The King Kong brand of insecticide was so popular in the 1960s that company founder Lim Joi Him was nicknamed King Kong Lim.
The company subsequently attracted some Japanese investors in the 1970s and secured the distribution rights for other Japanese brand medicinal products such as Yoko Yoko and KoolFever (the white medicinal patch) as well as Sawaday car and bathroom air freshener products.
In 1978, the family business was passed on to the second generation, with brothers Hooi Teik, Hooi Beng, Hooi Chang and Hooi Hai taking over.
The eldest brother, Hooi Teik, took the company to a new level when he decided to diversify into manufacturing personal care items, having discovered the huge potential for it, as most such products were expensive international brands.
The proof of the pudding is in the eating, they say, and today, the popularity of Tohtonku’s personal care products in the local market, such as Follow Me shampoo, confirms that Hooi Teik was a far-sighted man.
Jasper Lim, a director of Tohtonku and a third-generation Lim at the company says Follow Me was actually the name of an English language programme that his mum attended in the 1980s.
“My mum’s enthusiasm and loyalty to this programme struck my father that Follow Me could be a brand as he was looking for a unique name for his shampoo product.
When Tohtonku started its new business of personal care products in the early 1980s, it only had Follow Me shampoo, followed by the shower foam.
Later the company widened its product range to toiletries, skincare, oral care and other household products like dishwashing liquid and detergent.
Tohtonku’s factory in Penang manufactures shampoo and shower foam products while other products are outsourced.
“We have come a long way. It was tough when we introduced our products to neighbouring countries many years ago.
“We were stacked up against the more entrenched MNC (multinational corporation) brands which had a headstart in those countries.
“They had better resources and easily outspent any local company,” Jasper says, adding that the company also had to compete with cheaper products from China.
Tohtonku is believed to be the first company to use “bird nest” as an ingredient in its skincare product Nutox, which is targeted at the mass market.
Among its brands, he says, Follow Me is still the biggest contributor for the company with 50% revenue contribution in 2010, followed by Nanowhite (15%). However, the company sees a good growth potential for Nanowhite and Nutox to be the key growth drivers going forward.
He points out that Tohtonku will continue to explore new distribution channels either locally or regionally as market access is important in making its product a success, adding that overseas market contributed about 20% to its revenue in 2010.
“Our products are now distributed nationwide, including Sabah and Sarawak. Our products are also available in South-East Asian countries as well as Hong Kong, China and Japan. We are also planning to venture into Middle Eastern market as well as expanding our foothold in China,” he says.
He says the recent halal accreditation for most of its products by the Islamic Development Department (Jakim) has also boosted its reach to a wider segment of the society, adding that is important for the company as it plans to venture into the Middle Eastern market.
On the advertising and marketing (A&P) spending, Lim says the company will continue to spend about 10% of its revenue for A&P, adding that its products belongs to the very competitive fast-moving-consumer-goods industry due to the low-entry barrier.
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