Directly Speaking
A story of how start-up Nouveau Cosmeceuticals goes up against the big firms within the industry

“Redefining the industry” is how CEO and co-founder of Nouveau Cosmeceuticals, Ace Hawkins, characterizes the direction of her company. And that’s a pretty big statement for someone who a little more than a year ago responded to an idea that her co-founder and trend watcher, Mike Fitch, offered up over a phone conversation. But redefining an industry is exactly what they are doing.The idea of a simple skin care line with ingredient formulations as strong as dermatological lines was the challenge before renowned chemist and Nouveau’s chief scientific advisor, Clifton Sanders.

Nouveau Cosmeceuticals’ challenge was to create packaging which would appeal to men as well as women of from age 8 to 80, and would contain products that are beautiful with universal appeal conveying a message of clinical efficacy.

It was a mere 5 months before the some of their biggest competitors took notice. But more importantly, consumers were buying the products and loving them.

“We needed to have an image that could stand up against the other big guys”, said Ace, “and because our business model is direct sales - we had to create effective tools for our consultants to use in their sales and marketing.”

“When I came to One Creative with a product and a prospective market.” One Creative sat down with me and we invented and shaped our companies personality and identity. What came out of these brainstorming meetings was a “total brand message." One Creative set out to package the spirit of Nouveau. The only term Ace was insistent on was the cobalt blue bottles. “The initial meeting and brainstorming time that we spent with Ace was invaluable to our creative process. We were able to get completely into the companies foundation to craft an identity that was inherently true to its founders’ goals and business objectives.” says creative director Wendy Spalsbury. “We seek to understand our clients’ objectives and gain a clear sense of the direction they want their company to go - it’s why our tag line asks the question “where are you headed?” The single best way to achieve these desired results is adequate face to face time.

One Creative’s solution for Nouveau’s brand development involved the creation of several applications. We designed Nouveau’s packaging to provide a unified brand appearance. We created informational brochures to provide education and application information. We designed a web store front to inform potential customers and to facilitate sales. The web site was complimented with a monthly electronic newsletter. which keeps customers and consultants informed about Nouveau’s interests and achievements. Finally, we created a three part interactive DVD designed as a consultant training and selling tool.