12 May Five Minutes With …..
Product of the Year took five minutes out of the day to catch up with CHRIS FORBES, DIRECTOR & CO-FOUNDER OF THE CHEEKY PANDA – A Product of the Year 2020 Winner* – to find out more about the biodegradable bamboo products and what has happened since winning this coveted award.
1. You won a Product of the Year award in January – how has this impacted on the business?
Winning product of the year has been a great brand endorsement – showing that our products can compete against the market leaders and be crowned best in market
2. The Coronavirus is having a huge effect on all businesses how have you adapted?
The toilet and facial tissue sector and household paper products generally has been impacted by the virus. Most significantly the way people are buying and the channels they are using has changed with a massive increase to online services like Amazon and Ocado and delivery services such as Milk and More. For us, WFH has been a huge adjustment but we have a great team culture and have adapted well. We are also managing the changes at a time of significant growth for the business.
3. What does your post-lockdown ’new normal’ The Cheeky Panda day look like?
There are a lot more emails than before and I spend three to four hours a day on conference calls with partners. We are still moving physical goods and the operational part of the business is fully functional. Not quite business as usual but as close to it as we could expect.
4. You are on a mission to take sustainability mainstream – what channels are you using to drive that message?
Sustainability is what consumers want and I can see a future where all goods are sustainable either through the heavy taxing of unsustainable products or simply due to consumer demand. Every day people and celebrities are talking about our products and very recently we spotted Russell Brand with a box of The Cheeky Panda facial tissues on his podcast – which is the number three trending video on YouTube! Currently social media is where the awareness is happening but when lock down is lifted we will re-start traditional brand awareness activity. We have already promoted our win on the underground and at main London railway stations – have you spotted our ads?
5. Tell us something we wouldn’t know about Mr. Cheeky Panda
Julie and I are partners and we have an 18-month-old called Leo. We are currently doing an equity fundraise on www.seedrs.com – here is a great video of us talking about the brand and what it means to us.
Stay tuned as over the coming weeks we will be showcasing other winning products, digging deeper to discover the secrets of their success and chatting to the people responsible for bringing them to market.
Thanks Chris – stay Cheeky!
*Winner Wipes Category – Survey of 10,601 people by Kantar.