Being a man, Vichien Kulvaraporn d oesn't know what it's like to create and maintain one's beauty step by step, but he has proved over the last 20 years that he knows how to make beauty products that capture women's hearts.

Vichien is the second generation working in his family's SSUP Group, which manufactures women's skincare, make-up, fragrance and hair-care products. Its brands include Cute Press, Oriental Princess and Spices.

He entered the business after he graduated with a master's degree in finance and accounting from the University of London. His first task was to oversee shop expansion. Later he moved into the marketing department and now he is director of corporate development.

He has helped develop the Oriental Princess line of beauty products and the GNC food-supplement chain, for which SSUP is the local master franchisee.

However, his main concentration currently is the direct-sale cosmetic and skincare brand Cute Press.

Vichien and the rest of the management team refreshed the brand in middle of last year by giving it a more modern and fresher look. After the makeover, the company's next step was to build awareness of the brand anew.

Also, the company stepped up advertising, particularly on television. It has arranged road shows and other marketing events.

"To become a well-recognised brand, there are four points to focus on," he said. They are a quality product with a long life span, a strong distribution system, allowing customers to test the products, and constant advertising and public relations.

During the first half of the year, the company's sales of skincare products and make-up grew 8 per cent and 18 per cent respectively compared to the same period in 2005.

The company has 200,000 sales

representatives and operates 110 Cute Press stores. It also has contracts

with 200 official Cute Press dealers nationwide.

Vichien said he hoped that that customers in the stores would be so impressed that they decided to become Cute Press members or independent sales representative and then spread the word to their families and friends.

The company is also focusing on selling basic cosmetics products like foundations, rouge and lipstick as well as basic skincare products like moisturisers. He said that once a woman found a product that suited her skin, she would likely continue using the product in the long term.

Vichien said he was not concerned about fierce competition from direct-sales companies such as Avon, U Star and Mistine because of the aforementioned four points.

Above all, he said: "I'm happy to work in the beauty industry because the industry always creates happiness," so that fierce competition is not a big problem.

Just to be sure the competition doesn't start nipping at the company's heels, Vichien is working to build a strong distribution network for Cute Press.

"I want to make it a very strong brand, and then I will take another step, which is to do something new for SSUP, something that will strengthen SSUP. That will be my future," Vichien said.

Nitida Asawanipont

The Nation