Rhode has landed in Australia! Here’s how brands crack new markets

Summary

Style-ish: “Rhode has landed in Australia! Here’s how brands crack new markets”

Podcast: Style-ish (Shameless Media)
Hosts: Madison Solomon Thorpe ("Mads") & Rhiannon Joyce ("Rae")
Release Date: February 12, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode dives deep into the realities of launching global brands in new markets, using Rhode’s hugely anticipated arrival in Australia—plus the glitzy Sydney launch event rumored (and confirmed!) to feature Hailey Bieber—as a jumping-off point. Madison and Rhiannon break down why some brand launches are iconic and others flop, explore the essential role of localization, examine case studies (Merit, Salomon, Hourglass), and share exclusive founder insights from Gem’s UK launch and behind-the-scenes experience with Tower 28. The hosts also provide a live, on-the-ground debrief from the Rhode launch event.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Build-Up: Rhode’s Arrival in Australia

• Madison and Rhiannon are invited (as press!) to the secretive Sydney Rhode launch event, with Hailey Bieber’s appearance highly rumored (01:20).
• They reflect on the rarity of such high-wattage brand launches in Australia, noting the unusual secrecy—even industry insiders weren’t told the location or time in advance.
• The hosts plan to record post-event reflections for a genuine, immediate reaction (02:50).

Quote
“I can't emphasize this enough. As industry people, almost always you are given the location, the time, always…you're lucky to be on the list.” – Madison (01:33)

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2. “Word of the Week”: Brand Animations and Ski-Themed Activations (03:53)

• Discussion of “ski” as a trend in brand activations—luxury and otherwise—capitalizing on seasonal themes and sporting subcultures.
• Unexpected brands (e.g., Cetaphil, Mechanics, Kiehl’s) have recently used snow/ski environments for creative campaigns.
• Recent trend of brands (Rhode, Rare Beauty) running near-identical brand trips, sparking online debates about originality (06:04).

Quote
"I'm done with this... let's pit girls against each other who probably don't actually give a shit about the other or their brand." – Madison (06:15)

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3. The Hard Truths of Launching in New Markets (11:05)

• Many brands flop when entering new geographies; mistakes often stem from poor localization, lack of market research, and cultural missteps.
• A notorious example: alcohol brands running winter-themed campaigns in the peak of Australian summer (13:12).

Quote
"It's so obvious to me when a brand launches into the Australian market...and hasn't really tried to understand the key differences of targeting an Australian woman or man." – Rhiannon (12:23)

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4. Success Stories: Who’s Cracked Australia (14:08)

• Merit: Used Aussie PR agency Leaf Comms for a DTC launch, tailored activations (e.g., Messina ice cream truck in Bondi), and tapped authentically into the lifestyle (14:14).
• Salomon: Hiking brand that feels “inherently Melbourne,” now a fixture at music festivals (Beyond The Valley), activated via run clubs, and has become entwined in local subculture (15:17).
• Hourglass: Noted for its strategic relaunch with local agencies after exiting Mecca for Sephora (17:32).

Quote
"For me, [Salomon] feels inherently Melbourne...They're animating and activating in a really, really clever way...feels like one of ours, but they're not." – Madison (15:55)

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5. The Central Lesson: The Power of Localization (18:24)

• Both hosts—and global sources—agree: localization is critical; number one reason for failure is “lack of market understanding.”
• This means knowing the right influencer mix, age demo, retail channels, and language/culture nuances for the specific market.

Quote
"For us, what makes a brand work is localization...I would say it is the most important." – Rhiannon (18:29)
“A Forbes India article identified eight key reasons... number one was lack of market understanding, which I would say is localization.” – Rhiannon (18:41)

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6. Case Study 1: Gem’s UK Expansion – Insights from Founder Georgia Danos (20:10)

Georgia Danos on Entry Strategy

• "Don't enter a new market by copying what already exists. Enter it by doing what's missing...Find your edge, commit to it and be brave enough to build something different, even if the market leader looks untouchable." (20:20)

• Jem’s deodorant disrupted the UK and went viral even before official launch, thanks to a Santal dupe scent and significant TikTok buzz, leading to rapid supermarket expansion (Boots, M&S).

• Operational headaches of virality: Gem sold three months’ worth of new stock in five days.

Quote
"Virality is incredible, but it creates a real operational challenge. You can build all the demand in the world, but if customers can't actually find the product when they go looking, you lose that momentum fast." – Georgia Danos (39:15)

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7. Case Study 2: Tower 28 – Madison’s Direct Experience (24:06)

• Tower 28 identified the “Australian girl” as closely aligned to their LA consumer.
• Hero product (SOS Spray) and color cosmetics for eczema/sensitive skin offered something unique in the market.
• Founder Amy Lu’s network and research—plus Mecca’s guidance—helped choose Australia as an expansion point.
• Product popularity can spark supply headaches—virality isn’t always easily managed.

Quote
“She is so dedicated to that range and I think she's done a really good job... but it not being everything the brand talks about... You’re proud to take it out of your makeup bag.” – Madison (25:39)

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8. Market Selection: Why Brands Target the UK First (27:41)

• UK is the “natural progression” for Aus beauty brands because of demographic, customer mindset, and shared aesthetics.
• Social media analytics and search data guide brand expansion; follow numbers, not just online chatter (29:14).

Quote
“The UK market, particularly for fashion and beauty, is considered the most similar to Australia in size. It's also the natural progression.” – Madison (27:57)

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9. Why the US Market Is So Tough for Aussie Brands (32:05)

• Many beloved brands (Go-To, Frank Body) launched in the US only to quietly withdraw; tariffs and state-by-state subculture make it fragmented and costly.
• Some bright spots: Etoile (Michelle Who) and Uni Body, which have made headway. Revolve is highlighted as a power retailer for brand launches (34:23).

Quote
"You are speaking to [US] consumers in three very, very different ways... It's really hard for an international brand to go over there and crack into it." – Rhiannon (33:02)

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10. The Dangers of Surface-Level “Localization” & Cultural Appropriation (36:44)

• Brands expanding into the Middle East and Asia must be deeply aware of cultural sensitivities; mere “surface” localization often misfires or comes off as appropriation.

Quote
"Going into a new market with care and consideration is paramount... You cannot have, you know, a girl in a boob tube top...You have to think differently about the visual merchandising that you use." – Madison (37:08)

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11. Logistics of Virality & Operational Hurdles (39:01)

• Maintaining stock when a product suddenly goes viral is a dramatic challenge; can result in lost sales, shelf space, or retailer relationships if not navigated carefully.

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12. Seasonality & Cultural Differences in Shopping Habits (42:20)

• UK shoppers tend to buy fragrances more seasonally (“cozier, richer” in winter, “fresher” in summer); less of a factor for Aussies.
• Marketing and campaign content also face challenges with seasonal differences between hemispheres.

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13. Rhode Australia Launch Event: On-the-Ground Debrief (45:02)

• Exclusive “live reaction” segment from the hosts:
  • Hailey Bieber attended both the press and public events in Sydney, as rumored.
  • Unprecedented turnout: over a thousand queued at Mecca George St; product SKUs sold out within hours.
  • Event at Nielsen Kiosk featured immersive food/gourmand theming (custom waffles, bistro tables, “R” logo touches) reflecting Rhode’s playful, elevated vibe.
  • High security and palpable celebrity excitement—Australia isn’t used to such star wattage, so the buzz was massive.
  • Hailey was universally reported as “present, kind, and generous of spirit.”
  • Mecca & Rhode collaborated on an exclusive “Blueberry Waffle” peptide lip SKU for launch. The event reflected careful attention to market, localization, and detail.

Quote
“I have worked at Mecca. I know the scale of a brand launch...This is like nothing I have seen. This was pandemonium.” – Madison (45:46)
“She genuinely looked present...greeted a lot of creators and a lot of press with kindness...not darting around eyes elsewhere, being like 'get me out of here.'” – Rhiannon (49:16)

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Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• “If you're looking to crack a new market, start by understanding how competitors work and what customers truly want. And then ask, where's the gap?”
  — Georgia Danos, Gem Founder (20:20)
• “For us, what makes a brand work is localization. I would say it is the most important.”
  — Rhiannon (18:29)
• “Virality is incredible, but it creates a real operational challenge. You can build all the demand in the world, but if customers can't actually find the product when they go looking, you lose that momentum fast.”
  — Georgia Danos (39:15)
• “[The Rhode launch] is like nothing I have seen. This was pandemonium.”
  — Madison (45:46)
• “They had their global PR agency here, DT Consulting...and the full army of the Mecca team...They had their CEO, Nick Flaherty...and I got there, I'd never seen so much security at an event, particularly a press event.”
  — Madison (46:36)
• “Hailey was present, kind, and generous with her time…greeted creators and press with kindness...not darting around like she wanted to escape.”
  — Rhiannon (49:40)

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Important Segment Timestamps

• 00:30 — Episode introduction; focus on brand campaigns/career stories.
• 02:50 — Decision to record exclusive, in-the-moment event recap.
• 04:03 — Discussion of “ski” activations; brand animation trends.
• 12:08 — What brands get wrong when entering Australia; examples.
• 14:08 — Exemplary brand launches: Merit, Salomon, Hourglass.
• 18:29 — “Localization is everything”: hosts set out their thesis.
• 20:10 — Gem’s founder shares UK expansion insight.
• 24:06 — Tower 28’s localization playbook (Madison’s insider view).
• 27:57 — Why brands usually try UK before US.
• 32:05 — Why the US is so tough for Aussie brands.
• 36:44 — Nuanced localization & cultural sensitivity (esp. Middle East).
• 39:15 — Logistical/operational realities of virality.
• 42:20 — Seasonality; how UK/AUS habits differ
• 45:02 — Rhode Sydney launch event debrief (Hailey Bieber, crowd reactions, event highlights).

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Memorable Moments

• Madison’s “I was squealing in my bedroom like a 17-year-old girl at a Justin Bieber concert” (02:05) — capturing both the excitement and cultural relevance of the launch.
• Both hosts marveling at seeing massive lines (“over a thousand people queued”) at a beauty event—still a rarity in Australia (46:19).
• The inside scoop: Hailey Bieber was not only present, but every bit as gracious as fans had hoped, dispelling the idea of celebrity aloofness (49:16).

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Episode Takeaways

1. Localization is absolutely critical—knowing consumer culture, local influencers, retail sensibilities, and avoiding tone-deaf/“copy-paste” campaigns.
2. Virality is double-edged: huge brand moments create operational challenges that can have lasting business impact.
3. Brands’ hero products usually shape their international narrative, but market-specific partnerships (e.g., exclusive SKUs) increase resonance.
4. Market selection should be data-driven, not just based on “feeling”—UK is often more natural for AU brands than the complex, fragmented US.
5. Events and IRL activations can supercharge launches, but attention to local aesthetics, cultural trends, and celebrity engagement matter hugely.

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Final Thoughts

This episode delivers a behind-the-scenes look at a major global beauty launch, demystifies what actually drives a successful international expansion, and provides actionable insights for anyone building brands—or just winging out over Hailey Bieber’s presence at a Sydney pop-up. With memorable quotes, specific examples, and unfiltered commentary, Madison and Rhiannon make brand strategy feel as fun as it is fascinating.

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For ongoing conversation or questions, listeners are invited to email style-ish[at]shamelessmedia.com or connect via @stylishpod on social media.

Transcript

[A]

Foreign.

[B]

This episode of Stylish is brought to you by mhi'. Ya. Topshop has returned to Australia and it's landed exclusively in store at mia. Hi, Happy Friday. This is Stylish. If you're new here, I'm Madison Solomon Thorpe and I am joined by my lovely co host, Rhiannon Joyce.

[A]

Hello. Hello.

[B]

Happy Friday, Rae.

[A]

Happy Friday.

[B]

This is of course the corner of Stylish that focuses on brand campaigns and career stories. And we've got a pretty good episode today, if I do say so myself.

[A]

Yeah, I love any episode jumping ahead here where we have direct quotes from founders. It always makes it so, so, so interesting to. What's the term when you're like peel back behind the curtain? Is that, is that right? I don't even know.

[B]

Sneak behind the curtain. Yeah, behind the curtain.

[A]

A little sneaky peek.

[B]

I also love nothing more than being from front facing at very exciting events or launches. And re what are we doing this week that we have had to keep under lock and key?

[A]

Let's break the fourth wall here. We are recording a little bit earlier than we usually would because we're going to Sydney. I am actually going to Sydney for a separate thing, work related. I've got a big presentation, but she's fancy.

[B]

She bus girl.

[A]

Busy. I'm so nervous. But we are also attending the road launch event in Sydney and we actually have no idea where it is, what time, no details. It is rumored though that Hailey Bieber is going to be there.

[B]

I can't emphasize this enough. As industry people, almost always you are given the location, the time, always. Sometimes I know of, you know, press or creators even asking who else is going. I've personally never done that. But like play on girl.

[A]

I don't think I have the credit to do that. I don't think.

[B]

I don't think I have the credit. Baby, you're lucky to be on the list. Yeah, I'm like, you were the last invite and I'm willing to bet maybe we were the last, last invites on the road launch too. But I don't care if I was first or last. We're going.

[A]

I don't care if I was round three on this invitation list.

[B]

I am so excited for this launch as an individual. I'm so excited for this launch as industry. I'm so excited to see this launch as an ex Mecha employee, like, this is multifaceted for me. Looking in also feels really surreal because I am so used to being behind the scenes at these kind of events and launches and we're going to talk about one of those said launches that was massive for Mecca. Ray and I are just beyond excited when we found out. I was like squealing in my bedroom like a 17 year old girl at a just a movie concert. Which kind of checks.

[A]

Yeah. You called me. I was at the tennis at the time and I squealed and Louis was like, what? I don't think he fully grasped or understood.

[B]

Actually.

[A]

I think he did.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

When I said Hailey Bieber, he was like, oh, okay. Wow. And I didn't actually know at the time if she was going to be there. I still don't know. I'm praying. I'm hoping to see her in the flesh. Fingers crossed.

[B]

I'm going to stick my neck out and say there's no world. She's not going to be there if she's doing Vogue Forces of Fashion on the Friday. Tay Tay. All right, here. First, as Ri mentioned, we're recording a little earlier than we usually do. And what we're going to do that's a little bit different is we're actually going to record a voice note from our hotel room directly following the event. So guys, you're going to know we love an exclusive. We are going to give you our thoughts, feelings, emotions. If we're lucky enough to maybe leave with a little present, we'll let you know what was in the goodie bag too.

[A]

I would do a full unboxing little goodie bag.

[B]

I hope so. I. This is so niche and so me coded. But if Hayley's wearing a fragrance, I'll try and let you know know what it is or we'll ask her what fragrance.

[A]

That's great.

[B]

That's a great insight. But we wanted to make sure that you felt like you were coming along with us. We are invited as press.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Which feels so bizarre because this feels so fun. It doesn't feel like a job sometimes, but it is. So that is our role. So we are going to give you all of the insight into the event.

[A]

I seriously cannot wait. But Mads, we need to get into word of the week. Your turn. Up you go again.

[B]

It's not really one word, but that's like a running theme. But you did break that curse last week.

[A]

Yeah, I actually used one word.

[B]

Yeah, fantastic. Well, I could say one word. Ski.

[A]

Ski.

[B]

And no, I'm not talking Winter Olympics. Although it is timely and hilariously, we've just spent five minutes talking about road, but I am seeing everywhere ski and snow based activations and animations. You can be animating by having A press trip and having content creators there to create content there. Or an activation might be something where it's handing out samples for the general public who are, you know, on the slopes that weekend. It has like a vast array of opportunity and ways of showing up and seeing brands that I would expect and brands that I wouldn't expect.

[A]

Okay, stop. What are the brands that you expect and what are the brands you don't expect?

[B]

Fantastic question. Now, I don't think that I'm going out on a limb here by saying that I think that snow sports is a privileged sport. It is an expensive sport. It costs a lot of money to do. It is generally people from quite established backgrounds. So for me, brands that make sense to activate and animate, or who I have historically expected to activate and animate have been luxury brands. So Monclers.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Remowa. Louis Vuitton. Them activating or animating? Yes.

[A]

Jacques Mousse.

[B]

Yeah. Do I expect cedar fill?

[A]

No.

[B]

Did they do a great job? Absolutely. I'm loving the unexpected brands. I did not expect mechanics to do it. They did a great activation. About two years ago, did a press trip in New Zealand. Were handing out SBS kills. Kills epic one. I was like, this is so good. Like kills. 10 out of 10, no notes. We've seen Road do this massive press push at the moment. They've done a really good job. They've also. I know this is so nerdy of me to say they've just released a new iconography within their brand DNA. And so what often happens is like a brand will have their logo and their font and colors and those things don't change. For a brand like Road to bring in a new brand mechanism is like quite a big deal. So it is that kind of retro slanted are that you might have seen with the outline. Yeah, I did say that they're using that in a big way there at the moment. And Rare Beauty have also done something in that space as well, which the Internet is obviously eating up for gossip reasons.

[A]

Having an absolute field day with the fact that Road and Rare Beauty have almost like identical brand trips. Yeah.

[B]

Can I just say, I'm really over that narrative.

[A]

I am so bored by this.

[B]

That's my out for 2026. I'm going to add to our episode from a few weeks back. I'm done with this. Like, let's pit girls against each other who probably don't actually give a shit about the other or their brand.

[A]

Also, I feel that their brand identities are quite different.

[B]

So different what they're Standing for. I think their target consumer is different. I think the influencers they work with are different. The way they show up is different. The way they activate and animate is usually so different. I think coincidentally, they're just showing up in a very similar way.

[A]

Right now it's winter overseas. Of course brands are activating in that space because that's where people are with.

[B]

The Winter Olympics being here and that being so timely. I know. I made a bonus swap. Scotty James. I'm like crying at TikToks at the moment of him. I've never wanted something for someone as much as I want the gold for Scotty James.

[A]

I actually recommended Scotty James documentary film on the rec rap on Shameless. Maybe when I came back from break, because I watched it over the break, I already had an invested interest in him because of his affiliation with Daniel Ricardo and Formula One.

[B]

Same like the One Circle I want to be invited into. Seriously, like that is friendship, goals. They look like they're having the time of their lives.

[A]

Yes. So he's married to and has a child with Chloe Stroll, whose father is the owner of Aston Martin racing team. Is that right?

[B]

And then her brother.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Is one of the drivers for Aston Martin. Yeah.

[A]

Anyway, I digress. Scotty James, big fan. He seems like a very likable person. Super down to earth. This is the only event he's actually never won a gold medal. So the Winter Olympics, he's campaigning for the gold medal. I have an invested interest in this after watching the documentary on Netflix. I highly recommend watching it before he competes on Saturday. So this Saturday he's competing for the gold qualifier.

[B]

I think Thursday morning for final. Saturday. Saturday, 5:30. You better believe I'll be up and at em. I told a girlfriend I'm going to drive to Macca's, get us coffees and make muffins because it's probably the only place open at 5am to go and get a coffee at that time and I'm going to need one.

[A]

Gorgeous. This is not a sports podcast, though, and we are not here to just talk about Scotty James. We're here to talk about marketing and brand. So, Mads, do you want to tell us what we're going to be talking about today?

[B]

I mean, you could argue that Scotty James is a bit of a brand in and of himself, but, you know, I'll always find a way to get a loose string and make it a bow.

[A]

We could definitely unpack a whole brand episode on Scott, but we're not doing that today.

[B]

No, Today we are looking at the realities of brands breaking into new markets and this is no coincidence that this episode is very much centered around road and we know that there'll be a lot of conversation and buzz. So I think for us it was how do we look at how other brands have done that, not just in our market but in other markets. So we're going to be looking at two examples today and looking at the challenges they face and a bit of a special deep dive. As Ray said, we love when we can get quotes. We, we managed to get some quotes from the founder of Gem and I have also got some experience with Tower 28. I must say Amy Lu did say that she would give us some quotes and she is the most generous of spirit brand founder I've ever met. But she was also offline this week.

[A]

She's on holiday. Where did Girl live?

[B]

Girl live. So we are going to fill in some blanks. I'm sure Amy will provide quotes for something else at some point because she is that kind of legend.

[A]

Yeah. You worked really closely with the brand, so I trust in your experience to be able to speak to a lot of their localization in Australia, how that worked well for them. So I feel like you can speak on their behalf without speaking on their behalf.

[B]

Yeah, I am not a representative for Tower 28. I will leave that to the absolutely incredible Amy Lu. But we'll get into discussing the realities of breaking into a new market right after a word from today's sponsor. There's no doubt about it, Australians are loved the world over for our laid back, undone style. But looking deeper, I think it comes down to our individual style. That is something we do so well. Australians have a serious knack for curating looks, pulling together pieces from different brands in a way that's so unique to each of us. And some people have truly mastered the skill. Maya have recently launched their latest fashion campaign fronted by Olivia de Jong, Bella McGoldrick and Guy Vidas, three Aussie style icons that are sharing the behind the scenes of how they build their looks, their tips and tricks for getting dressed and ultimately inspiring the rest of us with their sense of style. And this is exactly why we love Maya. For Australians, it's a one stop shop that encourages us to curate our own unique looks from a huge selection of world class fashion brands. Which brings me to major fashion news. The UK's very own Topshop is returning to Australia in store at Maya. Featuring iconic denim, sharp tailoring and trend led pieces. It's an opportunity to get even more creative with our personal style Topshop new to Maya. Shop it now in store or online. And a huge thank you to Maya for making this episode of Stylish possible.

[A]

All right, so it's not easy to crack into a new market. I feel that there are so many brands that have done this and it hasn't worked out.

[B]

Oh, there's been some flops.

[A]

Like there's a full graveyard, let's be honest, particularly in the U.S. but we'll touch on that later.

[B]

Also, low key. How good's the word graveyard?

[A]

I know.

[B]

Should we add that into our mads and reasons?

[A]

A little graveyard of the.

[B]

You could put a lot of things in the graveyard.

[A]

Yeah, there's in this one in particular. But as Matt said with Rhodes huge launch in the Australian market. Now, it really did get us thinking, what does it take to create a successful launch? The reality of it is a new market does present a whole new world of challenges. It can be a range of things. It's either economically, culturally, legally. It can unearth a huge range of roadblocks that re.

[B]

And also brands can absolutely miss the mark on what a customer actually wants and what resonates in a brand's home market doesn't always translate into a new market. More often than not, I think it doesn't, particularly if they haven't done any market research or they haven't partnered with the right brand partner, which I know we're going to get into. I'm jumping ahead. But, Ray, what do you think the biggest challenges of a brand trying to crack into a new market?

[A]

Are you looking at fashion and beauty as a category specifically because this is stylish. So I want to stay true to that localization. Yeah. It is so obvious to me when a brand launches into the Australian market. Let's talk about Australia.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And hasn't really tried to understand the key differences of targeting an Australian woman or man.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

In this market, it's very obvious to me.

[B]

I completely agree. And also a lot of the time it's not getting to know the market. It's very clear to me when a brand hasn't come to the market themselves or hasn't partnered with an agency that can help them localize. I think when we're talking localization, it's learning the customer, learning the age demographic, learning about the right locations to be popping up at, learning about who the right content creators are or people of influence publications to be working alongside. If Vogue is the biggest thing in the us, it doesn't mean Vogue is the biggest thing. Agreed.

[A]

No.

[B]

Dis to vogue. You probably are the biggest thing here, but it just doesn't always translate the same way it does universities here. Activating here is not the same as activating and animating at colleges in the.

[A]

U.S. do you know what drives me insane? What? I cannot stand it when a brand will launch in this market. And do you know who's actually the worst at doing this? Alcohol brands. And they use creative that is from a completely different hemisphere. They're running a snow campaign. Talk about the skiing theme and snow theme. I've seen alcohol brands launch major campaigns in the Australian market in the peak of summer, and they're using creative that is winter focused.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

In what world? And I understand that it can be really difficult and expensive to create local assets and shoot campaigns here, but that is just not resonating with me as a consumer. I don't really understand what that experience is. It's like you see all those holiday campaigns and Christmas campaigns from overseas, and it's all Winter Wonderland, all of that. It'd be like running that in Australia.

[B]

It just doesn't make any sense.

[A]

It makes zero sense.

[B]

Bree, as a contrast to this, can I ask you who you think has successfully broken into the Australian market?

[A]

You know who?

[B]

I'm gonna say, yeah, I know who you're. Because you and I spoken about it at length.

[A]

At length. And have spoken about it on the podcast. Merit.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Merit were one of the best beauty brand examples I've seen of a brand successfully launching in the Australian market, especially considering that they launched dtc. So direct to consumer. And the reason why is because they worked with local agents. Leafcoms, based out of Sydney, have a really good sense.

[B]

That's me just giving Mads is doing a tiny clap. Tiny person clubs.

[A]

Yeah. I didn't just randomly stop for no reason. I'm just distracted by the fact she's tiny clapping in the corner. But Leaf Comms and Sarah Leaf, who is the founder of this agency, and her team have done an incredible job at really tapping into the people who are the merit consumer.

[B]

Mm.

[A]

And who reflect that brand, but also the way that the brand is activated. Most recently, they had this amazing partnership with Messina, where they did a really cool ice cream truck hitting the streets of Bondi beach, which we know obviously in peak summer, high influx area of people there. That makes sense for a brand like Merit. That is very low touch as a makeup brand. It's very, like, minimal, clean, fresh. It really fits the Australian esthetic as well. I'm just obsessed with everything that they've done so far.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Who do you think's done it?

[B]

Well, one brand that I think looks small, but he's a lot bigger than it might appear is Solomon. Yeah, we're going to say Solomon. Other people are saying Salomon. All of my friends say Solomon. Maybe we've just found the next word I can't pronounce.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. Add it to the list of words that we can't pronounce. But bear with us.

[B]

Solomon, to me, feels so inherently Melbourne, babe.

[A]

You can't walk through Fitzroy without seeing at least 10 people wearing Solomons. And they hiking, I'll tell you that much. Which is what the shoe was originally designed for. A hiking footwear brand.

[B]

Yeah. Let's be reminded of its practicality and why it actually exists. It is not designed for cafes on Sundays, but you can go to Fitzroy. You can also go to South Yarra Dolls. They're everywhere.

[A]

They're everywhere.

[B]

And for me, they feel inherently Melbourne. They feel so tapped into Australian culture. They're animating and activating in a really, really clever way that feels so tied to local niche. I want to say indie culture, because I do think that. But then doing things that are tapping into mainstream while still feeling intimate and small, I think that's another brand that have just tick, tick, tick done so well in this market and feel like one of ours, but they're not.

[A]

Yeah, that's really true. I also feel like everyone I saw that went to btv. So beyond the Valley, if you're not from Australia, is a major music festival that we have here. Every single person wears Solomons.

[B]

It's like the uniform.

[A]

It's the uniform. It's really, you know, as I said, is transcended beyond hiking. It's a cultural shoe that people wear particularly to music festivals and in that music environment. So I think that's also really smart space for them to be playing in.

[B]

Yeah. I mean, if they're good enough for hiking, they're probably good enough for Duffs.

[A]

I really do want a pair. They are quite cool.

[B]

And they did a pretty cool activation at btv. They did.

[A]

I mean, leaning into the theme of run clubs, they actually hosted their own run club at btv. And honestly, whether you're running or not, you will see people wearing these shoes at music festivals. I feel like they have really cemented themselves as part of the uniform to a music festival, particularly electronic dance, BTV vibes. It makes a lot of sense for me that they showed up in that environment. Oh, my God. You can clearly tell that Maddie's never been to a festival.

[B]

I'm going to Coachella and that says everything it needs to about my age and my demographic and the music I listen to.

[A]

I like music with no words, so Mads and I are completely different ends of the spectrum when it comes to festival.

[B]

We do bond over Dua Lipa though, and when we sing it in the car together, it makes it special. Of course, two worlds collide. There's also one more I want to add. I know we're talking about who's successfully done it and I've done Solomon and we can laugh about the fact I can't say it or whatever. Add that to a never ending list. But one that I am watching as well is the relaunch of Hourglass. Spoken about it a lot. They're exiting Mecca. They're launching in Sephora, they're relaunching with their dtc. They've gone live with their first piece of content. Teasing it out, but my eyes are firmly watching this one as well.

[A]

Yeah, a relaunch that holds a lot of weight. So many eyeballs on this one. Not just you, Mads. I'm also a huge Hourglass fan. I'm really curious to see how they show up, especially because they are working with a local agency as well. They're working with EVH and I, I believe Hatrick House in Sydney, both agencies I've received press from. So I'm curious to see who's owning that rollout.

[B]

Ray, safe to say that for us, what makes a brand work is localization.

[A]

I would say it is the most important. And also, I'm not alone there. A Forbes India article identified eight key reasons why every successful brand can struggle to crack a new market, and number one was lack of market understanding, which I would say is localization. So we're not alone there.

[B]

We're right. In short, we're correct. Next, we're going to dive into examples of Tower 28 and gems experience breaking into new markets. But that will be right after a word from today's sponsor.

[A]

If your ideal TV recipe is a slow burn romance, racy secrets, and outrageously good costumes, you're going to be very happy. Bridgerton is back for Season four, and this season it shifts the spotlight to Benedict, a certified commitment phobe whose whole world flips after one mass encounter with a mysterious woman known only as the lady in Silver. And yes, it's complicated. Deliciously so. Part one is streaming right now, with part two arriving February 26th only on Netflix. Thank you so much to Netflix for making this episode of Stylish Possible.

[B]

Before we jump into our next segment, I want to flag what I spoke about earlier that I have worked with Tower 28 in the past. I've worked with them both indirectly as a brand partner when I was working at Mecca, helping them to launch in this market alongside a very, very large capable team. Never going to sit here and say that was a solo project. I also worked with Tower 28 directly when I started consulting. Worked with them for about nine months on international expansion. As I mentioned, I reached out to Amy who replied anything for you Maddie. Of course I will give you all the quotes you need, but she is off so I will be pulling on my own personal experiences. As RI mentioned up top, I do not speak on behalf of 28, but we were also very lucky to speak to Gem's founder Ray yes, Georgia Danos.

[A]

Kindly shared really robust answers to a few questions we sent her regarding their most recent expansion into the uk. So for those of you who aren't familiar, gem, it is a fast moving consumer goods brand who have rapidly grown, I would say in the last three years. They are always going viral on Tick Tock, mostly for their deodorants, but originally they started out in oral care and that product range has expanded quite a lot. So we were really lucky to speak to Georgia and understand how her brand has successfully broken into the UK market and really hear about that experience firsthand. It's very rare that you have that level of insight and detail from a founder. So thank you Georgia for sharing a lot with us. I have personally received gifting from Jem and I know the Shameless Media Office has as well. So I also wanted to put that on the record. But again, this is all editorial content, so I started my questions to Georgia around what brands need to know when cracking a new market. And this is what Georgia had to say. Don't enter a new market by copying what already exists. Enter it by doing what's missing. She continued by saying, GEMS approach isn't traditional and that's exactly why it worked. So if you're looking to crack a new market, start by understanding how competitors work and what customers truly want. And then ask where's the gap? What hasn't been explored? Don't add to the noise, find your edge, commit to it and be brave enough to build something different, even if the market leader looks untouchable. I mean, thinking about Jam as a brand both in the local market but also internationally, I would say their deodorant appears to be the product that has been the Most disruptive, particularly in the UK, if you go on TikTok and you type in Gem deodorant, there are hundreds of videos that come up, Sponsored, not sponsored. A lot of organic, organic content made by UK creators even before they even launch into the market, talking about their Santal dupe deodorant product. This feels like the one that is really shaken up the uk.

[B]

And look, Ray, I know we've just harped on about localization, but it is not uncommon that the hero product in the home, local market is. What is the hero product globally? It is very common, especially now in this world of borderless beauty, which is that you get on TikTok and you're hearing from a US creator, a UK creator, a middle Eastern creator, you're hearing about all of these reviews and there's almost always a singular hero product from the brand. And I would say that the deodorant has very much been the hero product here as well.

[A]

Yeah, it's interesting because the dental range was really disruptive. I remember thinking when they first launched, I was like, this makes a lot of sense to me because you've got your Colgates, you've got your oral Bs. These are very traditional, honestly, cookie cutter brands that have been long standing in that category. And then Gem just came in. The only other brand that I think has disrupted that space is High Smile as well.

[B]

I agree.

[A]

But what I find most interesting about the deodorants is also the scale in which they've expanded into Boots, but also Marks and Spencer most recently. Yeah, I feel that scale has also been a huge contributor to why this product has blown up. Look, I wouldn't say it's an entry level price point that you would pay for a deodorant. It was probably on the higher end. But what you're able to access in terms of those scents and how lux the smell is, you know, it's being compared to a Santel Santel 33, which is one of the Labo's most iconic fragrances that retails for $220 plus for a small bottle. If you can get access to that scent in a $15 deodorant can, that's a lot more accessible. Plus the scale element of it and the fact that it is available in so many retailers and available in supermarkets. Yeah, very smart.

[B]

I mean, when you're talking supermarkets as well locally here, you're talking minimum 6, 7, 800 doors, depending on whether you're talking Coles or Woolworths or even independents, and that is Mass scale. When you think about someone like Sephora having 40, 50 doors, Mecca having 115ish, I'm rolling off some random numbers here. I don't know the exact, but like when you're thinking about the scale, that is ginormous. Yeah.

[A]

So what do you think Tower 28 thought about when they were cracking into the Australian market?

[B]

I want to be really clear. The way that I speak about Amy Lu and Tower 28 is not biased by the fact that I worked with them. This is regardless of that. I was in awe of her when I met her in the first place while working for Mecca. She's the person who gave me my marble. If you've heard from the narrative episode, I didn't name her at that time because I was still working for them then. But what I think Amy is really great at is really researching the global market and visiting and meeting different brand founders, meeting different brands and networking really well. And what Amy learned was that the Australian girl was very similar to the L A girl. Clean beauty, clean skin care, that minimal, no makeup, makeup that we know ourselves to be is very similar to that L A vibe which she is from la. That is the brand's heartland. Also, Amy had something to offer that wasn't in our market, which was a colour based range that was designed for people with eczema and sensitive skin.

[A]

That's always the thing that comes top of mind for me when I think about Tower 28 is the fact that it suits people who have eczema.

[B]

Yes. And Amy is a long time eczema sufferer herself. The one thing that I have heard her say in multiple interviews that I have been, you know, hiding in a back room listening to her do while I was working at Mecca and also hearing the phenomenal podcast that she's done when entering new markets. We had her do some podcasts when we entered into the uk is that it can't hurt, it can only help. And she is so dedicated to that range and I think she's done a really good job of that being the purpose of the brand, but it not being everything the brand talks about.

[A]

That's true.

[B]

They're still great products and it should feel cool. And I think a lot of products in sensitive skin or eczema range don't feel fun. They don't feel like they have personality. It's like the daggy, you know, makeup brand that you're finding at the back that like, you know, a teenager's probably like, mom, please no, this feels cool. You're proud to Take it out of your makeup bag. And that's something I think she's done really well. I also think the networking thing is a big one. I know I mentioned it at the top, but she is arguably one of the most connected brand founders I've ever met. She is talking to anyone in adjacent what you might see as competition. She's looking at a friend in the category, in totally different categories. You know, she's great friends with hair care founders and things like that. They were all telling her, you've got to go meet with Mecca. You have to meet Jo Horgan. And you know, her and her husband work really closely together. Victor. Very similar to the way that Joe Horgan does with Pete. I think that Mecca probably did a pretty good job of telling her that this was the next market for her as much as she did exploring it in the first place.

[A]

I would love to know what products are performing best here. My bias is my addiction to the.

[B]

SOS spray, which you know that I can't comment on this because of IP, both being within Mecca and outside of Tower 28. But what I will say is if you see social content and you look at a brand's Instagram, it's very likely what you see the most of. Maybe one of the best supporting SKUs. I think Amy's gone on record as saying that the SOS spray is what kickstarted their brand. It was one of the first six products that she launched. It is an incredible product. As an eczema and acne sufferer, I'm obsessed with it. As someone who goes to hotmap Pilates in Reforma and is a schvitzi gal, I love to put it on my chest, on my face. I know you said you took it to Byron and all the boys were using it.

[A]

All the boys were using it. They were obsessed with it.

[B]

Were you like, that's a dollar per spray dolls, literally.

[A]

I've had to go buy a refill, which I also like that you can buy the larger refills from Mecca and that makes me feel good about my purchase.

[B]

Do you know what I like as well? That the demand is there for that refill. I've got a real bugbear with refills in the beauty market that are just doing it tick the box on their sustainability reports first going, we're actually selling so much of this product that there is demand for a refill.

[A]

One of the things I always find really interesting about a brand's decision to go into the next market is what market do they Go into like which one do I go? Us. Let's talk about it from the context of an Australian brand. Do you try and crack the us? Do you try and crack the uk? How do you think brands make that decision?

[B]

Look, I've sat in a lot of these strategy meetings with brands. It's no secret that the UK market, particularly for fashion and beauty, is considered the most similar to Australia in size. It's also the natural progression. Fashion wise. Americans are eating up Australian fashion. But beauty brands in Australia, it is no secret that the UK is usually the first cab off the rank, no pun intended for the black cabs, but usually the first one off the mark. Post Australia, New Zealand and Ray. That was no exception for Jim.

[A]

No, it wasn't. But what was interesting, Georgia actually said the reason for the UK being their next market they wanted to crack was because their biggest strength had always been TikTok as a truly global platform. It became a natural bridge into the UK market. She continued to say Australia and the UK shared such a strong beauty mindset as you've just touched on Mads. They're highly engaged, trend aware and they value products that feel both functional and elevated. Off the back of our organic social growth, we started noticing demand building globally. We saw this community of gem obsessed creators emerge. People traveling to Australia, picking gem up in store and reviewing it from the other side of the world. Obviously Oz to the UK for beauty makes a lot of sense. Do you feel that the UK and Oz being a similar market is an equal fact for all brands though it's.

[B]

Not an equal case for all brands. Re and data is king and Data or Queen. Come on. We're, we're a female centric podcast. It is the thing that all brands have and there are incredible analytics freely available from Google. You have your social analytics of where your followers are from or where your views are coming from. There are retailer search terms you could work with proposed retailers. How many searches have you had on your site? It's very common that if you're a multi brand retailer, if they're looking for a brand, they're probably typing it into your search bar that insight is available from them. There is a wealth of data that is at brands and retailers fingertips because a lot of the time those expansions are in bricks and mortar. I don't think it's as simple as going if it works in Australia, it'll work in the uk. I think the data just naturally reveals itself to be that the synergies are there. Yeah.

[A]

I also feel it's really important to follow the numbers, not the feelings when it comes to commentary on socials. Because we can also be guilty of this. Two or three people will comment, we want you to cover this or we want you to talk about this. And you think, oh, the general sentiment is that everyone wants us to talk about that. You can create a little bit of an echo chamber within your own community as well. So the data is really important to cut through that echo chamber and make sure that you're actually tapping into people's interest and what their search behavior actually is.

[B]

Totally. And if a brand is here, it may not be as simple as going, oh, the search terms are up for gem in the UK it might be that fragrance, deodorant, body care under $20. Like there's certain terms or trends that you may see. There's also incredible publications like Business of Fashion, wwd, these sorts of publications that are constantly reporting on research studies of growth in markets too. I have no doubt that GEM are looking at the growth of body care and fragrance in the UK that are helping them drive that. This isn't as simple as people were following or commenting from the UK because if it was the case, it would have been a smaller echo chamber deciding a very large strategic partnership decision.

[A]

I actually think, broadly speaking, not even just looking at fashion and beauty, that the UK and Australians have more similarities. I think the cross pollination as well between Australia and the UK is really important to talk about when it comes to why Bright France in Australia do really well in the UK and vice versa. I'm thinking about it in the context of what content I consume. A lot of my favorite podcasts, a lot of my favorite TV shows are based in Britain.

[B]

Yeah. And they fucking love neighbors. So, you know, the feeling's mutual.

[A]

Seriously. So girls, bathroom. Amazing. Two British girls. They're so funny. I'm obsessed with them. I also love, I just love British humor. It just resonates with me more.

[B]

Little Britain, AB Fab. Like hello. Like two of my favorite comedic TV shows. Like just we have similar taste and similar jokes and tone of voice and sarcasm. There's a lot of synergies between us and them. Yeah, more so than the us More.

[A]

So than the US And Great Segway Mads. Because there is, as I said up top, a graveyard of brands that have tried to launch into the US and have quietly exited a lot of them in that beauty category. And these brands are amazing. Like, we love these brands locally. I'm thinking, go to Frank Body have all launched into the US and quietly withdrawn I tried to do a quick Google search. Whether or not go to was still in Sephora. I don't believe that they are, but they actually launched into Sephora in 2018. Zoe Foster Blake, the founder of Goto at the time, also relocated to New York for a short period of time so that she could really establish the brand over there. Frank Body launched into Ulta with their everyday range. Again, it's a really, really difficult market to crack in the US We've seen Ultraviolet do it most recently and by all accounts, it looks like it's going well, but we don't really have the data to support that. So, yeah, US just seems really hard to crack. And beyond the obvious reasons right now being that tariffs are killing a lot of brands.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And making it really expensive to be in that market. The other thing that I think is very difficult about the US Is how fragmented the US Is in terms of subcultures and the states hitting a consumer in Texas versus California versus the state of New York. You are speaking to those consumers in three very, very, very different ways. Yeah, it's really hard for an international brand to go over there and crack into it.

[B]

I think that's why I'm most proud of Michelle who from Etoile. I feel an immense sense of pride for her. I've met her a couple of times now. She is so impressive. What she is doing in the US and her ability to crack that market. I cannot emphasize enough how hard it is to crack the US And Etoile is just doing phenomenal things. I know you might not think of it as beauty, but it's very much a beauty adjacent to me. It doesn't exist out beauty. It's a beauty case. And she's also expanding now into, you know, makeup brushes. Incredibly competitive and commoditized category. Now another one I've got my eye on and very closely watching is Alexandra Keating's brand, Uni Body. Uni Body Care has minority backing now by l' Oreal and they've expanded into Ulta and are doing some really cool stuff. Launched and now arranged in Mecca, but expanding over in the US I'm really keen to see how they beat some of the things that might have presented as a challenge or obviously have presented as a challenge for everybody and go to. If it wasn't a challenge, they wouldn't have exited. I don't think I'm being harsh by saying that.

[A]

No. Tony Banko again, I feel, have really relied on retailers Revolve. They are dominating on Revolve. And I think That's a huge reason as to why they've been able to, you know, get the scale in the US and be on the feet of every girl who's on Instagram.

[B]

I would say if I want to crack the US with my brand, I can tell you right now the first door I'm banging down is Revolve. Seriously, they are doing incredible things. Their numbers and the things that I've read and you know, off mic discussions with incredible brand founders. They are like a Runway train right now. For every category you could possibly imagine, Revolve is like the iconic, but tenfold.

[A]

Tenfold. I did read an article recently in the City Morning Herald. It is about five months old, but they interviewed the founder of Bondi, born Dale McCarthy. She said that the US actually made up 65% of their revenue. However, since Donald Trump announced a 10% tariff increase at the time on Australian goods and up to 145% on items produced in China, growth in the region has slowed. So if it was hard before, it's just going to get harder with all of these changes that we're seeing in the US and that's really disappointing to see considering that Australian brands have so much to offer.

[B]

It makes the UK look sexier to expand. Exactly that, doesn't it?

[A]

And Europe, focusing on Europe. I also feel I'm seeing that shift with a lot of fashion brands locally. Dishonesty seem to be doing a lot more events in Europe than what they historically have done in the US And I wonder if there's a reason for that.

[B]

Yeah. And for me, Ray, I guess the age old question is like what makes a launch work even with the localization. I'm interested to see road in these coming weeks because I think one thing that is really hard to toe the line of and I learned in my experience with Tower 28 and you know, we partnered with DT Consulting who are actually the global PR contract for roads. So they're managing the launch here as well. But one thing that is really hard is how do you play into culture in a way that is not trivial? Yes, it's not trivial or crass. It's a fine line, right? It's how do you have koala bears and the Sydney Opera House in a way that doesn't feel kitschy and naff the same way that you know, in the UK it's how do you play with black cabs but not need to just have the Big Ben and Paddington Bear and everything. It's those things that people think of that signal that market without it being tacky.

[A]

But also I'm going to deepen this quickly as well. There are some really aspiring markets that brands are trying to crack into being Asia and the Middle East. And it is very, very murky when you see a lot of white founders or people who try and establish themselves in these markets and don't explore localization or working with agencies there where it comes across as cultural appropriation.

[B]

1,000%. And I cannot emphasize this enough. Going into a new market with care and consideration is paramount when looking at the Middle East. The Middle east is the largest growth market in beauty right now. They are beauty obsessed. And it's not just beauty.

[A]

It doesn't fashion too.

[B]

We've seen Zimmerman's recent round of investment going directly to expanding into the Middle east market. It is undeniable the wealth that is there ready to be spent. And I think the one thing that brands need to be really conscious of is how that market operates and moves about in the world. You cannot have, you know, a girl in a boob tube top, you know, swiping a serum or a foundation or using a body oil. You have to think differently about the visual merchandising that you use, the kind of models that you use in that market. If a brand founder is traveling to that market, it's not appropriate for you to step on stage in a mini skirt and a pair of open toes stilettos. You need to be respectful of that market. And to be respectful of that market, you need to know that market. And that's where I think a lot of brands come undone. And I saw a TikTok recently from Lily who is at Barefaced Media on TikTok. And she was, you know, sort of questioning whether DT Consulting could launch Road in Australia and that she was intrigued to see it. Let's not forget Mecca are still their brand partner. I know for a fact because a girlfriend of mine works for dt, they have an Australian on their team who knows this market inherently. This is not a going in blind.

[A]

No.

[B]

Businesses like that will often hire a consultant in that market to help assist them as part of their expansion plan. So I think a really interesting take, easy to kind of go, oh, they don't understand. A lot of the time it's like a consultant who has a consultant or an agency that consults outside of that. But very important to understand that market in order to win and show up in the right way, not just at launch, but for all the ways that follow.

[A]

Absolutely. I'm always really interested to know, you know, brand founders will Launch in a new market, there's always going to be something that they're like, oh, I wish I knew that before we did that. When we asked Georgia, the founder of Jem, what she wished she knew before launching into that market, she said, virality is incredible, but it creates a real operational challenge. You can build all the demand in the world, but if customers can't actually find the product when they go looking, you lose that momentum fast. We've sold out numerous times and balancing that spike in attention with staying consistently in stock is one of the trickiest parts of scaling.

[B]

It is so hard, such a challenge. And Tower 28 Swipe Serum Concealer had extreme virality in the back end of 2024, and that was just unprecedented in 2025. I can say that because they had it on their socials, they had it on their website. If you went on TikTok as a consumer of any beauty content, you would have seen it. It was all organic. That wasn't like a planned campaign to make that go off. The product really just is that good and girls are in their bedrooms and bathrooms. Realizing that and sharing it with audiences, being able to supply demand of that scale for any brand, for gem, for tower 28, for goto, for whoever it is. If your product goes viral overnight, production is not like a no worries. Yep, we can turn that around tomorrow and get it on the line and will have enough for you. It's also deciding which markets get it when you're going global. If Gems deodorant is viral here and viral in the UK and they've got 100,000 units and an order from Woolies for 80,000 and an order from Marks and Spencer for 80,000. Do you short ship and that means you send both of them 50,000 each and they're not getting their 80. Do you keep one happy and give the full 80 and drip dry or other market for 20,000 units? It's an operational challenge. People always go, virality equals success. Virality also equals a lot of headaches and trying to feed all your hungry mouths.

[A]

The reality of it as well is when you're working with major retailers, you don't have a lot of leverage. You're also potentially losing shelf space if you can't fulfill those orders. I'm so glad you said this because Georgia actually went on to say, when we launched into M and S with a lot of the newness, it was a real first to market moment. We sold three months worth of stock in five days. That is wild.

[B]

It's the best and worst problem you could ever have. As a brand, I have the most respect for supply and demand teams and operational functions. They are the backbone of a business. I believe so strongly they should almost always be your first hire. I know this was, you know, something we were always working so closely with at Mecca when I was in that team. And I always have to be careful of what I share because it's obviously precious IP to them. But you're constantly working on what you're including in your campaigns, what's going to be on the homepage, what's going to be in an image that might be on the window, what's going to be used by an influencer or what's being pitched to press. You have to make sure that that demand is there. But unfortunately and fortunately now with the way that the Internet works and how virality can be overnight of someone who doesn't have more than 500 followers getting a million views on a video, you can't prepare for that. It's unprecedented. The only way to prepare is to sink serious investment into all SKUs as safety stock. And that's not realistic for pretty much any brand, no matter how much capital funding you have.

[A]

Another consideration that Georgia shared with us is that one of the biggest differences they've noticed is seasonality. And I never would have thought about this, but Georgia said that UK customers tend to shop much more seasonally, leaning into cozier, richer fragrances throughout winter and fresher, fruitier scents in a summer, whereas Australia is slightly less driven by those extremes. I mean, anecdotally from my own shopping behavior, I do not lean into seasons at all. Do you?

[B]

I do.

[A]

I thought you would because you're a big fragrance girl, so that makes sense. You would match your fragrance to the season. I do occasionally, but maybe less so with seasonality, more so with time of day. Yeah, so during the day, I prefer something that's a bit more light. At night, I really like something that's a bit more peppery, sultry, like sweet, sexy, Ooty.

[B]

You're talking my language in your second half fragrance.

[A]

That's a vibe. Yeah, babe, what were you wearing on our walk yesterday? I was choking in Maddie's fragrance work.

[B]

Politely and respectfully.

[A]

I had to. Like what? What fragrance is that? And then I had to proceed to tell Maddie that my hormones are, like.

[B]

Out of whack at the moment.

[A]

My sensitivities to fragrance are through the roof. What were you wearing?

[B]

It was Saffron Secret Maison Crivelli, a true favorite for those playing along at home, it's fucking sexy. Never know who you bump into.

[A]

You will.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You know what? Fair game. That's fair. I'm happily married, so I'm not really thinking about that. The seasonality point I want to come back to Lucy, our head of podcast who is British, did leave a little comment in our notes section in the script saying that she used to do this when she was in the UK and the reason why was it was a way for her to have cozy reassurance in the winter. It's so long and cold. Lowell.

[B]

She actually put LOL in the.

[A]

She wrote LOL in the comments and I was like, okay, so you're depressed, you're sad and you're freezing.

[B]

I mean it is. It's dark and it's cold. That's why most people come back. It's a little luxury. And one thing I will say on seasonality too, that is a challenge for brands as they expand is how you adapt to that seasonality in content. So even for road right now they're doing this massive ski activation but they're about to launch in Australia, arguably our warmest time of the year in the midst of summer. You have to think about that from a content perspective. Now lucky for them, little old Australia is very used to that. But if you're an Australian brand going overseas a lot of the time, your content is going to be very centric to Australia's seasonality and campaigns will will be built around Australian summers and things like that.

[A]

Also, language, it doesn't quite hit as hard as what people think. It's not that cute to speak in that oka. Like it doesn't resonate. I feel like I see so many people on TikTok rip on us. No no no Cleo, about our accents. I don't think it translates as funny and as well as what we would like to think. And perhaps it's because we would say that we're pretty self deprecating. It's just not really landing as well.

[B]

Especially not in the us. They don't really care for self deprecating.

[A]

All right. We were lucky enough to attend Rhodes Australia launch event in Sydney and we thought what better episode to share what it was like than this one. Considering Rhode has successfully broken into the.

[B]

Australian market, we actually have a little on the ground audio from the event which we are going to play for you now. So enjoy. Hey. Hi. So we never gatekeep and we never keep secrets at stylish. That's kind of like the whole premise is that it's a podcast for the.

[A]

Girls for the girls.

[B]

But this was a bit of a secret that we knew about a few weeks ago that we had to keep.

[A]

Mads and I found out that we were invited to the official launch of Road Beauty launching in Becca exclusively. They are available [e-mail] but this was a moment. We attended the event. Mads also attended the Pop up this morning and we wanted to give you an insider exclusive.

[B]

I mean, I know we've spoken so much about Road and it's finally here and honestly, it's been bigger than I thought it was going to be. And I think that it's pretty fair to say that my expectations were high. I have worked at Mecca. I know the scale of a brand launch. We've launched Glossier, we'd launched Tower 28. I'd seen big momentum and scale. This is like nothing I have seen. This was pandemonium. And I think it all comes back to the fact that Haley is in Australia and it was hotly rumored that she was going to be in store and that she was going to be at the launch event. Both of those things have happened.

[A]

I think the impact has been astronomical. No one can sit here and say, this hasn't been a moment. I actually saw a video. One of the girls in the Mecca team kindly showed me a little video that they took at the George street location. The line was around the corner. There were easily over a thousand people in that queue.

[B]

Yeah. And I just think we forget that not everyone is getting on a flight to New York or has a friend that can ship forward. It's also really expensive to do. Having the demand, being able to play with product, touch it, swatch it, that counts for something. It also clearly doesn't to some people because the sheer fact you could buy it on Mecca.com clearly appealed to enough people, because when I went on, and apparently I want to say 9. Am I getting my haircut? I thought Hayley deserved a haircut. They were already sold out. Skus and I got to the event. The event was at 12:30. It was at Nielsen Kiosk in Vaucluse. Yes. Thank you. I was in. My brain was ticking and I got there. I'd never seen so much security at an event, particularly a press event. Understandably. So I think we forget the scale of her celebrity. So what we didn't know about the Mecca launch was that they were launching with an exclusive sku. They've got the lip peptide in blueberry waffle. It was very clear from the second I stepped into the press event. I was without you. I felt like a lot.

[A]

No, I was running late.

[B]

That they had totally tapped into that and I think we're seeing them play with food and gourmand trends a lot. But like the minute you walked in, it was like you'd walked into a waffle shop. There were cute little bistro tables, there were custom road waffles with their new sort of R retro logo. There was road shaped butters, the drinks had the ice shaped cubes. Like the attention to detail and I guess the scale we've seen internationally was definitely replicated here in Australia. Absolutely.

[A]

I felt the theme of food also is very reminiscent of the launch that they did with Krispy Kreme. A bit of a nod back to that. It's nice to see that reoccurrence of theme, like come through. I like the food theme.

[B]

I like the food thing too. And I kind of think she's like stamped her mark on it and everyone else who's doing it is kind of copying. I mean, you even think back to the Haley Bieber's movie at Air1, like everyone's doing it now.

[A]

Feels like it's forming part of her brand DNA. Totally.

[B]

I like what you did there. Now look, it was very clear from the minute you entered the room that the first thing everyone who was there wanted to know was, was Haley going to be there? I had a hunch that she would, particularly after I saw the snaps at the airport. I did bum into an ex colleague from Mecca who have let me know she'd actually been at the Mecca Leadership Conference, which is almost always held in Melbourne. They'd brought it up to Sydney. I was like, did she go? And she was like, she was there. Marisha had nothing but the kindest, most blowing reviews. She said she was so kind, so generous of spirit, so honest and vulnerable in sharing the brand and her journey. Said she can't live without the glazing milk that's her favorite. She actually was about to wrap up and then actually asked Joe and Maria if she could have another moment of time just to chat directly to the team and was apparently taking photos with people backstage giving hugs. Like just a really lovely person. Which I think there's a lot of like celebrity stories and everyone wants to hear the salacious stuff. It was really nice for someone just be like, no, Mads, she's actually like a dead set legend. Yeah.

[A]

Even at the event, obviously everyone that was there were press and influencers. That is what the nature of these events are for. But she did go out of her way to spend quite a bit of time, time with a lot of people and really give them the time of day as much as she can. And that's the thing, you have to acknowledge that she cannot get around to everyone. She had a big smile on her face. She greeted a lot of creators and a lot of press with kindness. And also wasn't darting around eyes elsewhere, being like, get me out of here. She genuinely looked present.

[B]

Yeah. And I think it was quite animalistic when she walked in. Like, Ray wasn't there when she first got there. And I text Ray and I was like, whoa. I've, like, literally pushed myself to the back. I'm like, this is a lot. I just think as well, in Australia, we're not used to celebrities. Like, even when I was in New York, I probably spotted three or four celebrities. People leave them alone, they let them order their coffee. Like, everyone walked in and be like. And it was like every phone in the room was out. And don't get me wrong, we were trying to do the same thing for our socials. But it was. And when I say our socials, I mean the stylish socials, but it was kind of like, oh, my God, this is what she's dealing with on the daily. But I also think it was exacerbated here because we're not used to celebrity of that nature or status.

[A]

No, we're not. And unfortunately for Australia, we actually don't have the best reputation when it comes to how we show up in front of celebrities. The paparazzi are relentless and obviously because. Well, not obviously. I don't know if a lot of people know this, but Margot Robbie, Rosie Huntington Whiteley Jacobi, Hailey Bieber, all in Sydney right now for various reasons. Yeah, it is insane and pandemonium at the moment.

[B]

Yeah, it's like hit the fever pitch. What I will say is, like, there were a lot of the road team here. I think a lot of people just think road and think Hayley. They have their global PR agency here, DT Consulting. They raised like, mommy's got to work. They had the global PR agency, DT Consulting here. They had the full army of the Mecca team here. They had their CEO, Nick Flahertos out the pretty much all of the marketing team except Lauren Ratner. Girl, we missed you. I was like darting. My eyes were darting around the room looking for Lauren as much as they were Haley.

[A]

Yeah, I did think she would be, though.

[B]

Well, she's on that leave, so we'll give her some grace.

[A]

You know what?

[B]

She's having A baby. But I think all around a really great event, we're really excited. I love that Method got an exclusive skew. I think it's hard when we've had these international launches, launches elsewhere with Sephora. So nice that we got to see, you know, Road and Mecca truly collaborate on a product that is just for our market. Available only in store and online at Mecca. I thought that was a really nice nod and touch. And Hayley said she was really excited for Australia and it was something she dreamed of as a market since launching Road almost four years ago.

[A]

Yeah, that felt really genuine that it was on her radar for a while. I can see her loving Australia, but.

[B]

We will be at Vogue forces of fashion tomorrow, so we will get to hear from her again. And to be honest, I'm really excited to hear insight from her there. Ray's got to go because mommy's working.

[A]

Yeah, I'm running late for another meeting, so I've really got to leave now.

[B]

Yeah, you're Hannah Montana. But we are gonna get dinner. But we wanted to do this. Sorry if the audio quality isn't to its usual standard. But you know what, we love giving you the inside screw and we're sorry that we had to gatekeep and keep this a secret, but you get it like within 12 hours of the event happening. So God speed.

[A]

A little stylish exclusive, guys. That was a meaty episode, but a very good one. And a special shout out to Lily at gem, who connected us with Georgia Danis, the founder of Jem and for sharing so much insight and behind the scenes and what went into their launch in the uk. I'm really excited to see this brand dominate and continue dominating. That's all we have time for today. You'll hear Mads, Joe and Annika back on Wednesday. Feel free to email style-ishameless media.com or slide into our DMs over at Stylish Pod to keep your conversation going. Big thanks to the show's producer, head of podcast Lucy Hunt, and senior podcast producer Kate Emma Burke. We'll be back in your ears in a fortnight's time.

[B]

Wee.

[A]

Bye. This podcast was recorded on Wurundjeri Land. Always was, always will be Aboriginal land. Hi guys, it's Annabelle here and I have some special Valentine's Day or I should say Galentine's Day news for you today. Essentially we are doing a Valentine's Day deal on our sushi caps. You can buy one, get one free this week. Sushi caps are two for one this week.

[B]

So you can purchase a sushi cap.

[A]

For yourself this Galentine's day. And also one for your best friend, because isn't that beautiful? That's friendship, that's community.

[B]

That is love.

[A]

At the end of the day, all you have to do is add 2 caps to cart and your discount code will be automatically applied. Head to shamelessmedia.com forward/shop to treat yourself, treat your bestie and yeah, let's do it for love.

[B]

Hey, happy shopping. Bye.