Strength in Transformation:
The New Frontier of Brand Management
We curate, create, incubate and partner with best in class premium beauty, wellness and lifestyle brands that deliver our promise of “Everyday Better Life.” When partnering and incubating brands globally, we add great value through our unique business model, and holistic approach to brand development, marketing and distribution enabling them to reach the hands of thousands of new consumers every day.
In just three short years we have grown from a business that distributed 6 partner brands to now managing 20 acquired and invested brands, whilst also being the chosen distribution partner for more than 80 brands from all over the globe.
We focus on developing, acquiring and working with brands that offer a distinctive blend of attributes: authentic ingredients; premium quality; along with a willingness to embrace new technologies. Beauty, wellness and lifestyle are the core categories in which we operate. Our brands currently include Vida Glow, Melrose, Lovekins, Napoleon Perdis, Dr. LeWinn’s, BeanBody, Minenssey, MitoQ, BEE+, Eimele, Alissi Bronte, Thalissi, Amilera, Invisible Zinc, Hunter Lab, Savar, Sensori+, Ch22, Doverist, Nu-Lax along with various wine labels such as Robert Oatley Wines, Paulett Wines, Burge Family Wines and Vandenberg.
Our ability to deliver at speed along with our proven success rate in transforming brands across the globe has given us our competitive advantage and we look forward to partnering, incubating and acquiring many more premium brands as we continue on our journey.
An Innovative Approach
From the ground up, Access is built on a foundation of people who innately understand how to make brands resonate with consumers, always introducing new creative and strategic ideas into our approach. With an enhanced focus on the online retail experience, we undertake extensive social media campaigns, working closely with ‘Key Opinion Consumers’ to bring the brand stories to life and keep them relevant, interesting and meaningful to the end users. These KOCs make up our strong community of over 50,000 influential resellers across the globe.
Of course, our approach is not purely limited to being online: we have a strong belief in the offline shopping experience ensuring that our brands are present wherever the customer chooses to play.
Our close relationships with Key Opinion Consumers and our work with leading partners enables us to recognise trends, utilise up-and-coming channels while keeping each approach flexible and ensuring we continue to stay relevant to our consumers.
How do we do it?
1. Brand incubation
Drawn to brands with promising potential and a clear vision, we incubate and activate emerging
brands to thrive in new markets. We offer a unique partnership with each brand: from helping
them develop their go-to-market approach and messaging strategies, to operations and manufacturing so they are ready to effectively engage with global distributors and create long term sustainable
growth. Our international market knowledge ensures that each brand is launched in an exciting, individual and highly effective fashion.
The LOVEKINS Story
Founded by Amanda Essery, a 6th generation Chinese Australian, LOVEKINS was born in 2016 from her desire to honour her Darwin childhood of fresh air, clean water, and organic produce. After having children, one of whom was born with eczema, Amanda noticed that prescribed medication was unable to soothe, and opted for home remedies of natural ingredients. LOVEKINS was sold mainly in Sydney stores and pharmacies, with the product range spanning across baby care and skincare. After several ineffective attempts to enter the Chinese market, Amanda engaged Access for a partnership.
Resonating immediately with Amanda’s story and values, we focused on her exceptional products, authentic brand story, and personal connection to the brand. Bringing together a united team for a tailored launch, we worked collaboratively with in-house designers, content creators, social media managers, influencers, distributors and advertisers to enhance LOVEKINS’ positioning. We determined it was critical to first create campaigns that would gain popularity and advocacy in the Australian market, which would then echo into the Chinese market.
After the LOVEKINS brand was successfully established, we identified opportunities to expand the brand around the inherent trait in women to take care of themselves and their children. We designed a brand personality that encompassed a holistic, natural lifestyle.
We also recognised a gap in the market for premium feminine hygiene products, we started developing a new range using pure Australian cotton and no added chemicals. After concept trials, research and testing with LOVEKINS consumers in both Australia and China, feedback was taken on board, with each element of packaging, quality and efficiency adjusted to maximise its appeal. LOVEKINS WOMEN was born in 2019.
More than 50,000 Access resellers amplified LOVEKINS’ brand awareness, recommending the products to more than 10 million consumers around the world. Brand ambassadors were also engaged, including Alicia Coutts, Australian Olympic swimming champion, and Tori De Jong, leader of the Social Mummy community. A wide number of events were executed with both brand ambassadors and LOVEKINS Key Opinion Consumers within exclusive shopping evenings.
LOVEKINS achieved more than $50 million total GMV in 2019, with the strongest categories of the business being LOVEKINS WOMEN and baby nappies. Access truly understood the LOVEKINS brand and collaborated with the team for a multi-faceted incubation before launching with a splash in China. While it is impossible for any brand that is looking to do business in China not to encounter challenges, we ensure that by managing distribution, brand identity and operations we would be able to maintain the highest quality and greatest success in both the Australian and Chinese markets.
“Working with Access has grown LOVEKINS far faster and better than I could have.“
- Amanda Essery, Owner, Lovekins
2: Partnership
From the moment a brand is acquired, we work tirelessly with the team to ensure that the essence of the brand is preserved, then amplified. Enhancing the brand’s unique positioning, we improve its quality and relevance based on customer insights and feedback, which, in turn, optimises their sales and distribution.
For example, Napoleon Perdis Cosmetics was acquired by Access Corporate Group in April 2019 and chose to retain the unique Napoleon Perdis Makeup Academy which offers professional makeup training to up-and-coming artists, while at the same time actively helping the brand expand into new sales channels. This strategy has paid off, with these new sales channels now accounting for 35% of overall sales.
The MELROSE Story
With a history that dates back to 1979, Melrose was established by chemist Geoff Steinicke after he wondered if healthier food and products could be used as a preventative to illness. Thus, Melrose’s mission was born, and ‘eat your way to health’ served as the cornerstone of their offering, with a product range that now includes vitamins, herbal shampoos, oils and powders.
While the brand grew to relative popularity in Australia, being the first company to bring fish oil capsules, flaxseed oil and MCT oil into the Australian market, the brand noticed that they were having difficulty engaging with an overseas audience and communicating its distinctive positioning. Melrose approached Access in 2017, hoping to tap into their Chinese market knowledge and local insights.
Working alongside the Melrose team, we first set about creating a unique partnership between the two parties, complementing each other’s skills to work towards a successful Chinese launch. We carefully selected and engaged several highly respected Key Opinion Consumers from the Access network who introduced the Melrose story across social, print and television channels, highlighting the benefits and effectiveness of Melrose’s healthy and naturally derived ingredients.
By highlighting the brand’s proven history and innovation, the overseas market responded overwhelmingly positively. Melrose’s network expanded quickly, and it is now stocked in nearly 400 offline stores, and sold in more than 20 countries, while the total GMV for Melrose grew 271% between the years of 2018 and 2019.
“Access is a company with great insights into the Chinese consumer market They are highly professional experts that offered a one-stop solution for our company. I recommend them to anyone who seeks global expansion.”
- Russell Parker, CEO, Melrose.
In times as uncertain and unpredictable as these, the only thing that we can all count on is further change. However, with adaptability built into the Access Corporate Group business model, we are confident our approach will allow our acquired and invested brands to further transform, flourish and grow around the world, as we continue our commitment to always delivering excellence in brand management, and always being focused on the needs of our ever-expanding community of consumers.