TheIndustry.beauty Awards Winners' Interview: indu co-founder Aaron Chatterley on building a community-first brand

TheIndustry.beauty Innovators Awards 2026 celebrated the people, products and businesses driving the beauty industry forward - recognising not only groundbreaking innovations, but also the diverse range of expertise, disciplines and leadership required to achieve true market distinction.

Presented by AI and Generative AI beauty technology firm Revieve, TheIndustry.beauty named indu the winner of the Engagement award. indu was founded in 2022, and its products are formulated to nourish teenage skin while supporting a healthy skin microbiome, with each item reviewed and approved by indu’s teen advisory board. Through the blog indu101 and on social media, the brand offers content such as simple skincare routines and guidance on safe ingredients.

In this interview, co-founder Aaron Chatterley discusses how indu has built such a strong connection with its customers, how it encourages customers to feel like part of the indu community rather than just buyers, what consumers can look forward to from indu next, and more.

indu co-founder Aaron Chatterley with Revieve Senior Business Development Director, EMEA, Danielle Watson

What are the core values that define indu and how are these brought to life across the business?

Putting aside the No. 1 premise that everything starts with amazing and effective products, authenticity and trust are also at the heart of indu. For us, authenticity means genuinely listening to teens and young people and making sure everything we do feels relevant to them, from the products we develop to the way we communicate. Trust is equally important, particularly for parents. That means going above and beyond with product testing, dermatologist endorsement and responsible marketing, including being thoughtful about how we communicate and how often we show up on social media.

How has indu built such a strong connection with its customers? How do you encourage customers to feel like part of the indu community rather than just buyers?

We give our community a genuine voice in the brand and have done so since day one. Before we put pen to paper on branding, product development and retail strategy, we spent three months on an in-depth research project involving 1,000 teens across the UK and USA. From this group, we formed the first indu committee of engaged and enthusiastic teens. Even now, they provide valuable input into everything from the products we launch to our language, campaigns, tone of voice and events, so it feels like something they are helping to shape, rather than simply being marketed to. Our award-winning SPF event, along with The Hangout, are great examples of putting that into practice - where we create events where young people are heard, represented and actively involved.

What do you think sets indu’s approach to engagement apart from other businesses?

We genuinely see our community as an extension of the indu team. We now have around 80 highly engaged community members, some of whom have been with us from the beginning, who actively help shape our plans through real-life and digital workshops, polls, testing and feedback. Crucially, we don’t just ask for their opinions, we act on them. When they see their ideas reflected in our products and campaigns, it creates a real sense of ownership and belonging, which naturally drives advocacy and positive word of mouth. It's not a tick-box exercise for us; it's integral to our brand strategy.

What type of content or campaigns have created the strongest response from your community? 

Behind-the-scenes content always resonates strongly with our community because it gives them a window into indu HQ, the people behind the brand and all the exciting things we’re working on and cooking up. We also see a brilliant response to community-led content, particularly when young people see others like themselves getting involved and having a tangible impact on the brand. It reinforces that indu is something they can genuinely be part of.

How do you measure whether your engagement efforts are successful?

As a skincare brand, the most important metric in terms of ultimate success is whether people buy and, crucially, repeat-buy our products. We can all sell something once with great marketing and packaging, but unless the product is great and it works, then they won't buy it again. We also look at our monthly engagement rate across our socials, which has been consistently strong from the beginning. Then we look at the attendance rate at community events, as well as general brand sentiment and reviews.

What did winning Engagement mean for indu and how does this recognition reflect the brand's journey and vision? 

Being community-first has been fundamental to indu from the very beginning, so it’s brilliant to see that approach recognised. More importantly, it reinforces our belief that giving young people a genuine voice and building the brand alongside them is creating something meaningful.

How does innovation shape indu's growth strategy and how do you identify and respond to emerging consumer needs?

New Product Development (NPD) is a really important part of our growth strategy, but innovation at indu always starts with a genuine consumer need. Our NPD team combines research and analysis with community testing and feedback to understand what teens actually need from a simple, safe and effective skincare routine. We then complement that insight with user and clinical trials, giving new launches an additional layer of credibility and ensuring efficacy remains at the heart of our innovation.

What opportunities and challenges do you see shaping the future of beauty and how is indu positioned to adapt and lead?

Our biggest opportunity is scaling indu outside of the UK. We are so fortunate that as a Sephora Global exclusive incubator brand, we have a partner with a long history and proven track record of building brands in a sensible and sustainable way. One of the biggest challenges is the temptation to give in to the beauty industry’s pressure to continually add more products, ingredients and steps to skincare routines, particularly when young people are being exposed to those messages at an increasingly early age. Our role is to offer an alternative: keeping skincare safe, simple, effective and age-appropriate. The changing social media landscape is another consideration, but because indu has never relied solely on social to build relationships, we’re well positioned to keep reaching our community through education, events, partnerships and IRL experiences.

How do you plan to continue improving customer engagement in the future? 

Education is a big focus for us, particularly closing the skincare knowledge gap for both teens and their parents - this is something we are working very closely with Sephora on as we build the brand together. We also see a huge opportunity to build our parent community, recognising the important role they play in discovering and buying the brand. And as indu grows internationally, we want to bring more young people from different markets to expand our community, so their new perspectives continue to shape where the brand goes next.

What can consumers look forward to from indu next?

Oh, so much! We’ve just launched our first collaboration with globally recognised creators The Norris Nuts, and we have some really exciting innovation coming in Q3 and Q4, including one launch we think parents might even want to steal for themselves! And of course, we are continuing our global expansion across new Sephora regions as we head into 2027, with several new markets already slated to launch in the next 18 months. Watch this space.

As the Engagement Award was presented by Revieve, we asked the company about its role in supporting the beauty industry.

Why is it crucial for brands to offer standout, engaging experiences in today’s competitive beauty retail landscape?

Beauty consumers have more choice, information and influence than ever before, but that abundance can also create uncertainty. They are navigating thousands of products, complex ingredient claims, rapidly changing trends and increasingly fragmented shopping journeys. In this environment, engagement cannot simply mean adding another digital feature. It must help the consumer make a better decision.

The strongest beauty experiences combine inspiration with intelligence. They understand an individual's needs, translate complex product information into relevant guidance, and create a clear path from discovery to purchase. Whether through diagnostics, virtual try-on, conversational guidance or personalised routines, the experience should reduce trial and error while helping consumers feel understood and confident.

This is also where engagement becomes a measurable commercial advantage. When consumers receive relevant guidance rather than generic promotion, they are more likely to explore, convert, return and build trust in the brand. The brands that stand out will be those that move beyond isolated interactions and create connected experiences that learn from each engagement and become more useful over time.

What sets Revieve apart as a strategic partner for beauty brands in today’s market?

Revieve is a global beauty technology leader helping beauty and wellness brands and retailers connect personalised consumer experiences, beauty-specific knowledge, audience intelligence and business decision-making.

Rather than offering disconnected AI point solutions, Revieve brings these capabilities together through BeautyCatalyst, our connected approach to beauty commerce intelligence. Our technology powers AI-driven skin analysis, virtual try-on, personalised recommendations, conversational beauty guidance, intelligent product discovery and emerging agentic commerce experiences. At the same time, every consumer interaction generates actionable intelligence that can help brands better understand their audiences and continuously improve performance.

Trusted by more than 150 beauty brands and retailers worldwide, Revieve has powered over 60 million consumer sessions and analysed more than 15 million AI-powered selfies. This scale, combined with deep beauty expertise and proprietary technology, enables our partners to create more relevant experiences and make smarter decisions across marketing, merchandising, loyalty, product innovation and commerce.

Revieve does not simply power individual beauty experiences - it powers the intelligence behind modern beauty commerce.

What key trends do you believe will shape the future of the beauty industry and how is Revieve positioned to help brands and retailers navigate these changes and meet evolving consumer expectations?

One of the most important shifts will be the movement from product-first beauty commerce to intelligence-first beauty commerce. Consumers are becoming more intentional and increasingly expect brands to help them understand what is right for them, why it is right, and how it fits into their wider routine. Personalisation will therefore need to become more precise, transparent and useful - not simply more visible.

At the same time, AI-powered search, conversational interfaces, digital advisors and intelligent shopping agents are changing how consumers discover and evaluate products. Beauty journeys will become less dependent on traditional navigation and more centred on questions, goals, concerns and context. For brands, this creates a need for structured, trusted product knowledge that AI systems can accurately understand and activate.

We will also see greater demand for connected omnichannel experiences. Consumers will expect the guidance they receive online, in-store, through mobile applications and through emerging AI channels to feel consistent and continuous. Alongside this, trust will become even more important. Brands will need to demonstrate responsible data practices, explain recommendations clearly and ensure that AI experiences are inclusive, locally relevant and aligned with their identity.

Revieve is positioned to help brands navigate these changes by connecting the intelligence behind the entire beauty journey. Through BeautyCatalyst, we enable brands and retailers to unify consumer experiences, product knowledge, behavioural insights and business actions so that diagnostics, recommendations, virtual experiences and AI agents do not operate in isolation. This gives brands the foundation to respond to changing expectations, continuously improve their experiences and participate confidently in the next era of agentic beauty commerce.

TheIndustry.beauty Innovators Awards will be back for 2027.

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