Branding Watch – Empire Building Skin Care from Heyland and Whittle

When travelling I like nothing better than nosing around in chemists, drug stores, beauty parlours and supermarkets to see what the locals are slapping on (in the name of beauty).  During my recent trip to Europe I spotted a number of eye-catching brands that I will share with you over a number of posts.

First up is this rather stately looking brand from the UK called Heyland and Whittle.

Being English (yes still, even though I’m now an honorary Australian mate)  this brand immediately stood out as a ‘British and proud’ brand that looked good enough for any budding member of the aristocracy.  The one thing that middle class Brits like more than  a nice cup of tea is a spot of one-upmanship as they try to politely win the battle over who is the most ‘POSH’.   There would be no doubting that you are posh if you had this little beauty in your lavatory!

Heyland and Whittle have a lot ‘right’ with this brand in my humble opinion. They have a coat of arms which relates to their family (and that is impressive),  they make their products ‘locally’  at their property in Uber posh commuter belt (for London) Surrey and they even have a double barreled name (just like me hahaha).  Their colour scheme is beautiful and very English country home and garden with their dusty berry pinks, heather purple, woodland green and fresh-pressed white and what’s more it is a great fit with their botanical brand positioning.

Notice the fine detail with this brand – the cork  stopper, ribbon, font, border and clean layout – exactly what your good old house keeper would like to see – ship shape, respectable and not too over the top (yes we do like to be posh and a bit ‘show-offy’ but in a subtle way).

Overall I loved the look and feel of this lifestyle brand as it reminded me of what I was missing out on not being a posh middle class Brit any more (I do say that with a touch of irony but honestly I do love this brand) and if I had an English farm-house I’d be popping a little bit of Heyland and Whittle loveliness in every room!

The only thing that I would strengthen is the link to the great British countryside.  The UK is home to a bevy of natural botanicals that would sit much better than the Neroli and Grapefruit currently on offer.  I’d love to see a touch of Foxglove,  Blackberry, Gooseberry, Rhubarb, Scottish Heather, Fresia or Daisy in the mix.  Do that and I believe that this brand will be unstoppable.

Amanda

 

PS:  A lifestyle brand is a cosmetics brand that is build or designed around a particular lifestyle. This ‘lifestyle’ would be best described as ‘Great Britain – the English Manor house” and would be well suited to people who read magazines such as Horse and Hound, Country Homes and Gardens or the Telegraph.  They would probably have Labrador’s, want (or own) an Aga, talk a bit posh and work in white-collar jobs.  Then again they may not but t it is fun to imagine 🙂