What happens when a brand focuses more on itself than its audience?

Jul 14

A few months ago, the beauty community watched two influencers, Alexis Androulakis and Dr. Christina Basias Androulakis, launch their new brand, Leaked Labs. By all accounts, it was an unmitigated disaster. There were many reasons, but the main cause of the chaos was the founders’ decision to focus more on themselves than their audience. As a result, we all watched Leaked Labs get absolutely raked over the coals across social media, podcasts, and beauty publications.

Before we get into the details of what went wrong, let’s do a quick recap of what Leaked Labs was supposed to be about. The founders claimed the essence of the brand was innovation, collaboration, and experimentation. They wanted to give beauty lovers a chance to test out products and share their opinions on whether these “leaks” should come to market. Unfortunately, the lack of a clear business model, a well-thought-out strategy, an understanding of their target, and a clear brand voice and messaging revealed how many leaks the brand was actually spouting.

Leak 1: Claiming this was a focus group, but then charging $40 to participate

The brand originally stated that Leaked Labs would function like a focus group, but then charged consumers $34+ (including shipping) for four discs packaged in a tin. For anyone not familiar with focus groups, participants never pay. They are either paid or given free product in exchange for their testing and feedback. This was not how Leaked Labs worked.

As consumers began to receive and test the product, questions about the price and whether this idea was more gimmick than innovation arose. Testers were also confused about what they had paid for…were they lab samples or finished products? Why was the packaging so cheap? Was this even sanitary? Why were there inconsistencies in the product dimensions and performance?

The discourse grew as PR packages began showing up online. It was apparent that those on the PR list had received a palette along with the powders, which made testing easier and thereby demonstrated the need for a palette. Why weren’t these sent to those who spent $40?

Questions began to arise about whether consumers were just being used by the brand as guinea pigs. No one was impressed by the cheap packaging or the product. The powders were challenging to use and easily ripped even though they were billed as shatterproof. Many people also questioned whether the packaging was a breeding ground for bacteria and how makeup artists could disinfect the product if they chose to use it. Had consumers bought into an experiment gone wrong?

The overall consensus was that the brand was using its consumers to do all the work without receiving any reward, especially since focus groups never pay.

Leak 2: An arrogant, condescending, confusing response from the founders

With all the backlash pouring in, you would think the brand would respond with openness and clarity. Unfortunately, this was not how it went down. Things got ugly. The founders were defensive, arrogant, and condescending with their responses. They were selective about which questions they answered, basically ignored comments or concerns, and seemed genuinely offended that most people didn't like the product or the business model.

Instead of updating their website, sending an email, or making clarifying videos, they released a performative "State of the Union" video, which has since been taken down. In this press conference-style video, Alexis and Christina attempted to quell concerns and questions by being defensive, arrogant, and condescending, and by sending mixed messages.

Is this a focus group or not? Are the powders finished products or lab samples? Were they working with other brands? How was the data collected being used? Why were the powders expensive? What would happen if the product went to market or didn’t?

Unsurprisingly, the discourse grew across TikTok, YouTube, Reddit, Substack, Instagram, and in beauty publications.

The brand took down the video, acknowledged it had missed the mark, and said they were traveling and would address everything when they weren't so busy. Meanwhile, they had time to post videos of their travels on the Lipstick Lesbians feeds. Subsequent videos have been posted (and also taken down), emails have been sent, and some consumer comments have been addressed.

While the additional commentary hasn’t been as defensive, none of it has seemed to improve the brand's image or trust with its founders.

Leak 3: The founders keep focusing on themselves and not their audience.

Every time I’ve watched a response or read an email from Leaked Labs, one thing is crystal clear to me: the brand’s singular focus is never on their audience. It was all about them and what they were building. They act like we should all be so privileged to be a part of this brand, the process, and the chance to collaborate with them. We should feel sorry for their struggles and the things they have had to overcome. Who exactly are they building Leaked Labs for?

This is not how you build a brand. This is not how you grow a community. This is not how you collaborate.

One of the issues others and I have noticed is that the founders continue to act as if their audience is stupid. They couldn’t possibly understand the products or the industry as well as Alexis and Christina do. All this has done is make people doubt whether the word salad we continually hear is merely to mask their lack of expertise in marketing and brand strategy. In one video, they showed some behind-the-scenes footage from when they started building the brand two years ago.

It was interesting, yet surprising. In one clip, they mentioned they were going to initially make Leaked Labs a subscription service, but then didn’t think the audience would get it. Strange considering subscription boxes have been around for at least a decade. While many in the beauty space are no longer around, most beauty lovers are very familiar with the model, as they have been active subscribers.

The trend of not getting or focusing on the brand’s target audience was also very apparent in their docuseries. (Those videos don’t seem to be available any longer either.) One of the things that shocked me most was hearing their social media manager claim, "We need to tell a story about what this brand means to us.” The brand wanted to stop the scroll with images that mattered to them more than their audience. And the story they were telling? Didn’t exist past the scroll stop.

Here's the problem: this isn't about you. It's about your consumers. Yes, you need to share your unique story, but it has to resonate with your audience so they see themselves in it. Your mission, vision, values, and messaging have to be so intriguing that they can’t help but become your biggest supporters.

This seems to be a common theme with influencer brands. They've bought into their own hype and think their audience will buy whatever they are selling. They don't put enough work into their products, brand positioning, strategy, voice, or messaging, and they don't have a clear picture of their target audience.

Then, when things go awry, which they often do with influencer brands, the response is not great. Sometimes there's no response, sometimes it's gaslighting, and oftentimes no one takes responsibility.

Leak 4: Leaked Labs’ lack of a clear identity confuses their audience.

As I mentioned above, the brand claimed that they had to stop the scroll to tell the story they wanted to tell. The problem here is that I don't think they know their story. The brand seems to live in contradictions. Its messaging is confusing and all over the place. Stopping the scroll is important, but if you have nothing to say after that, you’ve done nothing. If you have no story to tell, stopping the scroll is the least of your problems.

You need to know who you are and who you want to be to your audience. You need to know what kind of connection you want to build with your audience. You need a clear brand strategy in place before you start posting on social or building a website. Otherwise, you’re just posting pretty pictures with no substance.

As a copywriter with over twenty years of experience, it’s clear to me that the brand hasn't done its due diligence. Harsh, I know, but the reality is they don't know their market positioning, they don't know their audience, they don't have a clear brand voice or consistent messaging, and the concept behind their brand and first launch was extremely flawed. Until they get clear on everything I’ve mentioned and put their egos aside, their boat will continue to slowly sink.

They also need to understand that just because they liked the Amplify Flexi powders doesn't mean their audience did. They found it hard to use, not worth the investment, and felt like innovation for the sake of innovation. Not to mention, if your brand is supposed to be about experimentation and collaboration, you have to know not every product is going to be a winner, even if you think it is.

Additionally, they need to consider how they want to conduct their testing. From what I've seen, not only are they not telling testers what they want them to do and how, but they also aren't asking enough questions or the right questions in the surveys they sent out. If you are conducting market research, the more questions you ask, the better your insights will be. You should ask about packaging, product design, color options, pricing, product messaging, and product usage.

When you’re trying to build trust with your audience, failing to address every concern won't do so. Failing to do the upfront branding and strategy work won’t help in that area either.

Does Leaked Labs have a future?

The future of the brand still feels uncertain. First, they need to stop talking and listen more, which I’m hoping is why they have been so quiet lately. Second, they need to develop a clear brand strategy, a solid ad strategy, a well-defined brand voice, consistent messaging, and a full understanding of their target audience. They also need to figure out their positioning and business model.

But finally and most importantly, the brand must STOP focusing on itself and start focusing on its audience. Otherwise, they won’t have a brand or a community to support them.

What happens when a brand focuses more on itself than its audience?

Leak 1: Claiming this was a focus group, but then charging $40 to participate

Leak 2: An arrogant, condescending, confusing response from the founders

Leak 3: The founders keep focusing on themselves and not their audience.

Leak 4: Leaked Labs’ lack of a clear identity confuses their audience.

Does Leaked Labs have a future?

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What happens when a brand focuses more on itself than its audience?

Leak 1: Claiming this was a focus group, but then charging $40 to participate

Leak 2: An arrogant, condescending, confusing response from the founders

Leak 3: The founders keep focusing on themselves and not their audience.

Leak 4: Leaked Labs’ lack of a clear identity confuses their audience.

Does Leaked Labs have a future?

Recommended Articles and Commentary Videos

Why Copywriting is More Than Words

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