After hearing consumers in a café ask for coffee grinds to use in the shower, Jess Hatzis and friends brewed up their own formulas. When they confirmed caffeine’s known power to help minimize stretch marks and cellulite, they launched Frank Body.
“Coffee is our thing, it’s in everything we do and it’s very messy,” joked Hatzis, cofounder and creative director for the rapidly growing brand based in Melbourne, Australia. That, along with cheeky social media starring fans smeared in the coffee mixture, garnered the moniker they wear proudly: “the dirtiest brand on the Internet.”
Word of mouth spread fast among Millennials who like authentic stories and natural ingredients. “They had seen it all and been let down by some products,” Hatzis explained of the community ready for Frank Body. “They wanted a brand that spoke their language. No jargon. We needed them to fall in love with the product so they’d replace what they were using.”
The fledgling company was one of the first to harness the power of social media to introduce its products. Frank Body began a quest for consumer-generated content with fans posting pictures of themselves covered in the coffee-based skin care using #thefrankeffect. Today, Frank Body is approaching 700,000 Instagram followers.
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Sales started to percolate. Just surpassing its three-year anniversary, Frank Body has sold more than two million of its Coffee Scrubs.
Frank’s is now the number-one body brand in Australia, with a strong presence in all Mecca Cosmetics stores. Physical store growth is a perfect link for direct to consumer for those who like to touch and feel the products. In the U.S., Frank Body is now in Urban Outfitters.
Hatzis shared many tips for up-and-coming brands but one particularly resonated with the crowd. “You’ve got to risk it for the biscuit,” she advised.