A British haircare brand, into the Gulf
A textured-hair specialist with a committed UK following, invited into the Gulf by a distributor before any plan existed.
CategoryWellness
RouteLondon to Dubai
Engagement9 months
The problem
The brand had inbound distributor interest and was close to signing terms it had not modelled. Product registration and ingredient approval had not been scoped at all, and the timeline the distributor proposed assumed both were formalities. They are not.
What we did
- Paused the distributor negotiation and scoped registration and ingredient approval first, which added four months to the honest timeline
- Reformulated two products rather than lose them to the approval process
- Renegotiated the proposed terms once the real cost of entry was visible
- Built the launch around salon and specialist channels before mass retail, matching where the category's credibility sits
- Ran creator partnerships with texture specialists rather than general beauty accounts
Where it landed
4
months added to the honest timeline
2
products reformulated for approval
0
shipments held at customs
- Entry completed with registration cleared before first shipment rather than after
- Terms improved materially against the distributor's opening position
- Salon channel established first, with mass retail conversations following on the brand's timing
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