Pros
First off, these products are amazing! Formulas and ingredients are spot-on but the packaging and branding is total crap. If only someone could figure out how to properly market them, they would meet success based on effectiveness alone.
Cons
The Achilles heel of this company is that the internal structure is missing key players to properly launch newness. Planning and product positioning lacks the claims and storytelling needed to shine in a very crowded marketplace. Most of the responsibility to launch newness falls on copy and creative—quite the opposite from major brands where Brand, Education and Marketing would be heavily involved. Brand is entirely devoid— say where you work and I guarantee nobody knows it! It’s that invisible! There’s an odd secrecy among upper management and information is often pushed down in fragmented pieces. The US president is too safe, too frugal and not willing to stick his neck out with our international partners to make things happen. So many ideas squashed, so many consultants brought in—then quickly tossed—so much turnover, it makes the company look disorganized—inside and out. It’s like we’re airing our dirty laundry to the diminishing customer base we have left. A little background, the brand attempted to pivot a little over a year ago without a true plan and staff has turned over accordingly. The long-term employees were tossed by the wayside and the new employees were supposed to pick up the pieces without much direction. Hirings and firings are normal at this point and contract help is quite the commodity. The fact that you’re utterly disposable is a positive here. Salary’s are meager, BTW. The brand overall is a mess and a major triage is needed to repair the damages. Lastly, Alameda is the worst location for a beauty company looking to attract top talent. Yes, leases are pricy in the city but you’ve got to pay to play.
