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Published on December 21, 2007

Sales grew 23 per cent year on year in the first 11 months to Bt1.02 billion, which will drive sales growth for the year beyond the target of 20-23 per cent, said brand manager Vorapannee Chaipromprasit.

The spending per bill also rose from an average of Bt300 in January to Bt700 last month.

"Many customers have switched from counter brands to Cute Press, mainly because they consider our quality is similar but our prices are a few hundred baht rather than thousands of baht," she said.

Another major factor has been an adjustment of its internal operations early this year, which led to new marketing strategies and more work flexibility.

Marketing manager Theeratat Rangsivoraroj said the company decided to create a publicity explosion after some years of quiet marketing. It also studied consumer demand in specific categories in each region, to create specific products for them. It spent Bt135 million on marketing this year.

The company also offered more package sizes to attract more customers. Vorapannee said new customers could start by trying out the small packages and gradually move up to standard-sized products as long-term customers.

The company has focused on customer-relations management and creating a close relationship with its 289 dealers nationwide.

It opened 25 more shops this year and renovated some of the 131 existing shops to look modern. Investment in each new shop ranged from Bt500,000 to Bt1 million.

Theeratat said the company next year would create more internal departments to handle marketing and sales for each Cute Press product. It will also open at least 30 more shops.

The brand's cosmetic products contribute 52 per cent of total annual sales, personal care 27 per cent and skincare 21 per cent. The skincare line has grown 41 per cent so far this year, followed by cosmetics at 19 per cent and personal care at 11 per cent.

Nitida Asawanipont

The Nation