Twenty years ago, the United Nations and major financial institutions jointly released a report titled “Who Cares Wins.” In this report, the concept of ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) was formally introduced.
Over the past two decades, ESG has rapidly transitioned into an essential soft power for listed companies worldwide. In the beauty industry, leading beauty conglomerates have long been at the forefront of ESG development. Moreover, many emerging beauty brands with a strong reputation and capability have also made ESG a strategic priority.
As a staunch practitioner of the ESG concept, on November 30th, the Chinese beauty brand Ositree carried out a philanthropic activity in the origin of its core ingredient, dark tea seed oil, for the brand’s Dark Tea Cleansing Series, located in Anhua County, Yiyang City, Hunan Province.
For Ositree, this philanthropic initiative is a further implementation of its brand’s original intention. On the other hand, after eight years of running, Ositree brand, having achieved success, chooses to give back to society, setting an example of charitable acts for Chinese domestic brands.
Tracing back to its origin, practicing the ESG concept
Along the Zijiang River, the tea market thrives, with dense population on both sides. The camel bells resonate along the vast tea road, and the smoke rises from the tea gardens by the azure sea… Opening the history of Anhua, each page is steeped in the fragrance of tea.
It is understood that Ositree truly connected with Anhua dark tea in 2021. The Ositree brand was founded in 2015, and the first generation of dark tea cleansing oil was launched in 2019. According to Deng Jianming, the founder of the brand, Ositree operated at a loss from 2015 to 2019. It was not until 2020, with the launch of Ositree dark tea cleansing oil, that the brand turned its losses into profits.
At that time, the dark tea seed oil used by Ositree was imported from abroad. In 2021, Deng Jianming realized that as a Chinese domestic beauty brand, the core ingredients of the products should be sourced from China. After inquiring with various suppliers and extensive searching, they finally discovered a tea seed powder factory in Gaoma’erxi Village, Anhua, Hunan Province, known as the “Number One Dark Tea Village in the World.” With the technical support from Ositree, the factory was able to extract dark tea seed oil with excellent antioxidant properties. This breakthrough not only facilitated the iteration and upgrade of the brand’s dark tea series products but also effectively supported local employment and economic revitalization.
This time, Ositree once again returned to the origin of the core ingredient, dark tea seed oil, for the Dark Tea Cleansing Series, in Anhua, Hunan, to engage in the “Together for Your Benefit, Walking with Light” philanthropic and agricultural ESG activity.
From October 20, 2023, to November 15, 2023, for each sale of the Dark Tea Healing Gift Box from the entire Ositree product line, 1 yuan will be donated as a charitable contribution to help impoverished tea farmers and disadvantaged children in Anhua County, Yiyang, Hunan Province, through the Anhua County Charity Federation.
On November 30th, in the conference room of the Tianzhuang Township People’s Government, leaders from the Tianzhuang Township government, representatives from Ositree brand, representatives from the Anhua County Charity Federation, and the beneficiaries all attended the offline donation ceremony, witnessing the entire process.
In this era, a company’s mission is not only about economic contributions but also about taking social responsibility and promoting sustainable development. As a rising domestic beauty brand, “The close connection between Ositree and Anhua County stems from our core product, the Dark Tea Cleansing Series, with its core ingredient, dark tea seed oil, originating from Anhua. Since we draw our inspiration from here, it is only natural that we give back. In the future, Ositree is even more committed to the path of philanthropy,” said the representatives of the Ositree brand.
Creating the Tea Xiaoguang IP, empowering rural development
The successive launch of philanthropic and agricultural activities and policy support are one aspect. On June 13th of this year, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, the Institute of Economics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and the China Enterprise Reform and Development Research Society jointly released the “Annual ESG Action Report,” emphasizing the ESG index evaluation system with Chinese characteristics. “Rural revitalization,” “construction of a modern industrial system,” and “new type of industrialization” are the key responses to China’s characteristics.
Enterprises are also a strong force in philanthropy. It has been noticed that many beauty brands/companies have launched ESG philanthropic and agricultural activities this year.
In addition to the aforementioned offline donation activities, in October of this year, the Tea Xiaoguang IP image of the Ositree dark tea series made its debut.
It is understood that the design inspiration for Ositree’s Tea Xiaoguang comes from Hunan Anhua dark tea seed oil. Tea Xiaoguang is a little elf with natural healing energy. The Tea Xiaoguang dark tea healing gift box launched in this philanthropic activity can fully meet the cleansing needs of different consumers.
At the same time, Ositree also launched derivative content for the Tea Xiaoguang IP, including the Tea Xiaoguang comic theater and Tea Xiaoguang emoji packs. In addition, they also launched the wow colour x Tea Xiaoguang offline theme store activity.
The introduction of the Ositree Tea Xiaoguang IP not only caters to the beauty economy pursued by the core consumer group and deepens the brand’s youthful image, but also emphasizes the core selling points of the product and reshapes consumers’ understanding of the oxygenation properties of dark tea. In addition, creating the Tea Xiaoguang IP can also help promote Anhua dark tea culture, expand its reputation, and thereby drive the transformation and upgrading of rural industries.
Industry insiders have told us, “In recent years, consumers have been paying attention to the sustainable development of brands from various aspects such as the environment, society, and governance, in addition to the products themselves. Emerging Chinese brands such as Ositree have keenly identified this opportunity and actively communicate with consumers, implementing specific marketing activities in action, and practicing the concept of sustainable development. This is highly commendable and worthy of recognition.”
Running for 8 years, multidimensional efforts
Established in 2015, Ositree has actively transformed and grown amidst numerous difficulties. Over the course of 8 years, Ositree has been committed to exploring the mysteries of natural aesthetics, seamlessly integrating the exceptional energy hidden in nature into its brand products, and always prioritizing the consumer experience.
Ositree has matured in research and development, marketing, and product layout, not only making a name for itself in the fiercely competitive beauty market but also entering a stage of high-quality brand development.
“I define Ositree as a mass consumer brand that starts with raw materials. Each raw material has its own characteristics, and you can only use it well if you are familiar with it and understand it. It is crucial to scientifically select different raw materials based on different performance indicators in different cosmetic formulations, combining theory with practice,” said Deng Jianming.
Ositree maintains strict control over raw material research and development. For example, in the production of the core ingredient, dark tea seed oil, the tea oil factory abandoned the traditional high-temperature hot-pressing method previously used and adopted a cold-pressing process to extract the oil, avoiding damage to the nutritional and bioactive components of the oil due to excessively high temperatures during the oil production process. This eventually led to the successful production of the core ingredient, dark tea seed oil, solving a long-standing bottleneck issue.
In product development, Deng Jianming has his own definition standards for star products: they should have a long product life and be easy to use, visually appealing, and have a high repurchase rate. This requires insight into consumers and capturing market trends.
For example, when creating the flagship product, Ositree dark tea Cleansing Honey, a composite technology was used to make the product both cleansing and makeup removing, making it highly favored by consumers.
This year, Ositree further enriched its dark tea product line, not only launching the third generation of dark tea cleansing oil products with enhanced oxygenation and personalized skincare benefits but also introducing more innovative dark tea products, such as the third generation of dark tea cleansing honey and dark tea makeup remover.
It is reported that the dark tea cleansing oil series has repeatedly topped various e-commerce bestseller lists and gained popularity among many celebrity influencers. Data shows that the dark tea cleansing oil series ranks first on Douyin’s brand makeup remover oil popularity list and second on the positive review list.
According to Deng Jianming, Ositree will launch a purely physical sunscreen cream next year, which will be reasonably priced, provide a pleasant skin feel, and meet the required standards. The Ositree R&D team has selected sunscreens, adjusted proportions, emulsion structures, and oil additives to achieve a higher sun protection factor. Additionally, by utilizing advanced equipment and self-developed dispersed physical sunscreen formulations of international quality, they have improved the product’s skin feel and optimized costs.
In terms of marketing, Ositree has been enhancing brand awareness through a series of exposure actions this year. Offline, they have utilized media such as subway and commercial district advertisements to subtly achieve efficient brand communication and expand brand visibility. Meanwhile, online, they have strategically placed advertisements on Mango TV and Hunan Satellite TV platforms during major promotional periods to increase effective exposure and precisely reach the target audience.
It is worth mentioning that in October of this year, Ositree Dark Tea Cleansing Oil, with its comprehensive strength in antioxidant ingredients, makeup removal efficacy, and precise formulation technology, won the “ELLE Beauty Star – Dark Tea Oxygenation and Brightening Skincare Award.” It is the only makeup remover oil product listed in the annual ranking for 2023.
With boundless nature and traceable brilliance, Ositree has grown step by step to become a representative of Chinese products. Today, by fully practicing the ESG concept, the brand not only demonstrates its sense of responsibility but also sets a benchmark for sustainable development in the industry.
