Brand Differentiation in a Crowded Market: Moving Beyond 'Clean' and 'Natural

When I first started Limegreen, I sold mostly at trade shows and pop-ups. If someone walked over to my booth and mentioned a product I didn't have, I immediately kept a mental note. The next time I was in the lab or even brainstorming at my desk, I would work on creating that product.

Limegreen started off as a cleaning company, not a beauty brand. I was cleaning my first apartment and used a cleaner I found under the sink from the previous tenant. After spraying it, I immediately felt dizzy and lightheaded and had to step outside to get some air. It was scary. My bathroom didn't have a window, and thinking back, I doubt it was properly vented. I immediately wanted to create a product that I could use to clean my bathroom without the fumes. At that time, the industry was moving towards plant-based products, so I thought it was a good business idea.

I started with a basic castile soap all purpose cleaner using essential oils and plant based cleansing agents. This was 2009, we were one of the first brands doing this. Having a design background, the product was visually appealing, so potential customers would come up and assume they were beauty products and  immediately be disappointed that it wasn't skincare or makeup. The feedback was always that the product smelled great, but maybe I should  add a candle. Then I started carrying candles. Then people suggested something safe for kids or pets  without fear or fire, so I developed a room spray. Then someone suggested they would love this scent in an oil, so I created that. I think you see where I'm going. By the time I looked up, I had about 26 SKUs. No strategic launches, just added new products based on suggestions.

The products were great, but we didn't have a hero product. We did have some bestsellers, but so much was spent adding SKUs that I hadn't really taken stock of where we were. Years went by and by the time I looked up other brands were launching similar products with some small differences, but pretty much the same thing. We didn't have strong branding or marketing, so to buyers, we were just another natural skincare brand. It was harder to get placement in retail because buyers would say sorry, we already have a product line like yours.

So there we were stuck and and we had to make some hard decisions. We came up with a core group of products and decided they would be multi-use, which meant we had to down size our skus.  We no longer added products because people suggested them. We realized we didn't have to be everything to everyone. We could stay in our lane and be the best in our category. We could talk about our brand and the difference between us and other products when buyers compared us to other indie beauty brands. I started pitching the brand to magazines, buyers and I even landed a spot on The Today Show.  People were resonating with our brand.

So get really clear about your brand and what makes you different from other brands. Whether you have one hero product or multiple SKUs, you want to make sure you're bringing a unique product to the market, something that's solving a problem or something that customers want. There is enough for all of us especially if you make it your own.