Lindsay van der Looij - founder BLOY Institute

Lindsay van der Looij has over eighteen years of experience as a skin specialist and now leads a team of skin therapists and beauticians in collaboration with cosmetic doctors. 'The marketing strategy behind BLOY Institute is more than a traditional marketing trick. Offering exclusive brands and equipment, building a social media presence, state of the art treatments and keep reinvesting in the brand, and now the brand BLOY, which stands, the beauty entrepreneur notes. With BLOY a childhood dream comes true. 'I go for the best of the best. I have had that ambition my whole life. You want something to have the right result, so that customers are satisfied and come back. We can make those promises come true at BLOY. One of my dreams has now become reality and another dream is already lurking in terms of launch soon.'

What is your marketing strategy?
'In Amsterdam Oud-Zuid is word of mouth advertising is also one of the better marketing strategies. Customers who come to BLOY through word of mouth know first-hand how nice the treatments at BLOY are and how competently the staff is trained. Yet not only word of mouth enough if you want to keep growing, because you will never reach everyone. Collaborations with Dutch celebrities, using influencers, publications in magazines, and television appearances; these are some examples of marketing strategies with which BLOY continues to grow and the next level wants to achieve. We see the success of our marketing directly reflected in the clinic; our clients come to us from far outside Amsterdam for a treatment or skin consultation. There is also a lot of demand from other cities for the exclusive treatments that we offer at BLOY. We are regularly asked whether a new branch will be opened in another city.'

How did you come up with the brand BLOY, formerly KNAP Skincare, based on what insight?
'The BLOY brand had to represent my vision and ambition: an exclusive clinic, an international allure, a well-known concept in the beauty industry. Many skincare salons and cosmetic clinics use keywords such as huid, skin, or clinic in their brand name. I deliberately chose not to do this because BLOY is so much more to me. BLOY stands for beauty, for exclusive skincare, for laser treatments, for body treatments, and cosmetic treatments; BLOY offers everything under one roof to look and feel your best. A part of myself is also incorporated into the BLOY brand. BLOY is a play on words on my own surname, van der Looij, but with just a little more allure and flair. The name BLOY was also conceived with a commercial eye for the future. If I ever wanted to sell the BLOY brand, it would be more marketable than if it were my own name. I know from experience that general names are also easier to copy, which is why I also opted for a unique brand name that can exist separately from the beauty industry.'

Please tell us more about the brand: what, why and why now? What is special about it?
'Unique to the BLOY brand is the combination of treatments under one roof: body treatments, facials, lasers, anti-aging and cosmetic treatments. Also unique is the combination of beauticians, skin therapists and cosmetic doctors. BLOY works result-oriented and with a personal treatment plan for each client. BLOY has highly educated staff and continues to train them so that they are up to date with the latest treatment techniques. What is special about BLOY is that we do not go for the latest of the latest, but consciously choose the best, proven techniques and equipment. For the skincare brands, the body equipment and the injectables, the following applies: we choose the brands that have been extensively researched and the brands that offer demonstrable, proven results.'

How do you acquire dermatological and product knowledge?
'My dermatological knowledge and product knowledge comes from my education, my passion and my years of experience in working with different types of skin. I always test the products that we offer at BLOY myself. I am very eager to learn and regularly attend training courses, follow extra courses and attend international fairs. I am always in the books to broaden my knowledge, you never stop learning. Even on holiday I like to visit clinics abroad to see which treatments are popular there and which treatment techniques they use there. I also like to spy on luxury hotels, resorts and spas, to experience the customer journey and experience their service level.'

Do you also want to go international with BLOY?
'My dreams and ambitions have always been big. I always wanted to be the best, from a young age I knew that I wanted to be proud of myself. I can now certainly say with pride that I have realized my dreams, but my passion continues to burn: I want more, I want to become bigger. Never stop growing. For me it is important to keep control in my own hands; I do not want an external investor who makes the decisions for me. That is why I always reinvest in BLOY and my other business projects. I want to realize my dreams myself and I find it important that my own say in this continues to exist, even if this may mean growing a little slower. An international expansion of BLOY is, when the time is right, certainly an opportunity that I am open to. I am currently working on another international project, but I cannot say much about it at the moment. Stay tuned .'

Are you happy with the average offering in Dutch health & beauty care?
'As for the skincare offer, I can say that I am reasonably satisfied with the offer within the Dutch beauty market. You have a lot of choice here, especially when you visit the right skin clinics. Where the Netherlands lags behind is in cosmetic, especially plastic, surgical treatments. Abroad I see more innovation in treatment techniques and treatment options. Of course, each country has a different ideal of beauty, this is also characteristic of the cosmetic and plastic treatments as well as the trends per country.'

How have you been coping with the pandemic?
'During the pandemic, we put a huge focus on our webshop and our social media. Suddenly everything went online; from product orders to skin consultations via Zoom. We learned a lot from this and it became increasingly clear to me how important the power of an online presence is. We have always supported our clients, even if that sometimes required some creative thinking. For example, we provided advice by phone and email and we spoke to clients via Zoom to offer personal advice. During the lockdown, a large part of my team was not allowed to treat, but this does not mean that my team has been sitting still. At BLOY, we followed a lot of training, further education and courses via Zoom during this period. In this way, I kept my team up to date with the latest trends and they were still able to use this time to further develop themselves professionally.

On a personal level, I have found more balance and more peace during the pandemic. I have come closer to myself and have learned that sufficient rest is important to function optimally. Taking rest remains difficult when you think about your business day in, day out. Thanks to the pandemic, I have discovered the value of rest; I sleep better, feel better and even perform better as a businesswoman.'

What are your plans for the rest of 2021?
'2020 was the year of reset and rest, 2021 is the year of growth. BLOY will receive a new device in 2021 that is extremely popular in the States. This device already has many fans, including many A-listers and Hollywood celebrities. We have been testing the device for a year and can't wait to make our clients happy with it. Even more great news is the arrival of our second EM-tight device due to the great success of the EM-tight treatment (one treatment is equal to a 30-minute ab workout!). When the gyms were closed, our clients got a taste for it and became fans of the EM-tight. Now they can't live without it! Fortunately, thanks to our second device, we can make even more clients happy with this popular treatment method. A new project is also planned for 2021, for which I have been abroad a lot lately. I can tell you more about this soon.'

What is your personal challenge with the BLOY brand?
'Expanding BLOY is a personal challenge for me. I aspire to growth, but I have experienced that it is difficult to keep control and quality in your own hands when you have different locations. I certainly have ideas about it, perhaps I will see opportunities for this in the future. Maintaining a good team is also a challenge for me. I am extremely proud of the BLOY team. I would love to keep my employees forever, but of course this is not always the reality and they sometimes choose a different step in their career.'