Deodorant brand Fussy says joining Dragons’ Den was its ‘best advert’

Most people’s introduction to sustainable deodorant company Fussy came when its co-founder Matt Kennedy jumped out of a bin on national television.

Since their appearance on Dragons’ Den, he says Fussy has built a loyal base of customers who want a sustainable alternative.

Fussy bills itself as a sleek, refillable natural deodorant with plastic-free refills. Kennedy, along with his co-founder Eddie Fisher, have tapped into the Instagram generation’s concern over plastic waste.  

Now the brand is taking the next step, having recently secured a deal with Tesco. It’s now make or break for Fussy as they move beyond being seen as the guys on Dragons’ Den to becoming a multimillion brand business.

After a successful career in advertising, working for some of the country’s leading agencies as a creative director, Kennedy said it was a ‘natural evolution’ to break out on his own.

‘We were getting paid to come up with ideas for other people and then giving them away…’ he says.

The initial plan wasn’t deodorant, though. Kennedy had founded a Japanese rice wine company, made from leftover sushi rice from London restaurants, as a side project. 

It was his experience working for leading consumer brands, which kickstarted the idea to try his hand at the cosmetics industry.

‘It was towards the latter end of my career in advertising, working for the likes of Pantene and Gilette, which not only can become fairly mind-numbing in terms of the creative output… but also frustrating because they had the ability to address many of the problems we face, yet I feel there’s an inertia to do anything about it.’

‘I saw what was going on in the US at the time. Neither ourselves nor [rival] Wild had launched so we spotted an opportunity.’

The market for natural cosmetics has been quietly building for years, as younger generations become more aware of what they’re putting on their skin and its impact on the planet.

But natural deodorants haven’t taken off in the UK as much, largely because they’re not as effective as their mass market equivalents. It was his wife’s own experience of being unable to find a natural deodorant while pregnant that proved to be the last push Kennedy needed.

In October 2020, while Kennedy and Fisher were still working full-time, Fussy launched its Kickstarter – a crowdfunding platform. 

At this point it was still an unproven concept and Kennedy was unwilling to take the risk: ‘We definitely spoke to investors when we were trying to raise money while still working a job to do Fussy, who were like “you’ve not gone all in, you’ve not quit your jobs, why would I back you if you’re not backing yourself” type of thing.’

It speaks to the general experience of entrepreneurs who often, having had a background in finance, have built up savings and are willing to take a risk. 

For Kennedy, that couldn’t be further from the truth.

‘I was like I’ve got a mortgage to pay, a kid on the way, I don’t have loads of savings in the bank, I don’t have a huge bonus. 

‘That’s just not realistic and actually you want use to take your money and take risks, but calculated risks. Is the calculated risk here not to prove that there’s demand for Fussy before quitting.’

Kennedy needn’t have worried though. Within two weeks Fussy had sold £130,000 worth of products through Kickstarter, and two months later the pair finally quit their jobs.

The Dragons’ Den effect

It was Fussy’s appearance on Dragons’ Den that really catapulted the brand into the mainstream, though. 

In June 2021, eight months after the Kickstarter, the product was finally ready. Two weeks later, Kennedy and Fisher were in a TV studio pitching Fussy to the Dragons.

‘Looking back we’re like oh my god what rookies. All we had to talk about was our Kickstarter and two weeks of trading. My wife had also given birth literally the day before…’

Why put yourself through the stress as both a new entrepreneur and dad too?

‘For us, it was that our competitor was already out in the market. We knew if we got on the show and they didn’t, they’re not going to take another refill deodorant on the show. 

‘We knew we’d be able to amplify the marketing. For us it really was about publicity and making an impact.

‘When I speak to people that are going on the show, I say it’s 10 minutes of organic TV, for you to buy that would cost millions. It’s the best TV advert that you’ll basically ever get.’

While frantically memorising the numbers with and without VAT to the exact penny, Fisher and Kennedy wrote their pitch like it was an advert. 

‘There’s lots of sound bites of us in the show… we thought about those and what we’d say and making sure that we said we put it to the ultimate test in the den, it stood up to the heat…

‘The bin was purely because the producers said there was no guarantee we’d get on the show. I said how about if we hide in a big bin and jump out? They said yeah that’ll probably do it.’

The plan worked. While Kennedy might be remembered as the man in the bin, the appearance converted into securing £50,000 investment from Peter Jones and Deborah Meaden, and more importantly, sales spiked after the episode aired.

‘We really milked it.’

Surprisingly, one thing Fussy hasn’t milked is their connection with Meaden or Jones, although this hasn’t been for Fussy’s lack of trying.

‘Deborah’s been great. We have her on Whatsapp, it’s less business advice but if we need something from her like can you pass on a parcel to this celeb, or can you come in an film some TikTok videos? She’s up for it. Peter’s more… hands off.’ 

‘We take what we do seriously, but not ourselves’

While the Dragons’ Den experience has been central to Fussy’s growth, sustaining that and building a brand beyond the TV show is the next challenge.

So far the team has taken this in its stride, and Kennedy’s advertising background has played a part.

Jumping out of a bin on TV and bringing a goat to Brewdog founder James Watt’s Next Unicorn competition are sure-fire ways to secure coverage.

Even when they were sent a 16 page cease and desist letter by Unilever for an ill thought out advert, Fussy used it as an opportunity for press and delivered an olive tree to the consumer giant’s offices.

‘We always go back to the guiding principle that we take what we do seriously, but not ourselves. 

‘We’re doing a serious thing and saving the planet but we will always try and do it with a smile on our face and not take ourselves too seriously. Hence the goat or the bin.’

It’s reminiscent of Brewdog’s early advertising campaigns. 

It seems fitting then, that Fussy has recently teamed up with Brewdog to launch a Punk IPA deodorant, which Kennedy says ‘is kinda disgusting but in a good way, and actually smells nice.’

Do consumers really care about a flash advertising campaign though? Do they need their deodorant brand to be great at social media?

‘I guess it’s personality. I think that’s what branding is… from the get go we wanted to be a little bit disruptive. 

‘What’s tricky is obviously we’re trying to build a big company and you have to try and get the right side of being commercial and not too cool for school.’

More than anything, name recognition seems to be the main aim. Fussy’s closest rival Wild, which also sells refillable sustainable, dwarves Fussy in terms of market share and the amount of capital they’ve raised.

But that isn’t holding Fussy back. 

Kennedy has plans to move into Europe this year, as well as create more products to tackle plastic waste in the whole bathroom, which will no doubt be accompanied by social media stunts.

Although Kennedy will probably ditch the bin this time round.