Mojo Skin & Haircare Taps Virtual for B2B Sales Success 11/25/2020
One could say that Paul Adrian, Founder & CEO of Mojo Skin & Haircare, had a very successful experience at ECRM’s recent European Personal Care Virtual Program. Not only did his company win the Buyers Choice Award for its Hair Molding Clay, but he was picked up by the Ideal World TV shopping channel just days after his meeting with them, and his products were featured on the show this past weekend. Plus, he’s in the midst of several follow-up conversations with buyers from the program, and is expecting a few more wins to come out of them (click here to see the full lineup of ECRM Europe category-specific sessions).
Mojo is a premium men’s grooming and styling range, and currently offers four products that feature a luxury fragrance and cover most men’s hair types. It’s currently distributed in approximately 3,000 stores globally, such as Sainsbury’s and Waitrose in the UK, and in Australia with Woolworths and Coles.
Prior to launching Mojo, Adrian spent 25 years in the advertising industry, where he owned and ran a number of successful agencies. During that time, he realized he was more interested in the products his clients were making rather than the campaigns he was creating for them. Eventually he joined King of Shaves as a global sales and marketing director, and it was during this time that he spotted a gap in the men’s grooming market.
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“I’ve got a lump of hair and I couldn’t find any products in the marketplace that could actually maintain and control my hair,” says Adrian. “Most of them seemed like ‘me-too’ products, and there hadn’t been any innovation in the category for 15 years. So I decided that I would try and create an affordable luxury product that would go in the premium part of the category, because there is no point in going in low – you’ll be blown out of the water by the big guys.”
As Adrian tried out different brands from the market, his wife suggested that it would be great if they smelled like his aftershave. So he worked with a chemist fragrance house and developed a luxury scent that worked well with the product. He also developed premium packaging: a gold and black jar that features what he refers to as a “retro twist design” based on his love of jazz. He already has a great name for the brand – Mojo – which he trademarked around the world, and with it he seeks to give guys back their swagger, their attitude, make them look good and smell good, all at an affordable price.
Business development & ECRM
With several retail successes under his belt, Adrian is now focusing on business development and growing the brand’s reach in 2021, and that’s what led him to ECRM. He had previously been to an in-person European session approximately 10 years ago, and is a big fan of the targeted focus of the program. With in-person meetings not available due to the pandemic, ECRM’s virtual session was the ideal scenario.
“I thought, if we were going to do one thing, we’ve got to do it targeted,” says Adrian. “I can’t travel, so I though that this was an ideal opportunity in which to focus everything down to an intense week of around 40 meetings, one after another. I’d highly recommend it to any brand entrepreneur looking to expand their international network of sales, particularly from a standpoint of cost effectiveness. I used to go traveling around the world. This enables me to fit it all into one week, and you get to meet with decision-makers.”
Adrian worked with Client Success Manager Camille Grubb to prep for his meetings and test his wifi and equipment on the ECRM Connect platform to ensure that his settings were optimal. “She walked me through everything,” he says. “She taught me how to use it, and made sure my images, my slide deck and all of my information was uploaded for the buyers.”
One tip Adrian recommends for suppliers is that, in addition to their slide deck (which shouldn’t be too long), to have a one-page summary that can guide the buyer to all of the information their may need (see our blog post on 5 Steps to a Perfect Virtual Buyer Presentation for some more useful tips).
Once he was all set up, and received his buyer meeting schedule, the real work began. He checked out every retailer’s website, the buyer’s details and objectives so that he would be able to discuss how his products would drive margins and category value for them.
Interestingly, during his meetings, Adrian found that many of the buyers on the platform had done their homework, too. “A few buyers had already been through my presentation by the time we had our meeting,” he says. “They said that they loved the products and the presentation, so there was no need to review them, but let’s just take these 10 minutes to get to know each other better. People do business with people and they want to learn a bit about you as a person as well as your brand.”
Next up: the U.S. Market
With one win already under his belt and a few more expected to close shortly, Adrian is planning his next area of business development: the U.S. market. With a line of skin care products set to launch early next year, he plans to take advantage of virtual to connect with U.S. retailers via ECRM’s programs next year. “For the coming period, the virtual sessions will be great, particularly with the stage that our brand is in," he says. "We’re in a lot of stores globally, which gives confidence to buyers because they know we are used to dealing with retailers already. We are selling hundreds of thousands of units, and we have marketing, and we’re still a challenger brand, but we’re innovating in the category, and that’s what I’ll be bringing to my meetings with buyers in the U.S. next year.”
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