The Trajectory of Clean Beauty
Clean beauty. It’s a segment whose trajectory is on the rise. And there’s no sign of it slowing – as more educated and discerning consumers integrate natural, clean products across multiple categories into their daily lives.
According to Be Pure Beauty, clean beauty means that there are no harmful toxic ingredients in the products we are using every day. Here’s a list from The Glamorganic Goddess of The Dirty 30 | A List of Bad-Ass Beauty Ingredients To Avoid.
There are a couple really special companies, among others, who we like a lot in the clean beauty space. Given our firm’s health and wellness focus, we’re always on the lookout for what’s new and happening when it comes to brands that help us to live healthier and better lives.
One is Beauty Counter, online retailer and creator of safer and effective skin care and cosmetics products. Their “Never List” is made up of more than 1,500 questionable or harmful chemicals that they never use as ingredients in their products.
The other is Credo Beauty, a retailer with locations (at least today) in San Francisco and New York. They sell a comprehensive collection of safe, effective beauty products that are totally clean, super good and absolutely beautiful. Here’s a slice of their well-told and well-delivered story:
What we really appreciate about these two companies is their playbook. No, we haven’t seen their brand plans. But we can observe the beliefs and characteristics that drive their momentum.
Both Beauty Counter and Credo Beauty execute really well against these six factors:
Know-How. They demonstrate their expertise and provide our System 2 “thinking” brains with credible proof that they know what they’re doing. Beauty Counter leads with its provocatively-served up Never List. Credo Beauty shares its list of Dirty Ingredients to Ditch.
Differentiation. Beyond a meaningful point of difference, they both have the courage to focus on this point of difference. For Credo Beauty, this starts with its name. How could it possibly stray?
Authenticity. They live their values and practice what they preach. Here, Beautycounter Goes To Washington. And Credo donates 1% of every purchase to The Lipstick Angels.
Dynamism. They’re both leading change. Asserting their relevance. And continuing to surprise and delight. Credo, given that their brand represents a philosophy that transcends product segments, has extended to clean Well Being, Accessories and Scents & Gifts.
Emotional Pull. They both connect with our System 1 intuitive brains and create an instinctive attraction that goes beyond rational reasons for making a purchase. Case in point, Beautycounter’s new We All Deserve Better video. And Credo Beauty’s Totally Clean, Super Good, Absolutely Beautiful credo.
Community. Both of these brands are fostering and facilitating communities of like-minded “clean beauty and clean living” individuals. This is particularly important in the wellness category, given that the “we” factor influences so much behavior. Beauty Counter invites shoppers to PLAY A PART, Join the Band of Beauty Member Program, attend Socials & Events. And Credo has an active blog, social presence and Credo Affiliate Program.
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Clean is on the rise. But it takes momentum to build a sustainable business. We’ve done a lot of our own investigation into what generates momentum – what attracts people to brands, keeps them interested and involved and less vulnerable to copying by competitors. When applied as a complete framework, these factors can help you exert powerful pull to grow stronger customers, brands and business.
Want to talk about? Reach out to Chris Wood, Director of Client Engagement.