important? Like a meal in a restaurant if it’s not great, you’ve already lost those who trusted your brand. Sometimes a gaff or a bad or false start means having to rebrand completely under a different name, and actually THAT is a good thing in my opinion although it’ll cost more time and money. Better to start again than try and fix something that’s broken.
Visuals are everything!
I can’t stress enough how important beautiful/original imagery is – it’s the branding that captures people’s attention before they delve into ingredients, ethics, efficacy, etc. As we know. Images tell stories, evoke a mood.
3. You’re in it for the long haul, but why, really, is your brand out there in the world? What’s the motive behind creating your brand, why would consumers need it/love it? Are you a passionate advocate for green living or plastic-free? How is your brand unique?
I can tell apart a brand that’s launched just “to get in the game” and make money, from a brand with a genuine heart a mile away – there’s a different energy, different messaging on their Instagram account, a whole different vibe. Yes finances are important but…
4. Be careful of the “salesy messaging trap”. Sales feel so important (critical10 right from the start – of course they do – but if you come off too salesy that’s incredibly off-putting. You can’t force consumers to love your products, they should attract the love “effortlessly” by the way they’re designed, formulated, positioned, presented, etc.
Blatant claims like “the only moisturiser you’ll ever need” or “the best hyaluronic acid serum on the market” are huge red flags and will kill any remaining drop of credibility.
I find it irritating when a brand I don’t know tags me. It’s always the not good ones. Go through the right channels…the contact form!
5. Don’t compare yourself or your brand to others.
When I first launched the Beauty Shortlist (before the Awards) I hardly even looked at other bloggers at first, until I’d found the ones I liked, and while other Awards seem to spring up every year, it doesn’t bother me.
Don’t Copy others
One well known more recently-launched Awards (beginning with G) directly lifted The Beauty Shortlist Awards’ Terms & Conditions literally word for word. I emailed them to tell them I’d spotted that and could they please use their own Ts & Cs and never heard back – surprise – but…whatever.
(But they did get the email because they changed them pretty quickly!) It’s easier to copy someone, but that’s not what creativity and creating a brand is about.
Another Awards also copies The Beauty Shortlist (her Instagram is full of bought followers so her credibility went out the window after that in my opinion) but good luck to her too.
Just be who you are. It’s interesting to keep an eye on what’s happening in your own particular beauty space but don’t get disheartened or worried about who’s doing what – or how many similar brands are “competing with yours”. Just focus on your path and development.
One of the true originals of the music industry, David Bowie, said in an interview that he rarely listened to the radio because he wanted his songs to come from him – not influenced by what was played on the radio.
Water Off A Duck’s Back
But those things, if you can let them be “water off a duck’s back” don’t really matter – what matters is building something of beauty that others will love through your own heart, creativity, pragmatism, enthusiasm, etc.
Focus your energy in the right place: prioritising is key
Focus your energy on creating, organising, prioritising, finding likeminded people to surround yourself with, rather than worrying about what others are doing. Each one of us has his/her own path in life. There’s so much to do so prioritising is really key.
People will notice…
Speaking of fake followers, when I see a brand new brand following 50 people (normally beauty bloggers and editors in the hope of being featured!) with 6 posts and 25k followers, that brand is down to “zero credibility” for me and I wouldn’t touch it with a bargepole. Nothing it could do or say would change my mind. That person wants to blow up the brand to appear bigger than it is and I see that as a combination of ambition/fear/ego/vanity/desperation/manipulation (sounds harsh but I have no time for those who are not wholly transparent).
The good and the brave and the beautiful (and original) will always have an audience. Consumers are fiercely loyal to brands they fall in love with as there’s an emotional connection with certain products. When you resonate with those you are making your products for, it’s priceless.
We all want to be happy, peaceful and find new things and people to love – and creating from the heart with a clear vision and a sense of service to others, bringing beautiful products into the world that make us feel better/prettier/safer/fill-in-here….that’s where the secret lies.
Lastly – one extra! Collaborate, don’t compete, so get together with a wellbeing or maybe health food brand (if you’re doing beauty) for a pop-up, or a giveaway, etc – an immunity supplement with some beautiful bath salts is a lovely winter giveaway for example…
So good luck to the “new launch” brands who’ve entered the 2022 Awards, it’s almost time to wrap everything up, entries close next Friday (29th). We’ll share all of the winners – and the finalists, who frankly do incredibly well to get on the list – on Wednesday 2 March.
I can tell you already it’s going to be quite a day – the standard this year is way up there, with a lot of new and indie brands (some with really interesting backstories) in the mix.
Have a good weekend x
