Maater Cosmetics — Very Polite — Creative Agency in Toronto & Vancouver

SCOPE OF WORK:
Product Development
Product Fulfillment + Distribution
Investor Deck + Go-to-Market Strategy
Creative + Naming Strategy
Brand Identity
Packaging Design + Sourcing
Website Design + Development
Creative Direction
Campaign + Ecomm Photography
Social Media Strategy
Content Creation
PR + Media Outreach

The Very Polite Incubator is a top-secret department of Very Polite Agency. The Incubator punches in data from the market and consumer behaviours to develop products and brands that are as scientific as they are intuitive. The proprietary world-building formula has generated a family of successful brands and products, including the iconic, Maater* Cosmetics.

*Maater:
Pronounced Ma-Ter

The Brief:

Maater was the first product developed by the Very Polite Incubator Department for the cosmetics and skincare space. After conducting market research and consumer surveying, it was essential the formula be entirely natural, cruelty-free and vegan. What resulted was a skin oil that performed as a functional cosmetic.

The Opportunity:

One of the differentiating ingredients used in a number of Maater products is non-toxic Mica, a natural compound that comes from Earth, but has also been found in meteorites.

The Histrionics Branding Department took inspiration from our 2022 theme, Space, in conjunction with the supernatural material, to create a new cosmetic category: Cosmic Aesthetics. The brand name, Maater was the grounds for our brand world (literally), as Maa means planet, earth, ground and soil. The creation of Planet Maa allowed us to build a world to highlight the ingredient benefits and the uniqueness of Mica. The product naming strategy took inspiration from the naming of stars, where they are assigned letters from the Greek alphabet to indicate their brightness.

The Result:

Since the launch of the brand in September 2022, Maater has been featured in a number of digital and print publications including The Vancouver Sun, Daily Hive and Financial Post. With a strong DTC ecommerce presence, the brand gained the favour of customers and has been picked up by retailers like Turf Living and Rebecca Bree in Vancouver and Permission in Toronto. Maater is also part of Holt Renfrew’s H Project edit, available across all Canadian locations.