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Here is an article featured in Yahoo Small Business:

Building a Cosmetics Brand from Scratch
BusinessWeek.com Related Articles in: Sales & Marketing > Branding
An entrepreneur puts her heart and soul
into every aspect of her new company,
from the branding and packaging to choosing
the right vendors

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The Entrepreneur: Gabriela Hernandez, 42

Background: A successful art historian and graphic designer, Gabriela Hernandez co-founded
the Alma Group, a design agency in Los Angeles, with her husband. Hernandez then left the
Alma Group and poured $1 million of her own money into creating a cosmetics startup. She set
the company apart by basing its products on the style and craftsmanship of cosmetics from the
1920s, '30s, and '40s.

The Company: Launched in 2004, Bésame Cosmetics were initially sold through the
company's Web site but are now available at department stores including Henri Bendel in New
York, Printemps in Paris, and Holt Renfrew in Vancouver, as well as a number of smaller
retailers. Sales: Bésame Cosmetics, based in Glendale, Calif., earned about $40,000 in sales
in its first year and projects $1.2 million in 2007. Her Story: I have been in the creative field for
most of my life, so the thought of creating something—a painting, sculpture, photograph—was
never intimidating to me. What I did not realize is that the endeavor of creating a living brand
was going to entail using every skill I had learned in the past 20 years of my career. How do
you go about building the equivalent of a person apart from yourself, a person with values and
personality, who speaks to customers when you are not there? The idea of making a cosmetic
product came to me after working on several branding projects for other manufacturers in the
industry. I owned many originals from my grandmother's time, and the thought of reinterpreting
such lovely items was irresistible artistically. Of course, the market is saturated with makeup
brands, but I never saw Bésame as a direct competitor to any specific brand in the market. I
saw our market as a very well-defined niche, because our product was targeted and specific
as well as being easily distinguishable. Standing Out in a Crowd I wanted to build a company
with heart and a soul that people could feel from just touching one of our cases, and that could
affect women in a positive way. The product had to have the power to bring a flood of
memories to the wearer, positive associations that immediately made it endearing and familiar.
How did I make the brand stand out in a crowded marketplace? Creating a brand is like making
a person entirely to your specifications. This person has a personality, a moral standing, a
temperament, and a physical appearance. When I created Bésame, I infused the brand with a
distinct personality that is carried to the customers with every detail in their interaction with the
brand.

From the feel of the containers to the smell of the product to the consistent use of patterns
and designs to the way our phones are answered, everything is part of a whole, and adds to a
distinct experience. Customers know who we are, what we represent, and they even tell us
what products they want us to make. Customers are happy to interact with me at events and
tell me what they like or dislike about our products. Brand Personality A brand's personality is
one of the main points of difference in the product landscape, and a memorable one is key to
making the brand stick in the consumer's mind. A moral standing is another main component of
a successful brand. Customers have to know where the company stands on issues that are
important to them. They have to identify with it and share common values to want to display it
as something they believe in and trust. Wearing our product really condones our activities in
their minds, so [helping them] feel good about their choices is a great way to grow our
customer base.

Good brands also have a temperament. They are level-headed, like your favorite financial
institution, or hot-blooded like your favorite rock band. Great brands make a strong emotional
connection with their customers, and a temper makes a brand more human, and easier to
relate to. I chose to make Bésame feminine, romantic, elegant, and unique. Bésame has old-
fashion values, is trustworthy and ethical. The brand is anchored in history and it has a
heritage by association. Consistency Is Key To define how I wanted to communicate the
uniqueness of our brand, I first looked at the landscape of consumer brands. I saw a sea of
black plastic containers with different logos stamped on their surfaces. I decided to make
Bésame unique by molding our own cases, and using more metals in our pieces. Our own
molds and designs make our products very distinctive and instantly recognizable.

In the use of graphics, consistency is key. Colors, textures, and lettering all work together to
create an image for the consumer to remember, and are the first point of entry into the image
of the brand. Color is one of the most powerful features in the packaging. It can be
instrumental in finding the brand on a crowded store shelf. I chose brick red and cool cream
because red represents passion and a regal elegance, while cream balances the power of the
red with a cool counterpart. Our flower motif is used in every product and communication we
produce. It is our calling card, and it clearly identifies our brand in any retail environment. My
experience as a photographer, stylist, art director, and designer helped me maneuver the
tough terrain of building a cohesive packaging system as well as a retail and Web presence. A
new brand is as demanding of your time and energy as a newborn child. Just like your social
decisions change when you have children, your decisions also change to serve the needs of
the brand when you create it. My choices of advertising venues, brand alliances, and even
product offerings had to be filtered through our vision for moving the brand forward. Vendors
as Partners This is a very hard thing to do, especially when there are so many choices to
make that are tied to financial repercussions. We decided early on to mold our components.
This required longer lead times and resources, but it made sense for our brand, since the look
and materials we use are an integral part of it. We do not follow trends, choosing to produce
products that are seasonless, and useful to most women year-round. We do not want to follow
the cycle of seasonal goods that are discontinued every three months. Following our vision
also entailed finding suppliers who could see why the brand was different and embrace the
challenges of producing its products. These vendor-partners needed to respect our work, our
designs and vision, and take the journey with us.

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