Yes To
Reaching the Market
Yes To has become one of the fastest-growing natural and skincare brands in the world because it has been able to reach a consumer base that is open to natural products. Yes To’s customers are looking for quality natural products that perform as advertised and are healthy.
“Our customers get most of their information via word of mouth through recommendations from friends, families and online beauty experts,” Chen says. “They are social and digitally savvy, online all the time. They want beauty and personal care products to be a part of their lifestyle. We are selling that attitude along with the product. Also, the colors we use for our graphics need to be bold. Colors tend to be muted from our competitors in the natural space, and our colors are bold to help communicate the positive attitude of the brand.”
One of the most important moves the company has made in the last few years was changing its corporate name to Yes To and making Yes To Carrots a product line along with product lines such as Yes To Cucumbers, Yes To Tomatoes, Yes To Blueberries and Yes To Grapefruit. The Yes To platform allowed the company to expand beyond its origins with carrot-based skincare products.
“We’ve been able to move in many different directions with our product lines,” Chen says. “We also started a campaign last year called the Yes To Movement, which is an effort to reach consumers through an engaging and positive campaign that does more than just talk about the product. Yes To Movement is about tying the positive attitude with the products, thus supporting the Yes To brand. We will continue to evolve how we discuss our products and brands. Those pillars bring our brand identity to light.”
Building the Brand
Just like any brand, Yes To is focused on driving consumers to product trials and awareness. As part of this effort, traditional brick-and-mortar retailers are important, but the online digital retailers are just as important because that is where Yes To’s customers prefer to get their information and make purchases.
“We sell products on our website and use it as an educational tool, and we also have online retailers that we sell through,” Chen says. “We reach our consumers through digital and social marketing. We don’t do traditional beauty brand advertising in print or on TV, because that is not where our customer is. She sees that as superficial.”
In addition to investing in branding and product development, Yes To has focused on making sure its organizational structure is set up properly. The company has invested in the necessary talent and IT infrastructure to support expansion at the same time that it has invested in marketing and product innovation.
“Our model allows us to focus on areas where we can differentiate ourselves,” Chen says. “We believe we can accelerate our growth by investing in areas where we have control over brand positioning. Our talent will be key for us, which is why we have put together a diverse team in terms of thoughts and experiences, not just demographic. That helps us pursue growth and success.”
When considering its major challenges and priorities in the years ahead, Yes To believe the next 12 to 24 months won’t be much different than what it has been doing in the last couple of years. Chen says Yes To has built a great deal of credibility in the market since beginning to reposition itself over the last five years. She says the company now has more license to be aggressive and grow beyond what it is today. Yes To is now focused on its competitive advantages and bringing products to more places while continuing to be innovative in terms of product development.
“We talk a lot about positivity and making our brand all about the ‘yes’ and about lifestyle and attitude,” Chen says. “In our conversations, we focus on consumers who are looking for that kind of mentality. Our repositioning efforts have also influenced the internal culture of our business. We have made a strategic choice that helps us target the right consumers and makes sure we have the right culture in our company. The ‘yes’ plays into everything we do internally and in how we go to market externally. We are aligned around what the brand stands for.”