Indie Beauty Conversation with Altr London

12 Aug 2021 --- With its mission to achieve true inclusivity in beauty and make male makeup mainstream, five-year-old Altr London is excitedly gearing up to launch its “full-blown” retail range. We caught up with Alex Doyle, CEO of Altr for Men, to talk about the motivation behind entering the male makeup sphere, the biggest challenges in connecting with male beauty and personal care consumers today, and the brand’s upcoming plans.

What was your inspiration behind launching Altr London? 

Altr started trading in March 2017 after more than 15 months of development. I started the brand during university. I was plagued with acne all through my teens and early 20’s - ultimately a time when personal appearance is critical.

Click to EnlargeAlex Doyle is on a mission to make male makeup mainstream. Source: Altr London.As I struggled to find a cure for the problem at university, a friend suggested I try a bit of her concealer to cover the problem area. While in theory it should have been an excellent idea, on application, the formula was the wrong shade, I had trouble applying it and it wouldn’t stay put. The products also damaged my skin long-term. This spurred me on to find a men’s brand equivalent that would both conceal and help with my skin long-term, but my search proved fruitless. From there I decided to create my own range and Altr was born, focusing on products that are easy to apply and good for your skin.

What was missing from the mainstream market that you sought to fill with Altr London?

When we started Altr London five years ago, we were one of very few makeup brands catering to men. While some of the major brands occasionally would use a male model, or call themselves unisex, there was, and still remains, a severe underrepresentation of men in the industry, particularly when looking at both the formulation of the products, as previously mentioned and across their marketing campaigns.

Consequently, a lot of men, myself included, wouldn’t have even considered wearing makeup as it was heavily stigmatized, difficult to educate yourself on and no brands were trying to appeal to the male demographic. We wanted to offer the option and show men that they can wear makeup and that it is easy.

What are male consumers demanding from grooming brands in both cosmetics and skin care - what's most important to them?

Click to EnlargeSource: Altr London.Nowadays there’s definitely a focus on inclusivity. It is very important to us and our customers that we cater to people of all races and genders in our range, and that’s something we have done since launch. Furthermore, sustainability is becoming more and more important as the climate crisis continues to deepen.

How is Altr London responding to these demands?

Since the launch of Altr we have focused on being sustainable, working with UK-based manufacturers to produce and manufacture our formulations, to keep our carbon footprint down. We also use recyclable packaging for our products, and our original concealer Face Fix uses a tinned packaging format for easy recycling. We have also expanded our shade range since the beginning, and it is super important to us to use a representative and diverse group of influencers and models across our marketing.

What are the greatest opportunities to connect with and appeal to male beauty and personal care consumers today?

I think staying on top of trends is crucial for a modern startup. For instance, right now, TikTok is a great way to get actual organic growth which has dissipated on Facebook and Instagram over the years. This is also true in a paid media sphere. While other advertisers wait to see the impact first, it can pay off massively to be the first to jump on a trend, leading to reduced cost per thousand impressions (CPMs) - the cost an advertiser pays per one thousand impressions on a web page - and more customers. 

What are the greatest challenges to connect with and appeal to male BPC consumers today?

Click to EnlargeSource: Altr London.Rising advertisement costs! Being a market-creator, prospecting is crucial for us, and we have used Facebook as our chief advertising method since launching as it has been a low-cost, low-risk opportunity to advertise the brand and not have to spend thousands on big campaigns. However the CPMs have been rising for years, and this was particularly accelerated by COVID-19 with brands moving marketing budgets online.

What are your short and long-term hopes and goals for Altr London?

Short term we have the exciting new launch of ‘Altr recommends,’ where we will be listing brands that we love and complement our range on our site, with the intention to bring out a full-blown retail range over the next six months. The long-term goal of Altr has always been to make makeup for men a mainstream, every day, every guy thing, and that continues to be our mission to educate and help progress the cause.

By Natasha Spencer-Jolliffe, BPC Insights Senior Journalist