TEN YEARS AGO, American skin care brand, Olay, entered the Philippine market bringing with it “among the first anti-aging creams,” according to a company press release. Today the brand has expanded with more lines, from the staple anti-aging to brightening products said to fit any woman at any age.
“It’s been a great 10 years for us — we first launched Olay in 2006 [starting off] with Total Effects, an anti-aging cream when the market was still whitening and cold creams,” Deidre de Padua, communications manager of Olay Philippines, told BusinessWorld during a celebration marking the occasion on Oct. 6 at Shangri-La the Fort in Taguig City.
To mark the decade, Ms. De Padua said that this will be the first time the company will be feature its brand ambassadors — which currently include Miss Universe Pia Wurtzbach, actress Janella Salvador, and TV executive/actress Charo Santos-Concio — all in one TV commercial under the “Best Beautiful” campaign.
“We would have a few women [ambassadors] a year but this is the first time we’re kind of bringing them together in a TV commercial that’s soon to be launched… because what better time to do it than during the 10th anniversary,” she said.
Through the decade, the company identified more skin care needs for Filipinas, adding product lines to fill these niches.
“The skincare needs of Filipinas have changed over the years,” said Ms. De Padua. “[Before] they weren’t too aware of anti-aging as a skin care benefit and since then… we sort of evolved the anti-aging market to include not only Total Effects… to Regenerist line,” she said before adding that the Total Effects line is the “7-in-1” cream while the Regenerist line offers more in-depth anti-aging care.
Alongside the two is the White Radiance line which focuses on “beautiful, glowing skin.”
“Among the younger market, I would think that whitening is still the top concern… but of course by their 30s, they start to see the first lines around their eyes. That’s when they shift to anti-aging [products],” Ms. De Padua noted before adding that, “It is later than what we recommend.” — Zsarlene B. Chua
