By Jamie Matusow with Joanna Cosgrove, Editor-in-Chief with Contributing Editor11.01.17
Update: Shiseido ranks at #5 on our latest report Top 20 Global Beauty Companies 2021.
Japan
www.shiseidogroup.com
Beauty Sales:
$7.3 billion
Key Personnel:
Masahiko Uotani, Shiseido group CEO; Kentaro Fujiwara, president, Shiseido China; Shigekazu Sugiyama, president, Shiseido Japan; Jean-Philippe Charrier, president, Shiseido Asia Pacific; Philippe Lesné, president, Shiseido travel retail; Marc Rey, president & CEO, Shiseido Americas; Louis Desazars, president & CEO, Shiseido Group EMEA; Mikiko Soejima, chief beauty officer; Yoshiaki Okabe, Shiseido brand director.
Major Products/Brands:
Shiseido, Clé de Peau Beaute, Bare Minerals, Buxom Cosmetics, Nars, IPSA, Laura Mercier, RéVive, Benefique, Dolce & Gabanna, Issey Miyake, Narciso Rodriguez, Elixir, MAQuillAGE, Haku, Prior, Anessa, Aqualabel, Za, Aupres, Urara, Pure&Mild, Senka, Tsubaki, Sea Breeze, Shiseido Professional, Joico.
New Products:
Shiseido Syncro Glow Luminizing Fluid Foundation; Buxom Full-On Lip Cream & Polish; Joico InstaTint line extensions (Rose Gold, Amethyst and Violet Opal); Nars color cosmetics Fall 2017 collection, WASO skin-care line.
Comments:
With more than a century of business under its belt, Shiseido is one of Japan’s most revered companies as well as its primary market, accounting for 48% of sales. With an eye on the goal of further global expansion, the company has continued to work toward broadening its reach in other global regions: The Americas (19.1%), China (14.2%), EMEA (10%), Asia Pacific (5.8%) and travel retail (2.9%).
Having expressed the desire to make its prestige brands like its namesake Shiseido and Clé de Peau BEAUTÉ a priority, Shiseido’s prestige product sales comprised 39.9% of its total sales last year (+15%). Moving forward, the company promised to aggressively increase its investment in Laura Mercier and Dolce&Gabbana, the newest brands in its prestige portfolio. Going forward, the company stated that it will also prioritize the rejuvenation of bareMinerals, its personal care products in the Japanese market, and AUPRES, a China-exclusive brand that was rebranded in 2016.
Prestige sales were followed by cosmetics at 31% (+1%), personal care at 9.4% (+2%), fragrance at 7.9% (-15%) and professional with 5.5% (+2%).
News of Note in 2017
Endeavoring to personalize the beauty experience, Shiseido acquired MATCHCo. MATCHCo is a U.S. company responsible for developing a direct marketing approach that enables consumers to measure their own skin tones with a smartphone app then purchase custom-made foundation online. Shiseido said it would combine MATCHCo.’s digital technologies with its own R&D capabilities to enhance its own business model as it relates to broadening the appeal of personalized cosmetics.
Though not entirely personalized, the new WASO brand from Shiseido was developed specifically to empower “Millennials to feel beautiful in their own skin whatever their gender, nationality, age or status.”
With its name drawn from a combination of two words, “WA” meaning a Japanese sense of peaceful harmony, and “SO” meaning inspiration, idea and thought, WASO is said to embody authentic Japanese heritage and aesthetics.WASO is more than just a skincare line for Millennials; it “champions beauty-from-the-inside-out.” The line hinges on Whole Cell Release System W technology, which the company defines as “a method for formulating whole botanical cells…to deliver a total skincare solution.” It contains Japanese ingredients such as ninjin (carrot), biwa no ha (loquat leaf), tofu, shiro-kikurage (white jelly mushroom) and hachimitsu (honey) to treat Millennial skincare issues like dryness, oiliness and visible pores.
In February 2017, the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare approved Shiseido Retinol Vital Cream V, which contains the active ingredient retinol as a “quasi-drug for improving wrinkles.” The company characterized this as a significant coup because the Ministry rarely recognizes the impact of skincare on improving wrinkles, however Shiseido successfully proved that retinol improves deep wrinkles in accordance with the guidelines established by the Japanese Cosmetic Science Society. Because of the approval, Shiseido is the only company that can manufacture and sell wrinkle-improving products with the active ingredient retinol in Japan.
Looking Ahead
In the past decade, Shiseido has continued to expand into other parts of Asia and other parts of the world. To date, about 120 countries around the world carry Shiseido products, and the company is keen on riding that wave, setting a goal of reaching ¥1 trillion in sales by 2020 (sales reached ¥855 billion last year) with over ¥100 billion in operating income. The company also promised to invest in digital marketing and other domains to help grow its global profile, with the goal of raising the ratio of e-commerce to more than 20% of prestige sales by the end of 2020. So far, they’re off to a good start: In Q1 2017, sales rose 9% to more than ¥232 billion ($2.05 billion).
Japan
www.shiseidogroup.com
Beauty Sales:
$7.3 billion
Key Personnel:
Masahiko Uotani, Shiseido group CEO; Kentaro Fujiwara, president, Shiseido China; Shigekazu Sugiyama, president, Shiseido Japan; Jean-Philippe Charrier, president, Shiseido Asia Pacific; Philippe Lesné, president, Shiseido travel retail; Marc Rey, president & CEO, Shiseido Americas; Louis Desazars, president & CEO, Shiseido Group EMEA; Mikiko Soejima, chief beauty officer; Yoshiaki Okabe, Shiseido brand director.
Major Products/Brands:
Shiseido, Clé de Peau Beaute, Bare Minerals, Buxom Cosmetics, Nars, IPSA, Laura Mercier, RéVive, Benefique, Dolce & Gabanna, Issey Miyake, Narciso Rodriguez, Elixir, MAQuillAGE, Haku, Prior, Anessa, Aqualabel, Za, Aupres, Urara, Pure&Mild, Senka, Tsubaki, Sea Breeze, Shiseido Professional, Joico.
New Products:
Shiseido Syncro Glow Luminizing Fluid Foundation; Buxom Full-On Lip Cream & Polish; Joico InstaTint line extensions (Rose Gold, Amethyst and Violet Opal); Nars color cosmetics Fall 2017 collection, WASO skin-care line.
Comments:
With more than a century of business under its belt, Shiseido is one of Japan’s most revered companies as well as its primary market, accounting for 48% of sales. With an eye on the goal of further global expansion, the company has continued to work toward broadening its reach in other global regions: The Americas (19.1%), China (14.2%), EMEA (10%), Asia Pacific (5.8%) and travel retail (2.9%).
Having expressed the desire to make its prestige brands like its namesake Shiseido and Clé de Peau BEAUTÉ a priority, Shiseido’s prestige product sales comprised 39.9% of its total sales last year (+15%). Moving forward, the company promised to aggressively increase its investment in Laura Mercier and Dolce&Gabbana, the newest brands in its prestige portfolio. Going forward, the company stated that it will also prioritize the rejuvenation of bareMinerals, its personal care products in the Japanese market, and AUPRES, a China-exclusive brand that was rebranded in 2016.
Prestige sales were followed by cosmetics at 31% (+1%), personal care at 9.4% (+2%), fragrance at 7.9% (-15%) and professional with 5.5% (+2%).
News of Note in 2017
Endeavoring to personalize the beauty experience, Shiseido acquired MATCHCo. MATCHCo is a U.S. company responsible for developing a direct marketing approach that enables consumers to measure their own skin tones with a smartphone app then purchase custom-made foundation online. Shiseido said it would combine MATCHCo.’s digital technologies with its own R&D capabilities to enhance its own business model as it relates to broadening the appeal of personalized cosmetics.
Though not entirely personalized, the new WASO brand from Shiseido was developed specifically to empower “Millennials to feel beautiful in their own skin whatever their gender, nationality, age or status.”
With its name drawn from a combination of two words, “WA” meaning a Japanese sense of peaceful harmony, and “SO” meaning inspiration, idea and thought, WASO is said to embody authentic Japanese heritage and aesthetics.WASO is more than just a skincare line for Millennials; it “champions beauty-from-the-inside-out.” The line hinges on Whole Cell Release System W technology, which the company defines as “a method for formulating whole botanical cells…to deliver a total skincare solution.” It contains Japanese ingredients such as ninjin (carrot), biwa no ha (loquat leaf), tofu, shiro-kikurage (white jelly mushroom) and hachimitsu (honey) to treat Millennial skincare issues like dryness, oiliness and visible pores.
In February 2017, the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare approved Shiseido Retinol Vital Cream V, which contains the active ingredient retinol as a “quasi-drug for improving wrinkles.” The company characterized this as a significant coup because the Ministry rarely recognizes the impact of skincare on improving wrinkles, however Shiseido successfully proved that retinol improves deep wrinkles in accordance with the guidelines established by the Japanese Cosmetic Science Society. Because of the approval, Shiseido is the only company that can manufacture and sell wrinkle-improving products with the active ingredient retinol in Japan.
Looking Ahead
In the past decade, Shiseido has continued to expand into other parts of Asia and other parts of the world. To date, about 120 countries around the world carry Shiseido products, and the company is keen on riding that wave, setting a goal of reaching ¥1 trillion in sales by 2020 (sales reached ¥855 billion last year) with over ¥100 billion in operating income. The company also promised to invest in digital marketing and other domains to help grow its global profile, with the goal of raising the ratio of e-commerce to more than 20% of prestige sales by the end of 2020. So far, they’re off to a good start: In Q1 2017, sales rose 9% to more than ¥232 billion ($2.05 billion).
