Cosmetic Retailing Project of Shiseido - Case Study Example

Cosmetics in Japan have traditionally been sold through keiretsu stores that emphasized personalized, individual attention. In the mid-1990s, the rise (self-service) products showed that customers were willing to sacrifice service for the price. This led to a separation between high-end quality brands and inexpensive utilitarian products. Shiseido once relied upon taimen (face-to-face, personal selling), as the core of its marketing strategy. The company believed consumers needed counseling before purchasing cosmetics.

In June 1994, Shiseido made a radical shift, moving forty-one brands into the self-service category, followed by another sixty-five product in the fall. By 1995, about 42 percent of the company's products were sold through self-service. Akira Tsuruma, managing director of Shiseido, estimates that half of the company's sales will come from the serif category in the future (Shiseido Home Page 2008). Part B The image of Shiseido is based on red colors which symbolize a rising sun and its national identity.

Thus, the main colors of its project “Pureness” are white and blue (see Appendix 1). Shiseido spun off new brands such as Ipsa and Ayura. Sadao Abe, senior executive director of Shiseido, noted that they introduced these brands not only for their own sake but also for protecting the purity of the Shiseido brand umbrella. With a rapidly increasing elderly population, many Japanese ads feature seniors. For example, a Shiseido ad shows a gray-haired woman in a kimono. A series of ads for a skincare product was targeted toward women in their fifties, an audience that is typically ignored in cosmetics ads.

The company has begun to sharpen its brand identity through the image of “successful aging.” It weeded out outliers from its line and launched new individual brands such as Ayura and Ipsa with different identities from the Shiseido parent. In contrast to the marketing of Western cosmetics, where the product is an expression of individuality, Japanese companies stress the partnership involved in achieving beauty. The presenter is not dressed for the part. Thus, company beauty consultants offer individual consultations with customers.

A Shiseido campaign, instead of focusing on the cosmetics for personal expression, created an ad with a large and simple message, “Together, we will be Beautiful—Shiseido.”(Johnson and Scholes 2003). Part C For Shiseido, it is not difficult to clarify its customers based on age, because the rage of products proposed to clients covers all ages, and available for different social groups. Nevertheless, the company is oriented: “ to concentrate on launching high function products in the anti-aging segment, as well as new lines targeted at customers in their twenties, or “Generation Y” (Shiseido Home Page 2008).

Some products of the anti-aging line like “Elixir” is developed against dull and dry, and the new line “Beauty Voltage”, targeted at women in their twenties. The main feature of Shiseido is two different purchasing patterns to satisfy the customers: the lines of “self-selection” and selection through counseling. Its "Pureness” project includes cleansers, make-up removers, softeners (toner-like liquids), and moisturizers.