‘I highly recommend Bespoke Advantage to business owners across the beauty, spa and wellness industry. Janet has been a fantastic support to my business. Through her in-depth knowledge of the beauty industry she has provided me with strategies specifically tailored to my business needs, to help me to grow my business across the marketplace’.
Karen Hong, Founder and Director, Jinmee
SUCCESS HIGHLIGHTS
Worked 1-2-1 and through our coaching and mentoring programme, with Karen Hong, the founder of Jinmee, to develop this Korean skincare brand. The brand launched to market in November 2018, five months later.
We started with conducting market and competitor analysis. We then proceeded to develop their marketing strategy and plan, marketing campaigns, and supported them with the development of their branding, copy writing, product development and their pricing strategy. We worked with them to conduct market research to validate their idea pre-launch. We coached them on pitching to retailers, how to develop a winning brand presentation, how to approach retail buyers, journalists and influencers and on their launch to market strategy.
THE ISSUE
Karen Hong is a fashion designer with a successful fashion range ‘Yuki’ available through Topshop. At the time of approaching Bespoke Advantage Karen had already launched a Korean skincare platform, K-Beauty Bar, comprising of a collection of hand-picked Korean skincare brands available online and through TopShop. In addition to this she had also identified a great idea for developing her own Korean skincare brand.
Karen hadn’t developed a beauty brand before, she was challenged with a lack of time due to running two other companies, and was looking for a specialist beauty brand company to guide her in how to turn her ideas into a commercial reality.
THE APPROACH
1-2-1, COACHING AND MENTORING PROGRAMME As Karen had never developed a beauty brand before and was challenged by the amount of time she had available, we decided to work together 1-2-1 and through our coaching and mentoring programme, designed bespoke to Karen’s needs, this included
COMPETITOR AND MARKET ANALYSIS – Bespoke Advantage started by analysing competitors and trends across the Korean Skincare industry. We needed to understand the trends, key competitors and their strategies, before deciding how to proceed.
MARKETING STRATEGY AND MARKETING PLAN – We created a comprehensive marketing strategy which included defining goals and objectives, brand positioning, developing their marketing plan and marketing campaigns, advising on the development of their website, promotions and events including key beauty awards, PR and influencer marketing.
BRANDING, PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT, PRICING – We advised them on their design, copy, brand naming, regulations, product registration, and on their pricing strategy.
MARKET RESEARCH – It is imperative to conduct market research prior to launching a brand, once the branding had been developed, we set up an afternoon with consumers to conduct market research, which we then fed back into the development of the brand.
RETAIL STRATEGY – Key to the success of a brand is how to launch your brand to market. With contacts across the retail industry, we connected Jinmee to buyers, retailers and etailers, coached Jinmee on how to create a strong brand presentation, what retail buyers are looking for and how to approach their retail strategy.
PROJECT RESULTS
Delivered over 10 months
Pre-launch we coached Jinmee on their pitch to a key retailer.
Jinmee launched to market in November 2018, five month later.
They are available online through their website, through TopShop, through Wolf and Badger and through Harvey Nichols.
They are finalists in the Pure Beauty Awards taking place in Dubai in April 2019.
ABOUT JINMEE
Jinmee is a premium Korean skincare brand, built on the ethos that ‘less is more’. They aim to educate consumers on how to improve their skincare regime through using fewer products that can be personalised to meet their skincare needs. Founded by fashion designer Karen Hong, they launched to market with their first product – Hydrapuff – in November 2018.
Hydrapuff is an ultra-thin, multi-purpose skincare sheet. Unlike other conventional cotton pads on the marketplace that absorb your product, but are unable to release or redistribute it, once you add liquid to Hydrapuff it transforms to a soft, gel-like tissue that clings to your skin, aiding in the absorption of your product. Hydrapuff is vegan, cruelty free and biodegradable and enables you to customize your skincare regime, day and night, with minimum wastage of your toners, essences and serums.
Karen believes that having good skin is something that is achievable for everyone. She is looking to expand her business with the addition of complimentary products based on the ethos of ‘less is more’ and making this accessible to consumers globally.
If you would like to discuss how we can work with you to develop a new brand in the beauty industry or to extend or rebrand your business, or need help with sales and distribution, GET IN TOUCH, we would love to discuss this with you.
We love partnering up with visionary entrepreneurs, beauty brands, companies, retailers, spas and salons like you to develop and launch new brands or to reposition your existing business.
As a brand management company we draw upon strategic insights, creative thinking, commerciality and years of experience in branding, product development, retail and travel retail to help you to develop and grow your business.
We build marketing strategies, conceptualise brand identities and visual elements, create products, develop marketing, social media and PR to help you to engage with your ideal customers – whether you are selling direct-to-consumer or through bricks- and-mortar.
We work with you to develop a comprehensive strategy for your business by understanding your vision (and the marketplace) and then delving into the details to create order and structure, neatly packaged up to deliver you commercial results.
Over the years we have worked with a diverse portfolio of businesses – here’s a snapshot. If you would like to discuss your ideas with us, get in touch, we would love to hear from you.
‘Thrilled to be working with Bespoke Advantage. They have already done some great things for Hollywood Browzer Beauty in the very short time we’ve been working together. Looking forward to the future!’
‘Unless someone comes from a background in this industry, you wouldn’t know what is required. Not only do I have the support of an experienced team to help me to make things happen and to grow my brand, but I also have a great personal relationship with Janet and her team, working in this way means I have someone to turn to, to share the journey of running a business.’
‘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.’
‘Bespoke Advantage helped us to bring our brand to life creatively and strategically. We have a clear strategy in place, with a distinctive brand message that enables us to articulate our brand to retailers and to journalists.’
‘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.’
‘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.’
‘Janet is extremely professional, knowledgeable and thorough, an expert of her field. This shone through from our first conversation, which instinctively led me to want to work with Bespoke Advantage. As a new skincare brand the expertise of Bespoke Advantage has been invaluable.’
‘Janet, absolutely fantastic to meet you today. Thoroughly enjoyed The Beauty Workshop. You definitely excel in your area and beyond.’
‘Many thanks again for all the help, support and words of encouragement, as I said before, best and most sensible thing I’ve done in developing my beauty ideas is to engage with you!’
‘It’s been inspirational working with Janet. We are in the process of launching a skincare brand however have received conflicting opinions from so many people we were really confused. I am so impressed by Janet’s knowledge and experience in product development, marketing and retail and the way she explains everything so clearly. She is very motivating and positive, and so much fun to work with. I have much more clarity and confidence in how to move things forward.’