As Kiwis across the nation celebrate Waitangi Day on February 6, it’s not just the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi that New Zealanders should be holding national pride for. And no, we’re not talking about the All Blacks, Lorde or the haka, rather the New Zealand born and bred beauty brands that are doing big things for the country. To discover the highs and lows of being a NZ brand, beautydirectory sat down with managing director Stephanie Evans, sales and marketing manager Sue Millinchip and Sorbet founder Brianne West.
Trials and tribulations
We all know the importance of location, location, location, but unfortunately it doesn’t pay (and does cost) for beauty brands if that location happens to be local. While one might expect that manufacturing a product in your local country would keep costs down, unfortunately it doesn’t seem to be the case. The major hurdle we face is the high cost of manufacture and packaging in New Zealand. Oasis is an affordable entry-level skincare brand, but keeping it local isn’t exactly conducive to large margins. We have to be savvy about how we run the business and where we spend our money to keep the range under $50 for the customer,” says Evans.
The managing director goes on to explain that being a boutique brand, Oasis has to be innovative and clever about brand awareness and sales methods in order to compete against the big brands. This sentiment is replicated by Millinchip, who adds, New Zealand companies generally have a tough time competing with multinationals as they don’t have the same systems, processes or resources available. You have to be able to operate on very skinny budgets and use personal contacts/influence.”
Natural heroes
With so many indigenous ingredients to be found on the land in New Zealand, it’s hardly surprising that many Kiwi brands are heavily focused on being natural and organic. NZ has some exquisite indigenous ingredients and those are often utilised in NZ beauty brands. NZ is synonymous with a clean green environment and this is seen through the large array of natural beauty brands founded here,” explains West. For Sorbet, being a New Zealand beauty brand means taking advantage of locally sourced natural ingredients, such as manuka oil, and going the extra mile to be as environmentally sensitive as possible.
A tough environment
New Zealand is renowned for having a tough, harsh environment, which has had an influence on the success of beauty products being made and developed here. In supplements, we see a lot of minerals doing well as people realise our soils are deficient in many of them – it doesn’t make any difference if you eat organic fruit and vegies if the soil they are growing in does not contain these essential nutrients. Minerals such as zinc, magnesium, selenium and boron are critical to how our body and immune system work and we have seen steady sales growth in these products,” says Millinchip. At Oasis, popular products for the brands are moisturisers and make-up that feature high SPF coverage due to the dangerous levels of UV light found in New Zealand.
Customer connection
For Sorbet, Red Seal and Oasis Beauty, the brand’s main customers all come from New Zealand. Red Seal believes that being from New Zealand delivers better customer relations with locals. We feel it gives us a better connection to the New Zealand consumer and we see that show through with good engagement on our Facebook page. It’s an important part of our identity and gives us credibility in the health area we operate in,” reveals Millinchip.
The digital future
It’s no secret that online reviews and shopping continue to grow more in popularity as every year passes. To ensure they stay relevant, New Zealand brands will need to embrace the digital age. It will be increasingly important to have a good digital presence and to establish good reasons why the consumer should buy your brand. People are more willing to try products they can source from the internet as the cost and risk decreases,” says Millinchip. Evans adds, We see consumers using the internet so much more than they did before to research products and seek more information before they buy, whether they buy online or in store. Once upon a time, consumers took the word of the brand as gospel but now they rely on third party reviews.”
The 15 New Zealand brands to keep on your radar:
FaceWorks
Made4Baby
Moreish Skincare
Sorbet
Triumph & Disaster