Traditional Chinese Medicine Shampoo - Rejoice crossovers 位元堂

Recently we see Rejoice introducing its new traditional Chinese medicine shampoo, Rejoice 漢方防掉髮系列. The new product boasts its effect on preventing hair loss with its traditional Chinese medicine formula endorsed by local Chinese medicine company 位元堂 (Wai Yuen Tong).
Below are my thoughts on this crossover endorsed product.

Product Quality: Endorsement by 位元堂surely gives confidence about the quality and the effectiveness of the medical formula. One thing they did very well was making clear what medicine ingredients they used. Though the average customer knows exactly how good the product is for preventing hair loss even they know the formula is 生薑, 首烏 and大葉茶, clarity just makes audience feel better. After all, it is human truth that we like to be in control. As compared to 霸王(BaWang), who kept the recipe a secret and people had to guess, it certainly makes a difference.

But a quick search on the web yields opposite, negative results. Since the product is still relatively new, expect to take into account more reviews from the public in the future before drawing any conclusion on the product.

Competition: Obviously, we compare to 霸王 side by side when we consider how this product scores in the market.
霸王 has been the category builder of Chinese medicine shampoo in Hong Kong since it introduced their shampoo several years ago. Rejoice was the quickest to take advantage of the trend of embracing Chinese medicine among shampoo brands, but only comes second to 霸王, when they introduced their人參滋養系列 in 2007. Though Rejoice recognized their deficit and so they targeted different consumer group, they were still viewed as a follower of 霸王 in this relatively new category.
The most probable outcome is a growth in Chinese medicine shampoo category. As a mainstream brand and a non-Chinese brand, Rejoice can attract some users to try Chinese medicine shampoo, particularly those who have been using Rejoice all along.

Positioning: A summary of perceptions towards the two brands.

霸王: Chinese medicine expert, original Chinese medicine shampoo, for middle-aged male, old school, Chinese brand
Rejoice: Not a Chinese medicine expert, not the original Chinese medicine shampoo, for female, modern and to a certain extent fashionable, foreign brand

Consumer Attitude: It is interesting to find that, in spite of the target audience strategy the two brands employed, research on the web shows the young female are also using 霸王 instead of Rejoice. Most likely it is because of Rejoices image of being an amateur in Chinese medicine and not being the original in the category. Teaming up with 位元堂 might help Rejoice successfully capture the market segment of young female which they targeted at the first place.

Timing: Rejoice should have recognized the problem with their own image when they first ventured into their new category two years ago. But trying to fix the problem now is not too late given no other major shampoo brand has made any moves in this category.

Conclusion: I think Rejoice has pressed the right button by teaming up with 位元堂 while still keeping other areas of its image intact. I am quite sure it will fare better than its predecessor, the Rejoice 人參滋養系列, and attract lots of female consumers. (Interestingly, and perhaps ironically too, 人參滋養系列 is still on the market without being endorsed by 位元堂. What does it mean? Did Rejoice make up this Ginseng story themselves and there was no substantiation behind it? Interesting...)

As the category develops, I think it will depart from shampoo and move into traditional Chinese medicine based personal care to include cosmetics and skincare. If it really goes this way, Rejoice will not be able to hold on, as they are only a shampoo. But 霸王 and 位元堂 will. Expect them to collide again in the future in the new arena of Chinese herbal medicine personal care that will worth zillions of dollars.

More about Mannings As A Brand

To continue our discussion on Mannings, I would like to go deeper into its branding. When we talk about branding, the first thing goes into mind is probably a brand's positioning relative to its competitors. The primary competitor of Mannings in Hong Kong is without a doubt Watsons, which belongs to the same category of Mannings. This is followed by secondary competitors like dispensaries, supermarkets and beauty stores like Sasa. You can buy healthcare and beauty products in all these places. A brief comparison of the characteristics and selling points like below lets us see where Mannings' edge is.

Dispensaries: Cheap, provide most basic products only, not many to choose from
Supermarkets: Convenient, not a specialist in the field of healthcare and cosmetics
Beauty stores (Sasa & Bonjour): Cheap, cosmetics specialist, wide selection, parallel imports
Lifestyle stores (Mannings & Watsons): Healthcare and cosmetics specialist, dealer goods

The bolded words are the main selling points of that kind of shops.
Dispensaries and Supermarkets are for those who are less concerned about healthcare and cosmetics. Very obviously, they are not the major competitors of Mannings (and Watsons). That remains beauty shops like Sasa. The fundamental attribute of these shops is the parallel imports they sell, but not dealer goods. It enables cheaper price and wider selection. On the other hand, many people hesitate about buying parallel imports because of conern over the quality. Many people fear the products are actually defected goods unwanted by dealers. Some customers are not confident about parallel imports because of this and hence do not buy from Sasa.

Centering on confidence is logical for Mannings
I would say Mannings' positioning centering on "confidence" is a logical one. Directly attacks Sasa and the likes on their product offering and also links well with its healthcare and cosmetics specialist image. As confidence is one of the major considerations in this category, Mannings makes itself a valuable brand in the field by claiming this concept. Mannings adds to its claim another selling point, caring, so as to go with the confidence claim and to support it.
"Care and therefore confidence". This proposition is not any problem by itself. But it has to be communicated and more importantly, lived up to standard with products and services. Mannings uses a more lively and funny way to deliver their proposition in their advertising. It's differentiating when compared to Watsons and Sasa and it's fun to watch. The problem is not in most of their advertising, except the disgusting wii promotion one, but other parts of their marketing.

Mannings as healthcare expert
The proposition "Caring and therefore confidence", if examined more carefully, can be separated into two parts that are somewhat different. Caring is more about the customer service and confidence is more about being professional. I think Mannings excels in the latter by positioning themselves as healthcare and cosmetics expert. They exclusively sell a popular Taiwanese cosmetics brand 我的美麗日記. They issue healthcare tips mentioned in my last post and is initiating a strategic collaboration with Quality Healthcare to provide outpatient services in their stores. Exclusive products and professional services have made Mannings a healthcare expert in people's mind.

Where can I find Mannings?
Having known about its efforts in bring people confidence, it's difficult to believe how bad they are in customer service. I was gathering information to write this post and obviously I would want to have a look at its website as a reference to its online presence. Much to my surprise, I discovered the company has no official website. Yes, it has one, a single page affiliated under Dairy farm international umbrella. OMG, what a jaw-dropper. The story had not ended. I wanted to know where the stores are located, so I search "萬寧分店地址" through yahoo and I got this as the first organic result. I don't know why the list is produced by HKBU, a mystery. When I failed again searching for their service hotline and email, I decided not to bother to look into the social networks.
No website, no store address, no service hotline nor email. Mannings is nowhere to be found when you need them. Is this caring? I don't think so. I am not alone, angry mothers are speaking about this on the web because they speak directly to the customer service. Very clearly, Mannings is not as caring as it claims. They better work harder on this before people get frustrated about their poor service.

P.S. I got confused with the meaning of line extention in my post The Supercooled Coke. I have cleared my concepts and have made the necessary amendment to get the problem fixed. Sorry about the confusion.

Bittersweet, that's really me? – The Positioning

Vita Lemon Tea recently launched its new branding campaign “Bittersweet, that’s me” featuring MC Jin and Wan Kwong to celebrate its 30th birthday.

I learned about the campaign through its TVC and instantly had a feeling it’s the topic I wanted to have for my virgin post here on this blog, Ardent Persuader. I am going to start a discussion on this ad campaign that will spread across a few posts and a few days. As I say on the header of this blog, I will be writing and analyzing on different levels of the campaign to fully exercise my skills and knowledge in marketing and advertising.

Vita is a local Hong Kong brand
Let’s start with some background of the brand. Vita Lemon Tea, the flagship product of Vita’s line of beverages, has been one of Hong Kong ‘s favorite casual drinks since its launch in 1979. The very Hong-Kongish Lemon Tea drink and Vita’s leader position makes it a very local brand.

The rich flavor of Vita Lemon Tea is definitely one of the reasons why it has been popular in Hong Kong. It is logical to leverage this product attribute to a way of life, Bittersweet. It is a proposition that no competitors can claim because the other lemon tea products either are too watery or taste only sweet, without an essential bitterness to go with. It helps the brand leap up a level to go beyond physical benefit into some abstract psychological attitude.

Hong Kong teens are not "Bittersweet"
The proposition here seems logical to the internal of the brand but when you look at the audience, it’s not the same case. The campaign’s primary target, Hong Kong’s youths and young adults, are known for their hedonistic and materialistic lifestyle. This is not any new idea. It is well documented with the term Strawberries since more than a decade ago. The situation of youths being over protected has only gone worse over the years. Very few, or almost nobody, among today’s younger generation has experienced real difficulties in their life. Say, how many of today’s youths have to come out to work to support the family when they are as small as 15 years old or earlier? Living a life without bitterness, they do not take themselves as bittersweet and they do not feel proud of themselves having gone through major difficulties. What makes them feel proud are more likely to be owning a LV or Y3 limited edition bag or taking a photo with the Taiwanese music idols, which they can show off in front of their friends. I am very doubtful whether “Bittersweet, that’s me” is a suitable proposition for Vita’s Lemon Tea given its primary audience is the younger generation of Hong Kong.