A brand is never just about the product they sell or the service they deliver. Its most crucial component is the purpose of the business and the mission they’re on. Their services and products will then reflect this mission, help them build the foundation of the business and their loyal followings.
That’s why Eumora began their journey with one clear mission in mind - to provide an all-natural range of products that will help people achieve healthy skin that starts from the inside.
This Singapore-based skin health brand is known for its signature moor clay soap bar that has been described as the holy grail for clear and spotless skin, an essential for skin rejuvenation, and the solution for common skin concerns such as eczema, acne, pigmentation, and more. To understand how their journey started, we need to go back to when they first got the idea for their signature product.
Replacing Skincare with Skin Health
Nicholas Chia, the founder of Eumora shared that it first started when they first promoted Eumora back in May 2008. When sharing his thought about how a brand usually starts out, Nicholas stated that
“A brand takes a long time to build. However, a good brand lasts for generations, it almost always begins with its history, or more importantly the reason for its initial creation. Some call it “identity”, while many know it as its mission.”
Their mission back then was simple! To help ordinary people achieve healthy skin through tried and tested all-natural solutions. They wanted to move away from skincare and highlight skin health instead - focusing on beauty from inside and out. Their promise was to deliver only tried and tested products made from natural, raw, and organic ingredients to help overcome skin concerns.
They wanted to protect their consumers by ensuring that every product they produce is well tested on the skin and is proven to show the promised results. Over in Europe, they traveled high and low in search of the perfect ingredient for their product. That’s when they explored the power of moor; amazing nutrient-rich peat, which has been known for centuries by beauty experts for its unparalleled impact on skin and body.
Just as self-explanatory as its name suggests, moor mud is a type of mud that is derived from moorlands. It is the product of the natural decomposition of multitudes of plants that have been permanently submerged up to 60 feet underground, covered by a very thick layer of clay that is totally protected from air, rain, or agricultural contaminant pollution.
Unlike other muds, we typically see used in various skincare and the spa industry, moor mud contains very little to no clay and is made up of organic residue of herbs, flowers, and grasses. This residue was transformed into a fine paste that easily dissolves in water after a period of thousands of years.
It is rich in bio-minerals that are highly absorbent. It contains humic as well as fulvic acids that carry nutrients into the cells while removing waste. In addition, it also contains protein-building amino acids and plant hormones that make it a beneficial and potent healing substance. It is effectively therapeutic, detoxifying, and contains cosmetic properties.
Highly popular, moor spas have existed for the rich and famous all over Europe for decades. That’s why Nicholas decided that they should bring this to the world, and not make it exclusively available only to people who can only travel to Europe to enjoy the amazing moot treatment.
“We wanted to bring it to ordinary folks, everywhere in the world. And today, we have succeeded as we are almost in every corner of the Planet.”
Now that they have gone deep into the center of the earth to bring moor to ordinary people, they wanted to complement that with another phenomenal ingredient to create a product that is more than just moor. So they went deep into the lakes, to bring yet another iconic natural ingredient to further enhance their product - the MicroAlgae, which is known as one of the best best-kept secrets in skincare formulation.
Image Source: Eumora website
Also nutrient-rich and anti-aging in nature, they infused the MicroAlgae (HMA inside) into Eumora, making it the only facial moor bar with MicroAlgae. Perfectly enhancing their remarkable formulation of Eumora. MicroAlgae has existed for centuries, and it has certainly been tried and tested as an ingredient in countless skincare products.
With that, they presented Eumora, a skin health product with tried and tested benefits made purely from natural ingredients to the entire world, reaching out to ordinary people.
Since then they have enjoyed plenty of successes and positive responses from customers all over the world. After a decade-long success, they decided to re-launch Eumora with shea butter.
When sharing about their experience in re-launching Eumora, Nicholas pointed out that many of their customers asked why fix something that is not broken? Their reply was;
“We didn’t, we simply enhanced the product to upgrade its overall quality to ensure that we are always providing only the best to our customers”
This time they added shea butter, another symbolic natural ingredient for skincare harvested from the depths of the African forest. They infused the extract of the African shea tree into the newly re-launched Eumora (with Shea Butter), refashioned their packaging, and made the brand relevant to the new age while still ensuring that it screams luxury yet affordably priced with the single 35g bar separately boxed. They believe that this small yet impactful change will make Eumora restrengthen its standing amongst new generations.
Its mission, however, has not changed and will never change. It was born to do what it will continue to do, to be Eumora, always delivering its brand promise.
“We do the things we need to do because of our identity. Our corporate philosophy ‘doing from being’. We know who we are, our identity is crystal clear so we will continue to move forward at the same magnitude and promise.”
Now they focus on bringing this great product to the world and redefining new channels, new strategies, new partnerships, new markets with the same “old” people, friends, and fans of Eumora that they believe will remain critical in the building of a great brand.
Overcoming Challenges by Building Trust
When asked what was their biggest challenge in managing the business, Nicholas shared that their biggest challenge in running the business is to grow their existing distribution so as to bring Eumora to ordinary people and it is not easy to draw resellers to do this business.
As consumers increasingly shop online, they started to go digital with their online store. They are proud to share that their online business has been growing steadily, despite the pandemic. Apart from that, their loyal fans and friends are one of the most significant contributors to overcoming this problem.
“Friends and fans of Eumora, will not only use Eumora but have also chosen to re-sell it. Simply because they believe in the product and the borderless nature of the business.”
Eumora is an easy product to sell, it can be economically delivered by post with no restrictions, allowing it to be easily shipped anywhere in the world.
Nicholas further explained that these re-sellers which usually began as their customers know they are selling a trusted product that has been loved by people of all ages for more than a decade-long. They see potential and have enjoyed genuine benefits from the product that they ultimately want to share with more people and that has helped the business grow as well.
“Be customer-centric, know your customers, and what they want - that will help your business at the most crucial time and phase.”
Since starting out, they have managed to deliver their brand’s promise, year in and year out without compromising on the quality of their product.
Image Source: Eumora Testimonials
The hard work and dedication they have put to ensure they deliver their promise are well-reflected on the numerous online testimonials they get from their customers. Now their goal is to grow their existing distribution into various online and brick-and-mortar channels.
Their Advice for Other Entrepreneurs
As an entrepreneur to another, Nicholas shared that his advice was to be realistic and accept challenges along the way as you expand the business. Start with the end in mind and persevere until you reach your desired outcome. Apart from that, he also highlighted that entrepreneurs shouldn’t do what you love, but rather love what they do because, at the end of the day, it is entirely up to them.
Through Eumora’s story, it’s safe to say that in order to build and grow a brand, you need to put your best effort and dedication into producing products that you genuinely believe in and trust yourself. It is always important to remember that you should see your product from the customer’s point of view and try it out yourself. This will not only help you built confidence in your product but also address problems that businesses typically oversee and improve along the way.
