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COSMETICS
PITSINEE JITPLEECHEEP
Shiseido (Thailand) Co has brought the ZA cosmetic brand, previously handled by a joint venture with Saha Group, back under its own marketing umbrella in a bid to revive growth.
Tatsuo Tsudo, the company's managing director, said the Japanese parent company wanted to expand its base from prestige cosmetics to the "masstige" segment, which was growing very quickly in Asia.
Cosmetics marketers use "masstige" to refer to products with prices between the mass and prestige markets, such as Maybelline and L'Ore'al brands.
According to Euromonitor, the market for masstige cosmetics in Asia was worth 78 billion baht in 2006 and is forecast to rise to 166 billion baht in 2010. In Thailand, the segment was worth 10 billion baht last year and is forecast to rise to 15 billion in 2010.
Saha Asia Pacific was established in Thailand in 1997. Due to its small size, the company lacked economies of scale and struggled to build sales for cosmetics brands. Besides Za, Saha Asia Pacific used to distribute Uno, Pure & Mind, White Tea and Tiss.
Under the new agreement, the company will return the ZA brand to Shiseido (Thailand) and temporarily stop marketing activities for the other four brands.
"After combining the ZA brand under the Shiseido operation, we hope that management efficiency, particularly back office and logistics, will improve," Mr Tsudo said.
Apart from Thailand, ZA cosmetics are also available in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia.
Early this month, Shiseido (Thailand) introduced Majolica Majorca, a new sister brand in the Thai market. The new products are now available at 25 branches of Watsons, a health and beauty store chain, and will rise to 50 stores next year.
Majolica Majorca products are aimed at teenage girls with a price range of 100 to 700 baht per item.
Sales of all cosmetic brands under Shiseido Thailand this year are expected to grow by 10%, helped by ZA and Majolica Majorca.
Given the uncertain economic environment, the company has no plan to launch new brands next year but will focus on introducing new products under its existing lines.
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