The co-founder and co-president of Women on Boards Ukraine talks about how it is possible to build a new brand in a very import-dependent cosmetics category during the war.
During RAU Expo 2024, in her presentation, co-founder of Beehive Cosmetics Nina Dombrovskaya spoke about the success story of Beehive in the “honey” category in Ukraine and the world, as well as the brand differentiation strategy and rethinking of “Ukrainianness” during the war, optimization of shelf space, distribution strategy and future plans. RAU invites you to familiarize yourself with the main theses.
Ambitious goal
The cosmetics market is very large. Ukrainians spend 15-20 billion UAH per year on basic cosmetics (shampoos, shower gels and various creams) alone. But the majority of purchases – up to 90% – are imported products. Our brand aims to change this situation by competing on equal terms with expensive imported cosmetics. Of course, you can find domestic goods in Ukrainian stores, but they are usually located on the lower shelves, where cheaper assortment is presented. We want Ukrainian cosmetics to be associated with premium, high-quality products that we can rightfully be proud of.
Golden barrel effect
Without exaggeration, Ukrainian honey can be called one of the best in the world. The history of the Beehive company began in 2016 with the production of honey. For this purpose, modern technological facilities with an area of 5000 square meters were built in the Cherkasy region. m. This project also set an ambitious goal – to make the best honey in the world. Typically, manufacturers package this product in standard 200-liter metal barrels and send it to wholesale buyers, who, at their discretion, package the beekeeping product in smaller containers, including for retail chains.
To emphasize the value of its product and distinguish it from other manufacturers, the company began painting its barrels in a “golden” color. And also put your logo and contact phone number so that all resellers know whose honey it is and where it comes from. With this simple technique, it was possible to expand trade to 25 countries around the world, including the USA and Canada, where Beehive sells its honey. And in some places – in Spain and the UK – Ukrainian Beehive honey is already on supermarket shelves.
Search for added value
The next stage of business development was the search for new directions that would make it possible to create a product based on honey with greater added value in order to further promote Ukrainian products. This direction was the production of cosmetics. Because the healing properties of honey, in particular for hair and body, have long been known. However, now manufacturers for the most part only write about the presence of honey in their cosmetics, but the actual amount there is simply meager. The Korean manufacturer surpassed everyone, leaving honey only in the name of the hair mask (but it contains Siberian chrysanthemum extract).
That is, real “gold” – a quality ingredient – has turned into a marketing tool. At the same time, this demonstrated the effectiveness of this tool and the demand among consumers for honey-based cosmetics. Accordingly, the emergence of a powerful manufacturer of honey-based cosmetics could become the same differentiation factor for the domestic product and capture its market share.
Difficult path to the consumer
But, as it turned out, it’s not for nothing that no one wants to bother with such production, since it is very difficult to implement from a technological point of view. All the technologists we contacted refused because they could not guarantee the stability of the final product for 24 months precisely because of the naturalness of the main ingredient. Because honey crystallizes, changes its structure, etc. It seemed that the idea was on the verge of collapse, but the world is moved by brave men who are not afraid to take risks. Finally, a technologist was found who took up development and long months of experimentation and testing began.
In addition, the standard approach had to be changed, for example in the hair care category. So, if the manufacturer uses natural ingredients that are healthy, the hair itself will actually look like straw. At the same time, silicone-based products give a beautiful look to the hair, but “overload” it, because at the end of the day the achieved effect is lost.
The task was indeed extremely complex, but solvable, and we managed to masterfully combine the richness of honey and natural ingredients with advanced technologies. The launch of the new product on the market was scheduled for April 2022. But a full-scale war changed everything.
Forced delay
In a sense, we were lucky that we did not have time to invest funds and freeze them in a premium product that no one knows anything about. On the one hand, it seemed that such projects were no longer in time, but on the other hand, the war made us think about the importance of promoting Ukrainian goods (which was not thought about or emphasized before the war). Therefore, after rethinking the idea, it was subsequently decided to launch the product into production, adding the phrase Proud to be Ukrainian to the label.
In addition to the uniqueness and naturalness and Ukrainian origin of the product, the company formulated the following mission: to give women what they so lack in this world, overflowing with claims, demands, challenges, gloss, glamor and displeasure – self-confidence. This is the most attractive thing a woman can have.
Assortment and product strategy
On the one hand, Ukrainians are already ready to buy domestic products, but on the other hand, the goods must be of adequate quality in order to compete with imports. The promotion of new cosmetics is helped by the growing competence and demandingness of consumers – their requirements for quality, reliability, and safety. There is also a trend towards the use of multifunctional products and the simplicity of product lines and formulas in products, that is, fewer ingredients and more naturalness.
Therefore, unlike most brands, where the consumer is offered an average of 20 SKUs with a difference in content of certain ingredients of less than a percent, Beehive Cosmetics offered a very concise line of 7 SKUs. Three shampoos, conditioner, cream mask, serum and spray, from which a woman can choose 2-3 items specifically for her hair type. This way we optimize space on the shelf.
The promotion strategy is premium beauty retail. We offer the consumer appropriate quality at a price that is not excessive. We will be the first Ukrainian brand to appear on the ground floor of the Kiev TSUM. Of course, the shampoo for 650 UAH will not be available in all stores, but it will be a flagship that will show that the Ukrainian product can be at the level of the best imported samples.
Accordingly, there are big plans to conquer the Ukrainian market and enter international markets. We are planning to expand product categories, in particular, body care products, perfumes, etc. The developed brand identity allows you to fight for foreign consumers, but they still need to be convinced of the quality of the Ukrainian product.
