The Interview: How Amy Ford champions all-year-round SPF protection with Hello Sunday

Hello Sunday was launched in 2021 by Amy Ford. The brand has one mission - to encourage all year round SPF protection. It believes that every day is a sun day as UV damage occurs in everyday life, even on cloudy days, winter months and cooler continents.

Ford is from Oxford and has been working in the beauty industry across UK, Spain, Australia and in large multinationals. “Suncare is my passion. It’s such an important topic, so I’m thrilled to work on a brand that is educating consumers on this topic,” she says. After living in Australia for many years, Ford saw an opportunity to raise awareness of using sun protection all year round through the creation of a brand that would blur the lines between sun care and skincare with a multifunctional, desirable, all-year round range.

As the brand was developed during lockdown, the most important thing it had to take into consideration prior to launching was forward planning. “Suncare development takes a long time. It took us just over 18 months from initial concept to launch,” Ford says. Identifying a gap in the market came easy to Ford as she noticed that a lot of sun care brands on the market were very traditional. The look, feel and marketing of these brands were all geared towards the beach whereas the majority of sun damage happens in everyday life, not just on holiday. “We saw an opportunity to create a brand that was positioned as an all-year round essential with products that incorporate sun and skin protection in one go,” she says.

Hello Sunday was created with everyone in mind but their core consumer is looking for affordable, science-led solutions that don’t compromise on quality. They like transparent communication and are looking for products that have multiple benefits. Upon their launch, the brand was well received by consumers. “Everyone loved the packaging and the unique and interesting formulas and formats we carry vs traditional brands,” she says.

The brand's best sellers are The One That’s A Serum SPF50 and The One That’s Got It All Sun Primer SPF50. “People love them because they are multifunctional, work very well with makeup and aren’t products you can find easily in the market,” she says. Its latest launch is The Illuminating One - Glow Primer - SPF 50 PA++++, a multi-tasking lightweight, hydrating primer with UVA and UVB protection that has subtle illuminating pigments to deliver the ultimate glow with or without makeup.

To make beauty effective and accessible for all, the brand is keeping consumers’ needs at the heart of everything it does. The Hello Sunday customer is looking for solutions backed by science that are also affordable. They also want their products to work hard for them and provide multiple benefits so that they can stretch their budget as much as possible. For example, The Everyday One not only provides SPF50 protection but is also infused with Vitamin C and hyaluronic acid, so there’s no need for customers to buy another skincare product. The brand is adding value to consumer experiences by creating engaging and authoritative content. “We don’t just want to be a market leading SPF skincare brand, we also want to educate consumers about the impact of sun exposure and effect on the skin long-term without using scare tactics,” Ford says.

To ensure they provide customers with high-quality products, Hello Sunday constantly engages consumers by replying to every email and DM, reading every review and always seeking feedback to ensure they tweak their products and communicate with the consumer experience in mind.

The beauty industry continues to go from strength to strength but Ford believes that the current economic climate will continue to impact consumer behaviour in the years to come. “There’ll be greater emphasis on multi-functional and good quality products. The rise of science-led brands and the popularity of social media mean that consumers are incredibly educated, so brands will need to think more about transparency in communication and product positioning in order to attract consumers,” Ford says. Ford also believes that retailers will need to differentiate when engaging consumers to give them a breadth of education and choice across all beauty categories.

Ford’s advice to anyone who wants to get into the beauty industry is to do it. “It’s a lot of fun. Depending on the stage you are at in your career, I recommend working at both a startup and a large multinational. The experience from both is invaluable and you will pick up different skills that will help you be a well-rounded beauty professional,” she says. So what’s next for Hello Sunday? Ford confirms that the brand is continuing to expand globally with new and exciting innovations.

For more information about Hello Sunday, please visit its website.