Brands you oughta know: Go-To Skincare

For the Aussies in the room, Go-To Skincare needs no introduction — the witty brainchild of equally witty Zoe Foster Blake has been around since 2015 and even sold a 50.1% majority stake to BWX Group (who also own Sukin).

Go-To are an absolute masterclass in brand building, but if you’re not from Aus there’s a good chance you’ve never even heard of ‘em.

Which is a shame, cause you’re missing out on some key takeaways.

So consider this your introduction to all things Go-To Skincare…

What they sell

Skincare (duh)

Current tagline

Uncomplicated skincare that actually works

THE BRAND

Go-to shows up with one of the most consistent executions of brand you’ll see — from the visuals to the product range to the veeery particular voice, not even the tiniest detail gets skimmed over.

The connection with their very particular shade of pinky peach is so strong that fans in the Facebook group will often post images of random things that are “Go-To peach”.

THE BRAND VOICE

If I had a dollar for every client that said “MAKE ME SOUND LIKE GO-TO!!!” (Wait, I kinda do…)

But it’s with good reason — the voice is straight from the witty, wonderful and would-be-copywriter-in-another-life, Zoe Foster-Blake.

And although it should never ever be copied, lest your brand come off as a cheap imitation, it’s still worth admiring.

THE PACKAGING COPY

Of course (of COURSE!) the voice carries across to the packaging. One of the best parts of getting a Go-To order is seeing what wordy surprises await…

THE EXTRAS

It’s not just words though, from pens that say “don’t steal me” to “holy shit! You look amazing!” stickers to custom fortune cookies, Go-To have been adding little (strategically instagram-worthy) extras to their orders from the very start.

Perfect for encouraging social media shares and building brand loyalty.

THE GIFTS

Speaking of, their gift with purchase game is LEGENDARY.

Go-To has a knack for sourcing gifts that are on brand, linked to their product range AND actually make you wanna buy.

Headbands, keyrings, silk eye masks, scrunchies, candles in their signature scent...

THE LIMITED EDITIONS

They don’t stop at free gifts though — rather than rely on Black Friday discounting, they used it torelease a larger size of their fan fave Face Hero oil, in limited edition *gold packaging* for the holidays. Perfect for gifting (to yourself, if need be).

THE MINIS

Knowing that skincare is personal, Go-To also recently released a mini kit — perfect for trialling new products.

And rather than forcing customers to try specific products in a preset mini kit, they let you build your own kit of 5. A perfect way to create a sense of control and ownership over it.

THE PRODUCT RANGE

After starting with 5 products in 2015, they’ve slowly but intentionally expanded the range. Between ZFB sharing new product testers on her insta stories to the actual new product pre-launch strategy, they know how to build hype.

BRO TO

But why stop at product expansion when you can, tongue in cheek, create a “bro appropriate” version of the brand.

Literally the same Go-To formulas packaged in a totally un-feminine grey*

To quote Zoe on this: “I really wanted to take the piss."

*Since changed to a vibrant blue and red combo.

GRO TO

Why stop at 2 brands when you can add a kid-friendly one to target THE SAME CUSTOMERS? (Is this not some mega lesson in increasing LTV??)

Think kid-friendly formulas in extra fun packaging:

GIVING BACK

This isn’t something they centre their marketing around, but Go-To have built in charity from the start, and continue to evolve, increase and improve the ways they give back.

Peek their Doin Our Bit page here

THE LOYALTY PROGRAM

Their loyalty program, the Go-To Gang is a recent arrival, with tier names that perfectly fit the relatable, could be your bestie brand vibe.

THE EDUCATIONAL CONTENT

They’ve been nailing the whole Instagram thing since day dot, and a big part of that is the educational content. From skincare tips to highlighting product ingredients and what they do.

THE SOCIAL PROOF

From emails to socials to website, Go-To is also good at highlighting customer results — the perfect way to showcase what a product can do without having to say it yourself (again).

THE BRAND COLLABS

From Kester Black nail polish (in Go-To peach of course), to Manflowers Co beer holders to a limited edition flavour of (now defunct) Hey Tiger chocolate.

Great collabs are, and will continue to be, a MASSIVE opportunity for brand growth.

AAAAALL of that only just scratches the surface.

But you're also looking at a powerhouse brand, created by a beloved and well-known personality in Aus.

A big (HUUUGE) part of Go-To’s early success was based on found Zoe Foster-Blake being a certified national treasure.

Although that doesn’t take away from what she’s built (the products! the brand! the empire!), Zoe has openly discussed how expanding to a US market was difficult because she’s not a known name there, and the humour doesn't always translate.

So even though you might not have the budget or name recognition to match (yet), you can learn a shitload from watching Go-To test, iterate and expand.