Clean Beauty, Global Reach: Surya Brasil’s Growth Story
Client: Surya Brasil
Website: suryabrasilproducts.com
Project Scope: U.S. & International Brand Marketing, Retail Activation, Content Production, Experiential Marketing, and Global PR Support
Overview
Long before "clean beauty" became a global trend, Surya Brasil committed to crafting vegan, organic, and cruelty-free personal care products that respect both the human body and the planet.
I was engaged to lead all marketing initiatives for Surya Brasil’s U.S. expansion, positioning them for success in premium natural channels such as Whole Foods Market, while helping showcase their authentic Brazilian heritage and Ayurvedic philosophy to a new North American audience.
Strategy and Execution
Retail Expansion and Sampling Activation (Whole Foods Market)
Built strategic relationships with Whole Foods' hair care, body care, and wellness category buyers.
Directed targeted sampling programs inside Whole Foods locations to introduce Surya Brasil’s flagship product, Surya Henna Cream, a plant-based alternative for customers allergic to conventional hair dye chemicals such as ammonia, PPD, and hydrogen peroxide.
Created educational materials and trained in-store staff on Surya’s natural formulations and ingredient philosophy.
Experiential Marketing: Bryant Park Winter Village Popup
Led the marketing strategy, operations, and installation of a Surya Brasil holiday popup at the Bryant Park Winter Market in New York City, sponsored by Bank of America.
Designed the booth experience to immerse shoppers in the brand’s ethos of natural beauty and sustainability.
Drove significant holiday season sales and brand exposure to a diverse, high-traffic audience at one of NYC’s most beloved holiday destinations.
Content Development and Video Storytelling
Produced, scripted, and directed behind-the-scenes videos showcasing Surya Brasil’s ethical production processes, vegan spa, and manufacturing facilities in São Paulo, Brasil:
Highlighted the brand’s commitment to sustainability, community empowerment, and Ayurvedic sourcing practices, blending cinematic visuals with compelling storytelling.
Brand Messaging and Ingredient Education
Helped refine Surya Brasil’s core messaging around clean beauty and ingredient transparency, emphasizing their rigorous “Banned Elements” list, which prohibits toxic ingredients like heavy metals, parabens, synthetic fragrances, and silicones.
Tied brand narratives to the booming clean beauty movement, positioning Surya Brasil as an early innovator and trusted source for safe, high-performing natural beauty products.
International Spa and Experiential Marketing
Supported the promotion of the Espaço Surya, a natural, organic, and vegan lifestyle day spa and restaurant in São Paulo, one of the world’s first vegan holistic spas, offering Ayurvedic-inspired treatments using only Surya's certified organic products.
Used the spa as a proof point to elevate the brand’s global credibility in wellness and holistic beauty.
Impact and Results
Successfully grew brand awareness in the natural health and beauty sector in the U.S., notably increasing Surya Brasil’s footprint inside Whole Foods and other premium retailers.
Strengthened Surya Brasil’s clean beauty leadership positioning, aligning the brand authentically with the values of modern conscious consumers.
Generated significant incremental sales and brand visibility through the Bryant Park holiday popup initiative.
Created a portfolio of branded video assets still used today to tell the Surya Brasil story globally.
Why It Mattered
At a time when "clean beauty" was just becoming a buzzword, Surya Brasil wasn’t following a trend, they were setting the standard. Through my work helping them amplify their story across retail, experiential, and digital channels, I was able to honor the authenticity of their roots while helping them flourish on the global stage.
If I Were Starting Over Today: AI Marketing Tools by Function
1. Retail & Buyer Outreach (Whole Foods Expansion)
Goal: Position Surya as a leader in clean, plant-based beauty to key category buyers
AI Tools:
Clay.com or Apollo.io: AI-assisted lead enrichment and outreach personalization for buyer contact info and custom pitch sequences
Humantic AI: Analyze buyer personalities (e.g., LinkedIn profiles) to tailor tone and messaging when pitching new accounts
ChatGPT Custom GPT + CRM data: Draft personalized buyer emails and pitch decks referencing regional trends, ingredient concerns, and retail gaps
2. Sampling & In-Store Education
Goal: Make sampling programs smarter and higher-converting
AI Tools:
Formsort or Tally + Zapier + Notion AI: Build smart digital product quizzes (e.g., "Which Surya Henna Color is Right for You?") for event tablets or QR codes
Bento (Getbento.com): Interactive mobile landing pages to engage samplers and drive email capture or SMS follow-up after trial
ChatGPT Vision: Quickly generate shelf talkers, in-store signage, and FAQs with optimized educational copy based on each SKU’s features
3. Experiential Marketing (Bryant Park Popup)
Goal: Drive foot traffic, conversion, and memorable brand moments
AI Tools:
Runway ML or Pika: Create immersive brand visuals and AI-generated product demo videos for screens in the booth
Wistia + Descript: Capture and edit real-time interviews or customer testimonials at the popup for social reuse
Crowd.ai: Analyze footfall data and optimize placement, timing, and signage design in future activations
Canva Magic Write: Generate popup signage, A/B-test messages like “Plant-Powered Hair Color. No Ammonia, Ever.”
4. Content Creation & Video Storytelling
Goal: Create high-converting, emotionally resonant branded content
AI Tools:
Synthesia.io: Create multilingual brand storytelling videos for different markets
Descript: Auto-edit interviews, remove filler words, create short-form clips from long BTS videos
HeyGen or Animoto: Generate narrated short-form versions of your long Surya spa video tours
Lumen5: Turn blog posts into SEO-rich video snippets for Pinterest, Instagram, or email embeds
5. Brand Messaging + Ingredient Education
Goal: Clarify and scale clean beauty authority
AI Tools:
Writer or Jasper (with custom brand voice): Generate consistent brand copy across channels with messaging rooted in Surya’s banned ingredient list and Ayurvedic story
Yext Content or Jasper Knowledge Base: AI-driven ingredient glossary builder that powers customer-facing education across web, blog, and chatbot
Frase or SurferSEO: Optimize long-form blog and ingredient content to rank for queries like “PPD-free hair dye” or “vegan Ayurvedic beauty products”
6. Global PR + Thought Leadership
Goal: Position founders and brand in global clean beauty dialogue
AI Tools:
Meltwater or Propel: AI-assisted PR outreach tools to track journalist coverage, pitch trend-based angles (e.g., Ayurveda x Clean Beauty)
ChatGPT + PressKitBuilder: Auto-generate PR kits with brand facts, founder bios, and quote libraries for editors
Notion AI or Airtable GPT: Run global content calendars, media logs, and interview prep synced to live trends in clean beauty and sustainability
Full-Funnel Intelligence + Optimization
Mutiny or Intellimize: Use AI to personalize landing pages for Surya’s U.S. vs Brazilian audiences, Whole Foods shoppers, or color-treated hair customers
Hotjar + ChatGPT Vision: Analyze in-store or web browsing behavior and generate instant UX suggestions
Delve AI or SparkToro: Build data-backed audience personas from web/social traffic—perfect for targeting conscious consumers across the U.S.
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