Being truthful to users makes our job easier: Romita Mazumdar, Foxtale

In the latest episode of D2C Revolution, Foxtale’s Founder and CEO, Romita Mazumdar decoded her brand’s journey, challenges of establishing a skincare brand and more. 

“Consumers in general are in a very interesting phase. Over the last five to seven years, we've been exposed to a high amount of learning social media,” believes Mazumdar.

While there are negative things about social media too in the world of digital media it has exposed consumers to what's happening across the world. And that has made every consumer’s needs and desires grow at an accelerated rate.

According to the Founder, customers are very educated today. “And when I say educated, I'm not talking about literacy, per se, but I'm talking about being educated about what they want and how they want it. They have a higher sense of self-awareness about life. They want products that fit into that life. 

India as an economy is doing really well. As a consequence of a good economy, consumers are benefiting from it. So they have a higher per capita income which is dispensable.

The biggest challenge according to Mazumdar is being truthful to the user since they are conscious of what they choose to put on their skin today. And that honesty has become the crux of it. She added, “Being truthful to the user today is not just the language or lingo, it is a necessity. So being truthful to the user is what makes our job easier,” she said. 

Hence, today vegan or cruelty-free is a necessity, it's not a pitch. “If you're not vegan, cruelty-free, then it becomes a problem. I want my users to know that these guys are doing every basic thing to be conscious of the environment, conscious of what the user wants, conscious of what sensitivity different users can have,” Mazumdar highlighted.

Foxtale has not done celebrity endorsements till now since they are a lot more expensive and Mazmdar expressed they have not had the bandwidth or let's say the necessary need to invest. 

“I am not Kim Kardashian or Hailey Bieber, that I will launch a brand and people end up using it because they know me popularly. People know me as a businesswoman. I don't think I've been able to identify which celebrity’s personality aligns with what the brand stands for.” 

Towards the end of the discussion, Mazumdar decoded the analogy behind their tagline ‘Every skin has a story’. Mazumdar said, “You really talk to women for 15 minutes about their skin, you will know whether they're married or not, whether the water in the house is hard water or salt water, how much time they spend in the kitchen, how much time they spend in the sun and how stressful their day is.”

She added, “So that's when we came out with the tag and I happen to say it, it's like every skin has its own story, as a part of the conversation. But that became the tagline of the company because we really feel that every skin has its own story. And unless I know your story, I can't solve it for your skin.”