Thursday October 29, 2009
Essential luxury
By S. INDRAMALAR
Premier brand La Prairie has defied the recession by coming up with one of the most expensive skincare creams in the market.
THE world economy over may be sagging but women, it seems, aren’t letting it get to them — certainly not to their faces. While no industry has been spared the effects of the recession, the beauty industry’s fall – particularly luxury skincare – has been mild.
According market research group NPD’s findings, the usually recession proof prestige skincare market was hit by losses in the first half of this year – but the 6% drop in sales (to the tune of US$1.2 bil (RM4.2bil) total sales is the “softest loss” in the beauty industry, both in terms of dollars and units.
President of luxury skincare brand La Prairie, Dirk Trappmann, says that although some of the brand’s products have suffered losses, its premier range of skincare products have been, quite literally, flying off the shelves.
A prime example is the La Prairie Cellular Cream Platinum Rare which made its debut last April. Retailing at RM4,100, the moisturising cream contains actual platinum – yes, the same platinum used in multi-carat engagement rings – and other wondrous moisturising and anti-ageing ingredients like an antioxidant extract from malachite, anti-inflammatory resveratrol, peptides that prevent glycation (a cellular process that hardens collagen), among others.
Cellular Cream Platinum Rare is supposed to be the anti-ageing solution to date, containing nano-sized particles of negatively charged platinum suspended in colloidal platinum water – an excellent electron donor to help maintain a proper electrical balance in the skin.
President/CEO of La Prairie skincare Dirk Trappmann claims that the Swiss brand’s clients are willing to pay the price for its products because they see the effects. What this means, in plain English, is that La Prairie scientists have found a way to use platinum to help you look good on the inside as well as on the outside!
Response from consumers has been overwhelming, surpassing the projections of local distributors and retailers who found themselves out of supply in a snap. In Malaysia, the product is currently unavailable as two shipments of Platinum Rare were sold out.
“We launched Platinum Rare in the United States in New York, last October, at the peak of the economic crisis and we projected that the best case would be to sell 5,000 pieces. We sold over 4,900 units, which proves that products that are absolutely high end are crisis robust.
“We also did some research to find out how consumers regard La Prairie in times of (economic) crisis and the result was, most regard La Prairie as a luxury essential – something you don’t want to miss out on.
“After all, your face is the mirror of yourself, ” says Trappmann, adding that though sales in the Unites States and Europe have been visibly hit, Asian markets are performing well. Trappmann is pleased with La Prairie’s resilience in times of trouble, but is hardly surprised.
“Consumers trust La Prairie because they know it works. The average La Prairie consumer has used a multitude of other creams before settling on La Prairie and once they discover us, they stay with us for 20 or 30 years because they see the effects. And we gain their trust with every new product. They regard La Prairie as the ‘Rolls Royce of skincare’.”
The high price of La Prairie products has not kept consumers at bay, he notes.
“When La Prairie was first launched in 1978, only a few could afford it. Now, so many people can and are willing to. (After all) if you go to a doctor for (plastic) surgery, it will cost you much, much more than what you would spend on a good skincare product,” he says.
While consumers are getting value for their money, Trappmann says that exclusivity – price as well as placement – is important to maintain the status of La Prairie as a luxury product.
“La Prairie is not for everyone. If everyone could afford a Louis Vuitton ...” he trails off.
While customer loyalty is what La Prairie prides itself on (and works hard to maintain and improve), Trappmann is more impressed by the loyalty of the people who work tirelessly for the brand. The 48-year-old German became president and CEO of Juvena/La Prairie in 2005 and noticed, almost immediately, the work culture and attitude at La Prairie.
“Many of them have worked for the company for 20 or 30 years, and what struck me the most was how they all love and live La Prairie. It’s everyone’s own brand and they don’t regard what they do as their job. Theirs is a passion for the brand,” shares Trappmann.
So while plenty of sleep, exercise and laughter are nature’s solution to ageing, La Prairie is breaking new frontiers in research, finding newer and more luxurious ingredients for their skin potions – first gold, then caviar and now platinum.
Have they reached their limit?
“With every new product, people always ask us what’s next and where we will go from here. But there are always ways to go and we are constantly looking for new active ingredients.
“Ultimately, more (importantly) than the ingredients we use, is that we come up with unique products that work, which consumers can trust,” he concludes.
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