Jade urges people to ensure their brands stand out and purposeful

Jade Oyateru, the Co-Founder and COO of Uncover, a fast-growing African beauty brand merging advanced Korean skincare science with African botanically to celebrate and care for melanin-rich skin, has called on customers and stakeholders to ensure that their brands stand out and are purposeful.

Jade thrilled the audience at the GTCO Fashion Weekend second masterclass, while speaking on the Topic: The Power of Story: Building Brands People Believe In.

She highlighted that her product- Uncover has become a brand in African homes, noting that some products do not work on our skin due to the climate, hence they produce high quality skin products that have been tested using globally best with African botanical to make sure it works on our skin.

To ensure that their brands stand out and are purposeful, she stressed that the most believed product is winning, not the best product, not the cheapest product and not the loudest product.

She explained that a brand is not what you sell, but it is what people say about you when you are not in the room, while citing an example of Glossiers that was community not moisturizer.

Speaking about community and how to keep them growing, Jade stated that community shapes loyalty, hence people will use your product and keep coming back.

“People know your product before they know you,” she said.

She declared that Uncover gained traction for its science-backed skincare products tailored to the needs of African women.

She advises the audience that they should dream big and plot their journey like three to 10 years where they want to be, adding that the three years’ goal will shape the 10 years’ goal.

When asked how she handles negative reviews of her product, Jade explained that the product one has may not work for everybody, so you might get a negative review.

However, she said the product developer will have to look at the review, then call the customers to a breakfast session to know about the product because there is a need for feedback in order to make a decision from there.

She said that you can as well refer them to other products that will work for them if your own did not work for them.

 According to her,” All our products have affirmation like positivity that “I am beautiful from the community.”

She encourages people to dream big as a young brand because there must be many opportunities, but try to build your reputation and don’t try to do everything at once.

Jade emphasized that under her leadership, Uncover has expanded across eight African countries and secured multi-million-dollar funding, earning recognition from Bloomberg and Vogue Business as one of Africa’s top startups redefining beauty.

Prior to Uncover, Jade held key roles at Unilever Nestlé, and Jumia, and holds an MBA from Imperial College London. She is passionate about empowering women in business and building globally competitive African brands.