QUESTION: At Cosmoprof Asia in Hong Kong last November, a significant number of beauty brands exhibiting in the Australian pavilion had little or no presence in our own salon environment. What can be done to make sure Australian made brands are best represented when selling on an international stage?
This was discussed in depth at the tenth Professional Beauty Industry Roundtable, focused on Australian Made Beauty, at the Nude Lounge in The Glebe Hotel.
Eight industry thought leaders ‒ Maria Cocciolone from Inskin Cosmedics, Nicola Le Lievre from In Therapy, Mark Durkin from asap skin products, Belinda Merlino from The Skin Clinic, Carley Stewart from asap skin products, Andrew Taverna from Artav Australia, Dr Donna Lee-Marcal from Dermatonics, Lynn Hetherington-Briggs from Advanced Skin & Body ‒ agreed that brands that were true, authentic and transparent, would ultimately support each other and remain strong in the industry.
Andrew Taverna from Artav Australia said we need to talk about transparency and honesty in marketing.
Carley Stewart from asap skin products said Cosmoprof had more than over 51 countries exhibiting so it was difficult to verify the authenticity of brands from around the world, but that having a certificate of origin as part of the application process to prove your authenticity was a great idea.
Maria Cocciolone from Inskin Cosmedics said if you were Australian made, and you were genuine, you were good at what you did, you were on side with the Australian way, and you were earning a genuine income, that was great.
Mark Durkin from asap skin products said as an Australian made brand they want to be collectively represented and the pie was big enough for everybody. However, they were happy to stand alone at Cosmpoprof to represent themselves as an independent brand competing with the Americans and the Europeans on their own merit.
Donna Lee-Marcal from Dermatonics said in Australia in business there was such a collaborative nature, which was fantastic.
Lynn Hetherington-Briggs from Advanced Skin & Body said she didn’t like it when brand were misleading and claimed to be Australian made when they weren’t.
Belinda Merlino from The Skin Clinic said you had to be savvy as a clinic owner and it would become pretty obvious if someone was not doing the right thing.
Nicola Le Lievre from In Therapy said what she loved about being an Aussie made salon is the way Australians pulled together and supported each other. She said labels like ‘Made in Australia’, ‘Australian made’ or ‘Australian’ could be confusing and there needed to be clear differentiation between them.
Addendum:
Professional Beauty in association with Cosmoprof Asia wish to acknowledge that the organisers of the Australian pavilion always endeavor to best support Australian brands on the international stage. It is essential that the companies exhibiting are registered in Australia with an Australian Business Number (ABN) and substantial operations and business interests in Australia.
Watch the video below for the full discussion.
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