Hello and welcome to the Smart Beauty podcast. I'm your host, Vyla Levy, beauty journalist
and founder of copy-led branding agency, Smart Beauty Creative. We're here to create your
brand voice and craft the story behind it. Today I'm going to be talking about my time
working with two key people in the beauty retail world. Now I know that getting into a beauty retailer,
especially as a new brand, is no easy task. But I know it's so many founders, they see it as the
pinnacle of the success of their brand. When you see your product on the shelves of Sephora and
Space NK and online, the likes of Colt Beauty and Liberties in London, it's just an amazing feeling.
I think that's when you have that kind of pinch me moment that you finally made it. So it's a big
deal and also it helps you introduce your brand to a whole new customer base. So it's very exciting
and I think I know it's something that so many brands and brand founders want to focus on,
not just selling to online customers, although that is also important. So I wanted to talk about
my time working with two key figures in the world of beauty retail. The first, Alexia Inger,
former CEO of Colt Beauty and also their founder. Now I knew Lex for a number of years,
I interviewed her as a journalist when Colt Beauty were first starting out and I just really loved
the concept behind it all. There wasn't much going on in terms of beauty retail online at the time
and she really cornered that market, she really owned that space and the way she did that was with
her tone of voice. So the Colt Beauty tone of voice just really stood out, it was friendly,
it was engaging, it was the best thing to having a beauty counter assistant in front of you telling
you about the products in a way that gave it that personal touch. This is why we have given it that
Colt Beauty stamp approval. So I worked with them on and off as a copywriter and then I later edited
their 10th anniversary magazine as well. So I know the brand and I know Lex fairly well and I think
what a company like Colt Beauty are looking for are brands that really have something to say,
particularly female founded brands that really want to make a difference, that they know their
products are going to be game-changing and that also are really shaking up the category and I think
that's something that I really took away from that experience working with Lex. She's a very
inspiring lady and I think for her brand story and tone of voice was everything and that's what
made it hit home for me, how crucial it is for brands to have that point of difference, to have
something to say and to say it well and that's what I carry with me with Smart Beauty Creative
that I want to help brands really define themselves and present themselves in the best possible light.
So when they go to these beauty retailers, when they have those coveted meetings that take forever
to secure, that they are really hitting it out the ballpark when they're talking about their brand
and delivering the brand story because these retailers get brand information and marketing
spiel almost on an hourly basis. They've read every single brand story there is so it's up to you
to tell them what makes yours different and what is going to get them excited, get their customers
excited because that's the thing with Cult Beauty, there was a section we used to write, I don't know
if it's still on there now, what makes this product or what makes this brand cult? Like what is that
secret sauce that really makes it stand out and makes it amazing and why have we chosen it?
And that's what I think as a brand founder you really need to hone and refine and I think that a common
mistake that a lot of brand founders make is that they think the products are going to speak for
themselves. You could have the most amazing collection of products with incredible ingredients
and you could have gorgeous packaging and a gorgeous website but if you don't have the story
to back it up, if you don't have that punchy tone of voice and the crystal clear product descriptions
which tell you exactly what you're getting, why customers should invest with you, why customers
should part with their hard-earned money as opposed to all of the other millions of brands on the
shelf and why those buyers should stock you, that's what really changes the game, that's what really
makes you stand out because when consumers are buying particularly online there's not that opportunity
to try before you buy, very rarely, I know some companies do send out a little sample, little
sample sachets sometimes but it's kind of luck of the draw what you're going to get and you already
have to make a purchase whereas when you're reading the product description that's the key moment when
you're really going to sell it in and that's what beauty buyers are really looking for, something
that really stands out that they haven't read before, that they haven't seen before and that's
what I took away from my experience working with Lex, it's about honing in on those key differences
and those key points of difference that are really going to be pivotal to your brand success and
whether or not they get stocked by the likes of Colt Beauty. I also worked with an amazing lady
called Ria Cartwright who was formerly their head beauty buyer of Liberties in London and I believe
she was the first black woman to take on the role as well so incredibly inspiring, amazing woman, I
didn't work with her when she was at Liberty but I worked with her before when she was the an editor
on the Stack World which is an amazing networking and community space run by entrepreneur, serial
entrepreneur, Sharma Dean Reid. So they had a magazine that Ria was an editor of and I worked
for her as one of her writers so I got to know Ria very well and she's somebody who is incredibly
passionate about changing the beauty space and changing the industry and shaking things up
and doing things differently to the way they were done, very inspiring and I think for her
that was something that she wanted to see with the brands that were being presented and I think
that's why she was offered the role, she was head hunted and offered the role at Liberty because
she had such a unique vision and a clear voice in the beauty space and I think that's what Liberty
wanted, they wanted somebody that was going to be somewhat of a disruptor and an innovator and I
think that's what they want with their brands as well and if you find yourself in front of somebody
like Ria, similarly with Cult Beauty you want a brand story that's really going to make them look
up and say wow I haven't ever come across anything like this in the beauty space before and that's
where your story is so key beyond the products, beyond the packaging because you know there are
so many great products out there and so you know Liberty's shelves are full of absolutely exquisite
stunning packaging so they don't need another pretty range, they need a story, they need something
that they can really sell into their customers like look we've got this really cool new brand on our
shelves, this is why they're cool, this is why they stand out because when it comes to formulations
as many of you know it is really difficult to have a formulation that's wildly different
from its predecessors because there aren't many manufacturers making these products, there aren't
many beauty manufacturers unless you have a lab in your own, in your building it is really difficult
to find something that is wildly different from anything that's gone before it or if it is if
you've pioneered an exciting new ingredient or a new scent say it's basically what is your brand,
what is your story and what makes you different like why are you here and why should this beauty
buyer who sees scores of brands coming through her doors every day what should make them sit up and
pay attention and that's where your tone of voice and where your copy is key and also sensitivity
reading is really important for brands, there are many brands I know of one personally that
Ria mentioned in a recent presentation I think it was or a panel talk, their tone of voice was
just off and she found it rather offensive how they were kind of selling this brand to her as a
black woman so I think having that in the back of your mind is really important as well being
sensitive with your brand language and how you're presenting it if this is a brand for all hair types
you need to explain why that is and what ingredients and what is it about the formula that makes it
suitable for for example textured hair as opposed to fine hair and really kind of talk about your
inclusive ethos don't just kind of include it as a buzzword if you haven't got those credentials
or that authentic story to back it up so that's really important to hone your brand story and really
know what it is that you're selling know the concept and the idea that you're selling inside out
and make sure there are no stones unturned no loopholes nothing that could be interpreted as
oh well they're just paying lip service to that oh well they're just jumping on the bandwagon of that
it needs to be truly original at smart beauty obviously leveraging my own background in editorial
in journalism in copywriting working with the likes of ria and alexia I have a wealth of experience
to help brands like yours get there and to really stand out among the crowd because I'm good at
telling a story and so are the team that work with me so if you would love to see your brand on
the shelves of space and k or liberty or stocked in cult beauty feel free to arrange a chat and we
can discuss how we can possibly work together and how smart beauty can help so the link to that
will be in the show notes or you can email hello at smart beauty creative dot com if you have any
further questions or queries I would absolutely love to hear from you until next time
I hope you enjoyed that episode all links will be in the show notes and feel free to visit
smart beauty creative dot com or visit us over on instagram to find out more about what we do
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