Hello everyone and welcome to this episode of my interview series.
Today, we’ve got Johannes Walch who co-founded Sober Beauty with his partner Valentine.
Sober Beauty is a pioneer in Chinese Clean Beauty. Johannes and Valentine’s backgrounds are in management consulting and L’Oreal Product development and in 2019 they launched their own Clean Makeup brand in China.
They are passionate about Clean Beauty and optimistic about its growth potential in China
EXCITING TIMES FOR CLEAN BEAUTY RIGHT NOW:
💥 Clean Beauty is at a tipping point – more people know what it is and are curious about it
💥 The interest is pragmatic vs. ideological – it is focused on product safety, ingredients, and skin irritation
💥 Do not underestimate how informed your consumer is – don’t hide anything, talk to them as peers
💥 To succeed you need patience, money and careful planning
WHAT IS THE FOCUS FOR A SUCCESSFUL CLEAN BEAUTY CHINA STRATEGY:
💥 Product Safety
💥 Lack of skin Irritation
💥 Specific ingredients and what they will do for my skin
💥 Is it safe for pregnant women to use
The awareness of Clean Beauty has grown both from abroad but also from the increase in Chinese brands talking about it.
Johannes’ top tips for Clean Beauty brands entering now:
💥 Chinese consumers are informed – don’t talk down to them, don’t hide anything from them
💥 Do not over charge for your products vs your home market. Value is important to the Chinese consumer
💥 Money – need to establish your brand
💥 Patience – gold rush for foreign brands is over but there is still a big prize
💥 Management attention – not to be taken lightly. Need time to carefully select the right partners.
I totally agree with all these tips – Clean Beauty has potential in China but it is not a copy-paste model – you need to tailor and design your strategy to set yourself up for success.
To learn more about Sober Beauty
Website: https://sober-beauty.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/soberbeauty_official/
Or contact Johannes on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johannes-walch/
For further reading, check this article about Indie Brands in China market
