Mr Nicholas Mulcahy, Aesop’s Asia-Pacific general manager, on featuring travel guides and film recommendations on its website.-- PHOTO: AESOP
Most companies clamour for growth, but it is not something that Australian skin and bodycare brand Aesop is fussed about.
It does not advertise and it launches only about four new products every year.
Founded in 1987 by Greek Australian Dennis Paphitis, the Melbourne-based company is known for its plant-based products and minimalist packaging.
Mr Nicholas Mulcahy, the brand's Asia-Pacific general manager, says: "We are not the sort of company that is worried about targets. We're more worried about having the best products and stores that we are proud of and service that makes sense.
"If we do that, people come back, they'll keep buying the products and they'll tell other people."
He was in town last week for the official opening of Aesop's third store in Singapore, at Suntec City.
The brand entered the Singapore market in 2005 with two stores at Millenia Walk and Holland Village, which it opened with a distributor partner. It opened another store at Ngee Ann City in 2006. But it took the business back from that distributor in 2008.
Since then, he says, its stores here have chalked up more sales year-on-year. It opened a counter at Tangs in November last year. The Holland Village store closed in 2010.He explains that distribution companies have a "different incentive".
"They've invested their money and they try and get it back as quickly as they can."
By being in full control of Aesop here, he says the company can focus more on enhancing the customer experience, such as investing in a good sound system and having coffee machines in stores.
Packaged Simply
Indeed, the brand takes a more holistic approach to retail instead of just focusing on its products.
For its 25th anniversary last year, it launched a campaign called Twenty-Five Years Of Reading At Aesop.
Instead of showcasing its products, it highlighted MrPaphitis' passion for reading. Posters were displayed at Aesop stores worldwide, depicting book spines as well as brief synopses of 25 selected titles which had been launched each year since the brand's founding in 1987.
Mr Mulcahy declines to reveal the privately owned company's exact current yearly global revenue, but would only say that it is less than US$100 million (S$128 million), which he notes is lower than many other skincare brands.
But it has been growing. He says it has reported a year-on-year revenue increase of about 30per cent since 2007.
In recent years, the company has focused on growing the brand in the Asia-Pacific region. It opened 26 stores and counters in cities such as Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong, bringing its total number of stores in Asia to 43.
The brand's bestsellers in Singapore include the Parsley Seed Facial Cleanser ($51 for 100ml) and its moisturiser, Parsley Seed Anti-Oxidant Hydrator ($85 for 60ml).
At the end of this month, Shine ($45 for 25ml), a hydrating oil for hair that contains jojoba, sweet almond and extracts of ylang ylang, petitgrain and patchouli, will be launched here.All its products are packaged in simple, brown and clinical-looking bottles.
Designed to engage
Every one of Aesop’s 69 stores worldwide has a different look. Its Millenia Walk store has coconut-husk string hanging from the ceiling as a reference to Singapore’s sea-town past.
Design plays a big part in the Aesop philosophy."We're not trying to intimidate people. What we're trying to do is to remove everything from the label that is not necessary. The basic principle of skincare is pretty simple: to keep skin healthy and hydrated," says MrMulcahy.
Each of Aesop's 69 stores worldwide has a different feel and is designed according to the specific needs of the site, he says. For example, its Suntec City store was designed by Melbourne's Kerstin Thompson Architects and features grey felt material walls surrounding the 46sqm shop.
He says: "Malls are very complex places; they have to deal with a lot of people. The lighting levels here are much lower than they are elsewhere (in the mall), which is more intimate, and the materials are deliberately soft."
Its Millenia Walk store has coconut-husk string hanging from the ceiling as a reference to Singapore's sea-town past. It has been mentioned in the online version of Vogue for its unusual design.
These uniquely designed shops are meant to engage the curiosity of customers and welcome them to step inside, explains Mr Mulcahy.
Likewise, its website - www.aesop.com - engages customers not just by telling them what the brand sells. It features travel guides and film recommendations too.
"Art, literature and film take you outside of yourself. They have nothing to do with business and skincare but they have to do with creativity and bring pleasure to people. We're inspired by that," says Mr Mulcahy.
This article was first run in The Straits Times newspaper on August 23, 2013. For similar stories, go to sph.straitstimes.com/premium/singapore. You will not be able to access the Premium section of The Straits Times website unless you are already a subscriber.