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Hello and welcome to the Smart Beauty podcast. I'm your host, Vyla Levy, beauty journalist

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and founder of copy-led branding agency, Smart Beauty Creative. We're here to create your

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brand voice and craft the story behind it. Today I'm going to be talking about my time

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working with two key people in the beauty retail world. Now I know that getting into a beauty retailer,

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especially as a new brand, is no easy task. But I know it's so many founders, they see it as the

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pinnacle of the success of their brand. When you see your product on the shelves of Sephora and

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Space NK and online, the likes of Colt Beauty and Liberties in London, it's just an amazing feeling.

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I think that's when you have that kind of pinch me moment that you finally made it. So it's a big

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deal and also it helps you introduce your brand to a whole new customer base. So it's very exciting

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and I think I know it's something that so many brands and brand founders want to focus on,

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not just selling to online customers, although that is also important. So I wanted to talk about

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my time working with two key figures in the world of beauty retail. The first, Alexia Inger,

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former CEO of Colt Beauty and also their founder. Now I knew Lex for a number of years,

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I interviewed her as a journalist when Colt Beauty were first starting out and I just really loved

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the concept behind it all. There wasn't much going on in terms of beauty retail online at the time

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and she really cornered that market, she really owned that space and the way she did that was with

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her tone of voice. So the Colt Beauty tone of voice just really stood out, it was friendly,

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it was engaging, it was the best thing to having a beauty counter assistant in front of you telling

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you about the products in a way that gave it that personal touch. This is why we have given it that

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Colt Beauty stamp approval. So I worked with them on and off as a copywriter and then I later edited

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their 10th anniversary magazine as well. So I know the brand and I know Lex fairly well and I think

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what a company like Colt Beauty are looking for are brands that really have something to say,

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particularly female founded brands that really want to make a difference, that they know their

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products are going to be game-changing and that also are really shaking up the category and I think

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that's something that I really took away from that experience working with Lex. She's a very

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inspiring lady and I think for her brand story and tone of voice was everything and that's what

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made it hit home for me, how crucial it is for brands to have that point of difference, to have

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something to say and to say it well and that's what I carry with me with Smart Beauty Creative

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that I want to help brands really define themselves and present themselves in the best possible light.

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So when they go to these beauty retailers, when they have those coveted meetings that take forever

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to secure, that they are really hitting it out the ballpark when they're talking about their brand

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and delivering the brand story because these retailers get brand information and marketing

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spiel almost on an hourly basis. They've read every single brand story there is so it's up to you

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to tell them what makes yours different and what is going to get them excited, get their customers

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excited because that's the thing with Cult Beauty, there was a section we used to write, I don't know

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if it's still on there now, what makes this product or what makes this brand cult? Like what is that

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secret sauce that really makes it stand out and makes it amazing and why have we chosen it?

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And that's what I think as a brand founder you really need to hone and refine and I think that a common

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mistake that a lot of brand founders make is that they think the products are going to speak for

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themselves. You could have the most amazing collection of products with incredible ingredients

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and you could have gorgeous packaging and a gorgeous website but if you don't have the story

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to back it up, if you don't have that punchy tone of voice and the crystal clear product descriptions

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which tell you exactly what you're getting, why customers should invest with you, why customers

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should part with their hard-earned money as opposed to all of the other millions of brands on the

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shelf and why those buyers should stock you, that's what really changes the game, that's what really

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makes you stand out because when consumers are buying particularly online there's not that opportunity

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to try before you buy, very rarely, I know some companies do send out a little sample, little

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sample sachets sometimes but it's kind of luck of the draw what you're going to get and you already

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have to make a purchase whereas when you're reading the product description that's the key moment when

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you're really going to sell it in and that's what beauty buyers are really looking for, something

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that really stands out that they haven't read before, that they haven't seen before and that's

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what I took away from my experience working with Lex, it's about honing in on those key differences

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and those key points of difference that are really going to be pivotal to your brand success and

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whether or not they get stocked by the likes of Colt Beauty. I also worked with an amazing lady

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called Ria Cartwright who was formerly their head beauty buyer of Liberties in London and I believe

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she was the first black woman to take on the role as well so incredibly inspiring, amazing woman, I

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didn't work with her when she was at Liberty but I worked with her before when she was the an editor

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on the Stack World which is an amazing networking and community space run by entrepreneur, serial

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entrepreneur, Sharma Dean Reid. So they had a magazine that Ria was an editor of and I worked

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for her as one of her writers so I got to know Ria very well and she's somebody who is incredibly

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passionate about changing the beauty space and changing the industry and shaking things up

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and doing things differently to the way they were done, very inspiring and I think for her

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that was something that she wanted to see with the brands that were being presented and I think

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that's why she was offered the role, she was head hunted and offered the role at Liberty because

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she had such a unique vision and a clear voice in the beauty space and I think that's what Liberty

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wanted, they wanted somebody that was going to be somewhat of a disruptor and an innovator and I

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think that's what they want with their brands as well and if you find yourself in front of somebody

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like Ria, similarly with Cult Beauty you want a brand story that's really going to make them look

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up and say wow I haven't ever come across anything like this in the beauty space before and that's

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where your story is so key beyond the products, beyond the packaging because you know there are

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so many great products out there and so you know Liberty's shelves are full of absolutely exquisite

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stunning packaging so they don't need another pretty range, they need a story, they need something

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that they can really sell into their customers like look we've got this really cool new brand on our

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shelves, this is why they're cool, this is why they stand out because when it comes to formulations

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as many of you know it is really difficult to have a formulation that's wildly different

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from its predecessors because there aren't many manufacturers making these products, there aren't

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many beauty manufacturers unless you have a lab in your own, in your building it is really difficult

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to find something that is wildly different from anything that's gone before it or if it is if

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you've pioneered an exciting new ingredient or a new scent say it's basically what is your brand,

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what is your story and what makes you different like why are you here and why should this beauty

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buyer who sees scores of brands coming through her doors every day what should make them sit up and

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pay attention and that's where your tone of voice and where your copy is key and also sensitivity

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reading is really important for brands, there are many brands I know of one personally that

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Ria mentioned in a recent presentation I think it was or a panel talk, their tone of voice was

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just off and she found it rather offensive how they were kind of selling this brand to her as a

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black woman so I think having that in the back of your mind is really important as well being

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sensitive with your brand language and how you're presenting it if this is a brand for all hair types

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you need to explain why that is and what ingredients and what is it about the formula that makes it

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suitable for for example textured hair as opposed to fine hair and really kind of talk about your

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inclusive ethos don't just kind of include it as a buzzword if you haven't got those credentials

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or that authentic story to back it up so that's really important to hone your brand story and really

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know what it is that you're selling know the concept and the idea that you're selling inside out

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and make sure there are no stones unturned no loopholes nothing that could be interpreted as

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oh well they're just paying lip service to that oh well they're just jumping on the bandwagon of that

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it needs to be truly original at smart beauty obviously leveraging my own background in editorial

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in journalism in copywriting working with the likes of ria and alexia I have a wealth of experience

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to help brands like yours get there and to really stand out among the crowd because I'm good at

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telling a story and so are the team that work with me so if you would love to see your brand on

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the shelves of space and k or liberty or stocked in cult beauty feel free to arrange a chat and we

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can discuss how we can possibly work together and how smart beauty can help so the link to that

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will be in the show notes or you can email hello at smart beauty creative dot com if you have any

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further questions or queries I would absolutely love to hear from you until next time

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I hope you enjoyed that episode all links will be in the show notes and feel free to visit

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smart beauty creative dot com or visit us over on instagram to find out more about what we do

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and if you enjoyed listening please don't forget to write and review smart beauty on iQunes as it

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helps people find us see you next time you