Wipro Unza group has a value market share of more than 48% as Malaysia’s largest halal personal care company.

Updated: Thursday August 22, 2013 MYT 7:59:52 AM

The beauty of never-ending growth

BY KARINA FOO
PHOTOS BY AZLINA ABDULLAH

Confident: Kumar (pictured) says the Wipro Unza group has a value market share of more than 48% as Malaysia’s largest halal personal care company.

IT IS usually the toiletries aisles of a supermarket or health care store that is the most colourful and intriguing. Even if a shopper has no intention of purchasing any of these products that range from hair gels or creams, fragrances and shampoos to body washes, it sure doesn’t hurt to have a whiff of the fragrant scents featured by the number of brands on display. Such products are classified as fast-moving consumer goods (FMCGs) within the beauty and personal care industry with a heavy emphasis on marketing and packaging to attract consumers as well as to keep up with the intense competition.According to a report by global research group Accenture, this industry in Asia is estimated to reach US$230bil (RM756bil) over the next three or four years, thus representing a source of profitable growth and opportunities for its respective players.

Such products are part of the urban culture where school and university students, professionals and even housewives consume at least one type of item on a daily basis.

Moreover, locally made products are placed on the shelves alongside international brands where consumers have the luxury of selecting from a vast range of goods at competitive prices.

Shoppers and stockists will notice a new product every week in order to keep up with market trends and high purchase turnover of the more popular items.

Striving to be number one

This is evident for personal care company Wipro Unza which has positioned itself as the second largest player in FMCG beauty products in the country.

If you have visited the beauty and toiletries section in your local grocer or health care store, you may have seen a selection of Wipro’s group of 48 brands such as Safi, Enchanteur, Dashing, Carrie and Bio Essence.

The group has a value market share of more than 48% as Malaysia’s largest halalpersonal care company, according to managing director Kumar Chander.

It is also number one in facial cleansers with a value market share of 27% and in facial moisturisers which takes up 28% market share.

Its talcum powder dominates the market at 51% while its mass fragrances are positioned at 25% market share.

The group experienced 8% growth in the country, which had exceeded expectations and this significantly bumped up its market share in all its key product categories.

“Locally, we are leading in kids care with the brand Carrie, and are number two in feminine hygiene wash while our deodorants and body lotions are at number three.

“Safi has been leading the innovation in halal skincare and is the world’s largest halalpersonal care brand.

“Our launch of Safi Rania Gold in 2009 helped strengthen and build the use of anti-aging products in this country. Three months ago, we rolled out Safi Rania Diamond, which uses nano-diamond DNA technology. It is one of the first products developed by our new Wipro Skin Research and Innovation Centre in June,” explained Kumar.

Market domination

Aside from Malaysia, the group also operates in Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and the Middle East while its products are distributed to 50 countries.

In its 2013 financial year ending April to March, it achieved a record growth of almost 16% that was led by Indonesia which grew by 35%, China by 31%, Vietnam by 25% and the Middle East by 26%.

“Today, Safi is the world’s largest halal personal care brand and Malaysia’s biggest facial skincare brand.

“Enchanteur is the best-selling female fragrance brand while Dashing had a brilliant growth year and continues to be among the largest male toiletries brands.

“Carrie is also the undisputed leader in the children’s segment and has doubled in revenue over the last three years,” said Kumar.

He remains enthusiastic for the company and said it had experienced a “very good run”.

Since Wipro acquired Unza in 2007, its growth rates have increased up to 1.5 times.

In December 2012, the company continued to find new opportunities for expansion by acquiring the LD Waxson group in Singapore (that owned popular skincare brands Ginvera and Bio Essence).

This paved the way to some changes in its overall group presence locally and internationally.

“In Singapore for example, we now have the largest facial care brand in Bio-essence and, overall, we are number two in facial skincare as a company. So Singapore has become bigger for us — contributing to 7% of the business.

“Earlier, we were not present in Taiwan, but with LD Waxson, we now have a nice and fast growing business in the country.

“In Malaysia, it has helped us achieve our number two spot in the market, and we hope to be the number one leader in the next few years,” said Kumar.

He has observed that the overall FMCG and personal care market in Malaysia is quite mature and highly competitive.

“In terms of consumption of cosmetics and toiletries, Malaysia is one of the most developed markets in the region. For example, the local per capita consumption index is at 63 versus China at 24, India at 7 or Indonesia at 15.

“This is still below Western countries, so there is still opportunity to innovate and grow.

“But overall, we have high respect both for our multinational and local competition, who keep us on our toes, with their own product launches and roll-outs. Eventually, the consumer gets a better deal,” explained Kumar.

Digital media is also a popular tool for businesses to market their products and services, so Wipro Unza has jumped on the bandwagon. The company has a small department within its marketing department that is solely dedicated to working on and researching digital initiatives.

A journey of ups and downs

Although it all seems upbeat for the company, Kumar shared his accounts of a few obstacles along the way and ones that included many feats of trial and error.

“Business, like life, has its ups and downs and the latter is when sales fell below expectations or when a product we thought would be a sure winner did not do as well.

“Similarly, when we were excited about our mergers and acquisitions, some didn’t materialise, which was disappointing especially since a lot of effort had been put into it.

“But the silver lining of any failure is the learning that you gain. It helps us improve for the future,” said the self-proclaimed ‘die-hard’ optimist who will not allow any plight to keep him down for too long.

In relation to this, Wipro encourages some percentage of failure, because not failing at all would mean it wasn’t pushing the envelope in terms of risk-taking and innovation.

Riding the wave of success for Kumar is a great feeling but he is even more fulfilled with not having any regrets .

“I don’t regret making mistakes as they help me learn. Personally, I think having some form of fear and worry is part of any job.

“As the title of Andy Grove’s book said, Only the paranoid survive.

“I am normally paranoid about two things — one is whether we have got it right from the consumers’ point of view and second is what is our competition doing, and whether it will be a threat or an opportunity for us?” he said in reflection.

From a future perspective, Kumar is a firm believer that any company or brand’s future is solely determined by the consumer.

“The day we are not able to keep pace with changing consumer expectations is the day we start declining. In fact, as a market-leading company, we have a responsibility to even shape consumer expectations.

“So our brands and products have to constantly improve, innovate and deliver what they promise,” he said.