Queensland-based Margi Fox Distributors (MFD) has been named 2017 Distributor of the Year at the Jane Iredale Mineral Cosmetics International Awards.
MFD, which has distributed the US brand in Australia for 15 years, won the award ahead of distributors from more than 50 other countries.
Announcing MFD’s win, Jane Iredale Mineral Cosmetics founder Jane Iredale said the winning criteria required for the Distributor of the Year Award included sales volume as well as five years of positive compound annual growth and “the elusive creativity factor”.
“Creativity has never been a problem for MFD,” she said.
“In fact they [MFD] set the pace for innovation − their countless unique promotions coupled with creative packaging energises their partners and attracts new customers from throughout their territories.
“For example, in April MFD launched a ‘What’s your Shade’ campaign inviting influencers from all over the country to participate in a one-on-one consultation to match them with their perfect Jane Iredale foundation. This ‘selfie heaven’ event spread like wild fire on social media converting influencers and their followers to Jane Iredale”.
Iredale also praised MFD for its investment and dedication to education and communication in building a new education facility and launching a quarterly marketing news magazine last year “to keep stockists up-to-date and well prepared for the events and promotions to come”.
MFD director Margi Fox said she was thrilled and humbled to win the award
“The last 15 years have been a great privilege to work alongside a brand that I truly believe in and am proud to advocate and share with the rest of the country,” she said.
MFD began distributing Jane Iredale in 2003 after being approached by the US company.
“We had already been successfully distributing Environ Skincare in Queensland and Victoria for a number of years when Iredale Mineral Cosmetics asked if we would like to begin distributing Jane Iredale − a mineral makeup range that would work harmoniously with Environ and actually help to improve the results of skincare treatments.”
Fox said she instantly fell in the love with the brand and its ethos “that makeup should be as good for the skin as it is aesthetically pleasing”.
Nonetheless, as Jane Iredale was the first mineral makeup brand to enter the Australian market, it has taken “a lot of determination and hard work to build Jane Iredale into what it is in Australia today even though “stockists and their clients have loved the brand right from the beginning”.
Fox believes the key to MFD’s success has been the company’s commitment to its stockists – which now number 800.
“We believe in being our stockists’ strategic business partner as their success is our success,” she said.
“Our account executives know the product range and application intimately and are solution-focused to find ways to tackle new challenges.
“They assist in analysing stock levels, provide in-house training, generate ideas to help incentivise staff and create long and short-term business goals and targets.
“When a new stockist joins us they become part of the family.”
MFD plans to continue building on its success in the next 12 months by launching an eLearning program (“so that salon owners who struggle with having enough time in the day to do everything they want to” can access “bite-sized education modules at their fingertips”) and by developing a strategy to make social media success “even easier” for its stockists.