1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:18,760 Hello and welcome to the Smart Beauty podcast. I'm your host, Viola Levy, beauty journalist 2 00:00:18,760 --> 00:00:23,960 and founder of copy-led branding agency Smart Beauty Creative. We're here to create your 3 00:00:23,960 --> 00:00:32,920 brand voice and craft the story behind it. Hi everyone and welcome to today's episode. 4 00:00:32,920 --> 00:00:38,160 This is kind of a mini episode where I'm just jumping on to talk about an issue that I think 5 00:00:38,160 --> 00:00:43,760 a lot of us are familiar with when it comes to brand story. That is basically trying to 6 00:00:43,760 --> 00:00:51,400 make your brand story stand out in an incredibly crowded marketplace and not tell customers, 7 00:00:51,400 --> 00:00:56,640 investors or retailers something that they have already heard. Prime example, the story 8 00:00:56,640 --> 00:01:02,800 that is a tailor's oldest time, the person says, I couldn't find anything on the shelves, 9 00:01:02,800 --> 00:01:09,120 so I decided to make my own. Now, there are occasions where there is a product that comes 10 00:01:09,120 --> 00:01:15,960 along that is truly groundbreaking and uses brand new technology. So the day they invented 11 00:01:15,960 --> 00:01:23,880 mascara, for example, but as Kelly Marx says, the founder of PRPR who was on the podcast 12 00:01:23,880 --> 00:01:30,000 a few months ago, pretty much everything is already out there. A lot of formulas are very 13 00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:36,360 similar because a lot of brands use the same factories, the same suppliers. And it's really 14 00:01:36,360 --> 00:01:42,600 difficult to create something that is truly different from what's out there based on the 15 00:01:42,600 --> 00:01:47,960 product alone. Now, you could be using game changing ingredients or formulas in a new 16 00:01:47,960 --> 00:01:55,520 and exciting way. But to really sell that, it's got to be something other than the familiar 17 00:01:55,520 --> 00:02:00,320 format of, well, I couldn't find anything on the shelves, because the beauty market 18 00:02:00,320 --> 00:02:07,160 is saturated. There is plenty on the shelves to choose from. So in order to really catch 19 00:02:07,160 --> 00:02:12,520 people's attention, when it comes to your brand story, you're going to really have to 20 00:02:12,520 --> 00:02:19,120 dig deep and think outside the box. Why have you decided to launch this brand? What do 21 00:02:19,120 --> 00:02:25,040 you stand for? What are you saying with these products? What about you is different from 22 00:02:25,040 --> 00:02:32,520 the literally millions of brands that are already out there? And when it comes to beauty 23 00:02:32,520 --> 00:02:36,520 purchasing, it's a very emotional decision. And not just purchasing, but if you're a 24 00:02:36,520 --> 00:02:41,920 retailer looking to stock a brand, many retailers and beauty buyers that I've spoken to said 25 00:02:41,920 --> 00:02:45,480 it's mainly a decision to do with the heart and not the head. And I think that's true 26 00:02:45,480 --> 00:02:50,240 of investing also when you watch programs like Dragon's Den or in America, I think they 27 00:02:50,240 --> 00:02:55,640 have a similar show called Shark Tank where, yes, they have to have their numbers and everything 28 00:02:55,640 --> 00:03:00,080 above board. But at the end of the day, when it comes to whether or not these people are 29 00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:05,860 going to invest, there's definitely an emotional attachment involved. So that's where your 30 00:03:05,860 --> 00:03:11,320 brand story comes in. And that's why it is so important to have something that's really 31 00:03:11,320 --> 00:03:16,720 going to draw people in that they're going to connect with emotionally. That isn't just 32 00:03:16,720 --> 00:03:21,800 the same old waffle that they've heard countless times before. I couldn't find anything on 33 00:03:21,800 --> 00:03:27,760 the shelves. So that's where we come in at Smart Beauty Creative. So we're a team of 34 00:03:27,760 --> 00:03:33,040 beauty journalists. I myself, I'm an award winning beauty editor. I've been writing 35 00:03:33,040 --> 00:03:39,160 about beauty for over the last 15 years or more, it might be 20 years, I dread to think. 36 00:03:39,160 --> 00:03:44,000 But for a very long time, it's safe to say. And we've seen countless products come and 37 00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:49,040 go. And the ones that really stand out and get our attention are the ones that have the 38 00:03:49,040 --> 00:03:53,880 most powerful stories. And so many other people will tell you this. So I was speaking to Rhea 39 00:03:53,880 --> 00:03:59,000 Cartwright for my head beauty buyer of Liberty on the podcast the other day, you can go back 40 00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:04,880 and listen to that episode, where she says the same that the brands that win aren't necessarily 41 00:04:04,880 --> 00:04:09,400 the brands with the best products, but the ones with the best stories. So honing and 42 00:04:09,400 --> 00:04:14,160 defining your brand story is so crucial. I cannot stress this enough. You don't have 43 00:04:14,160 --> 00:04:22,640 to work with a big agency in order to do so. You don't have to hire somebody internally. 44 00:04:22,640 --> 00:04:28,400 There is the option of working with a copywriter. And there are many fantastic copywriters out 45 00:04:28,400 --> 00:04:35,000 there. But I think a lot of them aren't beauty specialists, don't have that commercial know-how. 46 00:04:35,000 --> 00:04:40,360 They're excellent writers. But trying to get to the heart of a brand story and what you're 47 00:04:40,360 --> 00:04:45,400 about. That's what we're specialized in. Now I've worked with brands, I've crafted brand 48 00:04:45,400 --> 00:04:50,520 stories. And as a journalist, I've written about countless beauty products and brands 49 00:04:50,520 --> 00:04:56,400 in a way that's going to retain readers' attention, because that is key when you're 50 00:04:56,400 --> 00:05:02,200 working in journalism. So safe to say that when it comes to brand stories, we know our 51 00:05:02,200 --> 00:05:08,920 stuff. And with that in mind, we are hosting a workshop. It's called Brand Story Boot Camp 52 00:05:08,920 --> 00:05:16,040 on February the 26th at 6pm London time. We're very excited. This is the first boot camp 53 00:05:16,040 --> 00:05:21,040 that we're hosting, but hopefully not the last. And that will give you all the tips and insights 54 00:05:21,040 --> 00:05:26,160 you need in order to make your story stand out. There'll be practical exercises and there'll 55 00:05:26,160 --> 00:05:32,880 be a Q&A session. So it will be very interactive. And it'll give you the chance to make a start 56 00:05:32,880 --> 00:05:39,400 on your brand story and maybe give you some pointers as to what it really needs, what's 57 00:05:39,400 --> 00:05:45,000 lacking and how you can really make it stand out. And also, if you want to work with us 58 00:05:45,000 --> 00:05:49,840 more closely on a bigger project, you can get in touch and book a discovery call. Our 59 00:05:49,840 --> 00:05:55,840 team of expert journalists can work with you during our one-to-one workshops that we can 60 00:05:55,840 --> 00:06:00,200 really get to the heart of your brand story and hone and define it. But if you are a small 61 00:06:00,200 --> 00:06:05,000 business or a startup or even a marketing manager that maybe you know what you're doing, 62 00:06:05,000 --> 00:06:09,760 but you just need a few pointers because you're so attached to your brand and its story, you 63 00:06:09,760 --> 00:06:15,280 just need some external input to really freshen things up and give things a bold, exciting 64 00:06:15,280 --> 00:06:20,400 new direction. So if that sounds like something you'd be interested in, all the details are 65 00:06:20,400 --> 00:06:25,560 on our website and the link will be in the show notes. It's a 90-minute workshop and 66 00:06:25,560 --> 00:06:30,680 we aim for it to be as interactive as possible so spaces are limited. So please remember 67 00:06:30,680 --> 00:06:35,840 to book your spot and looking forward to meeting with some of you then. In the meantime, please 68 00:06:35,840 --> 00:06:41,000 do drop me a line. And if you have any questions or queries about the workshop, my email is 69 00:06:41,000 --> 00:06:58,040 hello at smartbeautycreative.com. Take care, see you next time. 70 00:06:58,040 --> 00:07:01,840 I hope you enjoyed that episode. All links will be in the show notes and feel free to 71 00:07:01,840 --> 00:07:07,440 visit smartbeautycreative.com or visit us over on Instagram to find out more about what we 72 00:07:07,440 --> 00:07:11,760 do. And if you enjoyed listening, please don't forget to rate and review smart beauty on 73 00:07:11,760 --> 00:07:35,960 iTunes as it helps people find us. See you next time. 74 00:07:35,960 --> 00:07:39,800 I hope you enjoyed that episode. All links will be in the show notes and feel free to 75 00:07:39,800 --> 00:07:45,400 visit smartbeautycreative.com or visit us over on Instagram to find out more about what we 76 00:07:45,400 --> 00:07:49,720 do. And if you enjoyed listening, please don't forget to rate and review smart beauty on 77 00:07:49,720 --> 00:08:06,760 iTunes as it helps people find us. See you next time.