Made in Ireland and based in Cork, Human+Kind skincare has recently launched a welcome addition to its line of all natural skincare products, a fabulous all natural multipurpose body oil which is easily absorbed and highly beneficial for the skin. I’ve been using it for the past few days and it really is a gem of a product, particularly coming out of these winter months when skin has been moisture deprived.

It’s a great next step for Human+Kind on its upward trajectory and is an indicator of how quickly this company has grown since we helped launch the brand in Dubai in May 2011. Demand for the all natural range is increasing at pace and Human+Kind is now distributed across Europe, Asia and the middle East with many new and innovative products in the pipeline for 2012/2013.

It’s very welcome news for the team here at ThinkTank who combined research and strategy with powerful branding to effectively create, communicate and deliver the Human+Kind brand into the marketplace on behalf of the brand owners, the all Dutch team of Rene Van Willigen and Jeroen Proos.

Very early on ThinkTank recognised the unique value in the idea behind the product – multipurpose skincare that is 100% natural. While multipurpose products in skincare are not news, 100% natural multipurpose products with high levels of incredibly effective and proven active  ingredients are very new to the marketplace and this is where Human+Kind spotted a gap.

It was up to ThinkTank to evaluate the opportunity through rigorous research and then use the insights generated from the research to inform strategy development (market positioning, market segmentation & targeting, customer value proposition) and the development of the Human+kind brand which is a key tool for the owners to communicate the value inherent in the products to the marketplace.

It’s a great time to be an all natural skincare brand as natural and organic skincare is on an incredible upward growth curve with more and more consumers becoming highly chemical aware and demanding of their product choices so that they can minimise any potentially negative impact on their health while maximising performance and wellness benefits. In addition, women are increasingly looking to skincare products that deliver maximum performance benefits but in half the time and half the perceived number of products required for their daily skincare regime.

Global players like P+G and L’Oréal are solving these specific skincare problems with the recent smash hit launches of their multipurpose BB (Blemish Balm) creams which cut down considerably the number of products a woman needs in her arsenal, however, Human+Kind goes one better in that it solves an important problem for consumers in a way that the skincare giants are not – it tackles the chemical issue by being 100% natural and reduces the need for multiple products while delivering extremely powerful antiageing benefits and therapeutic benefits over time.

Jeroen Proos, the co-founder of Human+Kind has commented that “Evaluating the opportunity, or “sanity testing” it through research has to be the first port of call for any entrepreneur or start-up, then, once you are comfortable that there is a market, determining where and how to position the product in that market relative to the competition in order to own a territory for your brand and differentiate, how to use the brand both on and offline as a key tool to create brand awareness, relevance, preference and ultimately purchase are the key steps that any brand that has aspirations to become a player on a global stage in a crowded marketplace has to undertake in order to be successful.”

Finally, the packaging that ThinkTank developed for Human+Kind has already won recognition, Human+Kind has recently featured on RTE’s highly popular Nationwide programme and on TV3’s Expose, winning plaudits from influential bloggers like Kirstie McDermott of Beaut.ie and a legion of influential beauty bloggers in the Netherlands. Looks like Human+Kind is only at the start of a very exciting and rewarding  journey.

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FACT: One in five Irish Enterprises fail according to the Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association. In many instances they fail due to a lack of understanding of their customers and market place.

Post-recession shoppers are a completely different breed when compared to what has gone before. They’ve been profoundly impacted by a feeling of deprivation the recession caused and the way in which they’ve coped with it. Now they are more demanding than ever and their expectations are increasingly high. We all know shoppers are fickle and the days of being completely loyal to one brand or company are gone. Shoppers have been conditioned to search out the best price and value during these recessionary times yet they can be swayed at the point of purchase to make very different decisions. Other factors like emotions also come into play, hence the contradiction in terms, when you hear that more than one in two customers claim to be cutting down on treats but sales of premium products such as ice cream and chocolates are on the rise. How can that be?

Business consultancy Deloitte released an interesting research report just this week in New York where they talked about a ‘paradigm shift’ in consumer purchasing habits in the US. It found that a whopping 84% of households were examining their spending in every category to try and save money while 79% believed they were ‘smarter’ shoppers than they were two years ago. But it also found that 75% believed that the financial crisis had caused them to realise ‘which brands I really care about and which ones are less important to me’ and that there were only two or three brands which they ‘could not live without’.

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Insights & Tips on Company & Product Naming

Naming a business is a lot like laying the cornerstone of a new building. Once it’s in place, the entire foundation and structure is aligned to that original stone. If it’s off, even in the slightest, the misalignment becomes amplified.

The tougher it gets out there, the more important it is to put your marketing money where it will do the most good. Coming up with the right name for a company or a product can make a huge difference in building a brand and even in determining it’s future success. Too often companies jump straight into designing a logo and then spend the rest of the marketing budget trying to explain to people what they actually do and what their difference is.

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For a business to be viable, it has to do something as well as its competitors; to win in a competitive market, it has to do something better than its competitors.

Recent research by global marketing firm, Young & Rubicam highlights the fact that 80% of new businesses and brands fail. Lack of differentiation is cited as the major reason for business failure.

In order to ensure that your product is preferred over those of your competitors, you must consider the complete brand experience and how that experience will contribute to consumer perception. Your brand isn’t what you think it is – it’s what your customer think it is. Your brand isn’t your logo, web site design or tag line – it’s a research informed strategic premise that is designed to deliver competitive advantage and grow market share.

As a bit of a brand refresher and value add to customers, ThinkTank decided to take a peek into what really goes on inside the mind of your customer.

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Let’s say you’re at a networking event and someone steps in the elevator with you, notices your nametag, and asks, “So what do you guys do?” Quick–what’s your answer? You’ve got just 30 seconds before the doors open so you’d better think fast.

In many ways an Elevator Pitch is shorthand for what your brand stands for. It’s your one-shot opportunity to be different and present yourself in a compelling and memorable way. For most business owners, getting to the crux of what you really do is the hardest, yet potentially most rewarding, one-minute conversation you could ever have.

So what is an Elevator Pitch?

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