Timing is everything and knowing when to launch in a new market can make or break a brand’s success in a new region. US-based teen skincare brand Bubble burst into Australia’s beauty scene this month through a partnership with Priceline and is reportedly already one of the pharmacy retailer’s top-selling brands. With such a saturated beauty and skincare market, why was it the right time for Bubble to expand and how did it do so successfully? The brand’s founder and CEO Shai Eisen
hai Eisenman recently shed light on the Australian launch.
Global community identity
With a desire for easy, effective and fun skincare uniting Bubble’s customer demographic across international markets, the company’s global expansion has been relatively smooth.
“We’ve found that the needs of our Australian community match the needs of our US and UK communities,” Eisenman told Inside Retail.
“Bubble was the first brand to offer prestige-quality formulations at an affordable price with fun branding, and we are excited to make all of our highly efficacious formulas available for under $30 because this will make our offering more accessible to our existing Aussie community and all of Priceline’s customers.”
Five months before launching in Australia, the business focused on gaining a deep understanding of Australian consumers and the trends, desires and purchasing habits of its tween to late-teen target market.
This involved conducting numerous surveys and speaking with its existing community, and the results “perfectly aligned with our current Bubble positioning, emphasising a straightforward routine with effective skincare solutions,” Alysha Richards, Bubble’s head of country for Australia, told Inside Retail.
“A key insight that emerged from our research is that Australian consumers want ‘skincare to be easy’,” Richards said.
These insights drove the brand’s genuine, authentic and real approach to marketing across channels in the lead-up to the launch.
“We’ve embraced an approach that resonates with Australians and are fortunate that this strategy has come naturally to us, requiring minimal adjustments along the way,” Richards said.
Mirroring the US and UK
In the past quarter, Bubble’s global retail footprint has expanded by 28 per cent, driven by an amp-up in US retail sales and new opportunities in the UK.
“The Australian launch was a natural next step for Bubble because Australia has been our number-one shipping destination on DTC outside of our current markets,” Eisenman said.
“We knew there was a huge demand in the market and we needed to make the products accessible to our community in the right way.”
Eisenman said Bubble is all about offering the best possible skincare at the best price to as many people as possible, Priceline’s large reach, great value and accessibility across the country made it “a perfect fit”.
“This decision was similar to our retail strategy to meet consumers where they are in the US (with Walmart and Ulta) and in the UK (with Boots),” she said.
Richards commented that the collaboration with Priceline has been exceptional. “They truly understand our brand and the values we represent. This partnership has enabled us to showcase our commitment to community and accessibility in a remarkable launch,” Richards said.
In under two weeks, Bubble Skincare has become one of Priceline’s top-performing brands.
Recipe for success
“Simply put, there is a universally high demand across global markets for accessible products that work, and that’s why we deliberately take lower margins and offer premium-quality formulations,” Eisenman said.
This can be seen in Bubble’s rapid growth across all of its retail partners in the US.
In Ulta alone, the business grew 200 per cent as it increased its shelf space from two to six shelves across over 1300 stores.
In the world’s biggest retailer, Walmart, Bubble grew 34 per cent year on year, and in CVS it grew 23 per cent year on year, with four new SKUs entering stores in August alone.
To cap off an extraordinary growth period, the brand entered an additional 222 Boots stores across the UK and Ireland and is now stocked in all of the retailer’s stores, which increased its shelf space at Boots by 414 per cent.
To maintain a competitive edge in the global market, Bubble is focused on supercharging its international expansion through strong retail partnerships and online DTC capabilities.
“Bubble’s mission is to take everyone’s face to a happier place, inspiring confidence and changing lives with the best possible skincare,” Eisenman said.
“If someone wants to experience Bubble, it’s our job to make that as easy as possible. To this end, we will continue to expand wherever our global social community demands,” Eisenman finished.