Filorga has not rushed to apply on each channel from the beginning. We just want to mutually benefit with each channel and build a good professional and efficient brand image.
Founded in 1978 by Michel Tordjman, a French medical cosmetic and cell biologist, the top French anti-aging skincare brand Filorga Laboratories specializes in developing a range of therapeutic solutions to combat skin anti-aging. It boasts unique advantage in terms of safety and effectiveness.
In the context of medical aesthetics, Filorga philosophy is “Better Yourself”. With the energy of science and technology, the brand has quickly opened up the market and its products in the French pharmacy chain once grew to second in sales. It exceeded many beauty brands and became popular in Europe and a diamond in the rough. Its skin care line has been sold to more than 10,000 retail outlets worldwide and has expanded its business to more than 60 countries and regions.
In 2015, Filorga officially entered China. Before that, Filorga has long become widely known with popular single products such as the “Filorga Meso-Mask” by virtue of its laboratory quality. After gaining enough awareness on cross-border shipping and social media platforms, Filorga embarked on a cross-border e-commerce platform to engage directly with the Chinese market and consumers.
Filogra positioning of targeted audience in France is very different from that of Chinese. In France, the main users mainly enjoyed over 40 years old. In China, the targeted audience is under 35 years old and has a strong demand for efficacious skin care products. In addition, because the brand has always been characterized by efficacy and patented ingredients, many ingredient-centric fans have become more concerned and fallen in love with the brand in recent years.
Unlike the foreign pioneers, most of the new international brands entering Chinese market today will use cross-border shopping and online flagship stores as their first choice to debut in the Chinese market.
In 2016, Filogra entered the offline channel in China. At the same time, as further reach Chinese consumers and increase brand awareness, Filogra new retail trials and e-commerce platform trials were carried out simultaneously. At that time, Tmall International station was officially opened to further develop the brand’s channel operations in the Chinese market.
In 2017, Filorga and Tmall Global started their partnership and achieved remarkable results. In the first quarter of 2019, Filorga grew 106% in all channels in the Chinese market compared to the previous year. The total sales in 2018 grew 148% compared to the previous year. It made China the second largest market for Filorga worldwide. The fast-growing sales show the popularity of French genetics of Filorga and innovative technologies in the Chinese market.
It is clear that Filorga is taking a steady step in China. According to Damon Yeoh, General Manager of Filorga China, “Filorga has not rushed to apply on each channel from the beginning. We just want to mutually benefit with each channel and build a good professional and efficient brand image”.
In 2020, there is a global shift in travel retail. Chinese consumers have become a major group that global brands are competing with. In the case of Filorga, the brand’s strongest sales performance in travel retail is in Hainan. On the one hand, thanks to the Chinese policy, Filorga is growing rapidly in Hainan retail. On the other hand it also partnered with retailers whose positioning is a better fit for the brand.
Secondly, as Filorga’s operations in China are directly handled by the Chinese team, they can also make timely and corresponding adjustment strategies for the current situation in the Chinese market while the Chinese market is also a great boost for Filorga in the post-epidemic era.
On September 22nd, 2021, Filorga announced young Chinese actor Wang Junkai as its first spokesperson of face mask in the world and presented a commercial promotion featuring its hot-selling product, “Filorga Meso-Mask”. As a high-end laboratory skincare brand, it has been committed to providing consumers with professional and scientific skincare solutions and creating a series of classic works. This time, the brand has joined hands with Wang Junkai to get closer to consumers and communicate with young consumers about their need. Thus it will bring a perfect change.
It is worth noting that Colgate announced the acquisition of Filorga skin care business in July 2019. Noel Wallace, Colgate’s President and Chief Executive Officer of Colgate, commented that “Filorga is a strong, premium brand that enjoys unique position to fit well with our long-term personal care growth strategy. We are pleased that this acquisition will add a high-growth, profitable global skin care asset to Colgate’s portfolio. We also gained opportunity to drive continued growth through expanded distribution and awareness. The acquisition also provides Colgate with the opportunity to enter the fast-growing and sizeable travel retail channel, particularly in Asia.”
