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- [00:00]
A
If we are going to do the things, we're going to do them the right way. No shortcuts. I didn't want to be like a full time influencer. Like, I didn't want that to be my whole life without a purpose. Yeah, I knew I wanted to be a brand owner.
- [00:13]
B
Yeah, you're doing a brand at the Hourglass, the merit, the summer Fridays level, but there's nobody else in the country or Latin America doing this. You don't have brands speaking to women that are so focused on beauty in their country.
- [00:27]
A
We were viral about our prices. Let's take this brand down. I was waiting for Isabella to do something bad, like, to bring her down. And no, it was just like, only the beginning. Like, our sales were better than ever. Every launch has been better than the last.
- [00:42]
B
I've actually tried, like, every single beauty brand and you guys go toe to toe with the best beauty brands in the market, period. Full stop, 100%.
- [00:51]
A
And I know it's like a high price for people here in Colombia, but it's actually a good price to the quality that we're giving to them.
- [00:58]
B
Yes. It's such a masterclass in, like, when you spend the people will come. I'm in Bogota, Colombia, right now at a brand activation. I've never seen anything like this before. There is literally thousands of people waiting outside to come into this pop up. And I'm here with Isabella Tams, the founder of Bella Beauty. And I'm so excited to break down this case study because what you guys have built is crazy.
- [01:32]
A
Thank you so much. I'm so happy to be here speaking with you and I'm so excited you're here in Colombia.
- [01:38]
B
It's honestly been such a blast. Like, Colombia, like, is such a gem. The food has been incredible. The style has been incredible. The people have been so lovely. I know. So stylish. It's a little overwhelming, actually. Like, the style is really quite good.
- [01:53]
A
That's what describes us. Like, Colombians are so, like, nice people,
- [01:57]
B
fun people, beautiful, fashionable. Like good taste. Exactly like it's good taste. So is this your first English podcast?
- [02:06]
A
Actually, yes. First English podcast. I'm a little nervous, but we're good.
- [02:10]
B
Well, we have our mimosas here, so it's definitely. It's definitely going to get better as we go longer throughout this episode, but as we kick it off. So, guys, I do a lot of work in beauty. I do a lot of work in fashion, and I've never seen seen a beauty brand like this. There's so many interesting aspects to unpack the lack of competition, how, like, you've built this world, that people are like, it's only a two year old company.
- [02:34]
A
Bella Beauty is a Colombian brand. It's a beauty brand. I've always been so passionate about beauty. Well, to start everything, I have to tell you, like, my story. I was born in Barranquilla, Colombia. That's a city in Colombia. And there's a huge carnival. Like, actually it's the second largest carnival in the world. And it's like the best celebration in the world. And I was the queen, like six years ago. And it's not a beauty thing. It's not like beauty queen, like a pageant pageant. No, it's more like a cultural thing. So you just have to like, show the world what's in our city and what makes us special. So. So when I was in that world, I was like around so much beauty, but not only there, like growing up in Barranquilla, like, people here are so, like you said, so stylish. They care so much about vanity. They are always like looking good. So I grew up in that environment and I've always been around beauty. But it only was until I met Ricky, my husband. Well, he was my boyfriend at that time and. And he's been an entrepreneur his whole life. He had like, cookie shops, like really huge cookie shops all around Colombia, Panama.
- [03:48]
B
Branding.
- [03:49]
A
Yes. And when we started dating, he was like, what should we do together? Cool. And I've been always, like, obsessed with beauty, like makeup, skincare, hair care.
- [04:01]
B
Look at her hair.
- [04:02]
A
And he was like, let's do something together. Let's start this. And I was like, definitely, we have to go into makeup. But one thing about us is that if we are going to do the things, we're going to do them the right way. No shortcuts.
- [04:16]
B
Yeah.
- [04:16]
A
So we had to do the best work possible. We went to the best labs, found the best chemists, and like, Colombia has one of the most beautiful women in the world. Literally, we had to give them the best. So that's what we did. And that's how we started this journey.
- [04:34]
B
It's really cool because the, the, the carnival queen, which I've learned is you kind of like represent Colombia to the world. So you have to, like, kind of embody all things Colombian. Like, you're, you're beautiful. It'd be well spoken. You dance like you're, you. You are like, literally you go and visit the world as like the icon of Colombia. And you're also from where Shakira and Sophia Gara are from. So it's probably also like, the center point of the most beautiful Colombian women.
- [05:05]
A
Well, all Latin American women are beautiful, so.
- [05:08]
B
Yeah, that's really, really interesting. So you guys decided to get into beauty and. But it was. But how did you get people to notice you? Like, how did you guys get people to, like, stand out?
- [05:19]
A
I think we. We waited two years to launch the brand.
- [05:23]
B
Wow.
- [05:24]
A
And we really made sure that we had every detail perfect. Wow. Like, we wanted to launch with a huge video, like, telling the story, showing the people that we went, we traveled, we developed, like, on the lab, the best labs in Europe, in the United States. Well, all Sephora brands, like, developed their product. Yeah. Yeah. We repeated each product so many times so that it was perfect, or at least perfect for me so that I can perfect products.
- [05:50]
B
Yeah.
- [05:51]
A
I got the highest level. We did not take any shortcuts. We spent two years perfecting the brand. Every detail, every ingredient. We do makeup that has skincare ingredients. I think it's good for you at the same time that it looks beautiful. And we wanted, like, really to invest in every little thing. We do not do shortcuts.
- [06:09]
B
Well, that's like, what was so crazy is so you were like, you were. You're locally famous in the country for being this carnival queen, but you, when you wanted to launch a product, you didn't want to just be like an influencer launching a product. Like, you want this to be a world brand, which is somewhere where you've kind of struggled in your personal brand too, because you don't want to, like, you're not trying to leverage the carnival queen. You're actually an expert in beauty and you've also traveled the world. Like, you've spent your life traveling the world. Like, you. Both you and your husband are super cultured. Like, you're not developing like a Colombian brand as an influencer. This is like a world brand that is happening to start in Colombia.
- [06:47]
A
Exactly. That's what I wanted to do. Ever since, like, the carnival stopped, I was like, I had no idea what to do with my life. Like, I. I didn't want to be like a full time influencer. Like, I love to post my life. I love to post my videos, my little TikTok vlogs. I love to do that. But I didn't want to be, like, I didn't want that to be my
- [07:04]
B
whole life without a purpose.
- [07:06]
A
Yeah. I knew I wanted to be a brand owner. So this was perfect. And now I just show my life. I show what I want. Like, my, my trips My beauty secrets. Like, everybody loves to see like my makeup vlogs. And I'm just happy like to show everything that's behind Bella Beauty. Like where we shoot our campaigns, where we like get everything done, when we go to the labs, when we travel to make new products, like when we find new ingredients. And I'm happy with that life.
- [07:37]
B
Well, it's also cool too because when you analyze like the best brands, like this week I talked about like guests in residence of Gigi Hadid or like Victoria Beckham Beauty, like, you're not using your fame to sell the product. The product is good on its own and you have a founder led brand. So you guys have to like navigate both as like people. I got to interview like people in the crowd yesterday and it's. People love you, but it's not just you. Like, the brand on its own is fantastic. Which I think a lot of business owners struggle with is they, they, they don't know how to put themselves out there or they're so good at putting themselves out there, but the quality of the product suffers.
- [08:14]
A
Yeah. And I knew, you know, there's a good thing, like I appear in my campaigns. We like to like do this movies, this short movies and do like a mystery around what's the product. But the brand works on its own.
- [08:27]
B
Yeah.
- [08:27]
A
Like if I don't appear like for two weeks, the brand does well as it on its own.
- [08:32]
B
Yeah. Well, that's why I thought this was so fascinating is like you had all of the right elements in a market that isn't oversaturated. Like, that's like the coolest thing is like in talking to the people in the crowd like you're doing a brand at the Hourglass, the merit the summer Fridays level. But there's nobody else in the country or Latin America doing this.
- [08:53]
A
Yeah. And that was something that Ricky and I like, looked that we had so many, we have so many like brands that are like at a lower price. They're beautiful brands, but they're at a lower price. And then we have like this really expensive, like European.
- [09:08]
B
No, like Dior. There's nothing for Colombian women made by Colombian.
- [09:12]
A
There was not much like makeup, like at a medium level. Like this prestige brand.
- [09:17]
B
Yes.
- [09:18]
A
So we wanted to create that and just like literally give them the best like luxury packaging with amazing quality formulas and just like have this world of Bella Beauty. Because we want, when you think of Bella Beauty, like to think of this magic and this fantasy world that for example, when you get into this pop up, we want you to get in. You get in through an elevator.
- [09:42]
B
Yeah.
- [09:42]
A
So when you get into the elevator, we want you to think that you're getting out of this world. You're getting out of Bogota. We're here in Bogota right now. You're getting out and you're getting into Bella's world.
- [09:51]
B
Yeah.
- [09:52]
A
That's what I want people to feel when they use the brand.
- [09:55]
B
It's. You're right. It's so fascinating because when I landed on Tuesday at 6, 10 in the morning, I go to the. Go to use the washroom and the entire washroom, all of the sinks, there was like 17 sinks.
- [10:08]
A
Women doing their full face of makeup. That's Colombian. It's their full.
- [10:12]
B
So focused on like, presentation and looking good and. And even in scouting, where this pop up is. Is kind of in like the Times Square of Bogota, like, it's kind of like the most centralized point. And I've been looking at a lot of the beauty brands. And you're right, it's. It's not that Bella Beauty is medium tier. It's that you have bluntly, like cheap drugstore brands and then you have westernized brands like the Chanel Booty, the Dior Boutet. You don't have brands speaking to women that are so focused on beauty in their country. So that's where there's this gap of you're definitely premium. And I want to talk about that because it was ballsy to like, come in with a great price point with a great product in a market that hasn't seen it, but, like, it's working.
- [10:53]
A
Yeah. And I know it's like a high price for people here in Colombia, but it's actually a good price to the quality that we're giving to them.
- [11:00]
B
Yeah. The thing that's crazy is it's. It's proof in the success of the brand. Like, you've only existed for two years and like, they did a post like three weeks ago. They like gave away these like, influencer boxes and to influencers, and they had an extra one that they were going to like, give to the peeps. And they had 600,000, over 600,000 comments of people asking for the influencer. But I also do want to talk about, like, how you. Because I think a lot of it comes down to the world building and how you develop the brand. Like, yes, there was like, product market fit. Yes, you had a name and you had a platform. But I think that that is minimizing when you look at your, like, total strategy and how you've launched that. Let's talk about, like, how you guys have marketed and branded the product.
- [11:45]
A
So every time we launch a product, it is a full blown operation. We do movies for our launches and we try to keep like this mystery of what's the next launch. And at the end of the video, like we discovered and everything is at this Bella fantasy world that we try to live in. Like we're right now in Bella's world. And first we focus on that, and after that we try to explain, like the benefits of the product, the ingredients and how good it works and makes you feel. Like everything in Bella Beauty is super sensorial. Like how the textures feel, how it feels on your skin. Like everything is super creamy, super blendable, super glowy.
- [12:25]
B
It's such a masterclass in, like, when you spend the people will come and it's. I think it's really hard for brands that are in saturated spaces to justify going all out. But you enter such a masterclass and when you do everything at the highest level, people will notice and people will flock to you.
- [12:44]
A
Yeah, exactly. Like we do. We love to do this great PR boxes for all the influencers. Then we gift some of the people, we like to do, like gift so many products. Like two times a day in Bella's wonderland, we have this huge carton with some of our pure boxes gifts. And at some point we're like, okay, we're giving the big Bella prize. And people yesterday went crazy. So there was a girl who wanted the makeup bag or the luggage and she was like, really nervous trying to decide what. And all her friends were like, choose the luggage, choose the luggage. We have a clip of that, right? It was hilarious. And they then they were all celebrating like, I'm going to travel a lot with this luggage. That was the best moment of yesterday. And when we went to the back
- [13:29]
B
of the line, people waiting for five hours.
- [13:32]
A
I know people have been waiting for five hours. I'm so grateful that people have waited so much. But you know what's a good thing that everybody who entered told me it was worth it. Like, the five hours in line were totally worth it.
- [13:44]
B
But another thing you guys did right is you made sure that everyone that stood in line got in. Like, you really do care about like world building and investing back into your customer base. But the reason why that point is so fascinating is what Bella Beauty is doing. Although they're positioned as like premium accessible luxury, they're so invested in providing such like this, this generous world that you want to work hard to be a part of. So yesterday, it's so sweet. Isabella has like her sister here and they bring out that what she was saying, like the card and it was like, like literally like one of the UFC girls and they like do this twice a day and they bring these like fantastic presents that you can't get. A lot of these like USA brands here and like the whole swarm. There's probably like 100 people in here. We're like helping this girl that won on like dealer, no deal pick her prize. You can tell that it's a community. The reason why I wanted to do this, this episode is when I talk about Bella Beauty to the clients we work with that can be like really prestigious, like well known beauty brands. They don't have this level of community and buy in and it. That's how you win in the current landscape. Like, you have to have people that are like, you know, when you're. Like when you follow a religion, like, you're kind of. You're a part of something bigger than yourself. It's not quite a fan. Like, it's something. It's a kind of more.
- [14:58]
A
They're a part of this. They are part of the Bella club. And I love that.
- [15:01]
B
It was like, even like I was like interviewing people in the line. It was hilarious. No one spoke English until I had many lip glosses. Then the whole line is bilingual. Like literally thousands of people. Like, I speak English now.
- [15:11]
A
No way.
- [15:13]
B
But it was so cool because the answers from. From all of them was exactly what you're saying. It's like an obsession on quality, an obsess on detail, an obsession on building a world that like they brands don't. They don't take them seriously.
- [15:27]
A
And I want it to be something they feel a part of because we would be nothing without a vimp.
- [15:32]
B
No 100%.
- [15:33]
A
Like, I mean, they're outside waiting for us to end this podcast to come in and feel like the Bella world, the magic.
- [15:39]
B
But I also though the reason why this is so interesting is I do want to touch on, like, the comments you get of like the cultural nuance of an emerging economy and how these women want these beauty products. Like how special your community to your brand.
- [15:53]
A
Look, I would love everybody in Colombia to be able to buy my brand. I grew up here. I understand. I am a really sensitive person. But in order to make my brand worth it, like we have some of the most beautiful women in the world. I wanted to make what was the best for them. And in order to do that, we couldn't do shortcuts. So we went to look for the Best labs for the best chemists. And, I mean, we do get, like, really expensive, luxurious brands here. But people have felt a connection to Bella Beauty that they choose us. And I'm really grateful for that. And I'll work every day harder to make the best for them because, like,
- [16:35]
B
you legit have comments on your page of, like, I waited, like, I saved up all year to get this product, and it. It's also caused quite a bit of controversy in the country, too.
- [16:43]
A
I know. And, you know, that's a lot of pressure for me, but it makes me happy and I'm calm to know that I'm offering good quality stuff for them that will last and will work. Yeah. So everybody that tries our products, some of them tell us they made an effort, but they're actually happy with the product. And they tell me they would buy it again. So that makes me so happy. And it's. It makes everything worth it.
- [17:10]
B
Totally. It's totally worth it. I mean, it's. You also, when you have lines up like it's your second day and there's literally thousands of people outside, like, it shows you you're onto something real. But let's talk about the controversy that you went into, because you are literally, like, the least controversial person. But you guys have faced some serious heat.
- [17:30]
A
I know. So at the beginning, when we first launched the brand, like, we launched the brand, we announced the brand two days before we started selling.
- [17:37]
B
Yeah.
- [17:37]
A
And everybody was hyped. Like, everybody was so happy posting it everywhere. Like, this is going to be huge. We're so proud. And two days after we posted our prices, and people went nuts. Like, we were viral about our prices. People went crazy. Bad, bad. It was bad. People were. Who does she think she is? Like, we're not paying these prices, but at the same time, sales were crazy. Yeah. Like, everybody was buying. Like, I was so scared, but Ricky was like, why are you scared? Why are you sad? Why are you crying? If we're selling this much, like, this is going to be a huge success.
- [18:17]
B
Well, because controversy is hard. It's hard.
- [18:19]
A
I know.
- [18:20]
B
Like, it's. You take it so personally. And, like, every bad comment, it, like, cuts you like a knife. And it's like, it's so hard to separate what you're seeing versus what you're experiencing. So controversy has actually been quite profitable for you.
- [18:33]
A
You know what's another thing I'm really grateful for? Like, normally influencer brands do really good when they launch, like, the first day, and then they decrease. Like, we were really good the first day. But ever since we've made a launch, since that time, we've been going up, like, then we had another controversy.
- [18:52]
B
Okay, let's break it down. This one's a good one.
- [18:54]
A
Okay. So when we launched our lip liners, we've had already, like, done, like, four lunches. Four different lunches or more. And we always like to do creative things. Our. Our product names are named after food, so we wanted to do something different, like, not the typical food names. And I was like, let's do fine cuisine. Food, like, fancy food. So we did caviar, we did truffle. And one of the names, well, it was a pink lip liner shade. And Ricky and I, my husband, we were like, what should we name it? And it was foie gras. And I mean, at the time, we didn't think anything about it. You were, like, controversial. No, not at all. Like, that's the pink. Perfect name for a pink lip liner. Let's do it.
- [19:43]
B
It's bougie. It rolls off the top. And that's another thing, too, is, like, you guys have done these names that are, like, exotic food names.
- [19:48]
A
And people love her name. Every time they see, like, an Amarin de Lato, or we have this one that's called Pitaya Punch. Every time they see a pitaya, like a dragon fruit that's pink, they send me a picture. Oh, my God, this reminds me of Tala, and I love that. Okay, so coming back to the point. So the first controversy was about the price again, like, who does she think she is for a lip liner at this price? And, like, I mean, it was a different lip liner.
- [20:16]
B
Like, the best lip liner.
- [20:18]
A
So creamy, you had to go right down. It's an amazing formula done in Germany.
- [20:24]
B
It's fine.
- [20:24]
A
And people. But people went crazy as soon as we launched that price. And they went crazy, crazy, crazy. Then the people started trying it, and they were like, oh, my God, this is worth it. I love the lip liner. I hated that I criticized her two days ago, but now that it arrived, I love this lip liner. It's worth it. So they wanted something more, like, to bring the brand down.
- [20:45]
B
But the is that nobody knew what foie gras was. Some of them, they had to start googling it, and it wasn't really, like.
- [20:54]
A
And I know we really messed up in this point. And, like, a good thing about being in this business is, like, acknowledging when you have to change something. So we changed that name.
- [21:03]
B
I don't think you should have, though.
- [21:04]
A
Well, okay, we changed that name already. We already Changed it for the next production. And people didn't care. Like, two weeks later they didn't care more.
- [21:12]
B
But that's why. And like, that's why this is like such. I wanted Isabella to talk about this on the podcast because you guys got in insane amount of earned media value.
- [21:21]
A
Yeah.
- [21:21]
B
Like the Internet popped off. They're like, they're a cruelty free brand and they're naming it this. And have you seen this? And, and it, it allowed for people to talk about something that they might not have talked about at that level.
- [21:34]
A
And you know something people like, were saying, this is the end of the brand. Let's take this brand down. I was waiting for Isabella to do something bad, like, to bring her down. And no, it was just like only the beginning. Like, our sales were better than ever. Every launch has been better than the last. And everybody wanted to buy the lip liner just to do a TikTok video and try it. And everybody that tried it loved it. Yes.
- [21:58]
B
No, but that's like, why controversy is so hard to stomach when you're a well intentioned, good person wanting to launch a quality product. Like, often there isn't many of us that want to walk around that just want to be like political or say something crazy that makes the Internet pop off. But it absolutely took the brand to a different level and it allowed more people to want to try the product when you were not trying to be negative or insult anyone. Like, it was an, it was an honest mistake. But by doing something like that, by like venturing out doing something new, unique and different, like, we have the line to prove it, like, you've transformed the brand.
- [22:32]
A
And I was so scared that in the next launch people would criticize something else or something. So the next launch were the cream blushes, the one you've tried love.
- [22:41]
B
I got them on right now. I got the new one that razzle. I love them on my cheeks right now.
- [22:44]
A
Amazing.
- [22:44]
B
And that was wicked. That went out so well.
- [22:46]
A
Crazy. That went so well. We did an amazing video.
- [22:49]
B
Oh my God, this video was crazy. Like, it was. You've never seen anything like it. And you're like, keep watching to the video and like, you wait to kind of be sold and then like, the storyline keeps going and you have no idea what's happening and you think you're in like Cirque du Soleil.
- [23:00]
A
And we're like in smoothies, because those are named after smoothies. So we, we always try to involve like the food that it's named after in all of our videos. And then like we start to say, why is the product actually good?
- [23:14]
B
Well, what's also interesting too is like, when you look at the, like the outcome of what came from the controversy. It was funny. We were even talking to our, one of our in house video editors is from Venezuela and even her narrative was, you know, Bella Beauty. They get caught up in this controversy and it's not their fault. She's such a good person. Their quality of their products are so good. Like, you now have people that are loyally defending you and like, that's what you want as a brand. That you don't want people to feel just like neutral about you because if they don't feel anything about you and everything that you do is just like bland and vanilla, nothing works because you don't, you don't have impact. Like, it doesn't cut through. And like, as a social brand, that's why controversy is king in a way that makes sense and is on brand.
- [23:56]
A
Yeah. For example, now we just launched three new shades, the one you're wearing actually, and we launched them specially for Bella's Wonderland for the public. And people are crazy. What part of them are so mad?
- [24:07]
B
No, they're literally fabulous. The reason why I also wanted to do this podcast is this is a brand for you guys to take notice of, for you to see, like how to build a brand in the current landscape because they have everything stocked up against them, but also everything working for them. And it's such a cool test market to see how the human psychology responds, responds to like well done marketing and branding. But when they sent me the products, it, they were, they were standalone fantastic products, like the Colombian Story, like your platform, like that is all like an additional to a fantastic product, which is also what usually people cut corners on. Like they assume that they have enough that they don't have to obsess on it. And that's like the difference between a brand that comes and goes and a brand that lasts. I've actually tried like every single beauty brand and you guys go toe to toe with the best beauty brands in the market, period, full stop, 100%.
- [25:02]
A
No, I know. We do all the effort and work with all the right people, like, to make this brand competitive. Like in the US that's like our goal to launch there. And the proof is in Colombians take beauty so seriously.
- [25:16]
B
So seriously.
- [25:17]
A
And they love the brand.
- [25:18]
B
No, I think that's why it's like a good litmus test for the rest of the world, because these are women that like, like stereotypically take beauty extremely seriously. So, like, if it works in a market with such high standards, also, the global brand of, like, Colombian women are known to be beautiful, are known to be independent, are known to be powerful. So that global brand works for the business, for your trajectory, which tell me about. What is your vision? Like, where do you want to go? Where do you. Where do you want this? What are your goals?
- [25:46]
A
Well, actually, I want to expand through Latin America, get into the US get into the whole world, get into Sephora. Well, actually, that's my goal. That's our.
- [25:57]
B
Sephora is. Sephora is Mecca.
- [25:59]
A
Yeah, that's our next goal right now. Then we'll have bigger goals.
- [26:02]
B
Got it. Bigger goals of Sephora. What is your challenge, though, with getting the products into the rest of Latin America? Like, is it hard to diversify through the countries?
- [26:11]
A
Okay, so the thing is, we're very perfectionist, and we want to consolidate the brand here in Colombia first, have the operation, like, working perfectly to then go into other countries. And we like to go big. Like, when we get into other countries, we want to make a statement. We can just do, like, shipping to other countries, but we want to do something important every time we enter and we expand to a link to a new country. Like, we could do shipping to the US Right now, but when we enter to the US we want to do, like, a big statement, a big event, like, to every. Like, for everyone to know that Bella Beauty got into the U.S. well, I think, like, a.
- [26:54]
B
What a great takeaway is for the brand is, like, you're so focused on your position in market. Like, your marketing message, your. Your brand perception. Like, that is what's making what you've done in two years insane is because it's so focused when it's so easy to cut corners, when you see the dollars. What have been some of the biggest challenges in starting this brand, launching this brand, living this brand, all of the things.
- [27:18]
A
Well, first for us is making things happen like we want. And we have to make things happen. And that's been really hard, but we're achieving it. And I think the biggest challenge has been, like, to work with these big labs that work with the best brands and most recognized brands in the world and make them pay attention to us. When we were nothing, when we were just, like, a starting brand, and to make things happen with them and get, like, the best formulas, we're developing formulas from zero. Like, it's so easy being in the beauty industry. Just take a step. Formula that already exists. So my husband's a chef. Ingredients for him matter. So ingredients Here matter too. We wanted to make everything perfect, find the best clinically proven ingredients that actually work at a level that works not on a marketing level. Like it's so easy to make fast food. We wanted to do signature dishes.
- [28:12]
B
But in makeup, it's actually really true. Like how I see it in the brands that I've worked with. Like a new brand will come out with lip gloss and then they just like ship the lip gloss to China. They like analyze the formulation, they can change like one off thing and then they can basically relaunch like a product that already exists in market. Like it's very costly and a big risk to go in and like develop your own product lines in a market where it's so like it's never. People don't realize, like it's never been easier. That's also why branding can be so dangerous. Because like the right packaging on, on a product, like it's not the best product. It's just like the right shell.
- [28:50]
A
And that's why we try to do luxury packaging. Because for me, packaging is really important. I want it to look pretty everywhere. And the formula, for example, the lip gloss is our hero product. And for me, before I started the brand, every lip gloss, every lip product, like, make my lips chapped. And this one really works. Like it has so many good ingredients. It has maxi lip, vitamin E, shea butter. And it really hydrates your lips. Like it's a treatment for your lips and it makes them like voluminous, more juicy. And it works over time. Like, it really is the best.
- [29:25]
B
It's like a literally it's a fat formulation. Like, it is fat. What color are you wearing?
- [29:30]
A
I'm wearing cupcake right now.
- [29:31]
B
I'm wearing my favorite baklava. The hot. This is like what chicks are lining up for right now is the baklava lip gloss. Like, honestly, I could probably get a house built in like four hours if I just had like a tray of baklava. Like these women would like, like would haul me home. Like they are prepared to do anything for this lip and you can only
- [29:50]
A
have it at this pop up. So people so smart are coming like to ask for it. But people in other cities are crazy. They're attacking me because they want to.
- [29:59]
B
Well, let's come out after Monday, so let's talk about the strategy. So because this is actually really intelligent that they've done.
- [30:06]
A
So we launched three products especially for Bella's Wonderland, because we wanted to do something special for the people who came here. But people attacked me. Like, they literally are Losing it. Are losing it because they want to be able to buy it and if they don't live in Bogota, what are they going to do? So we just decided like, actually this is new, that we're going to launch it on Monday for everyone to be able to buy it because we want to make everyone happy. So this is a secret right now.
- [30:34]
B
And that's what's actually a really interesting point is where Isabella is from in Colombia is not Bogota. So how long is the flight?
- [30:40]
A
An hour.
- [30:41]
B
An hour?
- [30:41]
A
Yeah.
- [30:42]
B
But it's like, it's, it's a track for people to just like come and stand in line for four hours in a pop up to get products that they really, really want to buy. So because this is their first like physical in real life activation, they wanted to make sure that they had lineups, which they don't have any problem getting lineups. But we weren't sure in going into the launch of this. So what they did is they kind of created controversy. Like they created their fan base to get angry. Because the reality is for how many fans they have, for how many people are going to be able to show up and get in, it's just the numbers don't work. So there's people that are just. They've created scarcity in beauty products because it's now becoming like a status to be there to try the product, to post about it first. But then what they decided is that on Monday they'll release it to everyone. So that again, Isabella comes through is like the saving grace, the hero. She is like the ultimate queen. Never let leaving a girl out. But. But structuring content in this way maintains demand. Yeah.
- [31:37]
A
No. And I'm so happy. I'm sure they're going to go crazy and they're going to love it and them waiting for it for about a week and seeing everyone here like do unboxings and try them on TikTok. Like they're finally going to get this that they want so much.
- [31:53]
B
Yeah. So I'm gonna get some rapid fire questions. Are you ready?
- [31:57]
A
I'm scared.
- [31:57]
B
I know. Let's get our mimosas locked in.
- [31:59]
A
Cheers.
- [32:00]
B
All right. Honestly, they're not hard questions. I just wanted an excuse and have a zip. All right, so first question, what has leveled up your content?
- [32:11]
A
I think like shooting everything on the same day and like editing right away and just posting it and getting everything like vlogs, backstage vlogs, like showing people how we film our videos. Sometimes people think that we do AI like for last Christmas we had this like fake snow. Because here in Colombia doesn't know. So we had freezing in Boveda. Yes, I should have told you. So we made fake snow and people thought it was AI until I posted like my backstage blog. And people love that.
- [32:44]
B
Eight snow machines.
- [32:45]
A
Exactly.
- [32:46]
B
But you brought up such a great point. I'm so glad you touched on this because it was so cool to see the level of operation, like how you came in so focused on every shot. The video, the team was like all logged in. We had a video out about the activation, like almost right after it started.
- [33:02]
A
I know.
- [33:03]
B
And so that the rest of the world, because it was the first night, was an influencer night, which is obviously standard in the industry. But the rest of the world was able to see it through the lens of the brand and not only through the lens of the insight.
- [33:13]
A
That's very important for me. I knew that we had an influencer event. So everybody will be posting about the place and I wanted to be like the first one to show. Break the news. Yeah, exactly. And show it the right way. Because nobody's going to show it like you show it and like you do your productions and your videos. So I wanted to make sure of that. And I was like with the one, the guy that was editing, Hurry up, hurry up, the people are already here. But we did it on time and the video was incredible.
- [33:40]
B
But it speaks to the world building because when you see a level like the production of the video is done at, it's hard to justify in and of itself until you realize like what the brand is capable of becoming in such a short time frame. And because of those decisions, like you really make the customer feel like this brand is magic. Okay, so next question.
- [34:01]
A
Okay.
- [34:01]
B
What is your favorite brand? International brand.
- [34:04]
A
Okay.
- [34:05]
B
All over the world.
- [34:06]
A
Well, I mean, I love beauty brands. I love Summer Fridays road. I love how GISU does their marketing. But we do have like amazing fashion brands here in Colombia. Seriously, so many. I love Silvia Terrazzi, Francesca Miranda and then this like Caribbean chic brands via Maria Baobab. They're beautiful. Even the.
- [34:30]
B
The bag you get, you gifted me.
- [34:31]
A
I know. That's a brand called Verdi. They do like this mochilas, but they do it like with fancy strings.
- [34:40]
B
It truly is true luxury. Beautiful because it's such a. Like a classic style, but done in a way that is. It's such a piece of art like that True. Like great branding is like when it's unique, special and tied to a story. Okay, what if you could describe Bella Beauty in one word, what would you describe it as magic.
- [34:58]
A
It's.
- [34:58]
B
I mean, that's literally the perfect word for it. It is. And then anyone listening to it is obsessed. They're dying to try Bella Beauty. What is the number one product that they should try?
- [35:06]
A
Everything. But, I mean, Blush and lip gloss, those are my go to's. I can't go a day without those two. For today. Acai Burst Blush and Amarena Gelato Lip Plus.
- [35:17]
B
Okay, so we're wrapping up. What is the number one thing you want to achieve with Bella Beauty?
- [35:23]
A
My question, okay. Is to put Colombian beauty on the world map.
- [35:27]
B
On the map, yes.
- [35:28]
A
Let's do it.
- [35:29]
B
That's not. These are these 3000 women? You are fantastic, guys. I hope you learned from this, from this podcast. I hope you learned from this brand. This is a brand we're following, we're studying. I am using them as a case study with, like, literally the heritage brands that we think shape it. They are struggling compared to the organic community. The growth, this success that this brand has had in two years from what they've done in two years and how obsessed they are behind the scenes, everything that is 100% authentic, they are going to the moon. So continue to follow along. Isabella and Bella Beauty. And I've loved being here. Thank you for welcoming me.
- [36:07]
A
Thank you for being here. Thank you for having me. Your podcast. I'm the happiest. Like, I'm living a dream.
- [36:13]
B
Goodbye.
- [36:14]
A
Goodbye.