Ido Leffler: Taking on Global Beauty Brands with a Carrot

Leffler had a cosmopolitan childhood. He was born in Israel, moved to Sydney (Australia) when he was 4, migrated to Jakarta (Indonesia) when he was 21, went to Mumbai (India) at 23, and came back to Israel (Tel Aviv) when he was 26. He believed in working hard and partying harder. The hedonistic life he led in the initial days of his career and marriage comprised hard work, sporty evenings, and partying long nights. The exhausting lifestyle made Leffler realize that he had to pay attention to his health. However, when he looked at the skin and hair products at the super stores, he couldn’t connect with the products that claimed to be natural. Leffler often described himself as the Mini-driving, Virgin-flying and Apple-using consumer and lamented that none of those natural beauty products at the super-stores communicated the same exciting language that the products of these three companies did. He observed a clear and convincing gap between promise and reality in the skin and hair care segment. He described the products as the ‘IBMs of beauty and skin care’, which excited the consumers from outside, but lacked the emotional connect as a product... .