Company Overview
Founded in 2003, Euoko Group Inc. develops, markets and distributes scientifically-advanced, innovative skin treatments for luxury and mass markets. The luxury brand, Euoko, is the company’s flagship brand and makes up the majority of the company’s current operations. Euoko's current portfolio targets the most demanding class of luxury skin care customers and consists of 25 treatments spanning five collections that offer comprehensive solutions to such skin concerns as wrinkles, fine lines, under-eye dark circles, dark spots, pigmentation concerns, acne, oxidation, environmental exposure and skin fatigue. Euoko's well-appointed, understated primary and secondary packaging communicates innovation, science, modernism and clean sophistication, while reflecting the prestige positioning of the portfolio. Euoko’s products are represented through premium distribution channels in more than 20 countries and territories. Since the introduction of its products in September 2007, Euoko has achieved retail partnerships with such premium department stores as Bergdorf Goodman, Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus (USA), Printemps (France), La Rinascente (Italy), Lane Crawford (Hong Kong), Ludwig Beck (Germany), as well as such premier retailers as Bliss (USA), a subsidiary of Starwood Hotels and Resorts. Euoko's products are also sold globally through the company's internally-operated, multicurrency, multilingual website (www.euoko.com) and at 1.800.98.EUOKO (US/Canada).
BRAND IMAGE
Euoko reflects a clean, avant-garde, scientific brand image which communicates gender-neutral luxury for the modern era. This brand image contrasts sharply to that of its direct competitors in the narrow ultra premium skin care market space. Luxury in this market has been defined in old-school terms supported by brands with many decades of history. As the modern expectation of luxury has changed to simplicity, and particularly because consumers associate a clean image better with a scientifically-effective product line, Euoko’s branding has allowed for successful differentiation of the line. Euoko’s packaging communicates sophistication by using simple lines, specific colours and spacious design elements. Euoko’s advertising is gender-neutral, uses no models and focuses on creative ways of representing factual clinical information in a luxury-oriented manner in target media. As branding is the single most significant aspect of the business, Euoko must be selective in choosing its retail and advertising partners. The luxury focus of the brand requires it to avoid marketing and distribution in mass market channels, as the consumer positioning of each brand is based on its association with other brands. This hold back often requires the company to exercise patience in reaching agreements with proper marketing and distribution networks.
MARKET
COSMETIC MARKET
The global cosmetics market exceeds US$60B. The specific niche of luxury skin care targeted by Euoko’s current portfolio represents nearly US$10B. This narrow niche is the fastest growing segment of this well-established industry and is expected to grow nearly 8% per year until 2013. Brand loyalty amongst consumers is low with respect to treatment-based skin care products and consumers invariably welcome new brands and developments. With recent developments in biotechnology, peptide technology and nano-technology, this industry is able to make a visible and clinically-measured topical improvement in skin quality for the first time in history, offering a tremendous advantage to new brands, while established brands are largely committed to existing product integrity.
THE COMPETITION
While the cosmetics market is large, saturated and difficult to define, with a wide variety of brands, the specific niche of ultra premium skin care in which Euoko competes is narrow and well defined. In particular, Euoko’s direct competitors are limited to a few that include La Prairie (owned by Beiersdorf – www.laprairie.com, www.beiersdorf.com), La Mer (owned by Estée Lauder – www.cremedelamer.com, www.elcompanies.com), SK II (owned by Procter and Gamble – www.sk2.com.sg, www.pg.com), Dior (specific products, owned by LVMH – www.lvmh.com), Clé de Peau (owned by Shiseido Group – www.cledepeau-beaute.com, www.shiseido.co.jp), Erno Laszlo (owned by Cradle Holdings – www.ernolaszlo.com), Giorgio Armani (specific products, owned by L’Oreal – www.giorgioarmanibeauty.com, www.loreal.com), ReVive (www.reviveskin care.com), Natura Bisse (www.naturabisse.es), Sisley Paris (www.sisley-cosmetics.com), Amore Pacific (www.amorepacific.com) and Chantecaille (www.chantecaille.com).
Key highlights of this narrow competition space are:
- As brand loyalty is low, conglomerates grow primarily through brand acquisitions. The key holding companies are Estée Lauder Companies, Beiersdorf, Shiseido Group, L’Oreal and LVMH. These companies have exhibited a long standing approach of growing through brand acquisitions in the past two decades, with Estée Lauder Companies and LVMH having announced budgets in excess of $2B committed to brand acquisitions in the coming years.
- While there are many treatment products available in the luxury skin care competition space, most don’t perform well and don’t meet the expectations of the customers. As such, the market has continued to welcome innovative treatment products.
- There are very few new brands in the competition space. Established brands have an existing product line whose formulations they must respect, disallowing them to take full advantage of new developments in biotechnology, peptide technology and nano-technology.
- Most existing brands reflect an old-school image of luxury, using metals, reflective surfaces and rich textures to exude luxury. The modern perception of luxury has been changing toward clean minimalism, but it is nearly impossible for old brands to change their image.
- Most brands in the luxury category have focused on a story to represent the brand, instead of science. In most cases, a main active ingredient in small concentrations dominates the entire brand. This approach has allowed the doctor-backed, scientific-seeming brands of the market to gain popularity and reducing the market shared enjoyed by luxury brands.
VISION AND STRATEGY
While Euoko Group plans to target three main segments of the industry, its current and near-future focus is on its primary brand, Euoko. Euoko’s current competitive advantages in the market are as follows:
- Euoko’s active ingredient portfolio exceeds 120 clinically-studied principles from around the world, in contrast with often one marketing ingredient used by the key brands of the industry.
- Euoko’s active ingredients offer both clinical effectiveness and marketing intrigue. For example, an ingredient employed by Euoko offers advantages over injection treatments such as Botox that offer facial muscle contraction inhibiting benefits. This safe topical ingredient is a tripeptide based on how snake venoms paralyze muscles.
- Euoko’s proprietary absorption and stability enhancing base uses a specific strain of red algae and a premium hyaluronic acid to maximize the penetration of other active ingredients, while offering significant support for including high concentrations of a variety of otherwise-incompatible clinical actives in single formulations.
- Euoko’s packaging, advertising and brand image reflect creatively-appointed modern minimalism that reflects luxury in the modern era more effectively than an old-school, rich image.
- Euoko focuses on customer education intensively. Since the brand takes advantage of the latest developments in topical pharmaceutical advances, customer education is essential in differentiating Euoko’s products amongst the story-based, less-scientific competitors.
In this industry, maintaining brand image is essential, as the brand itself becomes the sustainable competitive advantage over time.
PRODUCTS
Euoko Group manages multiple brands under its subsidiaries, but the focus on the company has so far been on Euoko, its primary brand. While this section provides detailed information about the products under the Euoko brand, the group also manages such Swiss-made brands as Complex31 and Peptactiv through its subsidiary, Hewitt-Vevey Pharma Sciences Ltd.
Euoko’s current product portfolio consists of 25 products categorized in 5 treatment collections. The product line utilizes more than 125 clinically-studied active ingredients from more than 30 countries and regions, including the Amazonian Rainforest, France, Switzerland, North Africa, Spain, Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Vents and the Kalahari Dessert.
Additionally, all of Euoko’s products include the brand’s exclusive absorption base. This base uses the purest grade of hyaluronic acid from Denmark to draw ingredients into the skin, while an exclusive shoreline red algae forces controlled circulation of the actives below the surface.
MANAGEMENT
BRANDON TRUAXE, FOUNDER, PRESIDENT AND CEO
Educated at the University of Waterloo, Brandon’s uninterrupted interest in business development has allowed him to explore a variety of successful ventures in software, nutrition, cosmetics and design. Having conceptualized and founded Euoko, Brandon has also maintained a successful software development business, Custom Struct, whose most notable project has been the leading of a renowned web-centric automotive financing system for the Canadian operations of DealerTrack Holdings, Inc.. This software system has revolutionized online lending, and is used by more than 2,500 automotive dealerships and over twenty prime and sub-prime lending institutions. Prior to founding Euoko, Inc., he was a founding member and president of Schematte Corporation (a software development firm), Organic Senses Ltd. (a marketer of nutritional supplements) and other ventures, including cosmetic businesses. Brandon has gained a breadth of experience in various aspects of growing a business at a very young age and his excitement and dedication remain key elements of Euoko’s growth. Brandon has developed and led Euoko’s branding, design, formulation, ingredient selection, supplier selection, legal issues, website design, software design and all aspects of Euoko’s product launch.
JULIO TORRES, CO-FOUNDER, VICE PRESIDENT OF INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY
Educated at the University of Havana, Julio has gained extensive background in modern software development in positions of progressively increasing responsibility with Cuba’s Ministry of Finance. He is the founder and CEO of Vitral Projects Limited, a software firm that provides software consulting services to DealerTrack Holdings, Inc. He has collaborated extensively with Brandon Truaxe in the development of a complex automotive financing software system for DealerTrack. At Euoko, Julio’s creativity and extensive design background have allowed him to play a vital role since the early stages of the company’s brand and image development. Euoko will benefit not only from Julio’s creativity and extraordinary attention to detail, but also from his solid technology background which will be fundamental in the development of Euoko’s technology requirements, including the significant design of Euoko’s planned custom skin care introduction.
DR. ADEL RAMMAL, DIRECTOR OF SCIENTIFIC AFFAIRS
Dr. Rammal holds a master’s degree in Physical Chemistry from Haute Alsace University (France) and a master’s degree in Conception and Formulations of Pharmaceutical and Cosmetic Products from the Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Paris XI (France), as well as a PhD in materials chemistry from Louis Pasteur University (France). Prior to joining Euoko in 2007, Dr. Rammal was involved in the research and development of new and innovative cosmetic products, with particular focus on nanotechnology and its application in the cosmetics industry, with such companies as Dow Corning and Christian Dior. His research has been published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, Comptes rendus of the French Academy of Sciences and the Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids.
PATRICK AUBERT, DIRECTOR OF SALES AND MARKETING
Patrick Aubert is a graduate of Concordia University with a Bachelor of Commerce degree majoring in Finance. Patrick has fifteen years experience working in the prestige, luxury market. Prior to joining Euoko in 2007, Patrick was National Sales Manager for Christian Dior Watches, a division of LVMH group, Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, in Canada where he managed sales channels across Canada and the North Eastern United States. Previous to his role at Christian Dior Watches, Patrick held the position of Eastern Canada Territory Manager at Gucci Group Watches.
DIA FOLEY, VP OF MARKETING
Dia Foley has more than 20 years of solid communications and brand management experience in various categories of the cosmetic industry. Prior to joining Euoko, she was Brand Manager for the North American division of Red Earth Cosmetics, a subsidiary of ESPIRIT. She also has held senior positions with L’Oreal, including as National Communications Manager, as well as varying positions with such respectable brands as Dior and Lancome.
