Kendo Brands’ Sarah Koch: Brand relevance is ‘the million-dollar question’

“You have to be true to your core as a brand, but then you have to continue to evolve with the consumer so that you’re relevant to where he or she is in their lives,” said Koch on the latest episode of the Glossy Beauty podcast.

The skin-care brand was founded in 1983 by Ole Henriksen, a Danish esthetician who developed a collection of products that exfoliate, treat and soothe the skin. The 40-year-old brand was purchased by Kendo Brands in 2011 and relaunched in 2017. At the time of the relaunch, the portfolio was streamlined into four franchises to target the top five skin-care concerns and sharpen the focus on the brand’s Scandinavian roots.

But brand relevancy is also about where the brand is found. In January 2024, the formerly Sephora-exclusive brand expanded to Ulta Beauty. Also this year, the brand plans to expand its best-selling Banana Bright franchise with an undisclosed product.

“It’s the sort of launch that brings everything together — like our Scandinavian heritage, efficaciousness and joyful glow — into one product. It will be potentially game-changing for the brand,” she said.

Koch further spoke on the Glossy Beauty podcast about brand relevancy, the reason OleHenriksen won’t be launching scalp care anytime soon, and the motivation for teaming with TikToker Alix Earle. Below are excerpts of the conversation, which have been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

Expanding from a Sephora-exclusive brand to Ulta Beauty

“At a certain point, scaling from a distribution standpoint is important. There are financial reasons for that. And there are also consumer acquisition reasons. For OleHenriksen, expanding to Ulta Beauty was never about hurting or diminishing the Sephora business. If that happens, then we have failed. It’s really about building an incremental consumer base. Success looks like growing the total U.S. business and then being able to reinvest back into it in a more meaningful way because you have more volume and more marketing dollars. We haven’t seen a huge hit to our Sephora business, which indicates that we are talking to an entirely net new consumer that maybe wasn’t shopping at Sephora.”

Gen Z’s love affair with anti-aging

“I don’t think that [Gen Z] can be ignored. They’re so powerful right now. They are driving huge commercial volumes, whether it’s Drunk Elephant with [influencer] Katie Fang or Summer Fridays with the lip balms. Consumers are more knowledgeable at a younger age than we’ve ever seen. And, with that comes this idea that they want to try and experiment with. Do I think all OleHenriksen products are appropriate for young skin? No, I don’t think they need that efficacious product. But do I think some products are great for young skin? Absolutely. The onus is on the consumer and the parents to understand. But this young consumer is so important because, eventually, I want her to think highly of our brand.”

Maintaining brand relevancy

“[Brand relevance] is the million-dollar question. We’re part of LVMH, which has brands that have been around for centuries. This is the most saturated time in history for beauty, and it makes you realize how hard it is to have a [long-standing] brand. OleHenriksen specifically was 40 years old last year. You have to be true to your core as a brand, but then you have to continue to evolve with the consumer so that you’re relevant to where he or she is in their life. Part of it is the products you’re developing, including what is hot and what they’re looking for. But then, at the same time, you need to balance that with a strong sense of who you are as a brand. The lip category is a good example of that for OleHenriksen because the category is hot. … [And] we can make the best lip products out there, the most efficacious, [and have] clinical results behind our lip product. We’ll also make this the juiciest, sexiest lip balm out there.”