Prologue: With a commitment to delivering high-quality skincare that caters to every skin type, tone and gender, two decade-old company Malin+Goetz is inspired by the agility, inclusivity and energy of urban living. The brand’s philosophy revolves around offering honest, effective and efficient products that seamlessly integrate into modern lifestyles.
The brand was founded in New York by Matthew Malin & Andrew Goetz in 2004 based on a mission to create a new kind of skincare – uncluttered and uncomplicated, intended to work for all skin types and genders.
The company’s subsequent journey has been marked by a deep commitment to design and a less-is-more approach to skincare. Malin+Goetz Senior Vice President International Helena Sampson talked recently to Martin Moodie at The Moodie Davitt Report’s office in Haikou, Hainan province about the brand’s ambitions in travel retail, China and beyond.
“Uncomplicated but also uncompromising.” That’s how Malin+Goetz Senior Vice President International Helena Sampson describes a brand she says is unlike any she has worked with during a stellar three-decade career that has encompassed prolonged senior stints with renowned houses such as L’Oréal, Unilever, Shiseido, LVMH and Huda Beauty.
“We are all about stripping back this whole plethora of bathroom cabinet products, because there’s only so much your skin and your life needs,” Sampson explains. “What really attracted me to the brand is that our customer is someone who is not a beauty junkie, per se, they really want to experience life.”
Malin+Goetz knows that, she says, because it interviews more than 15,000 of its customers each year. And the results are intriguing. “They tell us that their priorities in life are travelling, fine dining, theatre and culture. And actually out of the 20 options we give them, beauty and grooming is number eight, which is really different from any other beauty company I’ve worked with.”
That doesn’t mean looking good and beauty products don’t matter to Malin+Goetz consumers. They do very much. “Our consumers know what they want,” explains Sampson. “They want products that deliver but they don’t want to spend three hours in front of the bathroom mirror at the expense of other experiences.”
By definition, the Malin+Goetz customer tends to be a city dweller who wishes to keep life uncomplicated. Just like business and life partners Matthew Malin and Andrew Goetz 20 years ago when they were living in a confined apartment in Chelsea, New York.
The duo discovered their entrepreneurial voice partly through complementary skillsets but also through circumstance. Goetz had a design background while Malin was a skincare professional who had worked on a wide array of products but faced personal skin issues that such products did not address.
“Matthew’s own skin was becoming very sensitised and that was partly because of the products he’d been using,” Sampson says. As a result of his needs and the constraints of urban living, the pair set about creating something they could share but which took up neither space nor excessive time using it. The result, they avowed, must be efficient, look good and most of all deliver.
The seed of their idea was a modern interpretation of a traditional apothecary at the centre of a community where a consumer might walk in and seek advice, Sampson says.
Two decades on, the resultant Malin+Goetz range offers a concise yet impactful product line-up that’s focused on achieving natural balance for the skin. Concise as in just two steps – cleanse and hydrate. The streamlined routine is designed to provide effective results without overwhelming customers through an excess range of skus, Sampson says.
“If you’re city living and particularly if you are more outward-thinking in terms of, say, travelling and you want no compromise but desire a product that looks good and feels good, it’s ideal,” she says. “It’s actually a brand that has your back in that sense.”
She relates how the brand’s New York marketing team like to use the phrase ‘Take a New York minute’ – a reference to an instant, a flash of time. Whether the consumer is on a zoom call or just having a quick coffee on a Brooklyn balcony or jumping into a cab, that’s when, say, they could use the Malin+Goetz lip balm or broad spectrum sunscreen.
“It’s that New York minute where life is too short. It’s a lifestyle brand, which plays across skincare, hair care, and body care, but we also have fragrance and candles – not just as gifts but also suitable for that moment for you. Our brand headline is ‘Designed. For all the ways we live.’ So this provides the answer to those who have a city-based, high-velocity lifestyle.
“The brand is all about achieving the natural balance of the skin, which is really important. We don’t have a huge number of skus. In fact it’s the opposite… which means less packaging and less waste, but all beautifully designed.”
It’s also deliberately gender neutral with a mix of 52% men and 48% women buyers. That ratio skews slightly according to region (in Asia women are in the slight majority), though in some cases it might be women buying for men, Sampson points out.
With the COVID-19 pandemic having prompted millions of consumers worldwide to reflect on the fragility of life and rethink their priorities, a brand with Malin+Goetz’s inherent values must find itself in an enhanced position, I suggest as we chat over coffee at The Moodie Davitt Report offices in Haikou shared with Bluebell.
“Post-COVID I think people are looking for more value from their time,” Sampson comments. “So with our brand, whether it’s our Peppermint Shampoo or the Grapefruit Face Cleanser you put it on with minimum hassle. You can have that moment of invigorating escapism. Or with the purifying face mask, you can literally use it – on and off – in the few minutes it takes to make a cup of tea.
“This is one of the things that I just loved when I joined the brand. I loved the design; I loved the smell. I’d used a few of the products, particularly in hotels – we have strong luxury hotels and airline amenity business around the world – and so a lot of our customers discover us through the fact they love to travel.
“And actually, when I started to use the skincare, I was like, ‘This is really good.’ ”
Sampson studied the brand’s claims and its clinical results. Everything stood up to scrutiny and her mind was made up.
“We entered the China local market in fall last year. We partnered with SKP and Harmay very deliberately in terms of cultivation strategy, both being where a lot of the higher-end opinion formers go.”
“Our clinicals are very, very strong, so much so that I think we’re too much the industry’s ‘best-kept secret’. But the other aspect of our brand is its generosity and that stems from Matthew and Andrew. They have an incredible spirit of generosity and inclusivity and I think you really feel that in the brand and it translates the whole way through to the product.
“It’s an accessible price point within prestige luxury but actually when you open the bottle you get more than you would expect every time in terms of the results and in terms of the amount of formula within it. We’re not very good at blowing our own trumpet but actually our consumers experience a very real surprise and delight.”
After a successful start-up, the company attracted investment from powerful US private equity firm and serial beauty sector investor Manzanita Capital in 2015. Sampson joined the group in 2021.
“I love working with founders so I’d always been wary of private equity just because I want to build a brand long term,” Sampson admits. “But I knew Manzanita and their reputation well through their investment in Space NK and Diptyque so they had always been very much on my radar , albeit they are an investment company.
“They are also brand builders as you can see from the story of the brands that they’ve worked with, including still being involved with Byredo [in which Puig acquired a majority share in May 2022 -Ed]. That was important to me. They brought in Brad [Bradley Horowitz] as the CEO, and then in turn he brought me in as Senior Vice President International so it was the right steps in the right order.”
Operation China and mission travel retail
China is key to Sampson’s global sales mission. Speaking during a whirlwind tour of Hainan to discover more about the offshore duty free sector, she says the country offers rich growth potential due to growing consumer alignment with the values Malin + Goetz offers.
“We entered the China local market in fall last year. We partnered with SKP and Harmay very deliberately in terms of cultivation strategy, both being where a lot of the higher-end opinion formers go.
“I spent a long time in Anfu Road in Shanghai last weekend just watching the customers just to get the feel of things. But the big play for us was launching our own boutique in Xintiandi last Tuesday. It’s only been three days but we’ve exceeded our targets by a long way.
“We have a beautiful site, where we’ve been able to interpret this kind of modern apothecary feel working with amazing Shanghai-based architects Atelier Deshaus. So this is our first big step in Mainland China although we are in Hong Kong in IFC Mall.”
Clearly building a strong local market presence in China will help the brand’s presence in travel retail, a channel in which Malin+Goetz is building steadily, notably through an excellent relationship with DFS Group.
“It is like a game of chess. You have to play the right pieces in the right order. You have to have the right people. It’s all about the resource, not just the money but about the team focus and knowing where and when is the right place to play.”
As reported, Malin+Goetz was one of 11 clean and wellbeing beauty brands featured by DFS Group in its first-ever Clean Beauty pop-up store opened at T Galleria by DFS, Galaxy Macau as part of the retailer’s Annual Beauty Campaign called ‘Explore New Dimensions’ this August.
“We had a great historical relationship with DFS through Hong Kong and then in Macau,” says Sampson. “Again it was a case of ‘the best-kept secret’ and we have seen this really organic growth that’s been driven by the customers [in duty free] as they’re seeing the brand more everywhere else.”
Like most of its peers, Malin + Goetz has faced complex challenges projecting sell-through in travel retail post-COVID. “It’s been very interesting coming out of COVID to see these pulses of activity, because one minute you’re like, ‘Oh, my God, we’re plus 100%. And then the next minute, it’s like, okay, so I adjusted my forecasts accordingly but last week was really quiet. Of course, that is all about who’s going where and at what point and we know that as China puts more countries on the approved list for group tours, that will probably have implications for various parts of China [local market].”
But whatever the fluctuations, Sampson senses serious prospects with the Chinese consumer, both at home and abroad . She paraphrases the famous line from the Kevin Costner film Field of Dreams – “If you build it and they will come” – to sum up the brand’s approach to China. No instant win, just a continuation of doing things in the right way and always in keeping with the company’s values.
“I think there is a big opportunity. There’s a moment in any brand’s life and exposure, which you’ve just got to get right. Even in the beginning in Macau, it wasn’t building a lot, because not enough people knew about it. But now through the DFS ecosystem and global network, it is really lifting and the team has been very supportive.
“So we are in Macau but also went quite beautifully into New York JFK with DFS last November. We’re also working with Dufry on some interesting projects in Europe. All of these teams have been so proactive and they like working at the right pace with us, I think. So now the phone calls are coming our way, something I say without arrogance as you always want to be in a position where it’s a win-win for everybody.
“We’re in the fortunate position that our best-sellers across all five categories play into the mobility of travel – from the perfume oils to the travel deodorant and our one-stop Essential kit which does everything for face, body and hair.
“There are other worlds where it might be about going fast, fast, fast. But it needs to be right. Because the brand deserves that – all brands deserve it. How brave are founders to set up brands, especially when they put their name on them?
“My view is they’ve done it right without compromise. It is like a game of chess. You have to play the right pieces in the right order. You have to have the right people. It’s all about the resource, not just the money but about the team focus and knowing where and when is the right place to play.”
For a New York-born brand to globalise successfully took particular qualities, Sampson says. “These were identified from the start of the brand when Matthew and Andrew recognised the universality of modern city life. But you can’t just ‘land a spaceship’ and assume it’s going to work.
“It’s about understanding the brand cues that speak to the needs of the consumer in a particular market so you can deliver that New York, Shanghai or Hainan moment.
“It’s got to look beautiful; it’s got to smell nice; and it’s got to deliver. But it can never be something that’s going to suck up the time in the day if you want to get onto the next thing.”
China calls
In China, Malin+Goetz started working with Bluebell in 2022 through Star Brands Asia, the Shanghai-based company founded by American beauty sector specialist Rob Robertson in 2009 focused on bringing the world’s best niche beauty brands to China. Bluebell invested in the company in 2018.
“The introduction happened just over a year ago and by complete coincidence, I had met Rob through the network anyway, so I was really pleased to work with him and he partnered with Bluebell on the travel retail side,” Sampson recalls. “This was great and it enabled me to spend more time with the team and work out what the right approach is.
“We want to represent the brand best where we are, rather than kind of being tacked on little shelves everywhere. Again, how can we join the dots for the customer? And I think that is where Malin & Goetz is working really well. It’s where the customer is at the centre of that journey.”
At the centre, that is, of a travel retail moment. ✈
