Decoding Aesop: The Brand, The Philosophy, The Magic

Hello everyone. Welcome to today's video. Today we're going to be doing an unofficial deep dive into the brand world of Aesop. You've probably seen their bottles in design conscious restaurants. You've likely heard of their hand soaps and you've probably seen a few of their very beautiful stores. For those who don't know, my name is Daniel. I've worked for well over a decade in brand and creative for the beauty, luxury, and fashion industry. Over the next hour or so, we're going to dissect the big brand magic behind Aesop and how it has been able to generate

critical and commercial success that has led it to be owned by the largest beauty conglomerate in the world. So, if you have an interest in all things brand and creative, if you admire and you want to demystify the Aesop brand, if you're looking for inspiration and insights for your own business, this place is for you. So, in today's agenda, we're going to be looking at the brand's history. We're going to look at product. We're going to look at the rich creative world that they have Built. We're going to look at their considered approach to retail

and store experiences. We're going to dissect some of their notable campaigns and activations, and we're going to end things by looking at their sustainability and social impact causes. And just a small note on intentions, this video is really my own humble homage to Aesop. It's what I am calling an unofficial brand deep dive appreciation video. So, it's not official. It's not sponsored by the brand. Instead it is my own professional opinion about the brand using a lot of deep research based on my previous skills formerly as a journalist and it is also my own personal

response to the branding work that I see in front of me because building a brand is very much a personal exercise. So I take no credit for the work of the countless people who have all contributed to the legacy of what the brand is today. But I share all of this as a way for us to learn together from one of the best brands in the world. The other thing I want to mention is please buy this book if you ever want an unofficial sorry not an unofficial an official bible of what the brand is

about. This coffee Table book by Rissoli is absolutely magnificent. I did spend a lot of time looking into this. It is incredible. So please check this out. It is well worth your time. So let's get started by first looking at the brand's history. The story begins on February the 11th, 1987 when founder Dennis Paphitis opens Emeis, a hair salon located in the well-to-do area of Armadale in Melbourne, Australia. He was frustrated with the quality and composition of existing hair coloring products at the time. So he decides to incorporate essential oils into the formulations which provides

both functional benefits while masking the synthetic aroma. He operates under the company name Emmas until he receives a letter one day to stop due to a competitor that also has the name Emeis. The name changes after that to that which we know and love, Aesop. So I want to stop right there and just sort of dissect some of the early clues that you can already see very early on about the business. And the reason why is I think it will sort of give you clues later on as to how the brand develops because you can

see a very clear red thread from The beginning all the way to where it is now. First thing is that you'll see very early on an appreciation for the humanities. So the name Aesop and Emmas comes from ancient Greece. It speaks to Dennis's heritage which also reflects maybe a tone a way of thinking that is very learned and very intellectual. The second thing is it's very sensorially inclined. You know senses is an incredibly big part of Aesop. So, you know, we talked just now about the use of essential oils and how there's already a very

early proclivity to please the senses which has both pleasurable and purposeful benefits. And I think this will reflect later on in Aesop's future endeavors. You know, they'll create a lot of different initiatives that please the nose, that please the ears, even you know, the eyes because the stores are so beautiful. So senses are a very very big thing. And the third is really the humble roots. So the name Aesop centers around the story of a slave from ancient Greece, Aesop's fables. And I think it speaks to a brand that prizes and elevates to seemingly small

and insignificant details, right? I think in you know they talk A fair bit in some of their own materials about this idea of humble ambition. Dennis calls himself as a soap merchant. So I think this idea of humility even though it's a very luxurious brand is something that's very much core to their mindset. And then in terms of the brand history 1987 we spoke before about how the hair salon opened after that in 1989 he asked to change the name to Aesop due to legal reasons. After that resurrection aromatic hand balm is born and then

two years later is the purifying facial cream cleanser. They opened their first store in 2003 in St. Kilda still within Melbourne which is their birthplace. And then in 2004 They launched their first counter in Liberties in London. Marrakesh which is their first fragrance is also born. And then in 2007 their very popular parsley seed antioxidant serum is launched. 2009 Aesop Aoyama opens in Tokyo. And then one year later Harvard Australia invests in the group to fund growth. Two years later Natura and Co which is a Brazilian company acquires a majority stake for 71.6 million. There's

a really fascinating line in the coffee table book that both I think it was from Dennis and then also someone from Natura that they both consulted with astrologologists to make sure that this match was right for each other. And it was that's sort of what the astrologologist said. That was a line in the book and I thought it was just really just so interesting that I just felt I had to include it in here. In 2016 they complete their full acquisition of Aesop. 2018 they debut into homeware with a brass oil burner and then in

2020 they introduced their first candle product line and they're also awarded BC Corp status. Lastly L'Oreal acquires them in 2023 for one of the largest beauty acquisitions in the entire world. We'll now look at product. So we're going to look at taxonomy. We're going to look at some of their beloved formulations. We're going to look at language. And just some general observations of what I've noticed. So across the next two slides, you will start to see a list of all of the different products from Aesop. So this slide here has body care and skin care.

And then on the next slide, You'll see things like travel kits, amenities, etc. I believe this list is 100%, but please, don't come for me. I spent hours Just looking through and triple-checking and everything, but obviously I do not have the official list. But you'll see here, you know, a list of, products in different formats. So, hand washes and hand balms, body balms and oils, bar soap, cleansers, oral care and deodorants. And then an even larger category list across skin care from hydrators and moisturizers, toners, cleansers and exfoliants, eye, lip care, treats and masks as

well as some shaving elements as well. And then across this slide, the product taxonomy continues across hair care, home, fragrances, and then as I mentioned before, travel kits and amenities. So, two things that I'm really surprised by that I just sort of want to note down is that as an outsider, I was quite surprised once I did this list to see not as much product innovation in body care. I think you'll sort of remember in the previous slide I'll go back to it. You'll see you know a much bigger list across skincare and this category

feels incredibly full. I don't know if this is because you know skincare was really booming at one stage a few years ago and they were really trying to lean into that For growth. But I think just really from what I see with a brand which is so focused on scent and ritual, I would have assumed that body care was where they would be really leaning into as their main strength just given the foundations of the brand. The second thing that I want to note is just around personal and home fragrances. So you know things like

textile sprays, solid perfumes. I don't really see a lot of that. I'm wondering if that will be a bit of a play for the brand across the next few months and years. But I've seen a few other brands do this. It feels really natural for the brand to extend into that area. But just something that I was thinking about. Now, in terms of some favorites for the brand, I've noted six of them. So the first is the parsley seed antioxidant serum. So one of their earliest formulations. We have the geranium leaf body cleanser. We have

their post poo drops. Obviously because they are amazing. We have the resurrection aromatic hand balm. We have their toothpaste as well as the resurrection aromatic hand wash. So some things that I've noted down across their product language. So first thing is around just Their naming conventions. So the name usually lionizes the lead botanical ingredient that they have. So you'll see sort of little measured hints of the superlative within some of their names and it's usually very functionally or benefit-led. The only exception to this rule are fragrance names which are usually very narrative led or a

little more abstract. So like Marrakesh for example was you know a bit more relies on the imagination a little bit more. The other thing to note is just the performance claims. So usually within skincare you sort of see like oh you know increase of 87% hydration in 2 hours or something like that. But generally from what I've noticed on the website there's no really clear time stamps or percentages or sort of these extravagant skin care benefit claims. Something that I also thought was really interesting is that they won't really call their products bestsellers. It was

not really called out as much as I would see from other brands. Instead you know for example their hand soap there's a line inside that I thought was really on point which is simply put the most coveted hand soap in the world you know the word coveted is you Know it gets the point across without actually doing it in a really flashy way doing in a way that as we said before feels really smart feels really learned but at the same time tries to acknowledge the fact that it is in fact a very popular product.

And then last thing I want to note is that language is really simple and really clear. You have moments small moments where the word choice feels really learned and intellectual. And generally when you look at the descriptions there's an emphasis on texture, skin feel and aroma. In terms of some observations, the products I think are positioned in a way where they try to communicate something that feels very functional and very poetic as well. And Dennis says in a interview on a website he says a product needs to perform but if it can do so with

a little poetry so much the better. So you know we spoke before about this idea of essential oils right it has to be pleasurable but also purposeful functional and poetic two sides of the same coin again seems to be carrying throughout within the product realm. Second thing is everything is very conscious and very intentional. So each ingredient must serve a Purpose if not multiple. I think they talk in the book when they're formulating things, you know, how can one ingredient have more than one function if possible. Not necessarily a minimalist brand, but just really intentional

that when you combine ingredients together to form a formulation. You sort of want to make sure that everything has its place and justifies its place within the formulation. Third thing to note is just that the formulations are very what I'm calling botanically inclined. And so they lean on the botanics. As I said before, they often lead with a botanical ingredient and it's also housed in amber bottles. Right? So amber bottles historically are used in apothecaries which you know herbal tinctures and all of that sort of speak to that same kind of positioning. But at the

same time the ingredients that they have within their formulations include those that are also synthetic. You know you need as they say here there's a quote you need man-made ingredients. It'd be foolish to ignore them. There are wonderful ingredients that have emerged in the last 25 years. So, you know, they if you look at the imagery, we spoke of Before about the packaging, botanically inclined, but not botanically exclusive. And I think all of this speaks to a brand that essentially feels quite ancient, you know, bit historical with that apothecary vibe. It feels timeproven but somehow

I think because of the way in which it's packaged especially with the you know the labeling it still feels really relevant and really timeless for today. We're now going to look at the creative. So I want to start off with this wonderful quote from Rick Rubin. So this is not part of Aesop lore. It is me interpreting and giving my own spin on things. But Rick Rubin says, "I love music that is outside of time." And one of the things about using organic instruments is a piano sounds like a piano 100 years ago and it

sounds like a piano today and it'll sound like a piano in a 100 years. If you use the latest sounds, the newest sounds, the sounds of today, then tomorrow they'll sound like the sounds of yesterday. So, it's a very delicate line to work with the newest of sounds because it can end up feeling really dated. And the reason why I'm mentioning this quote is it speaks to this idea that if you look at the brand, They borrow a lot of things from the past. And I think, you know, I spoke before just now about the

product, sorry, the brand feeling really timeless. And I think that part of that secret is that they use things from the past which interestingly enough allows it and gives it relevance to this day. So one example of this is the Aesop logo. So the logo is based on Optima. It's a font designed by Hermann Zapf and released in 1959. And if you look at the logo, very clean, very sharp. But you know there if you look at just you know the curves around the logo itself there are small curves and everything just to sort of

give it a little bit of softness, give it a little bit of humanity. And the interesting thing is that Optima was inspired by ancient Roman lettering that Zapf discovered on a gravestone. I believe it was a gravestone in Florence. So you know whilst it was created in 1958 the genesis and the overall shape of the letters came from much longer before that. The font is sans serif. It's stripped of any ornamentation as I mentioned before. It's subtle. There's very much a feeling a softness throughout. We're going to now look At some of the creatives that

have contributed to the world of Aesop. So this is not by any means a comprehensive list, right? But I think the point is that I want to share really the wide range of creatives who contribute to the world of Aesop and why it is a brand that really doesn't have it is distinct in its style. But at the same time it's very multifaceted and quite diverse which I think creates a world that's very hard to copy. You know a lot of brands try to copy Aesop. But I think part of why they have this very

invincible brand moat is because of investment into a wide range of creatives that have been able to contribute to their world. So the next images that I'm going to show most of them haven't been commissioned by Aesop. It's meant to show the work of these individual creators. And obviously the images belong to these respective builders or whoever owns them. Yeah, so we firstly have Jack Davidson and he's a photographer. So the style is, you know, quite raw. It's intuitive, often playful with light and shadow. He blurs a line between fine art and editorial, sometimes obscuring

faces or cropping unconventionally. It's quite surreal But at the same time quite intimate. We have Robinstein very clean, minimal, often infused with natural light. A lot of quiet detail. The mood I find sort of quite calm, contemplative, refined. So the work feels very balanced and very understated. Next we have Romaine Laprade. A lot of precision and geometry but at the same time incredibly warm. The framing emphasizes structure, repetition, light. He captures spaces as an almost a serene nostalgic quality I think to the work. Very elegant highly attuned to color palettes and textures. Yeah, we next

have Julian sorry Julia Hetta. The work I think feels very reminiscent of like old master paintings, you know, soft chiarosuro, muted pallets, precise compositions, using natural light for depth to create atmosphere, really really haunting. We also have Yutaka Yamamoto. Very subtle, quiet, very meditative, quite understated. Next we have Ruven Afanador who has Colombian origins. If you actually look at Ruven's work you'll see a large portion is very commercial, very high octane and glossy but you also see a portion of his work which references South and Central America. I Think sort of speaking to his own

heritage. You'll see an image here of two women who are sharing the same braid. This image actually comes from Aesop. I think they were using it across their hair care campaign for 2012. I saw this many years ago and I just absolutely loved it. So I just felt that I had to include it. Now across illustrators, there are four that I want to talk about. First is Jeffrey Cheung. So playful inclusive depictions of queer bodies and communities. Style is very loose, very fluid, childlike, very mischievous. We then have Giovani Garcia-Fenech. It's contemporary abstraction, figurative elements,

sort of interwoven throughout. We have Damon Kowarsky - very precise line work reminiscent for me of like architectural drawings. And then we have Aurore here. So a lot of gestural brush strokes, washes of ink, very soft, very minimalist. You know, this kind of very subtle sensibility. Now in this next section, we're going to be looking at some artists. So four that I want to highlight. First is Jaffa Lam who's a Hong Kong artist. She created this installation in blue that you can see here. So the story behind This is that Jaffa was observing a cleaner

tending to the store window one early morning. So it inspired I think her to create this installation here which is meant to be a representation of the city's labor force many who are sort of unsung heroes who don't garner enough attention. It was developed in collaboration with the Hong Kong Women Workers Association. So she collected a lot of umbrella fabrics in different shades. That's why you see that the work here is peace meal and contains different triangular shapes, arranging them and piecing them together before sending them off to stitch. Next we have Kim Min Wook.

So he created these wood pieces in 2024 created them for Chuseok. And really his work is centered around this idea of like trees being the main character. And he says that trees are the largest creatures on earth and they live the longest. They benefit humanity and nature and when they die they become wood and have a new life. So woodworking is the work of bringing wood to life. Next we have Jessie French who's based in Melbourne. She's known for her experimental design and art-based practice using algae based materials biomaterials As alternatives to plastic. So she

has worked with Aesop across Australia and New Zealand creating film decals across 28 of their stores. So from what I read, basically decals are traditionally very toxic and she manages to create them in a way that doesn't require additional adhesive. So very much speaking to a very eco-conscious way of practice which works quite nicely with Aesop's own sustainability initiatives. Last thing that I want to mention is Jo Jong Sung. So Aesop worked with the Johyeon Gallery to host an exhibition by him. So he created a series of blue paintings that were installed in the store

and you'll sort of see they kind of look like mountains here. And really they're an abstract depiction of the region's islands in what appears to be like a distinct Yves Klein blue. Now no talk about Aesop as a brand would be complete without talking about the packaging. So this slide here is really to give a visual summary of what the packaging looks like across hand pumps, their sprays, their tubes, their jars, etc. Really I think to give you very good visual grounding and really just an appreciation of how across different formats and Colors and sizes,

how the brand has really been able to keep the packaging really consistent and very clear. Now, no brand deep dive into Aesop would ever be complete without talking about the amber glass bottle. It's such a big part of the brand and how people recognize it. And it's really resonated with a lot of people. It's usually the first thing I would say that people think about when you mention the brand. And it's really resonated and been so effective, I think, for two reasons. The first is that each element of the bottle really has a strong tie-in

to the brand and what it stands for. You know, we talked before about the amber bottle speaking to the botanical positioning. You know that amber glass and you know the apothecary history that we talked about before. But the bottle itself is also incredibly functional, right? It's beautiful in a really humble way. Brown is you know you could argue is quite a humble color. We spoke before about this idea of like the brand having humble ambition but also around functionality as well. Glass is inert. Typically it shouldn't interact with formulations inside so that they stay stable.

But also it's Really functional in terms of protection from UV rays so that formulations can last longer. It's also functional in terms of the packaging because the labels themselves are very clean, very modern as a very functional labeling system. The second element is that the packaging, I think, also nets out in a design that is incredibly timeless and modular. So, this is why it can stand really nicely across many different hotels, restaurants, cafes, and homes, right? It can sit in a home that is very minimal to a home that's quite grand and old. It sort

of doesn't draw too much attention, but draws attention at the same time, which is, as you can imagine, is something very hard to do. And you know kudos to the team for creating something that can sit in many places and still be so warmly received. Now we're going to look at retail. How exciting. So we're going to do a bit of an overview. We're going to talk about their collaboration approach their architects that they worked with. I want to talk about taxonomy of design as well as their hospitality partnerships. Now I want to talk about

this quote which came from Michael O'Keefe the former Aesop CEO. So He said this as part of an interview. So he says the beauty industry is a push model with advertisements and celebrity endorsement and they try to push customers into wholesale stores. On a set of shelves our products didn't really do anything. We know we had great products that were really different but through this model we were never able to expand out to the customers. So the reason why I bring this quote up is that I think you know we talked about this idea about

the Aesop hand bottle being really humble. We talked about this idea of like brown amber glass sort of being quite timeless. But I think at the same time imagine a world you know good many years ago when Aesop wasn't the brand that it is today stocked in Sephora. You know Sephora is a environment that is loud, it's very noisy, very flashy. And then you have a brand that's very muted that uses humble amber glass to house their products. None of that will really help to endear yourself to different customers. And so, Michael really touches on

this point of, you know, how do we really reach out to customers and speak to them in a way that's really right for us, right? Wholesale models, You know, it is about sales, but it's also about new customer acquisition, building out your brand awareness. And you know if you're stocked in stores and displayed in a way that isn't really conducive to your brand and what you're really about you may not be able to do it as effectively as possible. And this then leads to what I want to talk about which is retail. Their answer to

you know really getting their amber glass bottles in front of people and getting them to be loved is across retail. So a bit of an overview of you. If the brand bottle is really sort of the condensed representation of what Aesop is, then you know their vast constellation of stores around the world are undoubtedly the brand universe. So each store is really a proof point of their deep philosophy and unique approach to beauty. And it's really this halo effect that the stores that the store creates that then legitimizes the brand that then legitimizes and justifies

why the product the hand soap costs as much as it does. So, first thing I want to note is that Aesop goes in really hard across retail. They have 450 points of sale last I checked globally of which 230 are stores, Right? And so also each store is often but not always realized in collaboration with different architects. So why is this? I think retail for Aesop retail is for Aesop what organic social digital ads out of ads and celebrity ads are for most beauty and D2C competitors. So retail provides discoverability, it provides you credibility, it

provides you awareness, right? I don't really I find it very hard to imagine a world in which Aesop would do like a really massive flashy billboard but I can see them doing a store and it they kind of do the same thing you know in terms of how you think about their playbook. This is sort of how they justify you know this as part of their marketing mix. So store-led approach encourages discoverability, legitimacy, it increases brand awareness. It does this while helping to maintain sort of this indie organic feeling to the brand. Right? A store

somehow even though it is very expensive to build especially the way that they have built somehow in my mind it feels less flashy than having a gigantic billboard in time square. Now I want to talk about this quote and It's a quote by Alan Moore and the book is called do design why beauty is key to everything. The reason why I mentioned this book is that Suzanne Santos one of the Aesop OGs talks about this book as one as a book that she's incredibly fond of and I think there's some wonderful thinking in here which

I think reflects how Aesop goes about building its brand. So the quote goes why does art endure because it is always one way or another speaks directly to our senses. To design for the senses is not weakness but strength. It resists the belief that making a business succeed is only about numerical measurement. The quest for efficiency rather than truth found in experience. Who cares? Well, we do. Human beings do. The people that use your products and services. So, we think about the store. The store is not really It is about obviously selling. That is a

key part of that. But it's about doing this in a way that honors experience, that honors senses, that puts humanity really at the cradle of the experience. And something that they really celebrate as part of how they go about doing business. Not doing business in a way that you might imagine, I don't know, like like an Amazon for example, but doing in a way that feels really right. You know that there are many ways of going about being a merchant, going about you know succeeding in commerce but doing in a way that's based very much

on values and your deep rooted philosophy. Now I want to talk about their collaboration approach and how they work with architects. First thing that I want to note is this idea of human level intimacy. So no two Aesop stores are identical and the same is said for their collaboration of architects. So, partnerships they talk about in their coffee table book often begin with at least a conversation whether it's coffee or wine to sort of break the ice. I've read in certain circumstances like they'll in one case they flew in an architect from New York to

spend I think a week with them in Aesop HQ in Melbourne to you know get to really know them and to really understand what the brand is about before going about and attempting to create the brief. So this idea of human to human interaction, intimacy is incredibly important. Second thing I want to talk about this idea of sustainability And patina. So they ask their architects to take responsibility for the impact of their proposed design. So this may mean grounding their work in restraint and modesty focusing on quality over opulence. So they may for example repurpose

or find local materials and furniture. And I think this creates a style that focuses on patina, you know, the depth, not a product that is very superficial or glossy. You know, finding wood or stone or marble that has a depth that cannot be artificially created but comes through age and time. So, we'll talk a little bit more. I have some examples later on throughout this deck on you know how architects have gone about this. Third thing is considered guidance. So collaborators are often given extracts from three books to support them when they're creating their stores.

So there's Zumthor's atmosphere, Bachelard's the poetics of space and Tanizaki's in praise of shadows. All of them I think speak to how they approach stores. So there was this wonderful quote that I read about this idea that shadows you know we often try to think about stories as being incredibly bright and airy. But Tanizaki talks About this idea of how do you create depth and intimacy when things aren't super super well lit, right? You know when things are sort of a little bit gray it sort of creates an environment that's very calm and very soothing.

All three books have a read of them. I think again it will give you a sense of how the stores have come to be. And the last thing I want to note on this slide is this idea of context-led design. So the architects are often encouraged to find sort of a seamless presence with the surrounding environment. So the approach can be inspired by nearby architecture. It can be inspired by the cultural background, the milieu as I say here, the history of the space that they are in. And I think it's really interesting that they talk

about this idea of context-led design and my earlier point around how each two stores are not exactly the same, right? Because if you have, you know, even let's say within London, I think they have like four or five stores in there. Each one is different because it has to speak to the immediate milieu of where they are at. And this idea of context also speaks to you know Aesop city guides. I think they Have a number of guides that they publish sorry not so much publish but they have them across their packaging. But this idea

of like context speaking to what is already there respecting the background of what is there. You see that in the architectural presence but also within packaging and how they sort of market themselves. So all of this I think speaks to brand that feels really integrated and very cohesive. Now this is a list of the different architects that they work with. Again not comprehensive. Please have a look at all of them. I'm sure there are a lot more but yeah it will just give you maybe a handful of things to explore after this video. Now across

this slide you will see here a screenshot of Aesop Taxonomy of Design. I believe that this is a defunct website because I can't seem to find it anymore. But this was an initiative that was done a few years ago to archive and to record all of the different stores within Aesop stores and to talk about you know the different architects that they worked with, the materials that they use. Really a wonderful archive, a wonderful library that helps to legitimize and bring credibility to The brand in terms of the thought in terms of the investment the

breadth and depth of what they have been able to create. Put into one place for people to see whether you are a brand enthusiast, whether you are someone who works in the industry. It was a really wonderful resource. I don't know you might be able to find some information online. Yeah now I want to talk about sustainability. And so there are three stores that I want to talk about that speak to sustainability. Repurposing materials trying to create stores that have lower impact. This store is based in Canary Wharf. And it has a sort of lived-in

domestic quality to it. And they've been able to achieve a lower impact with vintage furniture. So one thing that you'll notice here is the two oak tables. They come from Aesop stores previously. Located within Salzburg, you'll see a 1960s Italian modular shelving space system. Towards the right and then you also see some Edwardian ceramic basins the left over here. And so you'll see that there's a mix of different pieces from different eras sort of brought together. Done in a way that feels really unique, very, irreverent in terms of Its different references. But again, how we

spoke about before, doing in a way that feels really sustainable. Now, within Tokyo, we have a street level store that celebrates the historical and architectural vernacular of the area. So, you'll see here some timber beams that are being used as ways to both organize the general store layout, but also to act as shelving as well. So, the timber beams and columns were actually saved from a local house that was going to be demolished. And it was brought here and then sort of playfully reconstructed back together. And then last thing I want to mention is Diagonal

which is their store in Barcelona. So it's constructed in collaboration with Mura. And this store design references this stone here. I don't know how to pronounce it so please don't come for me. It's a historical material but I think it also references Barcelona's architecture. The stones come from an abandoned quarry from the Barbany stonemason family and the stones date back from the 6th century BC to the 20th century. So it brings new life to what would have otherwise been forgotten or left to deteriorate. But I think it speaks before to what I mentioned about this

idea of patina that you have materials here that show age that show depth that you would otherwise not be able to have been able to achieve artificially. And it then gives the store as I mentioned this idea of depth and feeling in a way that you really cannot capture with brand new materials. Other things that I want to mention, the first is that the sink is really the sensorial center of the place. You'll see sinks in, I think, basically all of the stores. And they're really, something that they champion across their retail experience. It elevates,

you know, this, you know, being able to try their hand wash, for example. If you talk about your hands getting wet in a sink, it speaks to this idea of senses. The sink I think also interestingly enough refers back to the very beginning of the brand because sinks are used in hair salons. So all of these wonderful things that we know about the brand are have sort of come full circle. Second thing that I want to note is this idea of familiarized intimacy. So scents are often tied very much to memory. They're often tied to

sort of the inner landscape that people have. And so within a select number of stores they have what is called a fragrance room. So you're able to there's a specific area where you can experience the fragrances. It's a dedicated area that's a little bit secluded. So I went to one in central London a few weeks back and they sort of had this wardrobe and you're able to put like an item of clothing hang it on a hanger. So it could be a scarf, it could be maybe a jacket for example. They would then spray your

item of clothing with this specific scent. Leave it in there for, you know, a short period of time and then you can then take it out. And it speaks to this idea of really creating a space that feels human, that feels very tied and very close to you. And done in a way that feels really soft as well. Last thing that I want to mention is this idea of being softly crafted and deeply felt. So if you look at the visual merchandising and how things are presented in stores specifically on shelves, everything is very very

intentional. If we think about I'm going to give it you know the example of the opposite which is something like Sephora very loud, very glossy, lots of bright lights, Lots of different colors. Aesop, I think, really tries to do the opposite of that. And so even things like promotional signage or price list are minimized as much as possible. They try to really limit the amount of clutter that people will see. Price lists, for example, are sort of kept on a separate list in a different part rather than sort of being dispersed evenly throughout. So doing

this in a way that sort of I think it sort of pleases the OCD in me. And I imagine for a lot of other people as well, this idea of like things being really clean and very neat. And I think what that does is that when you take away that visual clutter, that sort of noisiness, it allows your consumer to then experience a deeper layer of themselves to be able to connect more meaningfully with the product or the scent or the messaging that you want to get across. By keeping things more low octane, you're able

to build greater intimacy with your customer. Now, last thing that I want to mention with retail is that we talked before about this idea of Aesop having this vast constellation of stores. But really outside of that, they also have an extension Within their retail network. So, they have a network of partners like restaurants, airlines, and hotels who stock their products in their stores. So the strategy is in some ways you could say it's kind of like their free hand creams that they'll sort of install outside. You know, it's a way to drive people to try

the product for them to fall in love with it. But at the same time, it also credentializes themselves with the right hospitality partners that if you try their product within a well-designed and well-appointed hotel, it also helps position the brand in the right way. Now I want to talk about activations. So there are eight that I think are worth mentioning. Obviously there are a lot more but these are the eight that I've chosen. The first is I think one of their earliest. I can't even really call it a campaign but I thought it's such a

beautiful story worth talking about. So the year is 1996. And a new employee at Aesop is given the task of creating a window display. And so the brief that he has given is to create a piece of work for the window that speaks to this idea of the change in seasons. So he works in secret for many weeks. And the day before he is meant to implement this idea, he basically tells all of his colleagues, I don't want to ruin the surprise for you, so please avoid the shop floor while I, you know, spend time

working across this project. And so at the grand reveal they all come down and they see that he has filled the entire space with a ton of dried leaves. And the initiative I think if you imagine sort of as a person who's walking through this the firstly the childlike glee that you would experience from this secondly the crunch of the autumn leaves and the smell as well that sort of deep earthy smell that has really come through the sense of joy that you would feel within your body. I think all of this I think speaks

to a brand that knew very early on what they were about. Obviously, if we think about this now, you know, a lot of people would say that this is not really sustainable. Sorry, not sustainable, not very scalable. But I think it speaks to a brand that was really trying to do something very different. Keep in mind, as I said before, this was 1996 when retail store experience was not really a thing yet. So I think it really speaks To how they were you know an early pioneer in bringing live experiences to people. Second thing I

want to mention is their radioatic mixtapes. So created in partnership with worldwide FM in 22. So they offered complimentary hour-long sessions of what they call your oral escapism in jazz, soul and spoken poetry. And I think it speaks to this idea of like if you have the right sound within a space, it creates this wonderful atmosphere. You know, we talked about this idea of being senses. Now you'll sort of see here how the ear is sort of celebrated and how they've been able to bring joy through music. Third initiative I want to talk about is

the queer library. I think many of us will know this one because it really did so incredibly well. Launched in 2021 in North America in response to the cancellation of Pride celebrations due to COVID 19. And it was really a way to promote underrepresented voices in the world of literature specifically within the LGBT community. And it has then amplified and sort of come you know worked across London, New York, Los Angeles, Toronto, Melbourne and Sydney. And from what I understand it still continues to this Day. So they've been able to promote readership of the books

to you know a large number of audience because you could you know pick a book up for free. And they were also able to donate a good sum of money to the ACLU. I think this is a really interesting piece because they were able to promote literature and voices at a time even now to this day when governments are banning LGBT voices within libraries. And they were able to make a positive spin out of it and they were able to do it in a way that was right for the brand because as we've talked a

bit about before Aesop is a brand that's very learned and very intellectual and they you know I think the timing of this was really right just the commercial element of sort of bringing people into the stores just all really came together very very neatly and wonderfully. This is also just some pictures from the campaign. Yeah, now across this next slide we have the women's library. So in the previous slide we talked about the queer library. And specifically well predominantly within the Asian markets they have the women's library. So instead of uplifting LGBT voices, women's library

as you Can imagine uplifts female voices in the world of literature especially during international women's day. So it's appeared in cities like Shanghai, Guangzhou, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur and they've gifted 19,000 books from this in 2003 to 3,000 new visitors. I think what's really interesting about this initiative is that it's really a way for them to stay true to their values. To use an existing mechanism from a campaign that has been realized across western markets and to do it in a way that's just really smart and really efficient in areas where maybe for example women's

rights are sort of you know an area that the marketing team there really want to emphasize perhaps they may have other regions where let's say being more LGBT friendly may be really difficult or even more of a risk than certain markets. And this is a really smart way to sort of not so much circumvent but to show who you are and what you stand for in a way that may be more palatable for the local traditions. Next piece that I want to talk about is future fables. So this is a series of podcast short contemporary

allegories. We talked at the very beginning about how Aesop Was named after an ancient Greek slave who himself was a storyteller written you know we talked about Aesop's fables and they tried to do this here to create their own sets of stories with different morals you'll see here you know different kinds of painterly watercolor style artwork each episode is around 10 minutes long. And similar to what you might see with different fairy tales, there is usually some kind of a lesson that they try to cover around community, empathy, envy, and the relationship between humans and

nature. This was an interesting piece. I think it came out I think it was sometime during COVID to be honest. Aesop did a collaboration with Christopher Raeburn, a London-based designer. Christopher is known for being incredibly eco-conscious in how he goes about creating and then sort of executing his business. So together they created the adventure rollup which is a compact pouch. You can see it here in the image to the left where it's basically a a pouch, a rectangular kind of a accessory with a strap and inside that pouch you can slot in I think it's

a trio of accessories inside and obviously tie and secure it so things don't Fall out. And part of that initiative was that you could download the pattern for the rollup for free and make it for yourself. So, even if you didn't purchase this, you would have access of some kind. I think what's interesting is that Aesop isn't really a fashion brand. I think it's loved by a lot of people in fashion, but not necessarily in fashion. I think they've managed to sort of weave in sort of Christopher, who's obviously a fashion designer in a way

that doesn't feel so centered in that specific industry. But really I think united by shared values of sustainability. Next piece is obviously the coffee table book. I've talked about this earlier. So published by Rizzoli New York. 336 pages linen-bound hardback. It's a celebration of the brand. It will do a far better job of explaining Aesop more than I ever will. I spent a lot of time reading this amongst other things to come up with this video today. Dennis had a very very heavy hand in this book. So I really would suggest having a look at

this. And obviously, as you can see, it's incredibly stunning. This is another slide with just some pages of some photography. But you'll see inside different Essays from, you know, their early days to how they work with partners to their stores. How they came up with different kinds of campaigns. It's a Bible. It's a manual. It's an aspirational book that you would be proud to put in your home. Yeah, next slide here is about what I call pleasure and purpose. So specifically when you look at most beauty brands, they tend to obsess and spend a lot

of time talking about the eyes and the lips. And it's probably of no surprise why you know these are parts of the body that are often connected with pleasure with sexuality with sensuality as well. And this 2012 campaign decided instead to lionize the nose which is the organ that appreciates the beauty of scent. Right? We talked at the very beginning about how Dennis mixed together different essential oils for pleasure and purpose. So it should come as no surprise that the nose was really the focal point of this. With this campaign, Aesop took plaster nose models

of one of 1,200 people. This was installed at Meyers, which is a department store in Melbourne. And they also invited people to enjoy the scent of different various formulations. So connecting brand values, Who you stand for, but then also connecting in a way where people can appreciate and love your product, discover it as well. Now last thing that I want to talk last section that I want to talk about is ethics. So we'll look at you know a little bit about credentials the Aesop foundation packaging and some of their initiatives for a deeper look into

ethics, sustainability, social impact. Aesop has a wonderful report. This is one of them. They might have had another one since I last looked but this was the latest one that I found when I was researching. But you will see inside a lot of technical details. But I will just sort of highlight some areas that I found very interesting. First thing that I mentioned earlier is BC Corp certification. So this was acquired in 2020. BC Corp for those who may not know is basically like a stamp of approval. That your company is ethical. Ethics is obviously

quite a subjective point of view. So the B Corp has sort of like a metric system that runs from everything such as pay environmental impact, social impact a bunch of different metrics in store and it's something that you have to commit to Quite regularly. So it's not a one-time thing. It's something that is assessed again and again. Second piece is that it's vegan. The brand is vegan. So no animal or animal derived ingredients including beeswax, honey or lanoline. And then third thing is cruelty-free. So the brand is certified cruelty-free under Leaping Bunny. So Leaping Bunny

is an organization that independently audits all claims. It's not just something that they have said. They haven't just said we're cruelty-free. It's something where a third party organization one that is very well known has given that stamp of approval for that specific metric. Across the next slide here we have the Aesop Foundation. So this was an entity that was created in 2016 to amplify the voices of excluded communities in the pursuit of equity, belonging and a thriving planet. So it has made a financial pledge to grant 40 million Australian dollars by 2030. Funds are basically

divided 20% across acute issues. So think about things like I don't know natural disasters or areas where things are quite hard to predict and then 80% across Partnership grants. So these would be grants that span across multiple years, sort of long-standing issues or societal problems that Aesop can commit to over a long-term road map. Three pillars of the foundation, society for all, livable earth and safekeeping. And some of their milestones since 2017 they've donated 14 million AUD including 2.6 in 2023. Employees have donated a substantial amount of hours to volunteer. And they've partnered with over

60 charities since 2017. Now, across their packaging, because we've talked about how beautiful the packaging is, it's I think it's also important to look at the impact of that as well. So, around 84% of packaging is currently reusable, recyclable, or compostable. We have a target of 100% by 2023. Most of the plastic used is recycled PET which consists of at least 97% recycled household plastic waste. And all of the secondary IE cartons and tertiary IE transit packaging materials are comprised of paper that is either FSC or PEFC certified. They also have a takeback scheme. And

so basically to encourage recycling of beauty packaging beauty packaging is can be quite tricky across certain municipals. They have a rinse and return program especially in areas like Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, China, Malaysia and Singapore. And I think the idea is to open these up across more areas as the years progress. Now, many of you will know about the aluminum tubes and how beautiful they are. So, in 2023, Aesop was successfully able to transition three of their hand balm SKUs from virgin aluminum to 100% recycled material. And last thing I want to talk about

is just general trial and experimentation. So, they've worked on a few pilot programs to improve their impact. So that's including using custom-designed reusable glass vessels for one of their partners, Capella Singapore. Working to basically reduce the amount of 50ml plastic bottles and trying to shift hospitality partners towards bulk refill options instead of amenity size products. Another piece, this is more of a historic one that came in 1998. Aesop worked with Plan Australia to end female genital mutilation. That is what their mission, that was what their mission was about. Slabs of soap were printed with information

of the cause on the curtain packaging. And so, you know, we talked About this idea of Aesop being really humble. I think that sort of ties with using, sorry, not using seeing the soap slabs as humble vessels and messengers for a far greater cause and message. Now this other piece you'll see here are you'll see some black vases here to the image on the right in sort of this organic stone-like shape. So Aesop Taiwan had a rinse and return program and they worked in partnership with Landhills project N. So the bottles that were returned to

them were then processed into granules before being threaded and then 3D printed into organic forms that were then as you can see here shared and reused as part of the store decoration. So this comes to the end of the video. Thank you for taking the time to listen in. I hope this information was helpful and I hope this has been useful in helping you to feel at least the love and respect that I personally have for Aesop as a brand. If you're interested to learn more about the world of brand and creative, please subscribe to

my new channel, my new YouTube channel, let me know what you think. If you'd like to see more of this. Have I missed anything from these Videos? Do you feel that I've gotten anything wrong? Do you have any further thoughts to add? Please sound that in the comment section down below. I'd love to learn as much as all of you. But yeah, I hope this was really helpful. Thank you for listening all the way through.