VAT IT13250940965
via Felice Cavallotti 126
20900 Monza -MB- Italy
+393711290753
info@beautyfirm.it
Frequently Asked Questions (F.A.Q.)
1Q. "I've read around that some Italian cosmetic distributors have been doing this job for 40 years and proclaim themselves 'leaders in this field'; do you as well?"
1A. "No, not us. We started in 2019, and the 2020 pandemic completely stopped us. Does this mean we are less skilled than others? Let me explain something. The fact that we are 'young' in the market is an added value, for at least two reasons: the first is that we are eager to prove what we can do (as we have shown with the case study you can find on the homepage), the second is that we don't rest on our laurels waiting because we proclaim ourselves 'industry leaders', but we study, learn, make mistakes, implement, correct, improve. The result is visible to everyone: an unknown brand in Italy has achieved, in a very short time, an impressive growth margin."
2Q. "I've read around that some Italian cosmetic distributors boast about knowing the purchasing managers of all the big Italian companies; do you as well?"
2A. "No, not us. Of course, after years of hanging around in this environment, you inevitably get to know someone, but we do not consider this an added value. Instead, we believe a huge added value is knowing, on one hand, what Italian consumers want, and on the other, what the big companies expect (in terms of margins, turnover, and sell-out), regardless of who is physically the buyer at any given time. We don't work thanks to connections or favoritism, but because all parties actually get an economic return."
3Q. "I've read around that some Italian cosmetic distributors take on all possible brands exclusively; do you as well?"
3A. "No, not us. It is not possible to grow a brand—in a country like Italy—without giving it the right time to 'mature' and become known. When you have 9 or 10 brands in your portfolio (even 5 or 6), you are not providing the best possible service to the producer who entrusted you with exclusive distribution for at least two reasons: 1. you are not constantly conducting market research to understand if the brand you are distributing needs repositioning, a different sales strategy compared to sector competitors, or the creation of seasonal gadgets to accompany the main packaging, etc. (the amount of work behind these operations is extraordinary in terms of professionals involved, investments, and time required, which is why it is unthinkable to do a meticulous job with so many brands at the same time, as these operations last weeks and must be repeated cyclically), 2. you are dispersing your focus, or worse, duplicating a product you already have in your portfolio with another similar one from another brand (how can you set up an extraordinary marketing campaign for a specific product and do another extraordinary campaign for another similar product, without inevitable overlap? The end consumer may not notice, because they don't always know the distributor, but you—as a professional—are providing a duplicated service to your clients)."
4Q. "I've read around that some Italian cosmetic distributors, who self-celebrate as 'industry leaders', consider it essential to do PR, networking, and dinners out with purchasing managers; do you as well?"
4A. "No, not us. For us, it is extremely important to study, constantly and continuously, the sector, the product, the brand and its positioning in the market, direct and indirect competitors, and the target audience. We invest tens of thousands of euros a year in training our salespeople, studying marketing (especially direct response marketing) and copywriting, and in private masterminds with top-level mentors. Every 2-3 months, each of us proposes a marketing book to read, and we discuss it together. We are obsessed with metrics, measurements, KPIs, and numbers."
5Q. "I've read around that some Italian cosmetic distributors promise to place the product with all their retailers after a couple of months; do you as well?"
5A. "No, not us. We do not take on every product offered to us for exclusive distribution; we analyze it, conduct very deep market research, question the producer, evaluate the growth potential in Italy (yes, you read that right: only if we think the product can grow and go viral, then we work to make it happen; we are not interested in just having one more product to offer to beauty chains), and only then—together with the producer—do we decide to distribute it. But that's just the beginning: before distributing it, we prepare various marketing and communication strategies, based on the evidence from our research. In short, the estimated time for all this work is a few months (even before physically proposing the brand to Italian retailers)."
VAT IT13250940965
via Felice Cavallotti 126
20900 Monza -MB- Italy
+393711290753
info@beautyfirm.it