iland co. - Company of the Year – Consumer Products

Company: iland co., Terrigal, NSW, Australia
Entry Submitted By: The Audacious Agency, Gold Coast, Australia
Company Description: iland co. is an Australian Resort Wear brand inspired by island life - Specialising in Kimonos, Kaftans, Beach Dresses and Accessories with international delivery.
Nomination Category: Company/Organization Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Company of the Year – Consumer Products – 10 or Less Employees

Nomination Title: JODIE MINTO: BUCKING FAST FASHION TREND

iland co. founder, Jodie Minto was looking for a way to combine her love of fashion and marketing with a business to free her from corporate life. On holidays in Sri Lanka, almost ten years ago, Jodie came up with the concept of iland co. - a range of ladies resort wear that's vibrant, colourful and carefree. Returning to Dubai, where she lived with her husband and two children, she started dabbling with products and ideas. Despite a number of false starts, she eventually developed her signature design - a Western take on a kimono and Abaya, inspired by living in the Middle East and being exposed to lots of different cultures, and beautiful fabrics. Using different fabrics, prints and lengths with a one-size-fits all approach for easy online sales, Jodie has created a rock solid brand loved by thousands of women.

Jodie is a certified digital marketer and partners with Shopify and Klaviyo. With a degree from University of Newcastle, and qualifications from Digital Marketing Institute, London College of Fashion and the Life Coaching College, Jodie also mentors and coaches women in fashion businesses to grow their online presence.

Online store - Honing her digital marketing skills over the past 12 months, Jodie has grown iland co. by 300%. By finessing her digital advertising skills, she’s skilled at understanding what her customers want and what sells. She’s grown iland co.’s sales from $250k in 2018-19 to $450k in 2019/20, up 337%. This financial year, sales will exceed $1.3 million, up 292% in 20/21,. This increased demand is the result of offering customers a broader range of products, improved marketing and increased manufacturing capabilities.Coupled with a boom in online shopping among her target audience with disposal income during COVID 19, iland co. has grown exponentially the past 12 months. With six years of business under her belt, she’s grown a solid foundation of repeat customers.

Business growth - Moving into her first commercial office/warehouse space (and out of her living room), Jodie expanded her team from three to six staff, hiring working mothers including a full time employee assisting with customer service and order fulfillment.

Building communities - Jodie also launched ‘Buy, Swap, Sell’ Facebook group in order to provide a platform for iland co. customers to re-home their items, avoid contributing to land fill, whilst making room in their wardrobes for new iland co. pieces.

Marketing strategies - Jodie formed a new marketing collaboration with influencer Natalie Angel from Let Me Try Before You Buy to promote products, increasing sales. This collaboration resulted in four times more sales than previous years.

The support package attached outlines Jodie's incredbile success this past year - customer reviews, testimonials and media wins. The graph here shows the impact of that success financially.
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/FIuA5fLyLXlk-ImqRg4m6ojKs75pccazvcHcqfh_TBy0-D1EhCarZYKbvw8IUUuWmHwuCu0dKRX5WqUbl_D8RKbxGxnVUEpQfZAiXCxgYOiai1vlIJxf5wKHKIllUwXjuNnB7XNK

By refining ilandco.’s manufacturing process, Jodie now works with bigger manufacturers, improving stock numbers, to meet increasing demand. Past experience of stocking 25 of each style, selling and never repeating was a costly process, working with big manufacturers means iland co. can build on the popularity of specific products. This is great for business and more sustainable and eco-friendly.

Instead of regularly releasing a new collection, iland co. created an eclectic range based on demand. Focusing on stocking repeat bestsellers; customers know and love the foundational range, which means manufacturers can create the styles on demand with little interruption to stock supplies. When a new style is introduced, only a small run is done to test the market. If it proves popular, it’s added to the range.

iland co. uses real-life models in all of their advertising, busting the unrealistic body expectations synonymous with the fashion industry.

Mid COVID-19, Jodie hired a second full-time employee, an Online Store Coordinator, as well as a part time copywriter, additional customer service representative and a fashion designer one day per week. iland co. boasts an all-female team and is female-owned and led.

Building raving fans - iland co. also started a new initiative, a Buy, Sell Swap group, a unique industry approach. The majority of fashion brands’ swap groups are managed and run by consumers, whereas ilandco. manage and nurture the page as the brand. The group encourages customers to rehome unused or unwanted garments, reducing waste that ordinarily goes to landfills.