The author’s full interview with Pauline and Johnny Paterson of Dr.PAWPAW on location at an ECRM Beauty session

Dr. PAWPAW is a RangeMe Premium Verified beauty brand based in Bromley, UK. It was founded in 2013 by husband and wife power couple Johnny & Pauline Paterson as an alternative natural solution to help soothe their young daughter’s eczema. The company launched with its Dr.PAWPAW Original Balm – a soothing multi-tasking clear balm that can be used on lips, skin and hair. The soothing and nourishing properties from our Dr.PAWPAW balm formula that consists of PAWPAW (Papaya Fruit), Castor Oil, Aloe Vera and Olive Oil. The overwhelming success of this product led to a line extension with Dr.PAWPAW Tinted Balms and then to hand creams, hair care, and more innovative lip products. 

All of the brand’s plastics are post consumer-recycled and its cardboard is already 70% recycled. It uses water soluble ink on all cardboard packaging, eco tape on all orders big and small and whenever needed use eco alternatives such as Eco Foil used on Dr.PAWPAW X Teenage Cancer Trust Shimmer Balm.

In addition to giving back to the planet with its sustainable packaging, the company also gives back to various charities & organizations.

In this interview, ECRM’s Joseph Tarnowski speaks with the Patersons about how they prepare for their buyer meetings at ECRM sessions both in the U.S. and Europe, and how this prep has helped them land retailers around the world such as Ulta Beauty and CVS in the U.S. and Clicks in South Africa. They were also a Drug Store News Buyers Choice Award winner at ECRM’s recent Skin, Bath, Cosmetics, Natural & Clean Beauty Session this past June!

Here are some of their recommendations for getting the most out of their ECRM buyer meetings:

  • As soon as they get their schedule of buyer appointments, they connect with the buyers on LinkedIn to begin an informal dialogue
  • They read ALL of the information about the retailers with whom they will be meeting on the ECRM Prep site. This site, which every participating brand can access, provides the contact info for those with whom they will be meeting, background information and the website of the retail organization, and the participating buyers’ needs and objectives for the category.
  • Based on the above information, they  prepare a custom digital presentation for each retailer on their schedule
  • During the in-person buyer meetings, they LISTEN! According to Pauline, they dedicate at least half of their meeting time listening to the buyers.

After the session wraps up, it’s all in the follow up, according to Johnny and Pauline, and here they aim to be “pleasantly persistent.” They realize that buyers get inundated with emails, so they try to reach out regularly to stay top of mind. But they “chase them with a reason,” — that is, they give them updates on products, news or something else the buyer would find of interest or value. 

By the way – Johnny says it helps to have a very memorable shirt, as you can see he surely does!

Click here to learn more about Dr.PAWPAW, or you can find their profile on RangeMe!

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