I’ve launched a new product. Yes I have! After decades of developing products for other people I have decided to launch my own. It’s called alpha-21 and I’ve set up a website to sell it and everything.
It’s been quite an experience doing the bits that other people normally do. It’s a bit like using someone else’s toothbrush. So I’ve been visiting photographers, tracking down graphic designers and discussing names and things like that. I’ve been involved in most types of product over the years, but skincare has always been the area I’ve clocked up the most hours. So although that wasn’t the reason I chose to develop this particular product, it was good to be on firm ground over the basics.
It was just as well because a lot of the other decisions took me a long way out of my comfort zone. How exactly do you choose a colour scheme for example? And how do you know if you’ve got it right. (Hint – you don’t.) How do you decide on things like what kind of texture is required without a brief? But it was very interesting to be on the other side of the counter. And it’s good to still be on a learning curve after so long in the business.
I’ve still got a fair bit of that learning curve to climb. I haven’t yet got a marketing strategy together – working out how to sell it is likely to be the biggest challenge.
So what led me to do this? Basically it was driven by the science behind it. One of the most popular active ingredients in skincare is collagen. This is a very logical active, given that it is the stuff that determines how springy and supple the skin is. But the trouble is, collagen is a big molecule that is just too big to get through the skin. So I was very struck when a form of collagen that can penetrate the skin came out.
I encouraged everyone I knew to give it a try. But the world of skincare is full of ingredients making big claims, and new ones come out all the time. I got the impression that the potential of this particular one was getting lost in the fog. So I’ve decided to give it a go myself. Let’s see what happens next.
