An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Be Transparent: If you want people/customers to trust your brand/products, you have to be honest. Transparency shows your customers honesty. Transparency lets your customers know you’re not hiding something from them. For example: When we had claimed our products to be cruelty free, We had worked with third party organization called Leaping Bunny to actually have them take a deeper look into our products and the ingredients so that we could truly claim the same and bring trust & transparency to our customers.
As a part of our series about how to create a trusted, believable, and beloved brand, I had the pleasure to interview Parth Patel.
As a male who loved skincare routines and maintaining the health of his skin, Parth found that he was constantly undergoing negative criticism and judgment from his family and friends. With the strong belief that skincare is universal, Parth launched Bodhi Beverly Hills as a skincare line for all humankind.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
There has always been judgments in the society that skincare is for the delicate and fragile. Being a guy who loves to take care of his overall skin health and look, I was constantly undergoing negative judgements from my friends and family for my passion and love for skincare. That is what inspired me to create an essential line of skincare for everyone that delivers tangible results that you can feel and see. Skincare for humankind.
Can you share a story about the funniest marketing mistake you made when you were first starting Bodhi Beverly Hills? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
I would not call this as a marketing mistake, but definitely an opportunity that I missed i.e. When we were working on developing our skincare formulas and the core of the brand, We did not market our brand enough to our target audience until the launch date.
I think that it was a shot that I missed of not marketing the brand and it’s story to gather enough audience when we were developing.
Lesson learned: It is must to gather enough audience and data before you actually launch your products. Basically, It is important to launch your brand first then the products, This way when the time comes to launch your store or product and your customers can actually buy the products you don’t have to go looking for you potential customers.
What do you think makes Bodhi Beverly Hills stand out? Can you share a story?
Each brand has that one thing that makes it stand out from other brands, There may be many skincare brands but each brand shares a different story and mission. When it comes to BODHI BEVERLY HILLS, We truly believe that skincare is for everyone, Men, Women, You, Me & All. As skincare in traditional times was being marketed to the fragile and delicate but it’s not the truth and as times changed humans started to become aware that it had nothing to with masculinity. Everyone needs skincare and I believe that it is as important as physical and mental health. I take skincare as a part of overall health and wellness.
Bodhi Beverly Hills, was founded by me and my best friend in our small studio apartment in Beverly Hills. Back then when we had just graduated from college, We didn’t have any funding or any support of VC’s. It all began with a laptop and our credit cards. We were not sure if we were going to be able to payback but it was truly our passion and true diligence to make clean skincare and wellness products for all, to awaken the humankind.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?
We are currently working on few very exciting projects which will give BODHI a whole new look (you learn and you apply right?). It’s has been over a year and half now and we have definitely learned a lot about skincare issues and concerns that people are facing with skincare products available out in the market.
We are currently working on improving our existing formulas as well as some great new formulas that will be targeting skin concerns like aging, dark spots & acne. Our formulas has always been plant based and still be plant based.
In a nutshell, how would you define the difference between brand marketing (branding) and product marketing (advertising)? Can you explain?
Brand marketing and Product marketing are two faces of the same coin, And when it comes to marketing, I find this statement indisputable. The distinction between the two is considerably straightforward — products are objects that can be sold for money, while brands are the embodied persona of the companies that sell them. Despite working towards the common goal, i.e., to build an image of an organization in the market, you will often see both the departments in a company knocking horns with each other with regards to what deserves the highlight or I should rather say, the bigger chunk of the budget.
Can you explain to our readers why it is important to invest resources and energy into building a brand, in addition to the general marketing and advertising efforts?
Brand Marketing, in a way, is about highlighting your brand while promoting the product or service. It definitely takes time and is not something that happens overnight but, Its main task is to link the brand’s identity value and personality with the audience through communication. By employing an efficient brand marketing strategy, your company can design brands that go far beyond showcasing product features and display brand values or intangibles.Brand Marketing is a more practical approach because it helps in building an emotional connection between the brand and the product.
Some of the benefits of Brand Marketing that set it apart from product marketing are • Helps in positioning yourself in a crowded space, especially if there are too many competitors involved.
• Helps in building up sales effectively as well as customer loyalty.
• Helps carving a distinguished identity in the market, which highlights the USP’s and product differentiating factors.
Can you share 5 strategies that a company should be doing to build a trusted and believable brand? Please tell us a story or example for each.
When building a company, most founders first think about their product and making money. But it’s not only about your product that’s important but it’s about your brand and how your customer think about your company. You definitely want your brand to be associated with positive quality and traits, Honest and Trustworthiness are some of the most important traits.
1. Be Transparent: If you want people/customers to trust your brand/products, you have to be honest. Transparency shows your customers honesty. Transparency lets your customers know you’re not hiding something from them. For example: When we had claimed our products to be cruelty free, We had worked with third party organization called Leaping Bunny to actually have them take a deeper look into our products and the ingredients so that we could truly claim the same and bring trust & transparency to our customers.
2. Be willing to answer questions: There are more away than ever for your customers to contact your company and they will. Whether they reach out on social media, customer service portal or by phone, they should be able to get an answer to their question. Some times having an FAQ’s on your company website helps earning trust. When you answer customer questions, you’re being transparent and authentic. Customers are more likely to trust authentic businesses. For example: When we (BODHI BEVERLY HILLS) initially launched, We had our customers asking questions about our product via. Emails, Social media as well as website chat support. We gathered all the commonly asked questions and added to our FAQ’s page along with customer support emails and options where they could reach out if they had any other questions that were not answered in the FAQ’s.
3. Build relationships with customers: Instead of just being another company that creates a product and tries to sell it to customers, create relationships. If you build a personal relationship with your customers, they’re not going to consider your brand a stranger, but a friend. Loyal customers stay not for the product, but because of how the company does it. For Example: When you are an online/E commerce brand, It is hard for your customers to walk in your store, talk or ask questions. We at Bodhi, When a customer or any potential customer, brand follower etc comments on social media, messages or even emails we take each and every conversation as an opportunity to earning trust and reply them within a timeframe of 24–48 hours. As a founder, I personally email our customers after their order to get a feedback on their entire brand experience, From visiting our online store to making a purchase and it’s delivery.
4. Include testimonials: If you want your customer to trust your brand, show them what other customers are saying about your brand. Display great customer reviews on your product, website, and social media. Sharing testimonials and customer reviews will show new customers that your brand is honest and trustworthy. For Example: Add a reviews tab on each of your product page, When a customer makes a purchase, Email them personally to have their honest feedback/review on not only products they purchased but also the entire experience they had while making a decision to make a purchase and asking them if they can add the same on your online store. This helps to show other potential customers and viewers that your brand is honest and trustworthy.
5. Work with other trust brands/influencer: Pair up and work with established brands/influencer that fall under the same niche as yours and are trusted by their customers/followers. Pairing up with a trusted brand will quickly build customer trust in your brand if you deserve it. If a trust brand is willing to pair with your company, their customers will know that you are also trustworthy. For example: Bodhi partnered and collaborated with numerous skincare influencer and reviewers where they shared our products which helps us with not only great brand awareness but also earn trust within their followers.
In your opinion, what is an example of a company that has done a fantastic job building a believable and beloved brand. What specifically impresses you? What can one do to replicate that?
My response to this question will be as an observer and an entrepreneur. In my own life I tend to be attracted to numerous skincare brands like YouthToThePeople or Biossance for various reasons. But apart from my line of business that is talked about here and as an entrepreneur, Lot of times I get a lot of “I want to be like Coca Cola”, “ “I want to be like Apple” when I ask my fellow entrepreneurs what companies they want to be like.
I personally admire YouthToThePeople and truly look up to them when it come to skincare brands. I have been following them since development stage of our brand. Skincare market is huge worldwide and I would say that brand has truly emerged to new level even in such crowded market. I have been foreseeing their growth and all I can say Is I am truly amazed with the work they have put in.
In recent years, there has been a massive growth in e-commerce & startup industry just like when the Dotcom boom took place. With lot of people getting into online business and e-commerce, and lot of the very same exiting out, It has definitely been hard to set our products and over all brand apart in such crowded space but I would say when you create a brand and are willing to make an effort and take your brand to a level where you plan onto. I think one cannot replicate other brand and I wouldn’t suggest doing so even if it was possible as each brand is different. I would say, one should learn from things other brands or companies do to become a beloved brand and be authentic to your own brands core. There is no such thing as over night success. It definitely take repetitive efforts over time to build a truly believable and beloved brand.
In advertising, one generally measures success by the number of sales. How does one measure the success of a brand building campaign? Is it similar, is it different?
If your only measures of success attach to the short-term return on media spend investment, you will not build a brand.
Brand building is when a company seeks to enhance their brand’s image or equity via strategic marketing and ad campaigns. Promotions, PR stunts, sponsorships, and thought-leadership are all examples of brand building campaigns in action.
Digital age is the best thing to happen to brand building, Digital age has added a complex layer to brand building that wasn’t possible 20 years ago. As a company’s presence can now be found on a number of digital channels like social media pages, websites as well as through apps, all of these channels allow a company to case wide net in terms of customer touchpoint which can be used to track overall campaign effectiveness.
Before beginning any brand-building campaign, it’s important to first determine the campaign’s goals. What would success look like for this particular campaign? Are you trying to raise brand awareness or do you want your campaign to result in a specific action?. Measuring the success of any campaign comes down to data. Let’s say for example you want to create brand awareness you must:
1. Study growth in direct traffic to your store
2. Track your earned media value
3. Measure social media activities
4. Search engine popularity
What role does social media play in Bodhi Beverly Hills’s efforts?
Social media plays different role for different organizations however The role of social media with Bodhi Beverly Hills is extremely important as it falls under beauty and skincare, It helps us increase the amount of exposure we receive and increases traffic. Social media also helped us in building over all community and build longterm trust and transparency with existing and new customers. It is one of the most important channel to constantly stay in touch with skincare consumers and communicate with the target audience. It helps us in building meaningful connections with our audience online. It has definitely helped us communicate with our audience in real time on a sincerer level and let their voices and ideas heard.
What advice would you give to other marketers or business leaders to thrive and avoid burnout?
I would say that every needs different ways to thrive and totally depends on a personal level. I would also say that one cannot not avoid burnout but can play it around because yes it’s okay to get tired and frustrated but avoiding it will not help you thrive.
Taking care of your self is must. Keep challenging yourself even with things outside of work. Take personal time, It could be with family, friend or may be alone. It always great to reconnect with people you care about most.
Delegate, the more you delegate, the more time and mental energy you will have to focus on the work you do best. This doesn’t mean hiring full time team, but the process is as simple as starting with a list of things you could have an assistant team member or an intern take over.
Remove negative people from your life. Be it ending your relationship with a vendor who is a source of constant frustration.
Practice gratitude
Practice meditation
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
Patience is also a form of action.–Parth Patel
This is one of the sayings I keep telling my self when I feel frustrated or overwhelmed. The process of building a successful brand or company in general is long and it doesn’t happen overnight. I had to keep reminding in tough situations that patience is the key to success. Traction and movement are not the only form of action but Patience is also a form of action.
How can our readers follow you on social media?
@bodhibeverlyhills on Instagram & Facebook
Thank you for your time, and your excellent insights! We wish you continued success.
Parth Patel Of Bodhi Beverly Hills: Five Things You Need To Build A Trusted And Beloved Brand was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
