Manufacturers must cater for regional needs and trends within south east Asia if they want to become part of the area's growing C&T market, says William Barnes
In the good old days in south east Asia, a market stallholder might hope to capture the neighbourhood cosmetics market with a simple range of soap, talc, lipstick (usually red) and cheap perfume.
The typical female routine was clean yourself, calm and whiten the face with talc, then add a dash of lipstick. Special occasions or everyday ambition might require some extras: eyebrow shaping and colour around the eyes especially.
In a region where the inhabitants’ skin tones range from black-brown through gold to bone white, the object was the same – to appear younger, to display femininity and to acquire, if possible, some class.
In the 21st century in a rapidly urbanising Asia, the vibrant centre of the global economy, women’s choice of cosmetics reflects multiple challenges to their identity and confidence. People of all races and creeds (and indeed genders) in the region are now required to construct elaborate personal defences and send out ever more nuanced signals as they make their way through a sometimes decadent, frequently enticing and often confusing world.
Would the old stallholder – a canny Chinese entrepreneur in a Malay village, say - be bewildered? Probably not, for he would surely recognise, beyond the waves of sophisticated marketing and hype, the longing, fear and pride that all good entrepreneurs must sense and pander to.
CULTURE CLASH
“Everyone wants to be loved or at least respected. It’s a very natural thing. Your appearance tells other people a lot about what you want and how you intend to get it,” says Emelia Madon, a personal assistant from Kuala Lumpur.
“I want people to see me as a woman of the modern world, but one who is loyal to my culture and to my religion.”
As a believer in Islam who habitually wears a headscarf Madon requires a look that, as she puts it, reminds people that she is a young woman, but one who is going to be nobody’s dupe.
“I suppose you could say that I want to be a bit sexy. But I want to be able to deny that that’s what I’m trying to do,” she adds.
In the Philippines, Queenie Tan, a marketing executive, describes herself as a “good Catholic girl” who uses cosmetics to create a good impression: “I don’t think religion has anything to do with cosmetics. Nobody should stop people from using cosmetics, even Jesus. It’s not a sin to look good.”
However, Tan stresses that some restraint is necessary. “Even if a person is religious she may need to wear heavy make-up, like in shows or if she’s an actress. But if she is just walking along the street it doesn’t look good. I think in the Philippines no woman wears heavy make-up outside – she would look like a prostitute. With hot weather you should not wear heavy make up and strong perfumes,” she argues. In Bangkok, in the cool oasis of the Reflections Spa, Piyada Yakaew comments that while “of course” all women want to defy age, they are “getting greedy” and increasingly want to look athletic and toned as well.
“It’s funny. We get Thai and Chinese women coming in here who want the best body and face they can get, but they also want to be pampered and to have a relaxing experience.”
Previously Yakaew advised women that they ought to exercise regularly and watch their diet. But such rational advice was not always well received: “It’s psychological. I think lots of women love the idea that they can buy a great face in a box, even if in their hearts they don’t believe it. They are buying a kind of mask. And their first priority is themselves.”
These three stories reveal that women in south east Asia are bound by several common concerns and desires, but also separated by their more-or-less distinct cultures. It is a lesson that personal care product marketers in the region ignore at their peril.
WHAT WOMEN WANT
A very common and persistent fear among women, be they casual country Buddhists in northern Thailand or urbane Singaporean office workers, remains that of looking too brown.
The belief frequently held by western observers that Asians fear being thought dark because of its association with traditionally working class outdoor work is only partly true. In addition, Asian skin tends to develop brown patches with age. Therefore a pale, even look is also redolent of youth and health.
When they can afford it, customers overwhelmingly look for reputable cosmetics brands and not just because they might work better. Asians have very real memories of some local cosmetics such as acidic skin whiteners containing dangerous chemicals, as a few still do. Not so long ago, many women carried telltale black marks on their cheeks caused by corrosive whiteners that had scraped away the skin’s natural sun protection. The more recent scares involving dangerous Chinese products are also known to consumers.
“Some women leap at big brand names. For me it doesn’t matter about the price, I just want to be confident that it is good and pure,” says Madon in Malaysia. “Some Muslim girls don’t like to put alcohol (containing) products on their face but I don’t care. I am not going to drink the stuff, am I?”
There are several brands of Islamic cosmetics, such as the halal brands manufactured by Malaysian company the Ivy Beauty Corporation. The main market for Islamic cosmetics is centered in predominately Muslim Malaysia and Indonesia where the religion has been traditionally soft, despite recent eruptions of a harder-edge variation. However, ‘approved’ cosmetics fight the tag of being un-cool and have had limited success.
The widespread notion that expensive is not always best partly comes from the region’s rich history of creating emollient lotions, shampoos and cleansers from the vast variety of fruits, flowers and plants available locally.
However, whereas a cleverly packaged coconut moisturiser may thrill a girl in the west with its exoticism, it is likely that it will be seen in a very different light in Jakarta where it will be valued for its efficacy, as much as any back-in-granny’s-day marketing. This may partly explain why it is only in recent years that local cosmetic companies like Thai brand Pure Pai, which boasts 100% natural products that are SLS, paraben, synthetic colourant and synthetic preservative-free, have attempted to market their green credentials.
A recent academic study of the operations of The Body Shop and local outfit Oriental Princess in Thailand found that, although both companies adopted green marketing strategies, their Thai customers considered “non-green attributes” to be “more important in making their purchase decisions”.
The study found that even if the two companies’ marketing strategies may have been slightly out of focus their campaigns did garner quite a bit of brand loyalty.
The potential loyalty of customers is an important feature in a region where customers tend to be much less cynical about the claims of advertisements than their counterparts in the west. Indeed the market research company AC Neilsen found customers in this region regarded advertisements as useful sources of information.
For similar reasons many marketing teams find that free sampling can be a surprisingly effective way of hooking potential customers. Such promotions are especially appreciated by office girls on a tight budget, for example.
The overall picture is quite complicated. Increasingly customers in south east Asia (male and female) want sophisticated cosmetics and these are often the same products. In central Bangkok one can easily find visiting Muslim women in burkas buying western creams and scents alongside Thai girls in mini-skirts. In Indonesia the majority of women still overwhelmingly buy local products, but only because they cannot afford to try foreign alternatives.
Whereas many north Asians such as the Japanese and Koreans shun strong perfumes as antisocial, women in this steamy region are often said to be fond of more pungent fragrances. However, Tan in the Philippines begs to differ showing how hard it is to generalise: “I don’t like a strong perfume because when it’s hot it’s better to wear something with a light fragrance. I’m still an old powder, lip gloss and light perfume girl. I prefer the natural look.”
ECONOMIC FORECAST
In July, the Asian Development Bank forecast a rapid v-shaped recovery for Asia, led by a resilient China. But the banks said south east Asia will lag behind because its ten export oriented economies were not structured for counter-cyclical domestic booms.
But if the region does continue to get richer and more confident it would be wrong to assume a straight line from granny’s papaya scent mix to Chanel No 5.
“A women is pulled in lots of different directions: modern and strong, sexy and responsible, sophisticated but loving her culture. She may rub her body with a local citrus cleanser in the morning, but in the evening she may wear a French perfume,” comments Ketmanee Lerkitcha, president of the ASEAN Cosmetics Association [Association of Southeast Asian Nations].
“People outside the region might think all Asians will want the same stuff but it is not true,” Lerkitcha continues. “We are not (mainland) Chinese who go crazy over western branded products because it’s forbidden fruit. Japanese cosmetics can be cool and fashionable, so I would be amazed if several more Asian houses were not big, big names in ten or 20 years’ time. These new houses won’t claim to be Asian copies of Chanel, but we certainly hope that south east Asia can surprise the world with a few left-field products.”