From a kitchen lab start-up in a blender to a fully-fledged direct-to-consumer internationally respected beauty brand, Isomers Skin Care is a great example of a resilient and responsive independent brand and DTC retailer. In this episode of The Voice of Retail, Manuela and I catch up and talk about the origin story and core values of the company, reflects on lessons learned as an entrepreneur and talks about what it’s like for a breakthrough Canadian brand to enter the social media space.
Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.
From a kitchen lab start-up in a blender to a fully-fledged direct-to-consumer internationally respected beauty brand, Isomers Skin Care is a great example of a resilient and responsive independent brand and DTC retailer.
Since 1988, Isomers has been developing and producing skincare solutions that are grounded in science. In an industry that can be notorious for empty promises, founder and CEO Manuela Marcheggiani wanted to offer reliability and authenticity to consumers - creating skin care products that deliver measurable results.
In this episode of The Voice of Retail, Manuela and I catch up and talk about the origin story and core values of the company, reflects on lessons learned as an entrepreneur and talks about what it’s like for a breakthrough Canadian brand to enter the social media space.
Thanks for tuning into today’s episode of The Voice of Retail. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you don’t miss out on the latest episodes, industry news, and insights. If you enjoyed this episode please consider leaving a rating and review, as it really helps us grow so that we can continue getting amazing guests on the show.
I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company, and if you’re looking for more content, or want to chat follow me on LinkedIn, or visit my website meleblanc.co!
Until next time, stay safe and have a great week!
Michael LeBlanc is the Founder & President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc and a Senior Advisor to Retail Council of Canada as part of his advisory and consulting practice. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience, and has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. Michael is the producer and host of a network of leading podcasts including Canada’s top retail industry podcast, The Voice of Retail, plus Global E-Commerce Tech Talks and The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois. You can learn more about Michael here or on LinkedIn.
Michael LeBlanc 00:05
Welcome to The Voice of Retail, I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.
Michael LeBlanc 00:11
From a kitchen lab start-up in a blender to a fully-fledged direct-to-consumer internationally respected beauty brand, Isomers Skin Care is a great example of a resilient and responsive independent brand and DTC retailer.
Michael LeBlanc 00:22
Since 1988. Isomers has been developing and producing skin care solutions that are grounded in science. And in an industry that has been notorious for empty promises founder and CEO, Manuela Marcheggiani wanted to offer reliability and authenticity to consumers, creating skin care products that deliver measurable results.
Michael LeBlanc 00:39
In this episode of The Voice of Retail, Manuela and I catch up and talk about the origin story and core values of the company, reflects on lessons learned as an entrepreneur and talks about what it’s like for a breakthrough Canadian brand to enter the social media space.
Manuela Marcheggiani 00:53
It's changed a lot. I mean, the, the essence of who we are the essence of Isomers, who we are, that we were science-based and education focus never changed. But how we've played or how we've been, how we've played with live streaming has changed a lot.
Michael LeBlanc 01:12
Let's listen in now. Manuela, welcome to The Voice of Retail podcast. How are you?
Manuela Marcheggiani 01:19
I'm great. It's wonderful to be here.
Michael LeBlanc 01:21
Well, you and you and I have known each other for a lot of years, actually, when I started thinking about it. And I think the last time we saw each other in person was in the green room at the Shopping Channel. So, that's a couple of years ago, how have you been, is, everything is great?
Manuela Marcheggiani 01:37
Everything is good. Yeah, everything is good. I mean, we've had, there are a lot of changes, right. And with what's been happening in the world.
Michael LeBlanc 01:44
Yeah.
Manuela Marcheggiani 01:44
I mean, there's a lot of, a lot of there's been a lot of ups and downs. You know, there's a lot of, there was a lot of uncertainty.
Michael LeBlanc 01:50
Sure, yeah. Yeah.
Manuela Marcheggiani 01:51
You know, coming through that storm, and not even reinventing yourself, but just just just battling the storm and just, you know, keeping steady focus, we've all been we've all come through this pretty good, I think, well, a little stronger and smarter.
Michael LeBlanc 02:06
Well, I tell you, if I think about an organization that was ready for both agility and resilience, it's you, and Darius. Because you're basically, that's your DNA. So, that's I think, if anybody would, would get through this COVID era, we'll all get through it together. But make sure to say "Hi" to Darius for me as well.
Manuela Marcheggiani 02:25
I will.
Michael LeBlanc 02:25
I should do that call out. I think Darius and I saw each other even longer ago. But listen, it's great to have you on the podcast. So, I know you, obviously, the listeners are gonna say I know you, obviously, pretty well in your business, they probably may not.
Manuela Marcheggiani 02:39
Sure.
Michael LeBlanc 02:39
So, let's start at the beginning. Tell us about yourself. And, and tell us about your role at Isomers. And let's, let's dive in.
Manuela Marcheggiani 02:46
I am a Cosmetic Chemist Scientist and I met Darius, in University of Toronto many, many years ago in the early '80s. And at that time, I had very bad skin, problematic skin really, really bad issues with, with my skin. And that really had nothing to do with what ended up happening. But what ended up happening was I been trying to you know, feel better about myself, Darius was studying chemistry, I was doing a little bit of dabbling, not knowing what I was going to, but I wanted to be when I grew up. And when we left University, we already had been playing with formulas just to help me this was just you know, an idea and a blender. And then I've been
Michael LeBlanc 03:24
Kitchen, right in the kitchen basically, right?
Manuela Marcheggiani 03:26
Literally, in the kitchen, bachelor apartment, stolen blender from my mother. And yeah, and Darius was in, in more of agricultural, and pesticide, and pharmaceutical work. But you know, a lot of that technology, he was kind of bringing home and saying, "Hey, what if we tried this or what if we tried that?", and I at that point went into TV shopping in, in more a marketing aspect or analytics, really. And then before you know it, my skin started changing. And we were in an environment that people started noticing the changes. And from that idea in a blender, we started getting orders, people were asking, like, "What are you doing?, and this is what we do, and they're like, "Could you make this for me, could you make that for me?", and before we knew it, we had to actually quit our daytime jobs and start a company and start formulating based in science and results-oriented science. And, quite honestly, as scientists that we, we didn't know anything about really marketing or distribution or storytelling we were just doing and fixing. And, so, we had to, we never really learned it, but we based everything on, on the idea that "the truth sets you free", kind of, thing.
Michael LeBlanc 04:42
Right.
Manuela Marcheggiani 04:42
You go with science, you go with what sound, you go with quality. You go with something that even if you don't explain it, it works so well that people come back because you treat them with that level of respect or you deliver that type of quality. And that's who we are. So, we're, basically, a science-based, fully-integrated manufacturing of problem-solving skincare. That's our-, our evolution,
Michael LeBlanc 05:08
Well, it's a great origin story. And I often talk to people on the podcast to have this intersection of the personal and professional in one way, shape, or another. And you're kind of articulating that where it came together for you. So, so, you have a manufacturing production plant, I've actually been in the plant in Toronto, but you, you sell globally. Give us a sense, give the listeners a sense of your scale and your scope, you know, how many, how many products on an ongoing basis you have, and where your focus is, you obviously you're in, in skincare, but you know, just give us a good sense of, of Isomers, and where you play and your scope and all that great stuff.
Manuela Marcheggiani 05:45
Well, we play around the world, and we are international. And, so, we play predominantly with TV shopping or direct-to-consumer. So, we do a lot of, we, we're in Italy, and Germany and Australia. And we've been, you know, Spain and Asia, China, Beijing, we've had the opportunities to be in there, and we're in North America. So we are global in that sense, or international, in that sense. And, we do like to work with TV shopping or direct-to-consumer entities because we truly are the frontman of the knowledge, because of that, you know, our product always comes with a lot of value and information. That's usually how we play, we have a smaller role or way more, not as large, or not as hands-on but with other distribution networks such as an you know, an Amazon or other kind of retailers. And then we also do celebrity and or Medispa formulations because there'll be a lot of people who, everybody's a scientist, everybody wants to be a scientist, once, once they learned that you know how to make something.
Michael LeBlanc 06:50
Right, right, right.
Manuela Marcheggiani 06:50
They all want a product, but we on average, we have about 150 active formulations at any time. We do both skin care based and also over the counter, what are considered more drugs or pharmaceutical, we also do those so those are the real, you know, the sunscreens, and the acne,
Michael LeBlanc 07:08
Right.
Manuela Marcheggiani 07:08
and problematic, more problematic as well as, as well as cosmetic and anti-aging,
Michael LeBlanc 07:14
So, more, so, more, more treat some, a mix of anti-aging and cosmetic and treatment based kind of stuff.
Manuela Marcheggiani 07:21
Yes.
Michael LeBlanc 07:21
And I think you still have a, you've always had a bit of a mostly for women, but you also have a men's line men's products as well. Yeah.
Manuela Marcheggiani 07:29
Yeah, we do. We also, we branched out. I mean, we've always been, you know, I know that, now, everybody talks about being inclusive, and non-gender, you know, we always were because we always felt science was anyways, in the sense that, you know,
Michael LeBlanc 07:42
Yeah.
Manuela Marcheggiani 07:43
You know, spinach is good for everybody doesn't matter. You know, we all have to drink water, we all have to eat our green leafy vegetables.
Michael LeBlanc 07:52
Right.
Manuela Marcheggiani 07:52
So coming from that our formulations were always about, okay, here's the, here's the, you know, the, the base, here's the delivery system, this is how it works. This is the load factor. And, so, skin is skin, depending on the age or the stage that you're in, but we were always very much inclusive or universal that way. We broke it down more by, "What stage are you at?",
Michael LeBlanc 08:14
Interesting.
Manuela Marcheggiani 08:14
You know, "Are you at the stage that requires this collagen boost or are you on the stage that, you know, you need more hydration?", So, we were looking at it a little bit differently, but we did have to then open it up having some more men's skin care because there was that need to identify, some men are not comfortable just using. I mean, I think people some people need to be handheld.
Michael LeBlanc 08:37
Yeah.
Manuela Marcheggiani 08:37
So, we, we brought in that education part and then we brought in how we can identify, and then, what were the differences. So, men's pH happens to be slightly different, and their skin happens to be a little thicker. And so we were able to then take that information and educate on that and say, okay, you can use the regular stuff. But if you want to do something for men, this is what we've done. This is what we've done differently in these formulas that would give you a little bit better benefit if you're having issues.
Michael LeBlanc 09:05
It's, so, interesting now and this isn't a science podcast, per se, but it's interesting to hear you talk about you know, the generic-ness, so to speak, gender-neutral-ness of the products because it's not always marketed that way, right?
Manuela Marcheggiani 09:19
Right.
Michael LeBlanc 09:19
And so what you're saying if I play the tape back is there are some nuances, differences, but by and large as you said skin is skin, collagen, you know, people get older, younger and all those different things. That's so interesting. I want to follow up on one thread about one thing you said the celebrity connection talk about that a little bit because I think you know when I think celebrity and skin care, or perhaps when many listeners think about that they're thinking about you know, you're getting some someone who plays tennis to be on the front of your bottle. That's not really your vibe. Tell me a little bit about the, the celebrity connection that you mentioned, explore that for me a little bit.
Manuela Marcheggiani 09:52
Okay, so you're absolutely right. It's not that we hire celebrities or get celebrities to advertise for us. We don't actually do advertising, where, you know, we basically show up in TV shopping, or we were doing things on social media, and we're just talking about our brand, but what happens is that we are a laboratory and we are inventors and product developers. So, there are a lot of celebrity brands or celebrities themselves or you know, different royalty from different countries, without disclos-, disclosing who they are.
Michael LeBlanc 10:26
Oh, that’s interesting.
Manuela Marcheggiani 10:26
Who will basically, you know, want to now have a product or they want to have a presence. And, so, they will come to us and say, "Okay, this is who I am and I would like to have formulas that do" and then you know, "x, y, and z" or "I believe in this, can you create a line or can create a product that does that, and that aligns up with my values?". So, we've, we've actually either created formulations for celebrities, or we've optimized formulations where they'll say, "Okay, I'm so and so and I have this brand, but it's really not doing what it was supposed to do. Could you fix it?". So, we've, we've, we've played in that world quite a bit. Yeah.
Michael LeBlanc 11:09
So, it's, kind of, in other words, it's, kind of, white-labeled, so to speak. You're, they're, the celebrity is both using it for themselves, and they're selling it with their name on it, but you're the manufacturer of it. Is that is that accurate?
Manuela Marcheggiani 11:22
We, we are the manufacturer of either with a product developer in the sense that we've created the formula, we provide the formula, and sometimes we actually make it as well, in the sense of doing the manufacturing, sometimes we just are the recipe fixer. Sometimes we just fix the recipes, and then they go overseas and have it manufactured. Because quite, quite honestly, for some people manufacturing in North America is too expensive.
Michael LeBlanc 11:47
Right, I see.
Manuela Marcheggiani 11:47
I mean, they want to do it overseas. So, that's fine. Here's the recipe, here are the specs. This is how you do it.
Michael LeBlanc 11:53
Designed in Toronto, manufactured wherever, basically, kind of thing.
Manuela Marcheggiani 11:56
Like most things in life, right?
Michael LeBlanc 11:58
Yeah. Right.
Michael LeBlanc 11:58
Designed in Canada, sold elsewhere.
Michael LeBlanc 12:01
Made and sold elsewhere. Well, all right. Well, cool. That's interesting. Now, let's talk about your firsthand experience over decades, you and I've, again, we crossed paths many times and the kind of television retail the, the, that interactive thing we both love because it gets a chance to tell the story. How is it, as you've been a partner to many across, across the world, how has it evolved over the years? I mean, is it, it's really funny, right, because, you know, when we talk about, we were talking off-mic about how, you know, there's all this buzz around live streaming, well, you guys, and you are the OG of live streaming, you were, you know, the whole TV retail, and it's harder than it looks. Tell me about your observations. As a vendor looking in, and a participant, how has it changed over the, over your time with, with that, with that media.
Manuela Marcheggiani 12:52
It's changed a lot. I mean, the, the essence of who we are, the essence of Isomers, who we are that we were science-based and education focused, never changed. But how we've played or how we've been, how we've played with live streaming has changed a lot. So, I find that in the, in the beginning, especially with TV shopping, it was all it was about creating a relationship, right, it was creating a relationship, and a community and getting people to tune in, you know, to TV shopping, and to figure out what is it, and to actually experience product that you can't touch, with people that you don't know. But now, you have, now, you have an expert, so, or you have an inventor or manufacturer telling you about their story, how it's made and romancing it that way, but also giving you some value that you couldn't find elsewhere. And, it gave us a lot of opportunity on developing our personality, but the personality of the brand. And, then as I find that it evolved and it's become much, and I think that was very organic. And it was like, you know, dating, you had a chance to talk to people, you explored things, you ask questions back and forth, there was and there was more involvement. I find now that the TV shopping has changed a lot. It's become much more data-driven, much more call to action, less story, almost like we're jumping a few steps, if you will.
Michael LeBlanc 14:23
Are we getting ahead of our skis, so to speak, do you think has it become too transactional?
Manuela Marcheggiani 14:28
I think so I think that a lot of the story is lost. I think that a lot of that connection is lost. And it's almost, like, there was, I think there was a power people would have to, you know, there was a there was, remember that sense too, especially in the beginning of TV shopping, or when we were, when we were doing this direct to consumer, there really wasn't an item number and there wasn't a way to buy it unless it was on air. Right.
Michael LeBlanc 14:51
Right, right.
Manuela Marcheggiani 14:51
So, you had to be tuned in now, as long as you have the SKU number and, you know, you can go online, you could do it at, you know, 3am, you could do it at any time. It's really not as driven, but I think that that's where they're missing, I really think that they're missing that whole romance part I do still, I still see it's much more dollar per minute margin per minute. And they're really trying to master that science. And I find, so, that live streaming on TV has changed a lot. And, I think that's why I don't know the social media part of it is such a great opportunity to go back and revisit and reintroduce yourself to a different audience, and take a breath, you know.
Michael LeBlanc 15:14
And be a storyteller again, basically, you know, what I've always loved when I watched your presentations as you go up the ladder, as I described it, right, from, from technical functional to emotional benefits of the product, and really good. You know, that's the art in science, would you agree, I mean, the art in sciences, "What does it do for you?" And then "How does it make you feel?" is that, is that, am I capturing the art in science as you as you present? Is tha-, is that what's in the back of your mind is as you do this?
Manuela Marcheggiani 15:54
Yes, it is. It always is. It's the, it's the "here's the problem, here's a solution". But, I see that I see truly that the solution is more than my product or the end product. It's not just about the math, and the science, I think the solution is larger. And that I think speaks to how it makes you feel, you know, when we talk about mental health a lot now, that it really was about mental health, when you don't have a solution for a problem, you have uncertainty, and that uncertainty causes a lot of issues with
Michael LeBlanc 16:26
Anxiety, yeah, sure.
Manuela Marcheggiani 16:26
the anxiety and frustration. And then you become much more susceptible or vulnerable to misinformation, and to believing everything. And we tried to always be that voice of knowledge and information and certainty, the science is certain, you know, this mathematical equation is certain the math is certain. And so we tried to go that way. And that, and go into that other part of it. So, we do yes, we do the science, and then we get to that emotional part. But I think it's larger than just the product.
Michael LeBlanc 16:57
Yeah, yeah. Well, I mean, there's plenty of products on the market, right? Well, you and I know that when, you know, there's, on any, even on, in TV selling, there's lots of products. So, differentiating yourself in a meaningful way is more important now, I think than ever.
Michael LeBlanc 17:10
Let me touch on the science, I want to pull on that thread a little bit has, over the course of you know, you say, science is science, and you guys are steeped in that has there been any changes that you can think of that are important over the past 10 or 15 years that you've incorporated into your products, kind of breakthroughs. I remember I was once in the, in the facility. And it was really interesting, you had a dry and a liquid. And they would mix together in the bottle as a package again, that made it fresh. And that was like 10 years ago, but I thought that was really innovative and new. Anything like that come to mind that you're really excited about?
Manuela Marcheggiani 17:44
Well, yeah, I was really excited. I mean, it started I think in 1998, was when I really was like I think I was doing the happy dance from, from across the, from across the lab. But this is when peptides were kind of invented or released into the market. I mean, they weren't invented, they were always there, you know, it's like saying Mount Ev-,
Manuela Marcheggiani 18:00
Harnessed, I guess, yeah.
Manuela Marcheggiani 18:01
It's like saying Mount Everest was invented. No, It was always there. We just didn't know it was there until we knew it was there, right.
Michael LeBlanc 18:07
Right. Right, right.
Manuela Marcheggiani 18:07
But, but, peptides, the fact that in 1998, our collagen peptide or signaling peptides were identifying that basically they were incomplete sequences, and always reminds me of Jurassic Park, when there's a guy talking about "dino-DNA", you know, they take a little bit of DNA from the fly, and then the mosquito and they're able to create the dinosaurs. So, this is a broken, in essence, it's a broken piece of collagen in a petri dish, right, who knew that if you put it on skin, the skin would think oh, my goodness, I have a wound, and it would start creating repair mechanisms. So, this idea of having engineering, your skin care engineering, what you want the skin to do sending signals. So, that truly was, is quite, like, it's very exciting because it's like now we're really not into formulating, we're also into programming, you know, if you can creating this program, so that's also exciting. But then what becomes even more exciting is that that's not the end, that's not the answer. So, what we knew today, next week, we may find out something more because I always think of it as, as Minecraft or I don't know, Prince of Persia or whatever, say I'm dating myself, or whatever video games people are playing now. But you go to the next level, when you unlock something, it becomes a little more you get more information or you have more exposure. Science and chemistry is like that, you know, we got to, you know, we learned so much about collagen and then all of a sudden we find out "Wait, there's seven different kinds. Oh, no wait and six of them do this." And "Oh wait, it needs to be bundled", like, it's like at every step and we only learn this every day like this is not it as, as we get older as girls, as we learn and we, and we actually grow as a planet. Truly, then we share information and we become even more specific in what we do. And that becomes more exciting because then we can actually create better, we can get to the root of things in a clearer, cleaner way.
Michael LeBlanc 20:12
Interesting. So, would you say you're as excited now, as you were at the beginning of your journey, or even more so about the products that you're making?
Manuela Marcheggiani 20:20
I'm more excited now. I'm more excited now because it's, it. Because. I'm more excited now because it validated a lot of things that I believed 30 years ago, 25 years ago, you know, when people would, you know, it has to only be natural, or I don't want to ever use chemicals on my skin. And I'm standing there going, everything's a flipping chemical, and natural is not always safe. But nobody would listen to me. Or 20 years ago, right.
Michael LeBlanc 20:50
Yeah, yeah.
Manuela Marcheggiani 20:50
We're excited now because people now we're understanding "Wait, water is a chemical.", yes, everything is a chemical, doesn't mean it's bad and natural, sounds great. But natural is not always safe. And also a natural. You don't want the whole plant or the whole thing. You want to isolate certain things because it's those things that have the benefit. So, we take the noise away. So, I'm actually more excited because I think people today are more willing to listen to that and I think that's better.
Michael LeBlanc 21:24
Yeah, that's it. Let's, let's talk about social media for a bit. I'm jumping around a bit, but I'm just, kind of, following the conversation. When I think about, or when you think about social media, how do you think about using it for, for Isomers? Is it, do you both use it to, to keep in touch with what people are worried about what they're looking for the solutions they're seeking, and do you use it yourself? And, how do you see social media, and I don't want to get in into the nuts and bolts of the platforms that a lot of people are talking about, TikTok, for example, but is it, is it important for you both as a brand and as, and we'll get to this, as a, as a direct-to-consumer seller as well?
Manuela Marcheggiani 22:03
Well, I think we've really up until about May, this year, we've had some social media. I mean, we tried here, here, here we go, you know, we tried doing it ourselves, right, so, Darius and I, when we had time, we would, we would post some stuff, I'd see what some people were doing. We have, you know, children, they're in their 20s.
Michael LeBlanc 22:23
Yeah.
Manuela Marcheggiani 22:23
And they would say, you know, "Have you seen this? Have you seen that on social media?" So it was there, didn't fully, I embraced it, but I didn't, I didn't fully know what to do with it. And because of COVID, truly, we stayed open because our laboratory stayed open making hand sanitizer. And so, that, that was wonderful. So that we actually had a purpose, you know, we had a, had a little bit of certainty and uncertainty, we had something to do. And while we were doing that, we couldn't actually travel. So, we would have to broadcast remotely with some networks and other networks, when there was just nothing to do.
Michael LeBlanc 23:01
How weird was that for you not to be traveling, because you're a road warrior, right? You're traveling around the world, that's that must have been so different.
Manuela Marcheggiani 23:09
It's so different because we basically I basically was away like to two weeks every month, but the last, you know, 15 years, like
Michael LeBlanc 23:17
Yeah. yeah, yeah.
Manuela Marcheggiani 23:18
Truly, like, this is because you had to go to the TV station, or you had to go to the platform, right?
Michael LeBlanc 23:23
Yeah. yeah, yeah.
Manuela Marcheggiani 23:23
So, being able to do this from our laboratory, which is what we do. That actually opened up, wait a minute, that, it opened up my, my, maybe it opened up, it took away some of my fears of looking at social media differently and looking at it as you know what, I actually have something to say, and I, and I can use this platform, and it's not going to be like, it's not going to be like, you know, we're pretending to be 20, we're not you know,
Michael LeBlanc 23:52
Right, yeah.
Manuela Marcheggiani 23:52
one of those with COVID. And a lot of people working from home, if we add to the conversation if we need to bring in young people who really know this, not us because we, we think we know it but we really don't. The younger know it and they know it well. And, and so just as it is a sci-, like our science is a science, this is a science as well. So, let's bring in some people that are young and fresh, that, that are like-minded that want to get into like delivering good value. And, so we started, I, and I'm also because we're fully integrated at Isomers here we do all the manufacturing and everything ourselves as you know, I also, and maybe it's part of how we do things in the sense of we need to have control or we need to make sure that the integrity,
Michael LeBlanc 23:17
Yeah.
Manuela Marcheggiani 24:29
the quality, the dedication is there. We brought people in-house so we brought a university graduate, and a commut-, two university grads in communication. One focuses on Instagram and the other one is focusing on TikTok. And then we brought in a writer from University from Ryerson, and we brought in a photo-, an unemployed wedding photographer because there was no weddings happening. And we put this group together and we have been creating value content and we just started. I think we're in our third week of TikTok’s. So, they're having dances. Oh, yeah, I'm doing some funky dances and I do have a little bit of rhythm. Right, and they're I'm, I told them the other day that I feel like Milli Vanilli because they had me lip-synching to so many.
Michael LeBlanc 25:32
And they're like "Who?". Yeah, you're dating yourself there. you're dating yourself, yourself there with that reference.
Manuela Marcheggiani 25:39
But, It's funny because right away the communications ones, they're googling it, right? They're like, oh yeah.
Michael LeBlanc 25:45
They’re Googling, “Who is Milli Vanilli”. Oh, geez, you're not Milli Vanilli, okay.
Manuela Marcheggiani 25:51
Oh, cuz your lipsyncing [inaudible]. and I said, "Duh", yeah, exactly.
Michael LeBlanc 25:56
Oh, goodness.
Manuela Marcheggiani 25:56
But yeah, so no, having the social media was, actually allowed us to create amazing, it actually, I thought I would be mentoring them and I find that they're mentoring me because I've learned so much about how to communicate, like niacinamide, or collagen peptides, or just simple things like, like I you just automatically think people know how to wash their face or where acne comes from or this, and it's, like, no, they,
Michael LeBlanc 26:25
Yeah.
Manuela Marcheggiani 26:25
you know, they look at you like, you know, like little innocent kittens, and they're like, please explain that. And I'm like, "Are you serious?", and then they break it down into five things or three things. And I'm like, "I've been saying this." But obviously, I haven't been saying it in the way that they consume it
Michael LeBlanc 26:41
Interesting, interesting. And you bring, and you bring that, something else that's, well, not something else, but something very important on social media, is that authenticity, right, that authenticity of voice. And so it's, it's a nice, it's a nice connection.
Michael LeBlanc 26:55
Let's talk about, last couple of questions. Let's talk about how you think about managing through direct selling to consumers versus selling through to your partners. It's a big topic. It's a huge topic, we even more so now we've had in Canada, we had a great acceleration, a lot more e-commerce. So, a lot more brands are thinking about their strategy around both. Some brands have gone very far. Nike, you know, for example, or Canada Goose very far down the direct-to-consumer path. How do you think about it in your brand?
Manuela Marcheggiani 27:28
I like, I like to go to the consumer. I mean, I think that we've gotten, we, we also have gone more that route, talking to the consumer that way, as opposed to, because the world has shifted, and the consumer has shifted and opening up, I think it, I think we also have to, it's good for us too, because I think that the with the population shifting, going through direct to consumer through social media has opened up so much more of the world. I mean, that's where everybody is, those are the platforms. And I think that a lot of the direct-to-consumer that are plugged in that way. They're actually getting smaller as opposed to getting bigger, and so we try to, kind of
Michael LeBlanc 28:14
Are you're learning, are you learning lessons that you then transfer to your, let's say, the wholesale relationships as well. Does it make you a better a better partner for retailers? Is it a one plus one equals three in your mind?
Manuela Marcheggiani 28:26
Absolutely, because now, we actually have, we've designed things that actually speak to that, that helps, that helps, that helps the wholesaler because we're able to put things into bite-sized pieces or different configurations or different kinds of collaborations or a trend that we've been able to identify that puts them more on point because I do think that that's important too, to be on point and to be relevant.
Michael LeBlanc 28:50
Right. All right, last question for you. Second last question. But, last question is more about where to find out more information. But, you know, you've been doing this you're a veteran, you're so successful, two-starts and one-stop advice to people like yourself brands like yourself on how best to, you know, be successful in a relationship within retail. What what are the things that they should start doing, if they're not, and one thing that they should probably stop doing, maybe, it used to work, it's not meant to be negative, maybe it used to work, but things have changed, what, any thoughts on this?
Manuela Marcheggiani 29:21
Yeah, well, I think I wanted to I think stop. I wrote down stop doing traditional things, I think stopped I think a lot of times we do traditional things and one of my examples was you know, hairdressers or salons or whatever they're closed Sunday Monday. So that to me is right away, be open Sunday, Monday. Don't, don't be, don't follow that trend. Go where there's the opportunity, just because other people are doing something, you know, stop, stop thinking well, that's just the way it does this the way it's done. Well, maybe you can do it better or you can offer something that's different than you have a voice, so I say you know start knowing the culture. How, understand your consumer how they respond, what they're looking for, and how they, you know, and how they buy. I think that's really important too, because I know that now our consumer, they've moved away from truly a celebrity or just someone they want, they want more authenticity. So, we offer more authenticity, and we offer it, where they need it. So, I just think, you know, try to try to just know, you know, your customer know, your customer, you know, your product and, and offer it at times when other people aren't there. So, be the one, be the guy in the room, right.
Michael LeBlanc 30:30
Right, right on. And so, you know, you remind me of that, that rock and roll band, that's a 20-year overnight success. Your success is built on a lot of experience. So, it's fantastic to watch. Where can folks go to learn more about your brand, and maybe even sample your products and follow in social media? Where, Isomers website and all that stuff, is that the best place?
Manuela Marcheggiani 30:51
Yep, Isomers.ca is our website and we're on Facebook and TikTok, we're Isomers Skin Care, Isomers Laboratories, and YouTube and we produce content every day now, just on different platforms.
Michael LeBlanc 31:05
Right.
Manuela Marcheggiani 31:05
But it's, it's quite it's, it's quite interesting because again, we're able to put things down into digestible, useful I mean, I think all of this everything that we're producing, I mean, it's pretty, it's beautiful. So it's nice. But what's even more important, it actually has value people can learn from it. And when they learn, they're empowered, and when they're empowered, I mean, you can do anything right. You know, this is great.
Michael LeBlanc 31:32
Well, what a great note to, to end our interview on. Thank you so much for joining me, it's great to hear your voice again.It's been, been a bit too long, and congratulations on all your success, and I wish you continued success in the months and years to come.
Manuela Marcheggiani 31:49
Thank you. You too, thank you so much. It was a pleasure.
Michael LeBlanc 31:51
Thanks for tuning in to today's episode of The Voice of Retail. Be sure to follow the podcast on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you enjoy podcasts so you don't miss out on the latest episodes, industry news, and insights. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving a rating and review as it really helps us grow so that we continue to get amazing guests onto the show.
Michael LeBlanc 32:10
I'm your host Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc. and if you're looking for more content or want to chat, follow me on LinkedIn or visit my website at meleblanc.co
Michael LeBlanc 32:20
Until next time, stay safe and have a great week!
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
people, science, brand, celebrity, consumer, product, creating, skin, talk, darius, isomers, social media, collagen, retail, manuela, formulations, bit, podcast, play, tv