Make it Personal + Why Data Matters
Investors and VC’s talk about a brand’s lifecycle, and a recent Beauty Independent article, the idea of a beauty brand’s life cycle are now shortened due to cultural shifts and consumer behaviour. The observation notew how this could affect investors and VC’s management of their brand portfolio as well as what to look for and how to the look at potential investments. In the article, investors chimed in, and it was interesting to note the vast contemplations.
If this is how brands are being perceived, as a contrarian business strategist and also investor, this presents to me a window of opportunity.
How?
To start: Nurture your lowest hanging fruit.
Your drive, motivation, purpose– for creating your brand + your personal creative process and what sparks your fire. This is your lowest hanging fruit.
Your lowest hanging fruit + your creative process = something new, innovative, + authentically aligned to your brand DNA, that builds your brand equity. The stronger your brand equity, the more substantial your moat, and with the right strategic initiatives in place, the greater the longevity of your brand.
Here’s the secret….always interweave your brand DNA into your financial modeling and analysis. When you know where to look, and what to look for, you will find golden nuggets of opportunity that only you can nurture, grow, and expand. Your moat. Your brand equity. And ultimately, the longevity of your brand.
Case study: Violette_FR and how she nailed brand DNA + brand equity.
A little back story on Violette_FR: she’s Parisian, first and foremost. Studied to become an artist before becoming a makeup artist. She found her niche by integrating her studies in art into her skillset as a makeup artist. She moved to NYC to hone in her craft. She has authentically and interwoven her innate Cool French Girl Aesthetic + living the hustle and bustle of the NYC life into her own brand, Violette_FR.
I’ve been following her for the past 8 years. At the time, she was a freelance makeup artist + also delving into health and wellness as well. Having just moved to Paris at the time, she turned me on to her holistic health practitioner and connected.
Violette_FR’s most recent launch was a simple object – a travel mirror. what she created was meticulously thought through - incredibly intentionally - and the final product is something beautiful, unexpected, and special.
Below is an excerpt from her launch:
When I started VIOLETTE_FR three years ago, I was deeply inspired — and continue to be inspired — by this quote from the author Rainbow Rowell: “She never looked nice. She looked like art, and art wasn't supposed to look nice; it was supposed to make you feel something.”
I created this piece to inspire you to think about your reflection in a new way. Instead of seeing things that you need to fix, my wish is that you will see yourself as a muse and an artist to be celebrated. If we start to think like this around beauty, we will have a much healthier relationship with ourselves, which is so powerful.
Violette’s mission and personal belief is that make-up complements one's beauty, as we are all beautiful even within our own mess and chaos. Yes, very French. She always reinforces having an empowered and healthy relationship with ourselves, and reminds us that there is no one format, structure, nor statistic for what beauty means. This is the core intention from where she begins her creative process.
When you can balance your core intention for why you build your brand, weave in meaningful personal stories that resonate with customers, and while still staying private about your personal life —- is becomes the perfect case study on how to build a robust brand DNA with a brand equity that no one can mimic nor take away. The only way one can achieve this is to intimately know your customers – and this is why data matters.
When a brand can integrate the data they have collected, and seamlessly weave into every touch point of their creative process, that is where magic happens!
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