A brand that I stumbled upon

Few months ago, I wanted to get a new face wash for my now sixteen year old daughter. She's prone to outbreaks on her face and she feels very conscious about it. In fact, she's so conscious that when she steps out, she uses make-up to hide them (yes, she had to learn how to use make-up to hide them and she does a pretty good job now! Will write on that too).

Since I had worked in a personal care product company, my first choice were those products. These products did an ok-ok job initially and then we were back to square one. The dermatologist had prescribed medicines which were taken initially and when they didn't show 'immediate' results, they were dropped. What to do? 

I took her to a renowned and well-respected homeopath who gave her medicines which again didn't work after sometime. I have to mention here honestly that the medicines were all probably fine but there were some conditions given - no oily food, no spicy food, cheese, burgers, pizza, etc. Those conditions were applied only in a limited manner and therefore the results were not promising.

Anyway, it was at this stage and after a lot of trial and error on our own, that I came across the brand "Minimalist" while browsing on an e-commerce site. I first saw a facewash, then a serum. I showed it to my daughter and after she checked on the ingredients (yes, we 'googled' each ingredient), we decided to try.

The brand itseMinimalist brandlf was true to its name, minimalistic packaging, simple straightforward logo, all ingredients mentioned on the pack, plain B&W branding, no unnecessary graphics whatsoever. 

The product also has a very chemical/herb kind of smell when you open it, no fragrance. It was a completely new way of selling a personal care product for me. The serum looks like a medicated product with a dropper. 

In my own experience in new product development and marketing, I've worked on packaging graphics, shortlisting ingredients, advertising,etc. but never came across of this sort of a divergent thinking. So, while my marketing mind appreciated the honesty, I was also impressed with the product's performance. 

My daughter has seen a lot of reduction in acne after using Minimalist. It encouraged me to try out their anti-aging serum too.

Overall, a complete win-win for all of us. 

Here are 5 things I feel the brand got it right:

1. Excellent products - all developed internally with their R&D team

2. Started as a D2C brand which means it was largely online through their website and other social media. I believe they are now available in Modern Trade but honestly I haven't seen them on the shelves. But that's just a question of time as HUL will ensure it will be available easily soon.

3. Excellent branding - from logo to packaging, everything is top-notch. They stand out clearly in the cluttered personal care category with their clean look

4. Staying true to the name - honest, transparent and no fluff

Downsides:

1. They are a bit on the expensive side even though one might try and justify it as worth it. Not everyone can afford a facewash costing Rs. 300/-  for 100ml (if you buy on their website, it is Rs. 284/-)

2. I had never heard of them at all till I accidently got served an ad. They have apparently focused on using customers as brand ambassadors but sorry none in my circle are their ambassadors.

Look at how they have grown. (Graph taken from the Inc42 website)

I hope the brand continues to stay true to its name and does not go the mass marketing route and become just another brand on the highly cluttered shelves. 

What do you think? Do share your thoughts.

Disclaimer : These are just my personal views as a consumer and a marketing person and I am not paid for this.