AS Watson, the owner of health and beauty retailers such as Superdrug and The Perfume Shop, has unveiled a new scheme to create new brands and scale them faster.
AS Watson Brand Lab will identify, develop and grow brands across its global retail footprint in Asia and Europe.
Have you launched an innovative product, brand or campaign in the past 12 months? Then you could be in with a chance of winning at this year's new and improved Pure Beauty Awards 2026. Click here for more information.
The programme will tap data-driven insights from across its online and offline capabilities, that includes its global distribution network, as well as consumer insights from its 180 million-plus loyalty scheme members.
The initiative is designed to formalise these capabilities into a single streamlined system that will enable “both the creation of new propositions and the rapid scaling of brands across multiple markets with speed, discipline and consistency”, the conglomerate said in a statement.
Brand Lab will differ from traditional incubator programmes by embedding development within AS Watson’s retail ecosystem, rather than preparing them ahead of market entry.
The platform will operate “inside the market, using real-time customer data, shopping behaviour and category dynamics to inform development decisions,” the company added.
Dr Malina Ngai, Group CEO of AS Watson, said: “We do not wait for brands to find the market – we build them where demand already exists, and scale them through our ecosystem.”
AS Watson, which also owns flagship retailer Watsons in Asia and Rossmann in Europe, has already introduced more than 4,800 new brands and extensions of existing brands to market over the past two years.
Early successes via this new method include the accelerated expansion of K-beauty brand Cosrx and the regional scaling of J-beauty brand &honey.
The expansion of US cosmetics brand e.l.f. Cosmetics and German make-up line Essence across Europe was also led by the same approach.
AS Watson’s new Brand Lab will support brands through a “structured growth pathway”, designed to take them from early-stage validation to regional scaling and category leadership.
Brands participating in the programme will receive support across insight, distribution, marketing activation and investment, and targeted to the greatest potential growth impact.
AS Watson will focus on brands in high-growth segments such as K-beauty, J-beauty and C-beauty.
Ingredient-led skin care, elevated personal care, and health and wellness will also be areas of focus for the lab.
Related content:
- Best initiatives for budding beauty founders offering funding, mentorship and more
- Sephora launches prize for European beauty incubation to fill support ‘gap’
- Is Superdrug-owner AS Watson gearing up for a $30 billion dual IPO?
- Opinion: How I got my beauty and wellness brand The What Supp Co stocked in Boots
