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The Entrepreneurs
The winner makes it all: Catching up with Swedish brands Pure Effects and Morjas
00:35:08
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- [00:00]
Henrik Berg
Foreign.
- [00:12]
Tom Edwards
Hello and welcome to the Entrepreneurs on Monocle Radio. The show all about inspiring people, innovative companies and fresh ideas in global business. On today's program, we turn our attention to Sweden to catch up with two friends of the program and hear what's new at their brands. First, we'll discuss the smartest solution for keeping clothes fresher for longer as we catch up with the founder of a clever fabric spray that harnesses the power of microbes.
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Linda Rosendahl Nordines
Spraying your clothes instead of doing laundry is really about a small change in your life that has a huge impact. Your garment lasts longer and you avoid using water, electricity and the release of microplastics.
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Tom Edwards
And later we'll check in with the founder of our favourite Swedish footwear label to hear about the brand's international growth and its introduction production of a stylish women's line.
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Henrik Berg
We are ambitious and we like to expand and grow, but at the same time we're extremely focused on crafting the recipe and just making the stuff taste better.
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Tom Edwards
This is the Entrepreneurs with me. Tom Edwards, you're listening to the entrepreneurs Linda Rosendahl Nordines, the co founder and CEO of Pure Effect, a Swedish biotech company. Using bacteria to make sprays that freshen garments and care for tricky to wash textiles. Since we last spoke to Linda in 2023, Pure Effect has relaunched its brand, achieved 60% growth in the past year and entered new partnerships, all while remaining entirely self funded. I caught up with Linda to talk through the company's recent progress. She began by explaining how a simple spray is help helping people rethink laundry and lighten their impact on the planet.
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Linda Rosendahl Nordines
So Pure Effect removes odor and freshens clothes and stuff gear without washing. You just spray on, hang up and wait a few hours and then let the beneficial bacteria do the work. It works on wool, silk, sequins, tech fabrics, sneakers, furniture, you name it. And it's great because it's gentle on the fabrics, your wallet and the planet. And very appreciated because it's travel friendly too. So we're in this game to reduce global laundry by 30% and that's not just to save water energy and reduce microfiber pollution, but to help clothes and gear last longer. No wash is really a movement and if you're not really that hardcore, you can go low wash. And we know that this behavior of reducing laundry won't change overnight. It's really a challenge, but we want to be a reliable pioneer in that shape gift and for many people, you know, laundry simply isn't an option. That could be because they have that Kind of stuff and clothes that smell, but it's difficult to wash, like shoes, sports gear. This is what we all have at home, I guess. And you have maybe clothes that week of campfire or suits that normally go in the dry cleaner. But then we also have the kind of places where doing laundry just isn't an option. Like when you're backpacking, it's great to bring a textile spray in the summer cabin, out on a boat, in your gym, gym bag in a student dorm, and so on. Spraying your clothes instead of doing laundry is really about a small change in your life that has a huge impact. And that impact is both practical and environmental. So by washing less, your garment lasts longer and you avoid using water, electricity, and the release of microplastics. And just an interesting chain of facts when it comes to microplastics. So laundry causes 15 to 30% of ocean microplastics. That's a lot. And 50% of all textile fibers globally are polyester. And the third fact is that according to the Worldwide Fund for Nature, they say that we ingest 5 grams of microplastics per week. That is as much plastic that we eat and drink, et cetera, as a credit card. That's a lot. So these are some of the environmental facts. But then coming back to everyday life, everyone rather do anything else than laundry.
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Tom Edwards
And tell me a little bit about what is new since we last spoke to you because I guess in the last kind of what, couple of years, Pure effects, going from strength to strength, you've kind of relaunched a lot of the products as well. I think, what, just a little bit earlier this year, really exciting times. What's been happening since you've been keeping busy?
- [04:51]
Linda Rosendahl Nordines
Oh, yeah, that's true. We decided like two years ago to do a relaunch. We have learned a lot during this 10 year journey. So, you know, it takes, it takes a lot of time to build something solid. We relaunched the design and also kind of our visual identity because we realized we have to be much more clear that it's a biotech solution that let the bacteria that is actually doing the job, let them stand out and also diversify us from all the other solutions out there. And also it's a way of clearing up our communication. Keep it shorter, maybe be a bit bolder, maybe a bit more fun, not just to blend in with all the others.
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Tom Edwards
That's really interesting. And one thing that I find really arresting, Linda, is the clarity of intention that you have with the business. And you're talking about, you know, as we look to the future and growth and this confidence in organic growth. Now, I guess an easy remark would be look at what you work with, right? Microbiology, you're working with bacteria, of course you trust organic growth. But that takes a real confidence and a real conviction not to be looking straight away for, I don't know, external finance or what are the targets we're hitting. It's a real quiet confidence about how you want to grow this business. Where does that come from? Have you always had that? Is it just the experience of those first 10 years? Tell me a bit about where that confidence comes from.
- [06:13]
Linda Rosendahl Nordines
Honestly, I think that's the only way I know how to do things. You know, I've never done the rapid journey with a company before. I also think that it's the way that Joachim, my co founder, partner in business is, is doing things. Of course it's tempting at times to see if you can speed up, you know, get the hockey stick effect or something. But I think we've seen a lot of cases, you know, of hype bubbles and it's a lot of talking about pitch sticks and unicorns and raising capital and the, the companies that I've been following, you know, friends and so on, I see they spend so much time focusing on getting that money and I don't think it's the way to build a solid business. You know, we have learned so much from being close to our customers, talking a lot to them, you know, IRL conversations. And we learn how to develop this. And I must say, it's not always as, you know, confident as you describe it, because of course we have our doubts. But one important milestone was when we had the opportunity to work with students in the Bari School of Communication here in Stockholm. And we let eight groups do their take on our possible visual identity transformation. And you know, they got a brief and they did their pitch and we got so good feedback, you know, from the future generation. You know, they're around their 25, 30s and their very solid feedback was, you know, you have to talk about the bacteria, you have to talk about the biotech. You know, that stands out because that's the future. You know, it's not like it's something new because it dates back to, you know, when Earth formed 4 billion years ago. And the first life on this planet when it cooled down was single celled microorganisms. So the bacillus spores that we are working with or the bacillus subtilis, it's really the foundation of all life. But it's also something that we can use now for human benefit, since they are the true cleaners on this planet. It was a good feedback from the students and we decided to do a relaunch to give this a second round, so to speak.
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Tom Edwards
Yeah, and I think they're looking great and I think hopefully your sales figures reflect that. That's really landed as well, very well with the public. Just to that point, you make though, about some, I don't know, not, not well, maybe a little bit of cynicism actually. Linda, from certain quarters, are you still finding that you're having to have that conversation about. Look, you know, this isn't an obvious fix, but actually if you interrogate it in a little bit of detail only, you'll see it's absolutely perfect and it is future proof. And indeed it goes right back to, as you said, the origin story of the, the planet. Are you having to have that conversation less now? Are people kind of getting it?
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Linda Rosendahl Nordines
I've been working with biotech and bacteria 10 years now and we see a transformation in people's attitudes. Absolutely. Talking about, you know, probiotics for the gut flora and you know, skin care and all that. And that's also what Jorqui, my co founder, sees, you know, he's been working 30 years and has even more, you know, of a timeline when it comes to the change. And I think we got maybe a bit blinded by this in our first years. You know, we've been talking so much about the environmental, you know, the technique and not so much about. We didn't realize the, the need of behavioral change. Also when it comes to our mission to reduce global laundry by 30% and to make the change of something that is so rooted in people's habits, you know, laundry, doing laundry to make things clean. You really have to look more, I think on the behavioral side on things than just talking about the technology and make sure everyone understands everything about the details and the bacteria. That's not the important thing.
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Tom Edwards
Yeah, I love that. Now talk to me about ongoing validation of the ideas of the products because there is this very kind of clear scientific leaning, you know, the efficacy of testing. It's sort of baked into your approach. But talk to me a little bit about how you are checking, you know, the lifecycle analysis of these products, how you're ensuring that you're keeping track with consumers experiences and these use cases because you are, I think it's fair to say, more. And this reflects on what you've been already saying and you know, more scientific actually in your, in your approach. Approach. It's Evidence based. Right. But tell me a bit about what the mechanics of that look like.
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Linda Rosendahl Nordines
Yes, of course, the challenge we have is that we're both introducing a new technology and we're also facing the challenge of doing this behavioral change. So kind of two challenges in one, and it might be doomed, I don't know. But I think we showed with our growth of 60% last year that we can actually do something here. So we continue. But of course we meet skepticism both in silence. People don't dare to ask, can this really work? And also the people and journalists and others that ask us these questions. And it's like we can provide so many tests and so many results and the questions keep coming. I think it might have to do with the dilemma of like the society. There is always a skepticism and that can be good. You know, we shouldn't move too quickly, but we also have to dare to be in that space, you know, where we have, like I read an amazing work from a philosopher called Jona Bornemarke in Sweden, and she talked about the edge of knowledge. And like, we have to dare to be in this space where we don't know everything. You know, we have to beyond evidence and all kinds of tests that we can make that we also do, I must say, you know, we. We've done this third party testing now with the 150 people evaluating the function of Pure Effect products. And we've also done this life cycle analysis to see the environmental benefits of the product, you know, when we reduce laundry. And we also have all our customers saying that it really works. But beyond that, you know, we have to think for ourselves. I think that deduction matters. And after all the testing and the proving, you know, there will always be, okay, yes, Eddie works on denim. Does it really work on polyester? And does it work in winter time and summertime? And so we also have to be in this space where we can trust and think for ourselves a bit. And that's absolutely necessary. Not just a responsibility of entrepreneurs, I think, but also for policymakers and journalists and public voices, which can be sometimes polarizing and drawn to sensationalisms. We really have a duty, everyone, if we want innovation and to move forward and challenge status quo, really have to be in this space where we stay open and curious and committed to learn about things through experience. And Pure Effect is really a good example, I think, a real world example of this idea, a product that challenges norms and habits and assumptions. We can show that it works and we can base our work on these tests and articles and what people Say about the products.
- [12:56]
Tom Edwards
Yeah, that's very powerful. And just on that point, about those qualities, entrepreneurial qualities, like I said, maybe being a successful entrepreneur is less about, you know, the ability to deal with the setbacks. Although of course that's very important and that I did, to sort of live it, you know, it sort of filters into every part of your life. But maybe it's that bravery, that courage, that idea about embracing what is uncertain by its nature. Maybe. Maybe that's the. Is that the sort of entrepreneurial superpower, perhaps. Linda, do you think?
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Linda Rosendahl Nordines
Yeah, I read the other day someone saying that someone working in a small business or being an entrepreneur, it's someone that really jumps off a cliff. You jump off a cliff and then you build the airplane on the way down. And sometimes it feels like that. Of course, many ventures and businesses require action and working in uncertainty, having trust that things will work out. But I think what sets entrepreneurship apart, at least the way we run pure effect, is that we're investing our own time and money, not someone else's. And we have really a strong belief in what we're doing and that we'll manage to build that plane before we hit the ground. It's a lot at stake and we also have a huge drive to make impact. And that might also set us a bit apart, like to introduce bacteria, something useful in people's everyday lives. And in the illustration of like jumping from a cliff, it's not that there are any uncertainties when it comes to the technology, the biotech and the bacteria, those things and the function is all clear. It's more about how to do the business case, how to communicate, how to reach people. Here we have to experiment a lot.
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Tom Edwards
Now, listen, let's look to the future. We already mentioned your commitment to sort of growing the right way, and I think you spoke really elegantly and eloquently about that already. What are the other building blocks? Linda, as we look forwards, I know you're keen to continue to build retail partnerships. Our listeners probably know the product from, say, your website and your D2C relationships. Talk a bit about retail and some of the other expressions. I know there's an exhibition that you guys are involved with later in the year, which is. Sounds really interesting. Talk to me about how these things are going to play their part.
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Linda Rosendahl Nordines
We're just a small company trying to keep up with things and customers. They're always number one. We sometimes get that question if we focus on E Commerce or the retailers. And I think it's important to point out that it's too early on our journey to make that decision because it's really an ecosystem. We need all the retailers and their relationship to their customers to talk about the products and how they work, how you can easily spray your clothes and make them last. That's the only way we can reach all these people from you know, outdoor people to vintage lovers to travelers, to you know, everyday parents who want to reduce their laundry. That's the way we can reduce global laundry by 30%. We can never do that in this small company. But the E commerce is also important because there we have the first, you know, the close contact to the customers and we can talk to them. We get the questions and we can answer. But what I see now since we're growing is that our next step will probably be to scale up logistics and production. We continuously explore, explore the need for a dedicated biotech lab to push this bacillus research further. We don't have really plans for external raising external capital like I mentioned. I think it's a craft but maybe we will join forces with some other kind of money in the future. We'll see that. But it's important to mention I think when it comes to the retailers that it's impossible for us to knock on the doors and get them open to the big brands. The really good collaborations we have had for example with the Philippe and the Swedish fashion brand Lindex and Sandquist bags etc. They have become good because they come to us, they're triggered by legislation or their own circularity goals. For example, more and more brands understand they need to own their own second hand business. So then of course we can be one part of that puzzle. Yeah, I think we will stay here and focus on our E commerce and then wait for the bigger brands to knock on our doors because that's always success when they take the first step. And you mentioned an exhibition. It's actually a seven year project that we've been working with with Swedish Rice. It's the SCI Art project where we use art, photo art to communicate science. Since it's a challenge for us to work with these invisible small microorganisms and odor is also invisible. We use photo art to tell the story of, you know, how the bacteria are essential, how this invisible world really are super important for a livable future. And this opens in October in Stockholm and will then move on to Micropia in Amsterdam for example, a beautiful museum about microorganisms.
- [17:48]
Tom Edwards
That was Linda Rosendahl Nordine, the co founder and CEO of Pure Effect. And you can Find out more and ensure you're staying fresh. And by heading to pureeffectsweden.com you're listening to the entrepreneurs. Henrik Berg is the founder and CEO of Morhas, a luxury footwear brand known for its timeless design and commitment to quality craftsmanship. Founded in Stockholm in 2017, the label draws inspiration from both Mediterranean and Scandinavian aesthetics. A nod to Henrik's Spanish Swedish heritage. Henrik stopped by Midori House recently to talk about the launch of Morjas new women's collection and the importance of physical spaces in building community. I started by asking him what's new at the brand since we last caught up two years ago.
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Henrik Berg
Well, over the last two years a lot of things have happened, if I were to mention some of the few big things that has happened. We launched Women's a couple of weeks ago. So that's a huge milestone for the brand and the team and that's been in the works for probably one and a half or two years. We launched that at the end of April and yeah, that's been going very well for us. So happy about that. More than that, you know, we've had pop ups in New York, Munich and most recently Oslo as well in Norway and yeah, continue to expand and craft the brand and the collection and continue to grow as well.
- [19:23]
Tom Edwards
Super exciting and it's been a real thrill to watch it happen from the outside. And you mentioned New York in this pop up. Talk to me a bit about the US because I think we did talk a bit about ambition and stuff when we spoke before. What does that market look like now? Because it's big and it's important.
- [19:38]
Henrik Berg
It is big and important and we think it's beautiful in a lot of ways too. But yeah, it is our biggest market. It has just continued to grow over the last couple of years and it's an amazing market for us. So we did a pop up in June last year in soho and that was a big success for us. And I think, you know that the US market has a nice appetite for our kind of brand and I think it's quite an interesting market in addition for being of course huge. The style that they are looking for, the community, the customers really reason is with what we are doing. So yeah, it works well and we have a very strong community there as well with lots of wonderful people raving about us and that's of course part of the work that we do with the brand. But also that, well, wonderful people on the team, not say the least, Jack in the team who runs that show. So it's really a team effort and at the end of the day, just very grateful for the reception that we're seeing there.
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Tom Edwards
Well, this kind of covers all of those points, Henrik. And it's this idea about building a community. And this is something that we spoke about before and we looked at it through the prism, of course, of bricks and mortar retail and Casa Morehouse, of course, in your sort of home market. But, but does that remain your favorite way to engage with people on sites, pop ups, getting to see how they're engaging, the touch and feel of the products? I mean, there's something unrivaled about that, isn't there?
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Henrik Berg
Yeah, I think so. And I think it just becomes even more important as things get more polarized. Right. So on one side of the spectrum you have the digital experience, which of course is extremely important, but it becomes even more important to be on the, on the other side of the spectrum as well, which is the physical interaction. And, and I think that's highly appreciated by the community and the customers and not the least for us as well, so that we get to speak directly to the customers and to the community and really showcase the brand and the products and ourselves and the team behind the products and the brand so that people actually know who are the people behind the brand. It's nice to meet them and tap into their minds and hear their philosophies. So yeah, it is increasingly important for us and that's why we do the pop ups and the press previews. Try to meet the people and community in all different types and forms in a physical and a digital way.
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Tom Edwards
Now let me ask you a bit of this is a kind of a, I guess an entrepreneurial question to move things on from 23, when we last spoke, the business, what doubled? I think more or less in that kind of time?
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Henrik Berg
Yeah, a little bit more than that.
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Tom Edwards
But yeah, okay, better to undersell it, but tell me, double the size of a business, it gets, the engagement, it's global, it has this real impact on people. As you scale, how do you ensure that you're adhering to those foundational, sort of almost philosophical values which underpin the brand that we spoke about last time? Because your time is precious. Okay. You add more people to the team and that can help if you get the right people. But is that really one of the challenges as you scale, that you can't be everywhere at once? How do you make sure you're adhering to those foundational values?
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Henrik Berg
I think this is a great question and I think a lot of it comes down to focus, focus and discipline on what you actually want to put your time and energy into. Right. We speak quite a lot about it or about this internally. To try to focus on doing a few things really good instead of getting too carried away and try to do a lot of things just okay. And that's sort of like our North Star, if you will, trying to just double down on a few, you know, set of strategies, if you will. And that's served us very well so far. I think it's a constant reminder to ourself, to me personally, to the team, and then stranger to our philosophy and our ethos, which is, you know, focus quite a lot on the product, on the customer and the brand, and also then again, being disciplined in saying no or trying to say no, of course, are always interesting and exciting opportunities. But in order to do a few things good or excellent, you must really choose your battles or your opportunities, if you will. So I think that kind of philosophy has been absolutely vital for us or is very, very important for us. I actually met with one of our investors a couple of weeks ago, and she said that. That she was so happy that we didn't go, you know, this sort of like venture capital raise. We just raise a lot of money and try to run as fast as possible because then you. You can get carried away and lose track of the foundation, which to us is quality and quality in the product and the brand and the customer interactions and so on. So having that sort of like founding principles has been extremely important to us and still is to this day. We are ambitious and we like to expand and grow, but at the same time, we're extremely focused on crafting the recipe and just making the stuff taste better.
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Tom Edwards
Yeah, I mean, it's discipline, as you say, it's patience as well, and I guess as well as in the sort of strategic and tactical business sense. That's true. Also expanding the collection. Right. You have to put one foot in front of the other, not push too far. And that must be hard because as you said, you've got a passion also to innovate and to excite your customers, but even adding lines, model specific things to whichever range, again, you have to retain that. That discipline, I guess.
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Henrik Berg
Yeah, yeah, I think so. Of course, it's a tough balance, isn't it, because you want to expand collection and you want to, you know, sort of like expand the offerings and the brand, but I think you can do that with a high dose of relevance. Right. So when we develop stuff, we always ask ourselves, does this make sense? And Is this relevant, and does this have a place on the market? And if it does, it's quite clear for us if we should pursue it or not. And so far, if you look at Marcus and compare it with most other brands out there in the space, I think that we are extremely niche and we like to keep it that way. Of course, we received tons of questions about, okay, will you launch clothing or other types of verticals? And that might be tempting, of course, but then we keep coming back to the core, which is to focus on what we do best and try to just dig deeper into that. And at the end of the day, it is an extremely fulfilling way to work to continue to craft the product and craft the quality. And I think that we spoke about that the last time as well. The porch reference with, like, developing sort of like a classic 911 just gets hopefully better and better with time. And when you look at it over 20 to 30 years, the design has developed and changed, but hopefully just got better and improved over the years. And that's something that resonates quite well with our principles and philosophy and also with the customers. And last but not least, if you look at the collection like our hero product is the one that we launched with eight years ago, and it has gotten, of course, a lot of improvements and refinements, but again, it's a nice way to operate, to have sort of like a base or fundamental recipe that you can just develop and improve over time.
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Tom Edwards
Yeah. I think those analogies are really interesting because you can change literally every component from ground to top.
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Henrik Berg
Yeah.
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Tom Edwards
But it's still recognizably the same, even if literally no individual part is. And that's what great design and great brand. That's the. That's the intangible. Right.
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Henrik Berg
And integrity. Right. So I think it's about doing the stuff when no one else is watching, just. Just what the customer is perhaps expecting. So we're very passionate about that. It's often a combination of small things that make up the bigger picture than the few big decisions that's probably most visible in the product.
- [27:30]
Tom Edwards
You're a wise man, Henrik. I hope our listeners are taking notes. Now, let me ask you. I'll tell you what everyone is watching. Big events, big world gatherings, sporting bonanza, Paris Olympics. Last year, Monocle got very excited about this. I gather you were involved with Team gb.
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Henrik Berg
Yes.
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Tom Edwards
Which is perhaps somewhat surprising. But tell me a little bit about this one and why this actually does fit in, actually, with the sort of Morehouse approach.
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Henrik Berg
Yeah, it was a bit of A surprise, actually. But, of course, very humbling and exciting. So Team GB reached out, basically, and said that we love what you guys do. Would you be interested in being the footwear supplier for the Paris Olympics? And of course I said, yes, we are interested in a. At first I thought it was sort of like a sponsorship kind of deal, but it turns out that we were sort of like the specialty supplier on the footwear end. So that was very, very humbling and very exciting. And we supplied a whole team of 532 people. So it was both the athletes and the whole staff, both women's and men's, of course. And, yeah, of course, a little bit ironic at the end of the day, since you have. You have beautiful brands here in the uk.
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Tom Edwards
Not as many as we used to, but there's still. But there's some good ones knocking around.
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Henrik Berg
Yeah, Yeah. I think, you know, you guys are doing a great job. But it was. It was very fun that Morecas from Sweden and Spain came in and became the supplier. But, yeah, it turns out that when you're trying to do a few things really good, it resonates with people and also the people at Team gb. So that was, yeah, really exciting.
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Tom Edwards
No, it's good. And also we. Look, we're very international and internationalist here at Monaco, and it's nice. All of our brothers and sisters from all across whatever, however you break Europe up, we're still part of it. So I think it's.
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Henrik Berg
That's nice.
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Tom Edwards
It's a nice.
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Henrik Berg
Well, that's.
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Tom Edwards
That's what we think. I don't know how popular there is out on the street. What will we be talking about if you come back to speak to us on Monaco Radio in 2027, do you hope?
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Henrik Berg
I think it will be even more around women's taking a bigger part of the. Of the whole brand and company space. So, obviously we've been quite focused on men's the last couple of seven to eight years, but as we just launched women's and that has been off to a great start, I hope and imagine and plan that the women's would just continue to grow and become more of an integral part of the whole brand. So hopefully we'll speak even more about that and that men's and women's together just continue to grow all over the world with not losing track on the guiding principles, with staying true to quality and, again, the sort of like the sniper approach, as we call it.
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Tom Edwards
Yeah, I mean, it's a story that makes sense in any language. And just maybe lastly, on that point we rattled off a few of the pop ups, you know, Germany and across Scandinavia and the US of course. Have you got what's on your, what's on your hit list, Henrik, for next time? I don't know if you, maybe you can't tell us yet, but are there markets where you think, ah, you know, look, we need to get more of these espadrilles in the Middle east or whatever it might be as you cast an eye around the globe, where excites you?
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Henrik Berg
Well, we are fortunate that we have a global presence. We mentioned the US but we are big in the big European economies, not say at least the UK as well. So we're definitely paying attention to the UK and we're launching at Mr. Porter in a couple of weeks time. So that's the first wholesale account of outside of Sweden and something that we've, you know, waited with for a long time. And just tapping into that very selectively because that's one of the things that is just a result of speaking to the customers as well, that they want to access more us all over the world easier. And that's the result of that as well. So getting closer to the customer, Mr. Porter is one way to do it. Pop ups is another one. And then fiscal retail in different sorts as well. It could be brick and mortar and it could be physical presence with other retailers as well. So yeah, we are here in London now maybe because of that, not something sharply planned, but we are getting exciting interest which is of course very, very nice to hear and you have some great stuff going on here. So hopefully. And maybe we'll tap into that as well just to get closer to the customers because we think that's important and exciting.
- [31:46]
Tom Edwards
Yeah, watch this space now. I said that was the last question. I actually have one more that I did want to ask you which is so much about craft, the personal approach not rushing too fast and people might think, oh, you know, Henrik and his guys, maybe they're very traditional and maybe so they would eschew cutting edge tech or data. But I think it's really important to say and interesting that that's not the case. You can still craft these beautiful products and take time and be all about patient approach. You can absolutely integrate data and IT and being at the cutting edge into that. Just tell me a little bit about that because that might surprise some people because in a way it doesn't seem like a brand that would be harnessing that kind of information and yet you do and very effectively. Just tell me about how that Comes together.
- [32:31]
Henrik Berg
Yeah, of course it's a nice balance and I think that data is great. It serves you very well. And of course, depending on how you use it, we use it to become more insightful, to make better decisions, to learn and to understand more about the customers and what they want and require and their wishes. But we don't let the data steer too much when it comes to the creative part and design part, because then I think you lose touch of the personality. So I think once you use it right, or depending on what kind of brand you are, I'm just speaking for ourselves, but when you use it in the right way, it's extremely helpful. But with the right type of balance, I think it's great for procurement and customer insights and customer data and not, say the least, digital marketing and all that stuff. But you must be able to detach from that when you work with the creative space as well, because then you or otherwise you might lose a little bit of the integrity as we spoke about previously. And I think that's vital in order to create an emotional brand and to have a deep personality in the whole brand and the company. And I think for morecast and for me personally, that's very important. It's like walking into a space. It can be like a restaurant or a hotel or a store. If you don't have a personality when you walk in, you will instantly feel it and the ambiance will be quite dull and boring. It's the same thing when crafting a brand. So we try to balance it in the best way possible. We are investing in data and like data to a great extent, but perhaps we're probably a pretty good understanding on when to use it, when to listen to it and when to apply it.
- [34:12]
Tom Edwards
That was Henrik Berg, the founder and CEO of Morhas. And you can find out more by heading to MoreHas.com and that is your lot for this episode of the Entrepreneurs. We'll be back at the same time next week. The program's produced by Laura Kramer with audio editing by Jack Dewars. You can listen again and find out more@monocle.com or follow us wherever you get your audio. If you'd like to get in touch with the team, do email Laura on LRK monocle.com I'm Tom Edwards. Goodbye and thanks for listening to the Entrepreneurs.