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How A Wild Natural Deodorant Took Over The UK Market In One Year
Where polarizing beauty products are concerned, it’s fair to say natural deodorants come right at the top of the list.
For years, they’ve split people into two camps: the first, natural beauty die-hards opting to stay fresh with toxin-free balms, sticks and crystals, and the second, those who’d rather not swap the roll-ons and sprays they know for something new.
Still, with most consumers purchasing personal care products regularly, the odds were tipped to favor those willing to bridge the gap between familiarity and the growing ‘natural beauty’ market.
Which is exactly why Wild, at less than two years old, has become the number one natural deodorant in the UK.
The direct-to-consumer natural deodorant brand was founded in 2019 by childhood friends Freddy Ward (ex-director of marketing at HelloFresh) and Charlie Bowes-Lyon (who, himself, has had a number of directorial roles in the marketing space) and piloted shortly thereafter.
“We had an inclination that there was significant unmet demand for a more modern and convenience-led brand that could deliver on natural and sustainability credentials,” Ward tells me. “Without requiring sacrifice in terms of performance and experience for our customers.”
To do so, the founders set out to create a deodorant that was 100% biodegradable—bar its refillable case—and free from the parabens and harsh chemicals (such as aluminum salts) that many typical antiperspirant include.
And in just five months, that initial pilot accumulated more than 6,000 customers.
“We certainly did not anticipate the growth curve we have been on,” he continues. “Our plan was quite simple: make the product as good as we can and, after launch, use all our data and insights to keep making it better and better.”
As a double-edged sword, the start-up’s success managed to fast-track its proof of concept, but cost much more than the founders had anticipated.
“Our biggest expense was growing fast,” Ward admits. “The hardest thing to manage is stock ordering—you need enough to allow you to grow quickly but not too much that you run out of money.”
After a few more months, however, the pair dove in the deep end and started looking for investment, seeding £500,000 (roughly $694,000) in early April 2020 from Angels, right in the early peak of the coronavirus pandemic, follow by a late seed round in August (led by JamJar investments).
With their help, Wild was able to grow over 4000% from 2019 to 2020, boasting over 150,000 customers.
To Ward, it was simply the HelloFresh way of doing things. “HelloFresh was able to establish itself as a clear market leader in an incredibly competitive and challenging operating environment and I learnt a lot through that experience by making plenty of mistakes,” he says.
“The two key things I focus on from that experience is to constantly be taking calculated risks and to prioritise hiring a great team over anything else as this is the key to long-term success.”
So, too, is the business’ ongoing efforts to improve its sustainability. To date, Wild has planted over 40,000 tress as part of its carbon offset program with On A Mission, and intends to be carbon-negative for the foreseeable.
All of which has helped the brand secure a place as the highest-rated natural deodorant in the UK on TrustPilot.
Read More : pg |
