Mandom Corp (Thailand), a subsidiary of a Japanese manufacturer of hairstyling products, plans to be uppermost in the minds of fashion-conscious teenagers this year - especially the males of the species.

The company has appointed Diethelm as its new distributor and plans to concentrate its marketing efforts on the best known of its nine brands, Gatsby hairstyling products for male teenagers.

Mandom's director for sales and marketing, Ronnie del Rosario, said the company's products were formerly distributed by CP Consumer Products. With CP's help, Mandom built Gatsby up to become Thailand's third most-recognised brand, with a 25-per-cent share of the male hairstyling products market. With its total of nine brands, Mandom became the second-largest player in the market with a 19-per-cent share.

However, the brand awareness of its products was concentrated in Bangkok while upcountry consumers knew little about them.

He said the company's policy this year would be to build brand awareness in upcountry areas, and Diethelm has been chosen as its new distributor because of the strength of its marketing and distribution networks in provincial areas.

At present, 80 per cent of Mandom's products are being distributed in Bangkok and the rest upcountry. That proportion is expected to change to 70:30 within three years.

The company's president Atsushi Kida said Mandom would focus mainly on strengthening its Gatsby brand, in accordance with the directions of its Japanese parent company. In terms of penetrating upcountry markets, it will increase the variety of product sizes, providing mini-sized products with cheaper prices that local consumers can afford.

Del Rosario said the company would advertise on major television channels to build awareness in both Bangkok and upcountry markets. At the same time, it will work closely with Diethelm to design marketing campaigns and activities tailor-made for each region.

The company plans to spend Bt70 million on marketing, and while this is not much different from previous years, it will focus on Gatsby rather than being spread across many brands, he said.

Kida said Mandom expected to generate 16-per-cent growth to achieve sales of Bt300 million this year. Current political and economic uncertainties are short-term situations, while the Thai hairstyling market still has high potential, because its target consumers remain highly concerned about being fashionable and Thais, as a whole, are more fashionable than people in some nearby countries, he said.

Nitida Asawanipont

The Nation