Hello and welcome to the Smart Beauty podcast. I'm your host, Viola 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. Hi everyone and welcome to today's episode.
This is kind of a mini episode where I'm just jumping on to talk about an issue that I think
a lot of us are familiar with when it comes to brand story. That is basically trying to
make your brand story stand out in an incredibly crowded marketplace and not tell customers,
investors or retailers something that they have already heard. Prime example, the story
that is a tailor's oldest time, the person says, I couldn't find anything on the shelves,
so I decided to make my own. Now, there are occasions where there is a product that comes
along that is truly groundbreaking and uses brand new technology. So the day they invented
mascara, for example, but as Kelly Marx says, the founder of PRPR who was on the podcast
a few months ago, pretty much everything is already out there. A lot of formulas are very
similar because a lot of brands use the same factories, the same suppliers. And it's really
difficult to create something that is truly different from what's out there based on the
product alone. Now, you could be using game changing ingredients or formulas in a new
and exciting way. But to really sell that, it's got to be something other than the familiar
format of, well, I couldn't find anything on the shelves, because the beauty market
is saturated. There is plenty on the shelves to choose from. So in order to really catch
people's attention, when it comes to your brand story, you're going to really have to
dig deep and think outside the box. Why have you decided to launch this brand? What do
you stand for? What are you saying with these products? What about you is different from
the literally millions of brands that are already out there? And when it comes to beauty
purchasing, it's a very emotional decision. And not just purchasing, but if you're a
retailer looking to stock a brand, many retailers and beauty buyers that I've spoken to said
it's mainly a decision to do with the heart and not the head. And I think that's true
of investing also when you watch programs like Dragon's Den or in America, I think they
have a similar show called Shark Tank where, yes, they have to have their numbers and everything
above board. But at the end of the day, when it comes to whether or not these people are
going to invest, there's definitely an emotional attachment involved. So that's where your
brand story comes in. And that's why it is so important to have something that's really
going to draw people in that they're going to connect with emotionally. That isn't just
the same old waffle that they've heard countless times before. I couldn't find anything on
the shelves. So that's where we come in at Smart Beauty Creative. So we're a team of
beauty journalists. I myself, I'm an award winning beauty editor. I've been writing
about beauty for over the last 15 years or more, it might be 20 years, I dread to think.
But for a very long time, it's safe to say. And we've seen countless products come and
go. And the ones that really stand out and get our attention are the ones that have the
most powerful stories. And so many other people will tell you this. So I was speaking to Rhea
Cartwright for my head beauty buyer of Liberty on the podcast the other day, you can go back
and listen to that episode, where she says the same that the brands that win aren't necessarily
the brands with the best products, but the ones with the best stories. So honing and
defining your brand story is so crucial. I cannot stress this enough. You don't have
to work with a big agency in order to do so. You don't have to hire somebody internally.
There is the option of working with a copywriter. And there are many fantastic copywriters out
there. But I think a lot of them aren't beauty specialists, don't have that commercial know-how.
They're excellent writers. But trying to get to the heart of a brand story and what you're
about. That's what we're specialized in. Now I've worked with brands, I've crafted brand
stories. And as a journalist, I've written about countless beauty products and brands
in a way that's going to retain readers' attention, because that is key when you're
working in journalism. So safe to say that when it comes to brand stories, we know our
stuff. And with that in mind, we are hosting a workshop. It's called Brand Story Boot Camp
on February the 26th at 6pm London time. We're very excited. This is the first boot camp
that we're hosting, but hopefully not the last. And that will give you all the tips and insights
you need in order to make your story stand out. There'll be practical exercises and there'll
be a Q&A session. So it will be very interactive. And it'll give you the chance to make a start
on your brand story and maybe give you some pointers as to what it really needs, what's
lacking and how you can really make it stand out. And also, if you want to work with us
more closely on a bigger project, you can get in touch and book a discovery call. Our
team of expert journalists can work with you during our one-to-one workshops that we can
really get to the heart of your brand story and hone and define it. But if you are a small
business or a startup or even a marketing manager that maybe you know what you're doing,
but you just need a few pointers because you're so attached to your brand and its story, you
just need some external input to really freshen things up and give things a bold, exciting
new direction. So if that sounds like something you'd be interested in, all the details are
on our website and the link will be in the show notes. It's a 90-minute workshop and
we aim for it to be as interactive as possible so spaces are limited. So please remember
to book your spot and looking forward to meeting with some of you then. In the meantime, please
do drop me a line. And if you have any questions or queries about the workshop, my email is
hello at smartbeautycreative.com. Take care, see you next time.
I hope you enjoyed that episode. All links will be in the show notes and feel free to
visit smartbeautycreative.com or visit us over on Instagram to find out more about what we
do. And if you enjoyed listening, please don't forget to rate and review smart beauty on
iTunes as it helps people find us. See you next time.
I hope you enjoyed that episode. All links will be in the show notes and feel free to
visit smartbeautycreative.com or visit us over on Instagram to find out more about what we
do. And if you enjoyed listening, please don't forget to rate and review smart beauty on
iTunes as it helps people find us. See you next time.