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Thailand
headquartered
premium
skincare
and
anti
aging
products
manufacturer
Royal
Siam
Natural
Health
and
Beauty,
every
day
exposes
new
opportunities
as
the
company
struggles
to
keep
up
with
the
pace
of
development
and
consumer
demand.
Commencing
trading
just
18
months
ago,
the
business
strategy
was
developed
during
2010,
with
veteran
Asia
Pacific
business
leader
David
Christensen,
at
that
time
a
Vice
President
with
American
Express,
initially
providing
strategic
advice
to
the
principals.
Initially
I
started
looking
into
the
opportunity
as
a
favor
to
a
friend
who
asked
me
to
provide
some
advice
to
the
team
around
the
realities
of
startup
businesses.
But
it
didnt
take
long
for
me
to
see
there
was
a
clear
opportunity;
when
the
products
I
tested
lived
up
to
expectations
it
became
even
more
interesting,
and
eventually
that
led
me
to
become
an
investor
and
now
heading
up
the
business.
Says
Mr
Christensen.
With
a
background
that
includes
multinational
advertising
agencies
as
well
as
a
decade
of
strategic
management
consulting
across
the
Asia
Pacific
region,
he
explains
the
reasons
for
the
original
attraction
to
the
concept.
The
core
brand
proposition
was
driven
from
the
use
of
a
range
of
skincare,
hair
care
and
related
products
made
from
100%
pure,
natural
herbal
ingredients
that
were
part
of
the
heritage
of
Thai
Traditional
Medicine.
This
branch
of
medicine
is
an
astonishingly
rich
source
of
information
that
has
been
painstakingly
built
up
over
more
than
800
years,
but
is
little
known
outside
Thailand.
Many
of
these
products
have
been
in
common
daily
use
for
generations,
and
many
Thai
women
have
since
said
things
like
oh,
this
is
just
like
my
mother
and
grandmother
would
use
every
night
and
morning
to
keep
their
skin
soft
and
young
looking,
and
from
early
childhood
I
did
the
same,
every
day
until
the
time
I
left
home.
Immediately,
it
was
obvious
here
was
a
ready-made
and
highly
credible
brand
proposition
and
point
of
differentiation.
Theres
a
swing
back
towards
natural/organic
ingredients
in
personal
care
lines;
theres
more
respect
for
traditional
wisdom
than
there
used
to
be;
theres
no
doubt
that
Thai
women
often
exhibit
flawless
skin
and
a
youthful
appearance
the
envy
of
many.
Then
there
was
a
further
quite
important
point
that
is
easily
overlooked,
which
is
by
Royal Siam Natural Health & Beauty Company Limited B106 New Spring Mansion | 19/98-99 Soi Suphapong 3 | Srinarakin Road | Nhongbon | Pravet, Bangkok 10250 | Thailand | Ph +66 2 3308 740 | Fax +66 2 3308 741 Email info@royalsiam.asia | Website www.royalsiam.asia
faithfully reproducing the traditional formulas and production techniques (which is all by hand), we are selling products that have been used for decades sometimes centuries so we are dealing with known products, shown to have been effective over a long period. We further developed our positioning to accommodate the limitations that are often present with 100% natural products it goes with the territory that shelf life can be more limited, the product may not flow freely a low temperatures and so on so many people are willing to accept a small level of artificial ingredients as long as it makes a product more usable. The team also had a number of very high end products in development that would bring in some of the most cutting edge anti aging compounds, so that gave us the very unique position of having all of the Thai, tradition and natural elements but adding hi-tech ingredients chosen from some of the best ingredient manufacturers around the world. The result of this is Royal Siam developing one range of products that is 100% natural and very traditional (called Faithful to Tradition), a range of everyday use products based on nature but with some artificial ingredients to improve the product usability (Powered by Nature), and an ultra premium anti aging range dubbed Ultra Cosmeceuticals. A further range, Breakout! Anti Acne, completes the product structure. Mr Christensen goes on to explain that Royal Siam chose to concentrate on retail and direct selling strategies in Thailand, but for the international market has invested heavily in online distribution. Our objective is to appoint market level licensees but that will take time, and in the interim we need to be busy both building our brand reputation but also generating sales. Market response has been significantly different to the original expectations. Most significantly there has been a dramatic and unexpectedly large consumer trend in favor of online purchasing as well as the appeal of Royal Siams product line in the two years since consumer response to the concept was first tested Firstly, we now have viable mass-market payment solutions with the likes of PayPal and others stepping forward with simple and reliable solutions. Secondly there has been a quiet but successful assembly of a global door to door courier system shared by the Post Offices of each country, and finally a change has occurred very recently where people are now willing to buy online rather than just use the internet to gather information. So the first thing to have exceeded our expectations is the level of online shopping. Our experience is consistent with industry data indicating the Personal Care category has the highest level of online sales of any product category, with the latest global figures indicating between 20-25% of the category (which is estimated to be over $90 billion pa by 2014) is transacted online. Adoption is growing at twice the rate of the category as a whole (which still exceeds 10% pa). Who knows where this will plateau, but right now there is no sign of the growth rate slowing. He cites a recent Nielsen study of online shopping habits which discovered more than 90% of people who have previously made an internet shopping purchase have purchased from the personal care category. We are also seeing a very clear and rapid crystallizing of consumer attitudes in favor of natural products, and unexpectedly there seems to be a lot of cynicism among consumers
about the true level of commitment towards green issues by established multinational manufacturers. The result for Royal Siam is described by Mr Christensen as like the perfect storm in reverse, where consumer resonance has been stronger than anticipated in almost every aspect. I would certainly not claim this was completely intentional, says Mr Christensen, although our positioning and consumer propositions were well considered. But what we could never have predicted is how well out timing has aligned with big attitudinal changes in the market, and how much stronger the trends toward online purchasing adoption, natural products, traditional positioning and premium anti aging products should have so well aligned with our chosen core strengths as a business. Royal Siam is this coming week launching its first external capital raising exercise since being formed and is very pleased with the story they will be able to tell to potential investors. We seem to have so far been right place/right time with our consumer propositions, says Mr Christensen, and we are keeping our fingers crossed that over the next few weeks as we speak with potential investors our good fortune of being in the right place with the right proposition at the right time will continue # END # About Royal Siam
Manufacturer and distributor of Royal Siam skincare, hair care, and related health and beauty products including: "Powered By Nature" range of moisturizers, skin whiteners, facial masks, melasma treatment, eye area treatment, foot repair balm; "Faithful to Tradition" products made with 100% natural ingredients that includes facial serums, toner, hair restoration, facial cleansers, pure lime shampoo; "Breakout! Anti Acne" products for acne treatment and prevention, and "Ultra Cosmeceuticals" which includes facial serums, masks, eye area treatment and related products. The company was established in 2010 and distributes through a variety of channels in Thailand, and internationally via online retailing. The corporate website and online store can be accessed at http://www.royalsiam.asia, and the companys Fecebook Fan Page is at http://www.facebook.com/RoyalSiamBeauty, while the YouTube channel is located at http://www.youtube.com/RoyalSiamBeauty
About the Author: A veteran of the Asia Pacific business scene, David Christensen is an Australian (with New Zealand roots), currently based in Bangkok, Thailand where he is CEO of premium skincare and anti aging products manufacturer Royal Siam Natural Health and Beauty (http://www.royalsiam.asia) Having lived and worked in 14 countries as wide afield as Russia, India, and Japan, David has a background in advertising with Saatchi & Saatchi and DDB, extensive international business strategy consulting experience as a Partner with Gravitas Partnership in Hong Kong, and senior regional line management roles across Asia Pacific with American Express, Carlson Wagonlit, and AXA Asia Pacific. His LinkedIn profile can be seen at this link LinkedIn Profile and you can contact him by email at david@royalsiam.asia