Maesa’s formula has blended the art of incubation and the science of co-creation for 25 years, creating brands including Kristin Ess Hair, Fine’ry, Ashley Tisdale’s Being Frenshe and Drew Barrymore’s Flower Beauty. But with more brands entering the market than ever in recent years, Piyush Jain, chief executive officer of Maesa, said he has a few key questions to ask of all potential brands before giving a green light, starting with if the brand and its products are even necessary.
“We’ve seen more and more brands with the entry barriers going down but at the same time for beauty brands to succeed has become much harder,” said Jain in conversation with beauty market editor James Manso. “[Maesa’s brands] have been incredibly successful and at the heart of it is understanding the unmet consumer. Consumers don’t need new brands that don’t serve a unique, differentiated purpose.”
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With this in mind, he said, every time Maesa launches something new Jain asks “Is it different from everything else on the market? Does the consumer actually need it? And does this brand have a right to exist?”
There are ultimately many remaining opportunities in beauty, said Jain, and those are found in hidden places where a brand can offer something unique. He pointed to the hair category as an example of a space that was not largely understood and therefore when dry shampoo was introduced was able to create a major shift.
Jain described the commonalities behind the brands that find success as those who are authentic enter the market to grow a category, introduce something new and evolve ahead of the market. Brands that will succeed are those that meet consumers’ unmet needs.
Having retail partners can be absolutely critical to understanding specific shoppers and what they need, Jain said. Notably, Maesa launched Fine’ry with Target Corp. in 2023, filling white space on mass-market shelves with fragrance. In its partnership with Target and other retailers, Maesa brings the retailer on very early in the process to hone its strategy and create products that meet consumer needs.
While speed and agility are certainly necessary in beauty’s fast-paced market, under Jain’s leadership there are also times to hold where the benchmarks have been set higher. “We know when we see the difference and we will set the category on fire,” said Jain. “Our benchmarks are a little higher, but we will continue to incubate and I’m very excited by some of the options that you’ll see come down soon.”
Looking ahead, Jain said Maesa’s brands continue to grow rapidly and he is committed to maintaining talent. The company is also preparing to launch its second year of the Maesa Magic Incubator, which was started by Jain when Maesa turned 25 years old, to further pay it forward by identifying and supporting entrepreneurs.