November 20, 2024
Aurelian Lis – CEO – Dermalogica
More Than Just A Best Practice Brand: How To Become A Market Leader, Aurelian Lis – CEO Dermalogica
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One question on every industry leader’s mind is “How do I stand out?” At least it should be if you are looking to remain a market leader or even a fast-follower. This is especially true in the competitive Beauty Industry, where competitors range form multinational corporations to Indi-brands and startups. How do you continue to stand out and not just be another best practice brand? Dermalogica CEO, Aurelian Lis, has figured that out—and joins us for this episode of The Reboot Chronicles Show—to unpack how he created a sector where his brand is standing out among his competitors.
Part of $63B Unilever, Dermalogica is the number one clinical skincare brand used by professionals in 100 countries, that also trains 100,000 skincare therapists annually. Follow along as we learn about being a unique brand, standing out in a crowded noisy market, and breaking away from the pack with AI and other transformational technology platforms.
Always Surprising The Customer
One way that a company can stand out among the rest is by knowing which trending waves to ride. The Beauty Industry has seen a lot of these waves over the last 30+ years with things like Instagram and TikTok marketing, and currently a return to brick-and-mortar. The issue arises which waves can you ride in a way “that you can surprise your customer?” as Aurelian puts it. For Dermalogica, one way is by creating an in-house team that aids retailers with credit control to keep bad debt low. They could have outsourced this, as many brands have, but to stand out they did it in-house—to be closer and nicer to their clients and channel partners.
Competitively Jumping On the AI Wave
Another way Dermalogica is surprising its customers is through the use of generative AI to aid in teaching future skincare therapists. When the wave was first forming, Aurelian thought they were going to have to borrow some middleware to implement their ideas, but that was going to be too slow and wasn’t ready. So, they built it themselves, which “cost 3000 bucks and in two weeks and we got it up and running” notes Aurelian. This is a classic example of the Build, Buy, Borrow model, which can often be hard to pick the best option. Most non-tech brands would not build something themselves—but sometimes you can—and when you do, it can drastically help your business.
Rebooting Yourself From An Oil Rig To CEO
As with all our guests we wanted to learn about personal challenges that Aurelian had and pull a nugget of wisdom from it. His story is unique as he got a degree in physics, then worked on an oil rig, but finally began his path toward being a CEO by starting as a financial controller and growing from there. To make these changes in career trajectories, Aurelian encourages people to say yes to a new opportunity if it arises. As he puts it “have courage, you can do it, you can say yes.” Many are afraid to make big career shifts or fear they are not ready or qualified—don’t worry if it takes a long time—and sooner or later you will learn it the more you do it.
