Beauty and well-being briefing: Josie Maran brings beauty specific to OTC products

This week, a look at Josie Maran’s entry into the OTC space and the founding support groups popping up on Slack.

The beauty brand Josie Maran wishes to bring its refined positioning to the department of over-the-counter products.

OTC products refer to drugs and medicines sold directly to a consumer without a prescription. In Josie Maran’s case, her Daily Intensive Repair Body Butter, launched on Tuesday, is an OTC product for eczema. Body Butter is the first product in the brand’s new OTC category called Argan Apothecary, which will launch an additional product this year, around August. Body butter contains 0.8% colloidal oatmeal, which soothes the skin and serves as a protective barrier. It does not contain steroids, mineral oils, or other harsh additives that are often found in over-the-counter and prescription eczema products. Colloidal oatmeal is found in other sensitive skin products from First Aid Beauty, Aveeno, and Honest Beauty.

But, the creation of Argan Apothecary to house OTC products is the brand’s first step outside of traditional beauty categories. In 2020, the lip care brand Eos entered the OTC lip category with two products sold in mass distribution such as Target and CVS. As the skin care category continues to swell with products for the face, body, scalp, and even the vulva, there is a need to create additional growth categories. The body butter will be sold through Ulta Beauty, QVC, Sephora, and JosieMaran.com. Ulta Beauty, QVC and Sephora already sell eczema-specific face and body products from brands like Skinfix, Dermadoctor and La Roche Posay. However, these retailers do not appear to offer a dedicated OTC or sensitive skin product category.

“It’s a huge opportunity. I have been doing clean beauty for 14 years … and it’s amazing that no one does [clean OTC beauty]. We plan to go big with [the category]”Said Josie Maran, founder and CEO of her eponymous brand.

Josie Maran joined Ulta Beauty in January 2021, marking her first new retail partner in a decade. At the time, QVC made up 60% of its sales, while Sephora made up 30% of sales and the brand’s e-commerce site DTC made up 10%. Maran declined to provide an updated sales breakdown. Maran previously said the private label achieved around $ 150 million in revenue in 2019 and 2020, but declined to provide the 2021 figures. She shared that the brand saw an increase of 30 million. Year-over-year% of the number of new customers to its DTC website in 2021.

As the beauty industry continued to develop new product categories to stimulate growth, the sensitive skin customer quickly became a new attention-grabbing demo. According to Cetaphil, 70% of Americans self-diagnose with sensitive skin and have skin symptoms such as dryness, irritation, roughness, and tightness. The beauty industry responded by launching numerous products for sensitive skin in 2021.

“The [has been] more sensitive self-diagnosed skin or allergic skin due to sensitization. I don’t know if it’s more common, but it’s talked about more, ”said Dr. Morgan Rabach, a practicing dermatologist in New York City. She added that steroids aren’t always necessary for eczema, depending on the severity, and ceramides are helpful in combating skin problems when used regularly.

“The plan is to continue releasing new, intensely hydrating OTC formulas targeting all types of skin concerns,” said Maran. “We could get into the scalp or any type of topical disease that is lacking in plants [alternative solutions]. “

In 2022, Josie Maran’s plan is to increase new client acquisition through influencer partnerships, both paid and unpaid. The company will also use its first party customer data to improve its customer relationship management and lifelong value by tailoring its website and digital communications strategies. Maran said the brand aims to increase DTC sales by 100% in 2022. Josie Maran hired a DTC vice president and CRM manager in 2021.

For the launch of Body Butter, Josie Maran will focus on user-generated content on Instagram and TikTok to demonstrate the product’s effectiveness. The brand increased its influencer mailing budget by 700% for the launch to collect “hundreds” of user reviews and photos before the launch. Less than 2% of the brand’s launch strategy is focused on paid influencer content.

Typically, Josie Maran works with 700 unpaid influencers throughout the year, both paid and unpaid. It plans to increase that number to 100% in 2022. It will also launch UGC on the product description pages of its DTC website. Josie Maran brought in four dermatologists to serve as brand ambassadors for the launch, to add more credibility.

“This year we’re focusing on our community and how we can find our vibe and attract our tribe,” Maran said.

Independent entrepreneurs create the Slack “Founder Therapy” group

In the vast world of beauty entrepreneurship, distinct ecosystems of founders appear regularly.

Example: a Slack group called Founder Therapy. Along with Slack groups like DTC E-com Brain Trust and a temporary, anonymous coronavirus response group led by RéVive CEO Elana Drell Szyfer, brands have found ways to come together digitally to support each other when needed. Founder Therapy is made up of seven independent beauty founders, including Common Heir Founder Angela Ubias and Solar Suncare Founder Stephanie DiPisa. They use the platform to share advice, supplier partners and sometimes to empathize.

Lindsey Martin, founder of skincare brand Kiramoon, teamed up with Anastasia Bezrukova, founder of makeup brand Minori Beauty, to create Slack Group in 2020. They first met virtually via Instagram at summer 2020, before spending their conversations at Zoom. During one of their Zoom calls, they decided to extend the invitation to other founders. They hosted the meetings on Zoom before migrating them to an ongoing Slack channel called Founder Therapy.

“There are a lot of things that you just don’t think about if you’ve never been in the beauty industry and are there for each other. [We] educate each other, ”Martin said.

Martin said she would like to see the Slack group formalized with more mentoring, membership and organized calls. Bezrukova said there are plans to invite additional founders in early 2022.

“Build a [professional] Network and a support network is probably the most beneficial thing a founder can do to avoid making early mistakes, ”Bezrukova said.

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