Amway (M) Holdings Bhd will launch new products and begin marketing promotions to increase sales this year, said managing director Low Han Kee.
The company expected demand to remain sluggish owing to the global slowdown resulting from continuing high oil prices and prevailing weak consumer sentiment, he said in a statement.
“Some new products will be brought in, especially for the anniversary celebration. Together with the branding campaigns for Nutrilite and Artistry, we hope to create greater awareness and recall our food supplements as well as skincare and cosmetic brands,” he said. The company celebrates its 30th anniversary this year.
Amway (Malaysia) Holdings Berhad (Amway) has at Mid 2005 kicked off a brand-building campaign to increase the level of awareness and recognition for its prestige skin care and cosmetics brand, ARTISTRYTM. The company is planning to invest up to RM8 million in advertising and promotions over a three-year period starting from its current financial year ending August 2005 to elevate recognition of its ARTISTRYTM skin care and cosmetics brand amongst Malaysian women.
The ARTISTRYTM brand is one of five core business lines in Amway's stable of meaningfully differentiated products. ARTISTRYTM was first introduced in the United States in 1968 and is sold exclusively through Amway distributors. In Malaysia, ARTISTRYTM was one of Amway's pioneer brands when the company was established in 1976.
The brand offers a range of high quality, technologically advanced skincare products and contemporary colour cosmetics. These products are manufactured by Access Business Group LLC, Amway Corporation's sister company, the parent company of Amway. Today, ARTISTRYTM is available in more than 80 countries and territories where Amway operates.
According to Low Han Kee, Amway's Managing Director: "ARTISTRYTM has been part of the Amway range of products for as long as the Amway name has been in Malaysia since 1976. Over the years, we have built a strong and loyal base of distributors and customers who have been spreading the ARTISTRYTM appeal through word of mouth and personal testimonies. Clearly, Amway distributors became the driving force behind the sale of ARTISTRYTM."
In explaining the rationale behind the unprecedented brand building campaign, Low added that he believes that the timing is right to raise ARTISTRYTM's profile to create greater awareness for the brand.
"Our objective is to make ARTISTRYTM a well-known skin care and cosmetics brand amongst Malaysians and to make the brand's efficacy and qualities the catalyst for more women to embrace the brand," continued Low.
The brand building campaign kicks off with the high-profile sponsorship of a critically-acclaimed contemporary dance musical called Wild Zebra. The Shanghai-based troupe of 80 dancers will be holding 11 performances from 29 July 2005 to 3 August 2005 at Istana Budaya, Kuala Lumpur.
"The sponsorship of Wild Zebra will be the launch pad for the campaign which will subsequently see the rollout of an integrated promotional effort incorporating advertising, editorial and public relations for the ARTISTRYTM brand," explained Low.
The investment behind ARTISTRYTM also reflects the direct selling leader's commitment to supporting the retailing efforts of its 161,000 strong core distributor force. This campaign follows in the footsteps of the brand building campaign for Nutrilite, launched in May 2004 involving an investment of RM10 million for over three fiscal years beginning fiscal year 2004.
Financially, Amway beat its RM500mil sales target a year in advance, posting revenues of RM507.03mil for the year ended Aug 31, up 11.1% on RM456.4mil in 2004. Pre-tax profit also increased by 1.3% to RM73.29mil in 2005.
ARTISTRYTM is the prestige range of facial skincare and colour cosmetics sold through Amway's direct selling model in more than 80 countries and territories worldwide. ARTISTRYTM's performance-driven products are founded on leading-edge technology, feature functional ingredients and provide measurable benefits. All ARTISTRYTM products are dermatologically and allergy tested making them safe for all skin types.
Low credited last year's growth to initiatives launched a few years ago, such as the introduction new products and promotions, enhanced sales incentive and non-cash awards programmes to boost distributor productivity.
“Distributor productivity had increased for the sixth consecutive year by about 8% against the previous year. I believe there is room for growth as the per capita income of Malaysians is on the rise.
“As a result, growing distributor productivity will continue to be the key driver of our sales growth,” he added.
Last year, Amway unveiled 14 new core line products and revisions, which contributed about 3% to total sales.
Low said the company planned to add more distributors to improve sales.
Tag: Cosmetic : Beauty :Malaysia: Health & wellness
