How to Disrupt a Legacy Market with Innovation and Authentic Marketing

Stewart Gandolf (Healthcare Success) 
Hello, and welcome to our podcast. I’m Stewart Gandolf, and today I’m joined by Justin Gardner, founder and CMO of Active Skin Repair. We’re going to talk about how to launch a successful healthcare consumer product in a saturated market. First of all, welcome, Justin. 

Justin Gardner (Active Skin Repair) 
Thank you, Stewart. 

Stewart Gandolf (Healthcare Success) 
Good to speak with you again. When we set this up a few weeks ago, I was really intrigued by the story of how you’ve built your company and how you’re continuing to build it. There’s a lot to talk about here. First, tell us a little about your background, and how you came to found—and now be the Chief Marketing Officer for—Active Skin Repair. 

Justin Gardner (Active Skin Repair) 
Sure. My background has always been in healthcare marketing. I started at Johnson & Johnson, then moved to a startup biotech/med device company with a regenerative technology for diabetic foot ulcers and venous stasis ulcers, and helped market that for about six or seven years. After that, I started my own marketing agency, primarily helping more startup companies launch products into the hospital space. Because of my experience in regenerative medicine and wound care, a lot of our clients came from that space. 
While running that agency, I discovered hypochlorous acid. I helped a client launch it into the hospital space—that’s the technology behind Active Skin Repair. Long story short, I sold my agency, licensed the hypochlorous acid formulation from that medical device company, and brought it to market. Instead of launching into hospitals, we used the OTC 510(k) pathway and launched direct-to-consumer. 

Stewart Gandolf (Healthcare Success) 
That’s great. For those unfamiliar with hypochlorous acid, tell us what your product is for. Expand on Active Skin Repair for the consumer market—what does it do, how does it work, and how do you position it? 

Justin Gardner (Active Skin Repair) 
Hypochlorous acid is the same molecule your white blood cells produce. If you get a cut, scrape, or burn, your body’s immune response sends white blood cells to the injury; inside those cells is hypochlorous acid. It does three primary things: it’s a powerful antimicrobial (kills 99.9% of bacteria, viruses, and fungi within 15 seconds—even complex ones like MRSA and C. diff), it helps reduce inflammation, and it speeds the natural healing process. 
Because it’s innate to your immune system, there are no allergic reactions. It can replace toxic antiseptics and topical synthetic antibiotics. 

Stewart Gandolf (Healthcare Success) 
When I grew up, it was hydrogen peroxide and merthiolate—things have come a long way. It’s funny how necessary this product is. I scratched myself a couple weeks ago and suddenly had an infection—gosh, that stinks. I need to remember to buy some off your cart. I’ve heard of hypochlorous acid with other clients, but not in a consumer setting. Are there other B2B or B2C products out there using it? Is that growing? What’s happening? 

Justin Gardner (Active Skin Repair) 
It’s growing like crazy. The molecule’s been around forever—it’s innate to our immune system. Scientists replicated it in the 1800s, but the big leap came 15–20 years ago when we figured out how to stabilize it and hold a tight pH (5–7), maintaining antimicrobial efficacy for up to two years in a bottle. That meant it no longer had to be made bedside. 
We were one of the first real OTC brands to launch hypochlorous acid. Historically it was used in surgery and chronic wound care (e.g., outpatient centers for diabetic and venous ulcers), not OTC. We introduced it to consumers. Now there are probably 30+ brands. It really took off around COVID on TikTok as an acne facial spray. What makes us different: we have FDA 510(k) clearance to be used on open skin. About 95% of the others are cosmetics. 

Stewart Gandolf (Healthcare Success) 
We also talked about Neosporin. When we met, I’d just gotten stitches after trail running. The urgent care folks said I shouldn’t have used Neosporin—so it’s not perfect. What are the challenges in competing with and differentiating from such a household brand? 

Justin Gardner (Active Skin Repair) 
It’s a huge household brand—since the 1950s—and has J&J association, which builds trust. But Neosporin has a high allergic reaction rate (around 15–20% to one of the synthetic antibiotics). Because of that, most clinicians don’t recommend it. It’s petroleum-based, which many want to avoid on skin, and uses synthetic antibiotics—bringing all the issues that come with them. 

Stewart Gandolf (Healthcare Success) 
Quick pause—we’ll edit this out. Can you check Zoom video settings and make sure HD is on? 

Justin Gardner (Active Skin Repair) 
It is… not. (Enables HD.) 

Stewart Gandolf (Healthcare Success) 
That’s better. Do you mind re-recording the opening? Actually, let’s just go forward—it’ll be fine. 

Stewart Gandolf (Healthcare Success) 
Given those changes, how do you position your product differently in the market—and who’s your target audience? Does that vary? 

Justin Gardner (Active Skin Repair) 
We’ll start with the target audience. When we launched, we were bootstrapped—no capital for mass retail. Competing with Neosporin and big pharma in CVS/Walgreens wasn’t realistic, so we went into specialty retail where we could create a brand experience and educate staff—outdoor sports, surf shops, bike shops, climbing gyms. We built a cult following, but that market wasn’t huge. 
We learned the real hero customer is moms with young children. Skin issues—cuts, scrapes, diaper rash—are daily. More specifically, our “Whole Foods mom,” who values clean, non-toxic solutions and will pay a little more for a better product. With that customer in mind, differentiation from Neosporin is easy: petroleum and synthetic antibiotics vs. a cleaner, efficacious alternative. That message resonated. The clean beauty/wellness category has exploded over the last five-plus years, so the audience is growing. 

Stewart Gandolf (Healthcare Success) 
What channels are you using now—Amazon, your website? Are you in Whole Foods or other retail? 

Justin Gardner (Active Skin Repair) 
Specialty retail is a great place to build a brand—not to make money. We still have a few hundred specialty accounts, but that’s now <1% of revenue. Our business is essentially split between our website and Amazon. We were among the first hypochlorous brands on Amazon in 2017. Reviews were strong, and we saw immediate traction. 
Around 2020, we figured out Instagram influencer marketing—mom and non-toxic influencers explaining the brand and family uses. That created the flywheel for our DTC site. 

Stewart Gandolf (Healthcare Success) 
Let’s talk Amazon strategy. Beyond reviews, what matters for launching and scaling there? 

Justin Gardner (Active Skin Repair) 
Amazon today is different than eight years ago. We view it like a rain catcher—it’s where most consumers start, and Prime shifted a lot of first-aid shopping out of pharmacy to Amazon (same- or next-day). We invest in keyword search—bidding against “Neosporin,” plus generic terms like cuts, scrapes, rashes, diaper rash—and show why we’re different. 
We also run off-channel media. Podcasts, for example, may show low ROAS on-site via coupon codes, but we see an Amazon lift when they’re live. Omni-channel feeds Amazon. For launching, those first ~100 reviews at ≥4.5 stars are critical. 

Stewart Gandolf (Healthcare Success) 
Tell us more about influencers and podcasts—any specific tips? 

Justin Gardner (Active Skin Repair) 
Instagram Stories have worked best. Our influencer budget is around $1M, running 5–15 partners a month. The first filter: do they reach our mom? Ninety-five percent of customers are women 25–45. Too young or too old skews poorly. We like “one-plus kid,” and credibility in health/wellness. Many focus on better-for-you products, clean ingredients, healthy family recipes—those do well. 
We treat it like a portfolio: some will hit 2x ROAS, others 0.5x. We aim for ~1.5x overall on spend tracked via swipe-up links with auto-applied coupon codes. 

Stewart Gandolf (Healthcare Success) 
Are you using Instagram, TikTok, Facebook—what’s working? 

Justin Gardner (Active Skin Repair) 
~95% Instagram Stories. We’re just getting going on TikTok; historically it skewed younger and hasn’t performed for us. We’re exploring more YouTube video, but Instagram is the workhorse. 

Stewart Gandolf (Healthcare Success) 
How do you find influencers—agency or in-house? 

Justin Gardner (Active Skin Repair) 
Both. We have someone in-house (30–40% of her role) scouting and managing social, watching which creators similar “clean” brands use. We also use agencies for recruitment. One rule: the influencer must actually use the product first, understand it, and have real stories—especially family use. Authentic belief drives performance. 

Stewart Gandolf (Healthcare Success) 
Paid social—what’s your experience? 

Justin Gardner (Active Skin Repair) 
We do paid. Early on it was tough to scale; over the last two years we’ve scaled to about $1M in paid. Roughly 70% of spend is on Meta, ~30% Google/YouTube. Scaling came from growing the first-party funnel (so we can retarget) and constantly iterating creative to find winners. 

Stewart Gandolf (Healthcare Success) 
You experimented with linear TV—how did that go? 

Justin Gardner (Active Skin Repair) 
We’re seasonal (May–August). We ran TV then. We’re very performance-oriented, so lack of direct attribution on linear made it tough to quantify, though we did see an Amazon lift. If we move into mass retail, linear may have a larger role. This year we’re shifting to connected TV—higher CPM, but better targeting and much better attribution. 

Stewart Gandolf (Healthcare Success) 
For anyone launching a new product or service in a crowded market—what have you learned? 

Justin Gardner (Active Skin Repair) 
First-aid/skin health was a dusty category—no innovation for ~70 years—so it was ripe for disruption. Having something truly unique matters. Hypochlorous acid is a powerful technology consumers didn’t know about; that differentiation was critical. 
Always look for what’s next. We got onto Amazon at the right time and were early on influencer marketing (2018–2022 ROAS was incredible). Now we’re watching how AI changes search and how to stay relevant in LLM-driven discovery. Keep scanning for platforms/tech that can be meaningful. 
Also, think outside the box. Building a cult following in outdoor/specialty retail wasn’t scalable revenue, but it created brand uniqueness. 

Stewart Gandolf (Healthcare Success) 
I always come back to the P’s—product being the most important. You had a uniquely beneficial product in a mature market, which makes the wave easier to create. And I love the innovative testing and pivoting—congrats on the success. 

Justin Gardner (Active Skin Repair) 
Listening to the customer was huge. Coming from physician marketing, I thought clinical evidence would be #1, but for consumers it was actually #5. “Natural/non-toxic” was #1. We adapted quickly to lead with what mattered most to them. 

Stewart Gandolf (Healthcare Success) 
So true. In consumer markets, a single testimonial can outperform piles of studies. That’s hard to accept coming from healthcare culture, but it’s real. 

Justin Gardner (Active Skin Repair) 
We learned that with influencer marketing. I used to brief creators on all the science, and those posts performed worse than when we let them be authentic—use it with their families, speak in their own words, keep it simple. Authenticity beat didactic science every time. 

Stewart Gandolf (Healthcare Success) 
Great bonus insight. Some in my audience are your target customers. If you have a user code, I’m happy to share it. 

Justin Gardner (Active Skin Repair) 
I’ll get one for you and you can put it in the show notes. 

Stewart Gandolf (Healthcare Success) 
Great. If you’re listening and don’t see it yet, check healthcaresuccess.com—or go directly to your site? 

Justin Gardner (Active Skin Repair) 
ActiveSkinRepair.com. 

Stewart Gandolf (Healthcare Success) 
Perfect. It’s been great having you, Justin. I appreciate your time—awesome conversation. 

Justin Gardner (Active Skin Repair) 
Thank you, sir. 

Stewart Gandolf (Healthcare Success) 
I wish I’d thought about the user code beforehand, but we’ll add it to the show notes. This was great—good story, actionable anecdotes, and broader marketing precepts that transcend consumer vs. provider. There are healthcare leaders in this audience—hopefully this sparks some interesting conversations. Thanks again! 

Justin Gardner (Active Skin Repair) 
Alright, thanks, Stewart. 

Stewart Gandolf (Healthcare Success) 
Thank you. Bye.