Fussy is the young natural deodorant giving your tried and tested brand names a run for their money.

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Fussy was created out of the frustration of not being able to find natural deodorants that met the quality and design standards of its founders. With a pregnant wife in need of a natural deodorant, Matt Kennedy, along with co-founder Eddie Fisher decided to create Fussy - a natural deodorant designed to actually meet expectations.  

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Though they’ve only been around since 2020, they’ve seen an enviable trajectory since their launch, boasting of over 97,000 customers at the end of last quarter, as well as a £1.1m crowdbooster to fuel their growth.

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So what can we take away from Fussy’s story?

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⚡Filling the gaps between competitors

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After leaving a career in advertising, having worked with big brands like Gillette, Matt was aware of the failure of many larger brands in creating effective natural deodorants and saw an opportunity.

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Before launching Fussy, Matt and Eddie were well aware that they weren’t the first natural deodorant in the market… but that didn’t deter them in the least.

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A common problem with many natural deodorants was that they were no match for more mainstreaming counterparts; with many causing rashes and failing to sustain the same freshness as more conventional competitors.

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Fussy created an in-house scientific formula for their deodorant with a focus on stand-out scents without the side effects many other deodorants came with, all without compromising on its effectiveness. This gave them an edge over their competitors and captured an already captive audience.

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For Fussy, the proof is in the pudding, with over 3,000 five star reviews and a rapidly growing customer base.

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Additionally, Fussy’s product design is a clear differentiator from competitors. Coining themselves the “Apple of deodorant”, Matt Kennedy said: “We want people to have a beautiful experience as well as the coolest looking product on the market”.

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⚡Resourcefulness

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The founders first turned heads on Dragons' Den, pitching an idea that won the hearts of two investors. But beyond securing an investment, they were able to walk away with way more.

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Their feature on Dragon’s Den resulted in two week’s worth of sales in 1 hour!

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They leveraged their exposure on the show to build a strong brand presence, create talking points and well and truly introduced themselves as a worthy challenger brand on the scene.

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Going one step further, they used clips from their Dragon’s Den episode in their marketing, maximising their stint on the show to fuel their growth. The trust and reputation of the show meant the clip used in ads halved their acquisition costs and gave them a credibility boost.

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Working with Deborah in their content and ads allowed them to capitalise on her reach too.

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⚡Brand personality

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And how effective can exposure be without a great brand personality to keep your audience engaged?

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Fussy’s playful brand personality is another thing that sets them apart in their market. From the onset, they've shown creativity in the way they communicate their message. This is clear in their recent advert (featuring Deborah Meaden, see note above re: resourcefulness!) - one of the top Christmas ads of last year.

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Fussy are also intentional in communicating their brand personality, even in less playful circumstances.

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In 2021, after a disruptive ad making comparisons to Unilever, Unilever sought out legal action.

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For many startups still making their mark, this would have been a point of panic, but for Fussy, it was an opportunity. They sent out an apology letter and made a campaign of it - extending an olive branch to Unilever (literally)` which they shared on their social media.

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It’s clear that Fussy have a knack for sending an impactful message, all while making it fun.

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A key takeaway here is despite being one in a sea of many, Fussy have built a strong brand by finding the weak spots amongst competitors and being clear on how they're better.

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What’s your takeaway on Fussy’s approach? I’d love to know!

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