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Published on July 28, 2007

Nunthawan Laosinchai, Elca's Clinique brand general manager, yesterday said upcountry sales grew 20 per cent in fiscal 2006 (July 2006 to June 2007), while sales in Bangkok grew only 5 per cent. She said this was the result of the expansion of shopping malls and emergence of new customers in the provinces.

Clinique currently has 42 sales points upcountry and 80 in Bangkok.

It plans to open branches soon in the Jungceylon shopping complex and Robinson Department Store in Phuket.

Nunthawan said the high-end skincare and makeup markets in Bangkok seemed to have reached maturity.

Elca says it is the No-3 market leader in the Bt8-billion premium counter-brands market, with a 10-per-cent market share.

For the current fiscal year, Elca has allocated a marketing budget of 20 per cent of its expected Bt670 million in sales. This will include advertising in magazines, arranging co-marketing activities with Radio Get 102.5 and distributing product samples among and arranging marketing activities for university students.

It will also put more effort into advertising through "new media", including sending ad messages to consumers' mobile phones and creating interactive activities on its website.

The company kicked off its new fiscal year this month with the launch of its "Why Not Wake Up in Great Skin?" campaign for its three-step skincare set.

With the effort, the company expects its sales to grow 7 per cent this fiscal year, up from 5-per-cent growth in fiscal 2006.

Nunthawan said the company consistently enjoyed two-digit growth over the past several years, until Thailand was confronted with political instability, the economic slow-down and a number of new competitors. Last year, the entire market saw only 7 per cent growth.

With the current situation, she said some marketers had applied "improper strategies", such as giving heavy discounts and offering extremely large premiums.

Nitida Asawanipont

The Nation