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E: request@thebespokeadvantage.com

Join Our Team

+44 (0)20 3332 0343

E: request@thebespokeadvantage.com

Repositioning of a Heritage Beauty Brand

‘Janet is one of the best people I have ever worked with in my career. She fully understands the whole process of product development, supply chain and marketing. She is quick to understand the issues involved and resolve them with ease. Janet is a great leader and has in-depth experience of toiletries and international retailing. I would recommend her to any company or client.’

Category Manager and Buyer, Crabtree & Evelyn

Success Highlights
Led Global Product Development Team for Crabtree & Evelyn. Defined 3 – 5-year global product strategy, pricing, product propositions by brand and by category. Led redesign, repackaging, reformulations of signature hand creams, fine and home fragrances. Led design and development of Christmas Collection.

The Issue
Heritage beauty brand needed to be repositioned to appeal to a more contemporary market. Year-on-year sales down across global markets. With their head office and factory based in the US and offices based globally, better planning, process and communication was needed across global markets.

The Approach

Range review and product rationalisation
Reviewed the product performance across their product portfolio based on sales, stocks, margins, market specific requirements identifying non-performing lines. Managed markdowns and discontinuations across global markets.

Competitor and gap analysis
Conducted a competitor analysis focusing on their primary competitors to identify gaps and opportunities within their range. Based on market trends and conferring with the global formulator, identified opportunities to reformulate existing products and launch innovative new lines including fine and home fragrances, body care, soaps, hand creams, gifting, men’ grooming and beauty accessories.

New packaging based on consumer insights
Together with the creative director and creative agencies conducted market research to gain consumer insights based on design concepts found in the brand archives. Positive feedback confirmed this was the new design direction, a contemporary look with a nod to heritage that was uplifting in stores.

Pricing, product concepts, strategy and markets
Consulted with the MD’s for the brand across each market (US, Canada, Asia, Australia) to identify market specific products, prices and positioning. Implemented a gated new product development (NPD) process supported by global sales forecasts to measure financial viability of new product launches by market.

Cost transparencies
Introduced greater transparency of costs and a more stringent quality control processes. Greater cost transparencies improved margins and a more stringent quality control process reduced percentage of late deliveries and stock returns.

Communication and collaboration
Introduced new product development (NPD) process supported by weekly calls, video conferencing and working from multi-site offices in the UK and US to improve communication between global product development team, MD’s, sales, marketing and PR.

The Results
Janet led the new product development (NPD) team through rationalisation of the product portfolio, relaunch of best performing lines in new packaging and new formulations, introduction of innovative new products across categories and the implementation of an improved product development process with measures built in to manage stock, pricing and forecasting by market to drive an increase in gross margin.

Working with Bespoke Advantage
Bespoke Advantage is a London based international beauty brand consultancy. We are a team of experts, associates and business partners specialising in supporting our clients – award-winning entrepreneurs, well established beauty and wellness businesses, retailers, investors, trade bodies and embassies – in developing and growing their brands across the beauty and wellness marketplace. If you are looking to launch a beauty or wellness brand or you are looking for support in expanding your brand across markets, GET IN TOUCH.

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Strategic Beauty. Global Expertise.

Bespoke Advantage is an international beauty brand consultancy. We support you with translating your blue sky thinking into reality. From brand identity and visual language to product development and go-to-market strategies we provide you with a seamless, turnkey service.
We are proud to work alongside a diverse portfolio of clients across the globe—from the Middle East, Asia, Africa, Australia, North America, and Europe – including visionary entrepreneurs, multi-award-winning brands, investors, retailers, trade bodies, and embassies.

By partnering with us you will come to realise that we shine a global lens on every brand we collaborate with, and our insights are underpinned by creativity, commerciality and deep industry expertise.

If you’re ready to build something remarkable, get in touch, we would love to hear from you.

Filter Our Case studies

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Bespoke is a brand management expert with deep industry knowledge, extensive experience and a comprehensive understanding of the beauty and personal industry in the UK and Europe, complemented by an extensive network of contacts in the relevant market segments. Bespoke’s expertise, experience and contacts significantly contributed the success of the UK/Europe project with the companies that Bespoke assisted successfully entering or well on track to enter the UK and European markets. The Bespoke team was very professional, responsive and obliging and always delivered within timeframes. It was a pleasure to work with them.
Director, International Markets, TIQ, Queensland
‘I have been working with Janet and her team at Bespoke Advantage for over a year and my experience has been nothing short of excellent. My dream of developing a brand is coming to life with Janet’s expertise and her team’s patience and perseverance. Janet is organized and delivers on what she promises. As I set out on a mission to develop a brand, I quickly learned that there are details that I would not be able to manage without the Bespoke team. From packaging to branding, testing and compatibility, developing a brand requires a team that has experience. Janet and her team are wonderful to work with since they have the experience and the understanding of how to build a brand that will be attractive to the consumer. Janet never makes decisions without my approval and always listens to what my vision is for the brand. They are working toward making my dream come true. I highly recommend Bespoke Advantage to help anyone who is looking to develop a brand.’
Wellness BrandFounder & CEO
‘As a Queensland-based company, we were determined to tap into the European market and establish a strong presence. From the very beginning, Bespoke Advantage demonstrated a deep understanding of our export goals and objectives. Their comprehensive knowledge of the European market, coupled with their extensive network of contacts, enabled them to connect us with key decision-makers and influential stakeholders in our target countries. Their strategic guidance and insights were invaluable in shaping our export strategy and positioning us for long-term success.’
Founder, Standard Procedure
‘Janet has a wealth of experience across retail, buying and marketing. She conducted a full strategic review of our cross functional business and the travel retail market to develop a comprehensive buying and quality control strategy that was signed off at board level. I highly recommend her as an asset to any business.’
MD, Global Travel Retail Company
“Pop up started yesterday with everyone raving about how nice our branding/packaging looks!”
FounderSkincare Brand
“It has been an absolute pleasure to work with you and your team. Thank you for the excellent work. I am very pleased to see the outcomes are starting to flow through and demonstrate the return on the investment.''
Foreign EmbassyHead of Trade
Working with Janet over the past year has been a real pleasure, she has fantastic industry experience and knowledge of the UK beauty market. She has delivered a number of webinars for my clients looking at how to enter the UK market, providing an overview of the market and how to build a strategy. She took the briefs we provided and added real value to them, included key insights and information that my clients have found incredibly useful. Feedback on these sessions has been very positive. Janet is a clear communicator and has always delivered as agreed and on time. We are continuing to work together on other projects and I very much value the conversations we share.
Senior trade advisor, Enterprise Ireland
‘Janet has excellent beauty market knowledge. Level headed with clear vision, direction and the ability to drive business forward, Janet led the teams through a complete product design change advising on what the key marketing messages should be, incorporating her technical knowledge and beauty expertise.’
Buyer, M&S, London
‘Through Janet’s management skills, expertise and proven track record on the job she successfully managed the purchasing of our retail operations and ensured the integrity of our brands in-stores. Her enthusiasm and total dedication, delivered results in any project she was involved in.’
General Manager, Harvey Nichols, Al Tayer Group, Dubai
‘Absolutely fantastic course. Condensed learning from Janet, an expert in developing beauty brands. Also, valuable introductions to expert professionals, in the Masterclass sessions. In 12 weeks, you will learn from Janet, what would take years to learn by yourself. A very worthwhile investment’
Founding Member, BeautytoLife, Bridgette
“Thank you Janet and Team, we thoroughly enjoyed the presentation, and the quality of your materials is outstanding!''
Alive Bodycare CEO