Brands Find No Topic Is Off-Limits With A Nurtured Community

In times of high anxiety, social and political polarization, it might be thought prudent to stick with safe, comfy topics and avoid those that make us squirm.

Direct-to-consumer brands would disagree. Long celebrated for their ability to build customer connections and trust, DTCs find few topics are off-limits. With their chosen niche top of mind and tuned to the unique concerns of their target consumers, DTC and digitally native brands invite some hard conversations. Compassion and empathy are key.

“The long-held practice of standing aside during controversies and crises is no longer an option for brands. An Edelman flash poll in early June on brands and racial justice in America found that 60% of people will buy or boycott based on a brand’s response to current racial justice protests. And brands are also four times more likely to gain trust than lose it when they take action in response to systemic racism and racial injustices,” said Edelman CEO Richard Edelman in a statement on recent survey findings.

Edelman’s poll of 22,000 consumers across 11 markets and a wide swath of demographics found that brand trust (53%) is second only to price (64%) as the most important purchasing factor because it addresses fears and vulnerability stoked by the global health crisis and social and racial injustices.

A new medicated skincare brand that seeks to destigmatize chronic skin conditions and the mental health issues that often ride shotgun, expanded the scope of its conversations with consumers after the death of George Floyd, the unarmed Black man who died in police custody. Topicals postponed its May launch so it could focus instead on supporting the Black Lives Matter movement and organizations offering mental health services such as Therapy for Black Girls, Sad Girls Club and Fearless Femme 100.

Claudia Teng, cofounder and chief product officer of Topicals, which launched last week, told me the skincare brand is about being inclusive and addressing sensitive topics. “We know our customers live their lives as people not only interested in skin care and not only who have skin conditions but who live as people in this very politicized social environment.”

In early June, the week after protests and civil unrest erupted in Minneapolis and elsewhere following Floyd’s death, Topicals opened a Twitter thread on the topic of tear gas skin irritation that was informative and gained traction among the community.

“For us, it is about having these kind of conversations with Gen Z and Millennials that other brands are too scared to have. Sometimes they are political. As a Black woman, my skin has been made political,” Topicals CEO and cofounder Olamide Olowe told me in an interview. “Conversations Claudia and I have are ‘What is self care?’ and ‘What is mental health? What are these things that have not been equated to beauty? What other things can you talk about? What other conversations does your community want to have that pertain to their skin?’ ”

The 23-year-old Olowe is not new to the beauty industry; as a 19-year-old pre-med student, she co-created the SheaGIRL Beauty skin-care brand sold to Unilever as part of its Sundial Brands acquisition in 2017.

Sold through its website, Topicals products are also available at four Pop-In@Nordstrom stores through October.

Another company adept at delicate dialogue with customers is Arfa, a personal care products holding company and incubator whose co-founder is former president and COO at Glossier.

With its e-commerce website live and inventory ready to ship from the warehouse, Arfa’s first brand, HIKI, was set to launch March 17, just as Covid-19 shelter-in-place orders were taking hold. HIKI products are designed to manage sweat anywhere on the body.

“It didn’t feel right to launch the brand as if the world hadn’t changed and so we quickly regrouped and decided instead of launching as a brand for sale, we wanted to launch as a brand that would offer compassion,” Shabdha Chigurupati, Arfa cofounder and VP of business development, said during a Retail Brew virtual event in late July. The company donated product to healthcare workers, first responders and those who shared messages of kindness through social media.

“One of our concerns going in to the giveaway is that our products have to do with managing sweat, and sweat—in the context of coronavirus and Covid—can seem very insignificant,” Chigurupati said. “We spent time thinking about: ‘Is it right to give away products and put these in the hands of people when they are dealing with far more stressful situations?’

It became clear that the candid and deeply personal conversations Arfa was already having with its community, called The Collective, established the trust that granted permission to discuss delicate topics like perspiration. The Collective is a focus group comprised of consumers age 16 to 55 years old across the country who share their personal experiences with sweat and other body issues to help guide Arfa product development and share 5% in profits.

Following the product giveaway period, HIKI launched for sale in July. “Leading up to our HIKI launch, we thought it was important to acknowledge and recognize all the injustices happening around the country so we made a commitment to use our privilege as a company to work to counter structural racism and we announced a program to incubate Black- and Brown-founded businesses,” Chigurupati said.

Topicals’ Olowe says brands need to be actively involved in their communities to build trust and generate feedback to help refine the product. “You have to be accessible. ‘Community,’ ” she says, “is a set of language that only you and that person in your ‘in’ group understand. Develop that and you will do just fine with every other piece of the puzzle.”