The brand The Aesop site states: “Our objective has always been to formulate skin, hair and body care products of the finest quality; we investigate widely to source plant-based and laboratory-made ingredients, and use only those with a proven record of safety and efficacy. In each of our unique stores, informed consultants are pleased to introduce the Aesop range and to guide your selections.” Their core principles are; Integrity, Respect & Intelligence.
The Australian luxury skin, body and hair care brand, Aesop, was founded in 1987 in Melbourne. It has grown to be a popular and well respected brand known for it’s high quality products. According to (En.wikipedia.org, 2019) as of 2019, the brand had over 320 points of sale across 25 countries.
Marketing Mix: Price Aesop products are available both in-store and online. They are more expensive than most skincare brands. They have a premium price to support premium products with high quality, consumers who regularly shop at Aesop will trust and understand than consumers have to pay a higher price for a high quality product.
Marketing Mix: Place An interesting thing you’d notice about walking into an Aesop store in any country is how it tries to merge local culture and history with its brand values. No two Aesop stores are of the same design, each store is unique to one another and have been deliberately designed to be different by architects who work closely with the Aesop founder who believes that there's a direct correlation between interesting, captivating store spaces and customer traffic within a store. Although all Aesop stores look different to one another they all have the same house scent which is ‘Jean’. As well as their own products many Aesop stores sell coffee, flowers, oil burners and one store even has it’s own library where book events are held.
Marketing Mix: Product The ingredients of the products are all made of plants sourced widely and made in the companies labs. The design of the packaging for the botanical-based products is simplistic, brown bottles with cream labels. Aesop utilises recycled elements in their packaging. The brand is very environmentally friendly and have reusable cotton bags for products.
Marketing Mix: Person Aesop's main target customers are intelligent, independent, educated, travelled and well-read. Aesop manager of the Greater China region Mr Yang said customers 'are more sophisticated in their consumer behaviour. They appreciate products from every detail. From product trial, packaging, store image to every detail in communication inside stores all need to be consistent to meet their criteria. Aesop's communication covers the five senses - taste, touch, sight, smell and sound. Aesop tries the best in its products and communication to exceed consumers' expectations. It is the best way to capture them,'
Marketing Mix: Promotion The brand mainly sells its products by attracting consumers to its unique and creative stores, through word of mouth (recommendations through personal experience), and also 'word of mouse' (through the internet) rather than through mass marketing and advertising. Although Aesop do not really advertise they have an online presence. They still stick to their colour palette with the images they upload to their Instagram and Twitter accounts. The content of the accounts consist of still life images of the products, illustrations and images of the stores. The brand do not have any celebrity endorsements, the focus is on the product itself, images very rarely have an actual person in it and if they do it is a close up of someone’s skin.