In recent years, influenced by the external environment, the beauty market has undergone significant structural changes, with an increasing number of new consumer trends emerging. All brands and enterprises are seeking new growth opportunities.
Just at the beginning of 2024, the leading domestic brand in the body care field, Little Dream Garden, has initiated a series of new actions: upgrading its brand concept for the first time, announcing the renowned actress Dilraba Dilmurat as the global ambassador for body lotion and hand cream, releasing the Chinese Body Skin Care White Paper (2024), and continuously expanding its offline channels.
There is no doubt that this domestic body care brand, which has been in existence for 14 years, has embarked on a new round of attempts. As stated by Little Dream Garden’s Chairman, Qi Yunji: “The cosmetics market is destined to be a marathon, and only after experiencing multiple cycles can a great enterprise be forged.”
From “Protection” to “Delight”, Little Dream Garden has changed
According to CHAILEEDO Intelligence data, the sales revenue of the domestic body care and cleansing category reached 63.49 billion yuan in 2023, with an 18% year-on-year increase, indicating a gradual expansion of market share. The subcategory of body care within the cosmetics market is regaining favor among consumers.
As Qi Yunji stated, “The growth of consumption is endless, everything has its cycles, and no one can always live in the warmth of spring, nor will anyone forever be in the depths of winter.” He firmly believes that the beauty industry is entering a “springtime”. So, as a brand that has risen from zero to become the top domestic player in body care, how will it forge a new path amidst this intense market competition?
Little Dream Garden’s choice is to start anew, with a comprehensive upgrade from brand concept to brand image, ensuring the brand continues to lead the transformation in body care.
In this strategic upgrade, Little Dream Garden has elevated its brand concept, transitioning from “skincare with flowers” to “delighting the skin with flowers”. While the difference between the two is just one word, it embodies Little Dream Garden’s deep insights into the constantly evolving market demands. In fact, with the continuous improvement of consumer purchasing power, consumers are no longer satisfied with just daily skincare routines. According to Little Dream Garden’s General Manager, Qi Fengwei, skincare is not only a physical healing process but also an emotionally soothing experience. The pursuit of self-pleasure by women will also become a major trend in the future. Little Dream Garden has always been focusing on users’ emotions and feedback. “Even the smallest thing,” Qi Fengwei believes, “‘Delighting the skin with flowers’ is not just a change in wording, but also the beginning of a vision for a better life.”
Officially announcing ambassador, sparking a new trend of skin whitening
Speaking of the story between Little Dream Garden and Flowers, let’s rewind the clock 14 years ago. At that time, Little Dream Garden discovered the unique advantages of Grasse roses in the field of efficacy skincare. With roses as the guide, it began to deeply cultivate the field of Chinese characteristic floral plant ingredients. Over 14 years, spanning 3800 kilometers of exploration, with over 10 organic plantations, 3 major R&D centers, over 400 independently developed formulas, and more than 50 technical patents… Little Dream Garden has engraved “flowers” into the soul of its brand.
Recently, Little Dream Garden officially announced that the renowned actress Dilraba Dilmurat has become its global ambassador for body lotion and hand cream. It also released a brand attitude video, along with the launch of its spring new product, the Whitening and Radiance Scented Body Lotion.
Dilraba Dilmurat is like this, Little Dream Garden is like this, and all women who forge ahead for their dreams are like this. Therefore, as soon as the attitude video was released, it sparked heated discussions. Data shows that Dilraba’s endorsement news has been exposed across the entire network, reaching 1.86 billion views, driving Little Dream Garden’s body lotion and hand cream series products to achieve outstanding sales performance, ranking first in Douyin’s real-time flagship sales list and ranking first in Tmall’s single-day sales of body lotion. Additionally, the attitude video has been displayed on 26 outdoor billboards across the country and featured on three major landmark locations including the Canton Tower Waistline in Guangzhou, Baiyun International Airport Terminal in Guangzhou, and the West Lake Sky Screen in Hangzhou, attracting countless fans and passersby to take photos.
The Whitening and Radiance Scented Body Lotion (referred to as the Whitening Bottle) that debuted alongside the spokesperson is another masterpiece from Little Dream Garden in the field of whitening body care. According to CHAILEEDO Intelligence obtained from the brand, the Whitening Bottle targets melanin transport and precipitation by adding 5% patented niacinamide. Additionally, it is formulated with the proprietary core barrier repair formula RIVETOR, which strengthens the skin barrier, effectively promoting a three-step whitening process: surface purification, source inhibition, and long-lasting suppression of melanin production. This multi-pathway approach collaboratively removes melanin deposits on the skin’s surface and inhibits melanin production at its source. Moreover, Little Dream Garden utilizes its self-developed AIROIL velvet light oil technology to encapsulate and modify the efficacy ingredients for better absorption by the skin. Experimental results show a 16.6% increase in skin fairness after continuous use for 14 days.
Of course, the Whitening Bottle is just the first step in Little Dream Garden’s transition from “protection” to “delight.” According to Little Dream Garden’s product manager Han Han, in addition to the Whitening Bottle, Little Dream Garden has also launched other products, including the Little Dream Garden Flower Source Scalp Care series, the newly upgraded Little Dream Garden Petal Shower Gel, and Ice Cream Scrub, to meet the increasingly diverse consumer demands with more finely segmented product efficacy.
Rooting down and embracing long-term
When discussing Little Dream Garden’s future long-term corporate strategy, Qi Yunji used three words: “taking the long road.” “What does it mean to take the long road? It means long-term thinking, long-term strategic planning, long-term business logic, and long-term resource allocation to find our internal new power,” said Qi Yunji.
On the distribution side, Little Dream Garden chooses to root down and embrace long-term by expanding from online to offline channels, further broadening the width and depth of its distribution channels.
Before 2021, Little Dream Garden had always been a brand focused on online sales. Starting in 2021, Little Dream Garden decided to build a team from scratch and use online product lines as a stepping stone to enter the new retail channels with popular products like scrubs and body lotion. Subsequently, Little Dream Garden gradually introduced independent offline items, initiating a sprint in offline channels. In 2023, Little Dream Garden’s sales scale increased by 26% year-on-year, and its offline scale tripled year-on-year.
Hao Wei, head of Little Dream Garden’s offline business unit and supply chain, stated that this year Little Dream Garden’s offline channels will continue to develop exponentially. So, how can we continue to dominate the offline market?
According to Hao Wei, in 2024, Little Dream Garden will continue to operate with separate product lines and channels, leveraging the differentiation between online and offline channels to gain competitive advantages. It will start by operating through three main channels: Key Accounts (KA), Customer Service (CS), and New Retail managing each channel separately and moderately developing specialty channels to meet various stakeholders’ demands and conduct long-term business.
At the same time, Little Dream Garden will continue to empower its offline channels to support the development of its offline business. This will involve various initiatives, from specialized product lines to the continuous expansion of the sales team. Additionally, there will be a focus on rebuilding a high-quality decision-making team and strengthening brand promotion. Through complementary resources from the brand, distributors, and end-users, Little Dream Garden aims to further enhance the influence of its offline channels.
White Paper 2.0 released: empowering high-quality development in the body care industry
Of course, Little Dream Garden’s confidence in its development to date is not only due to its keen consumer insights but also its deep-rooted efforts in the field of research and development. According to Qi Fengwei, Little Dream Garden has completed the publication of the first SCI paper on the color spectrum of young Chinese women’s body skin, as well as a qualitative grading study of 1,712 cases of dry skin in young women. Little Dream Garden has also participated in the publication of group standards such as “Bath Oil” and “Purity Cosmetic Regulations.” Additionally, Little Dream Garden has established three major research and development centers in Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Jinan, covering a comprehensive range of research and development processes including ingredient cultivation, production, and formula development.
on March 2nd, the 2nd Body Skin Care Expert Forum, jointly organized by the China Daily Chemical Industry Association, Beijing Technology and Business University, and Little Dream Garden was held in Beijing. At the forum, the Chinese Body Skin Care White Paper (2024), jointly compiled by the China Daily Chemical Industry Association, Beijing Technology, and Business University, and Little Dream Garden was released.
Wang Wanxu, Chairman of the China Household Chemicals Industry Association, stated that high-quality development is the main theme for the future advancement of the cosmetics industry in China. He emphasized that collaboration between industry, academia, research, and application is the source of strength, and the industry needs to further understand and grasp the essence and core of research and innovation in body skin, and explore interdisciplinary cooperation among production, academia, research, and medicine. This will help propel the development of high-end Chinese national brands in the cosmetics industry.
In his address at the conference, Qi Yunji also acknowledged that consumers’ demands for products and services are becoming increasingly diversified. Little Dream Garden will continue to deepen its core technological research and collaborate systematically with academia and research institutions. This will enable the effective integration of advanced technological research outcomes with the company’s platform and the latest consumer demands, ultimately helping more consumers achieve a better quality of life.
As a leader in the domestic body care industry, Little Dream Garden will leverage its own research and development achievements, market insights, and brand-building experience as reference cases. These will have significant reference value for the development of the sector towards health and innovation goals.
Another highlight of the conference was the simultaneous hosting of the “2024 2nd Body Skin Care Expert Forum,” jointly organized by the Cosmetics Committee of the China Daily Chemical Industry Association and Beijing Technology and Business University, with Little Dream Garden as the organizer. Numerous authoritative guests from the industry shared research reports on cutting-edge topics such as differentiated skin care for Chinese people, issues related to skin dryness, and characteristics of skin color pigmentation.
For two consecutive years, Little Dream Garden has shared the research achievements of its corporate development with the entire industry, striving to promote the high-quality development of China’s body skin care industry. It hopes to continuously provide development ideas for the personal care industry in a sustainable manner, enabling the industry to produce better products and provide consumers with better skin care experiences.
The journey begins with a sprint. From signing top-tier spokespersons, launching heavyweight new products, and hosting distributor conferences, to releasing the Chinese Skin Care White Paper (2024), these intensive deployments reflect Little Dream Garden’s firm corporate vision for the future and its determination to convey brand vitality to channels and consumers. Against the backdrop of increasingly fierce competition in the domestic body care market, Little Dream Garden has solidified its position as a leading brand. Leveraging its outstanding research achievements, precise market insights, and efficient implementation of brand strategies, it has established a development blueprint that the industry can learn from.
