than 3 million units in a year while doubling its global store footprint. Rather than treating the brand as a veneer on top of product and retail, Sundae built everything — from packaging to partner selection — around a single idea: body care as a joyful, sensory ritual. That clarity allowed the business to be selectively aggressive. “Not every opportunity is aligned, and not every retailer door is the right door,” Waley noted. As the brand expanded, it prioritised doors that would strengthen Sundae over the long term, even when that meant slower short‑term growth. The result is a distribution story that looks explosive from the outside but is tightly curated underneath. Consistency has been the other non‑negotiable. Across markets, channels and retailers, Sundae has kept its tone, messaging and visual world remarkably stable. “Across every market, retailer and touchpoint, we stayed consistent… That kind of familiarity builds recognition, and recognition turns into trust,” said Waley. Turning beige basics into lifestyle objects Sundae’s playbook starts with category disruption at shelf level. When the brand launched, “the body care aisle felt so… beige,” Waley recalled. “Same bottles, same claims, same everything — functional, but completely forgettable.” The team saw an opportunity to reframe body wash from a low‑engagement necessity into an expressive lifestyle object. The shift relied on three levers. First, sensory‑first product innovation: whipped formulas, nostalgic scents and texture you can see. Second, distinctive, candy‑coloured packaging designed to stop shoppers mid‑aisle. Third, a brand narrative rooted in joy and self‑expression rather than efficacy alone. “We didn’t just add fun for the sake of it – we wanted to make routine feel like ritual and build an emotionally engaging world around it,” Waley shared. That world‑building has proven portable. In Scandinavia, six Sundae SKUs landed in a top‑100 ranking out of 1,200 products, underscoring that “igniting joy in everyday rituals isn’t just an Australian thing — it travels.” Still, the brand adapts to local aesthetics; in design‑driven Nordic markets, Sundae leaned harder into sensorial and design‑led elements while dialling back some of the louder, more playful language used at home. Creative marketing as a sensory extension If the products are designed to be photographed, the marketing is built to be felt. From the outset, Sundae rejected traditional beauty advertising in favour of bold, highly tactile creative. “If we’re building a joyful, sensory brand, the marketing has to feel just as joyful and sensory,” says Waley. The brand leaned into bold colour and texture that “you could almost feel through the screen,” designed to make consumers stop mid‑scroll because “it genuinely felt different.” Validation came early, both in performance metrics and cultural traction. “They were sharing it, recreating it, tagging friends,” Waley recalls. “That’s when we knew it was working — when our marketing wasn’t just driving sales, it was driving culture and conversation.” A recent American diner takeover — tapping into retro, comfort‑driven Americana to mirror Sundae’s dessert‑inspired world — generated a wave of user‑generated content that signalled it had crossed from campaign into participatory moment. Behind the pastel visuals, the process is intentionally rigorous. Campaigns are shaped by marketing and commercial teams together so that “the idea has to excite us creatively, but also make sense operationally and commercially.” Sundae scrutinises sell‑through data alongside real‑time community signals to decide what to back. “If an idea strengthens the brand, has clear demand behind it and we can execute it properly, we back it. The fun is very real… and so is the rigour behind it,” Waley said. Influencer‑first, not influencer‑add‑on One of Sundae’s most consequential bets has been to treat creators as a core channel, not a media line item. “We don’t think of creators as an add‑on — they’ve always been part of the strategy from day one,” Waley explained. The brand optimises for authenticity and engagement over follower counts, working with people who “genuinely use Sundae in their shower and talk about it as part of their everyday routine.” The lesson, according to Waley, is that “views don’t move units — trust does.” Sundae’s best‑performing creators are those whose recommendation “feels like a friend sharing something they actually love,” a dynamic that helps explain how a niche‑looking brand has been able to move millions of units in mass retail. Scaling doors without losing the world Cracking Walmart, Target and CVS in the first year in the US has given Sundae mainstream visibility without, so far, diluting its niche appeal. The internal rule, Waley said, is simple: “Don’t lose the brand, just adjust how we show up.” Each retailer feels different, so Sundae tweaks messaging and leads with different rituals store by store, while keeping “the world of Sundae — the joy, the indulgence, the personality” intact. Hitting a 9,000‑store global footprint ahead of schedule has also forced a more disciplined approach to innovation. “We can’t just launch things because they’re fun anymore,” Waley admits. Future categories — from adjacent formats to potential kids’ ranges — must “feel like a natural extension of the Sundae world” and answer a single question: “Where else can Sundae genuinely live in our customer’s day?” With copycats emerging and distribution deepening, Waley sees the brand’s greatest hedge not in IP or exclusivity, but in its base. “Ultimately, what protects the brand from all of those risks is our community,” she said. “We keep investing in that connection so we’re not reliant on one product, one retailer or one big moment. By staying close to our purpose and evolving with our customer, we’re building something that’s meant to last.”