Transforming a family run business into the digital world isn’t easy. Our superhero Marcella Vanessa did just that and is breaking bounds as she does it.

You see a brand that has it all; good quality ingredients that are locally sourced, wide range of products, interesting backstory, keeps up with the changing times and is affordable.

You see that and you think, ‘well, they can’t be that good’ or ‘they must be a huge corporation’ and scroll past to the next thing.

That’s because it’s hard to have it all. Some say it’s impossible.

Well, Marcella Vanessa has done it.

Taking her family business to the future, Azarine has gone from a brick-and-mortar shop to a purely online business, and Marcella has brought on some big names with her. Having worked in the beauty industry since she was 19, Marcella (or Cella, as she goes by) has the understanding on what the beauty industry wants and needs.

Azarine started in 2002 (yes, that means it’s 20 this year!) as a family business to make herbal Indonesian Spa recipes more accessible. They have always been adamant on using meticulously selected natural active ingredients, so not much has changed there. In 2016 they created a research lab to add a more specialised and scientific insight into their products, and with that lab came a whole new Azarine. Along with her brother Brian, Cella completely rebranded the company from traditional and offline, to modern and online. If there’s one case study that proves digital marketing is more powerful that we think, this would be it. In completely upending their marketing strategy and making it solely digital, the company has soared. Even during the pandemic, it saw steady growth with no signs of slowing.

How did they do this?

The key is awareness. If people don’t know who you are, do you even exist? Cella kept pushing for Azarine to become more prominent in the public’s eye by doing collaborations with local and international brands. Since then, some BIG names have joined forces. Celebrity and actor Lee Minho, model and influencer Prilly Latuconsina, and influencer and actor Syifa Hadju have all become brand ambassadors.

Also part of the A-team is BT21! Even adorable little creatures from another planet need good skincare (and you know they all have different skin concerns).

The real superhero of brand ambassadors though, is MARVEL. Whichever MARVEL superhero you support (hello, Thor) there’s an Azarine superhero serum to go with it. Now that’s how you market a product!

Azarine isn’t the only brand they’re working on. They also have a beauty brand called Allura and will be launching another one soon. If it’s anything like Azarine you can expect big things from it.

Cella has been named one of the ‘10 Empowered Women 2022’ by JawaPos and ‘Top 30 Inspiring Women To Look Out For In 2022’ by The NYC Journal, and she want to ‘inspire & empower other young women to be independent & pursue their dreams’.

If you want to know more on how she transformed her family business, she will be sharing her story in a marketing trends seminar at in-cosmetics Asia on 1-3 November in Bangkok.

Register today to get free entry to this and catch her on the Tuesday 1 Nov at 2pm and you too could be leading your business into the future.

Enjoyed this article? Get more by subscribing to our newsletter!