Published by olivia.wright@dontpanicprojects.com
Published Date 21.07.2023 
Picture the scene: when Faye Speedie, founder of Beauty Bulb (her business which is focused on global sales growth for beauty and wellness brands) launched The Brand Book UK in May 2021 we were living through a pandemic. It was tough. The way we connected and conducted business was flipped on its head. Online became the new lifeline for many. The Brand Book whose leading tag line is ‘trade without the show’ fast became the go-to digital hub to unite beauty and wellness brands with leading global sales channels. In less than a year, they had over 75 well-known retailers and e-tailers jump on board including Boots, Amazon, The Hut Group, Space NK, Holland & Barrett, Superdrug, Content Beauty and Liberty.
Showcasing new, upcoming and exciting brands from all over the world, not only gave exposure to niche and developed beauty brands but assisted beauty buyers in building and expanding their categories when real life was off the table. It was the perfect online match where The Brand Book developed a virtual business community, making much-needed introductions and helping businesses by supporting global sales and profit growth on both sides.
It saved businesses that were under a huge amount of pressure, weeks and months of searching for and trying to connect with the correct contacts, along with showcasing brands to hundreds of leading global beauty retailers and distributors, all of whom are valued for their brand sourcing and presenting newness to their consumer.
So successful is the business model – distributors and retailers are onboarded for free, and brands pay a yearly subscription fee – The Brand Book now boasts over 300 (and rising) of the most wanted retail and distributor partners in the beauty and wellness space, including Walmart, Watsons, Douglas, Zalando, Amazon USA, JC Penny, Clicks and Marionnaud. The platform has transformed the way many brands do business in an evolving climate, acting as a cost-effective tool that delivers speedy introductions with minimal effort and investment.
The Brand Book Founder
Fast forward two years from launch, and we’re in a different world. A world that has once more started to humanise, but is more digitally literate and focused. Trade shows are welcoming back footfall, and face-to-face meetings are equal to Zooms, however, proving itself no passing fad in a post-pandemic world, The Brand Book continues to find itself in a powerful and strong first mover position. Establishing a solid brand recognition, the platform has not only onboarded the best of global retail, helping both brands and buyers supercharge sales growth, but it has employed a human team who work at a granular level to help connect their brand partners to suitable retail and distribution partners every single day. Not to be confused with a marketplace, the underpinning of The Brand Book centres around a beauty-centric team with unrivalled expertise in the industry.
“The response to The Brand Book has been phenomenal. The strong relationships that we’ve built since the launch of Beauty Bulb six years ago have been invaluable for the launch of The Brand Book. The tech platform is at the core of our digital hub but there is a human element to all that we do. That has always been important to me as our business is built on trust and our reputation.
“There is no doubt that the world has changed, and the platform was created in response to this systemic shift with a clear goal of simplifying what is normally a very expensive and time-consuming process for beauty and wellness brands, retailers and distributors. Our long-term goal is to be the leading, global digital service specifically for the beauty and wellness industry.” – Faye Speedie, Founder of Beauty Bulb and The Brand Book
Unique in the way they work, their team’s expertise and insights are evident in every touchpoint across every single sales channel within the global beauty industry – that’s retail, online retail, distributors, home shopping, travel retail and the professional channel ad social selling apps, making them pretty untouchable in terms of insider knowledge and industry contacts – many of them known to the team personally. It’s the best-in-class ‘where digital meets IRL’ and in an era of agility, hyper-engagement and authenticity, it makes for a blended working experience that works.
