Bucking the trend: Why Aminu co-founder makes it a point to ignore social media trends

It is no secret that the beauty market is a trend-driven one. And given how accessible data like Google search terms are, brands can easily spot the next trend to jump on.

But if everyone is jumping on the same bandwagon, then what differentiates one brand’s products from the other? That was the question that drove Aman Mohunta and Prachi Bhandari to establish the skin care brand Aminu.

“What I felt was, and maybe this might be a little unpopular answer, most of the indie brands that we see coming up in India, are all trying to capture the trends that they see from the data side social media… the reason we started Aminu was, at the end of the day skin care has to be backed by science, we're dealing with the largest organ in our body. So, a lot of it also should be driven by what the science says what the latest research in the field of dermatology,”​ said Aman on the Indie Pioneers podcast.

Making a point not to follow fads has been a challenge for the brand, which is only just over a year old.

“When you’re riding a trend, you're always able to capture some of those moments and get those early sales, growth in numbers growth in popularity. But when you're trying to sort of not follow the trend and break away from it, it takes time to educate people to make them hear you,”​ said Aman.

Educations is especially challenging given the mass volume of misinformation that is circulating across social media channels such as Instagram and TikTok.

By ignoring the trends, the brand instead focuses a lot on research into new ingredients and consumer concerns. The firm also works with local beauty salons as a way of keeping an ear on the ground.

“I think one of the key things that makes me excited is today, people in India are not at all sort of scared to ask the brand about, hey, what are you giving me what's in it, what will do for my skin, and so on and so forth.”​

Aman told us that what excited him most about the market today is that consumers are not afraid to be critical and question beauty brands.

“We get so many DMS on Instagram on a daily basis, asking about us ingredients, they will share their own concerns talk to us. So, I think people have started investing a lot more time in skin care, both as preventive as well as curative.”​

To find out more about Aman and Aminu, check out our podcast above or on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and more.