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What is your 'why'?
The first thing a brand should ask themselves when conceptualising a new product is ‘why?’ and the answer should always revolve around the consumer's needs. In other words, why does the consumer need this product? Is it a new ingredient? A new approach to tackling a skin condition? Or a new fragrance? If there's a prolonged pause, then it might not be a brief to pursue.
A common trap brands fall into is basing a product brief on a trend/idea that is misinformed. Therefore, it is essential to conduct some research. Brands have a duty to educate the consumer, and from experience, brands that drive education will prosper over those feeding into misinformed or fleeting trends. There's still room to innovate based on sensory aspects such as visual appearance and texture, but the foundation has to be backed by science.
What comes after solidifying the big idea?
Once you know that your product has a solid reason to exist, you need to establish brand values. If the brand is already live, does this product support the existing values? For new brands, establishing core pillars allows the consumer to understand your intent and builds credibility. This could for example include stances on packaging, sustainability, ingredients and testing.
Entering into development
Now that you have your foundation and pillar alignment, it's time to develop the product. Chemists will go ahead and formulate against the brief, and packaging selection is also conducted. The industry standard testing includes testing the formula in isolation and then testing the formula in its packaging. These accelerated tests will prove that your product is stable and are examples of regulatory checkpoints that ensure your product is compliant.
"The key to a good product overall is taking a considered approach, making sure that it is efficacious and consequently consumers feel they have a new staple in their routine". Ashley MSci (Biochemistry) - Team Skin Rocks
Going above the standard
In our view, a good product means one which has undergone further testing in the form of clinical/consumer tests. Brands conducting these tests are showing evidence that their product works in the form of data. Consumer testing refers to how consumers fared when testing the formula over a period of time, and are perception tests to help the prospective consumer understand the consensus on the performance of the product. You’ll spot these when reading claims like ‘90% of people felt their skin was smoother’.
Clinical testing takes it even further. Instruments take physical measurements to gain a numerical value that is scientifically significant. You’ll spot this with ‘clinically proven’ before the product claim. These tests are the gold standard in substantiating product claims. Utilising both clinical and consumer tests provide a well-rounded approach, showing that not only does the consumer notice a difference but it is scientifically proven to work.
A note on cost vs efficacy
When it comes to comparing efficacy vs the RRP (recommended retail price) of products, the two don’t always correlate. There are many variables that go into determining the RRP. For example, a budget product might be a lower price due to the huge volume being produced (known as 'economies of scale') or it could be a budget product because it has a cheap formula.
The Skin Rocks approach is to place no budget on formulae. Always.
Formula-first is our internal mantra, then everything else follows. Our top-tier chemists are tasked to make the best formulas possible, delivering customers the results they deserve from their skincare. Having a limitless formula budget is extremely unusual in the industry as a lot of brands will start with their target RRP in mind, which obviously goes on to dictate the cost of the formula (and everything else).
At Skin Rocks, we determine the RRP once we have the best product we can make. This again is unusual, as brands often set an RRP to work backwards from, often having to minimise the cost of the product itself. My advice is to see what products give you your desired results.
Words by Ashley Hamilton-Prout MSci (Biochemistry) - Team Skin Rocks
