Scenting an opportunity

Fabrice Weber has jetted through nine different airports in the three months since he was named head for the Asia-Pacific branch of Estee Lauder, whose brands are among the most respected in the cosmetics industry.

And the challenge of his new role doesn't end with the whistle-stop business trips around the region. The fate of the company's 25 brands in the fastest evolving market in the world lies in his hands.

"I've spent most of my 20-year career in Asia: 11 years working in four Asian countries, moving from Hong Kong to Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Japan," says Weber.

Although he is happy to be back in the region, Weber knows that things are going to be tough.

"This is Asia, things are changing fast. What's news today may be old hat tomorrow. China in 2001, for example, was just starting to emerge as a market. Six years later, it's a different place."

The major markets, he says, are Japan and South Korea, but Southeast Asia is also burgeoning.

Three years ago his focus was on Estee Lauder's fragrances division, where he blazed a trail in the growing market for men's grooming products, with names like Aramis and Lab Series Skincare for Men. This experience along with his time in Asia give him, says Weber, the tools he'll need for his new challenge.

"I see Asia as the most demanding market as men in Asia are more clued up to the benefits of men's grooming products than anywhere else in the world. 

"The demand from Asian metrosexuals is getting more sophisticated. They want specific products like anti-blemish creams. And demands in Asia can be a good indicator for the way trends will go in the men's market in US and Europe."

Weber is fascinated by the male-grooming phenomenon. "It's time for men to take beauty seriously, to start taking care of their personal appearance".

"If we can create an environment where men feel free to purchase beauty products for themselves, the traditional floor of women-only beauty counters in department stores will be a thing of the past.  

But the question now, says Weber, is where to put men's grooming products in the department store.

"There are two important things to consider. First, the environment needs to make men feel comfortable, and second, they need good advice to help them choose the right products." A well known top seller like Clinique for example, says Weber, could go on the women's counter, where it would draw girlfriends and wives who would then bring their men.

But the strategist is still working out whether to place his other wares on the women's beauty counter, the fragrance counter or the men's floor.

He's also preparing something big for the launch of new products like Flirt! in the region.

"We only get one opportunity to create a big impression: Watch this space for when and how."

Weber has had his own eye on new channels of distribution lately. The Internet is something he can't afford to ignore.

"We're just starting out on the Internet. Every brand now has its own website. MAC has its own online store in Australia. Virtual shops will complement rather than replace the real ones, serving consumers who live outside big cities like Bangkok.

"I heard that someone even bought a Ferrari car online - people are changing their minds about buying luxury brands on the Net. Things here in Asia are evolving quickly, too."

Weber seems to relish the fast-accelerating Asian conditions, and it seems that his home life is just as satisfying. He's happy, he says, to have his two children growing up in Asia under his and his Singaporean wife's care. "It's good that they see the real Asia rather than the stereotypes they'd get in the West."

Weber himself is happy to have had the opportunity to travel so extensively. He was born in Spain, to a French mother and a German father, and his nomadic existence started early as the family moved around for work.

"I'm blessed to have had this geographical mobility. Despite the inconvenience involved, my life is much richer for it."

Vipasai Niyamabha

The Nation