Nails.INC interview: Collabs, creativity and that cheese-scented sellout nail polish
Thea Green MBE is the founder and CEO of Nails.INC – she is taking part in a fireside keynote at Brand Licensing Europe on Thursday 6 October talking beauty, retail and experiential engagement.
BLE is free to attend for all retailers – register at www.brandlicensing.eu.
Nails.INC has been a phenomenal success – where did that initial inspiration come from?
I worked in fashion magazines and saw how, in the US, nails were really treated as a fashion accessory and part of an overall look – there was no brand in the UK at the time speaking to fashion-conscious customers like this – so I created my own!
How have you managed to continually innovate?
Innovation is at the heart of what we do. We broke the nail internet when we brought out spray can nail polish, we have recently created Mani Marker nail art pens to allow you to do nail art at home, no skills needed.
We have worked on some super fun scented polish collabs, everything from chocolate scented with Magnum to the arresting cheese-scented polish we created for Velveeta. We have some of the most exciting and innovative collaborations coming up! One of my favourite innovations is Plant Power – our vegan 73% plant based polishes that are among the cleanest on the market.
Tell us about your licensing programme, when did that start, and how does it benefit you as a retailer?
We have worked with partners on collaborations for years with brands such as Diet Coke, high-profile celebrities like Victoria Beckham and influencers like Baddie Winkle. More recently we were approached by Velveeta to bring to life a cheese-scented nail polish concept – the response to which blew us all away. From there we have worked with toy brands, TV shows, food (like Magnum ice cream) and drink brands. And we have more exciting things happening in the future…
What have been your most successful collabs?
Believe it or not, it was Velveeta – I think the surprising element of the cheese scent coupled with the fact that Kraft is such a loved brand in the US – I think it appeared on every news outlet and sold out pretty fast.
You’re at Brand Licensing Europe keynote this year – what can attendees expect to hear from your address?
It will be interesting to speak with Ben – I think the thing that makes Nails.INC different in the world of licensing is that we work so deeply with brands to make sure both brands are represented – it’s not just putting another brand’s name on a bottle of nail polish. Our Squishmallows collab had a hidden sticker, our Froot Loops polish was scented and came in the neon colours of the cereal – you are definitely wearing the brand when you wear our collaborations.
What’s on the horizon for Nails.INC – who you would love to do a collab with in the future?
I think the collab world for Nails.INC is wide open – we’d love to work on something else that would really surprise our customers…
Find out more here.
