Riding the Waves of Open Innovation

Innovation has always been the way to success, and even more so for companies to survive the fierce competition in this ever-changing times. Therefore, open innovation and e-commerce platforms have naturally become the way for domestic cosmetics manufacturers to break through barriers. Among those in the frontline of modern cosmetic innovation, Fleet is one of the best.
　　Fleet Entertainment Media Group, established a decade ago, owns three major business sections—Cultural Media which produces TV programmes such as Beauty Woman, Super talk show and Very Quiet Distance talk show; the E-commerce platform LAFASO, which sells female fashion products and services; and Shanghai JPLUS Brand Management, which manages celebrity and beauty guru brands. With the advantage of its extensive media resources and e-commerce channel, Fleet’s positive performance appears unimaginable to traditional brands. With a minimum 100% growth in sales revenue every year, the scale of Fleet has turned into quite a match for traditional companies in terms of platform as well as private brands.
　　Bearing in mind its motto, “Innovation leads to competitiveness”, Fleet has actively sought expert cooperation. In July, the group opened its joint lab with world-leading materials supplier Symrise. This project brings synergy between technological innovation and platform/ products by Fleet, aiming at industry leadership. The companies also plan to further their cooperation in formula adaptability and safety.

During the opening ceremony, Mr FENG Guoqiang, general manager, Brand Management, and Mr LI Wei, general manager, R&D and Logistics sat down with Happi Asia and shared their opinions on hot topics including “innovation”, “differentiation” and “online marketing”.

Optimization of Private Brands

With support of its own media and e-commerce platform, Shanghai JPLUS Brand Management operates 10 private brands, including JPLUS by LI Jing, JMIXP by Perry, JSKIN by Kevin and JLYNN by Ling.
　　
Unlike traditional cosmetics brands, these celebrity brands are promoted via TV programs and social network platform. They are meant to cater beauty solutions that are safer and more personalized to Chinese consumers. In the future, we are adding product lines by signing on more celebrity brands because celebrities have a wider target audience compared to master brands that are more professional and influential in a specific area.
　　We have seen very positive sales for our private brands. JSKIN launched its sales during July this year on Tmall, and on the same day, set a record for debut sales revenue among cosmetic products, and on the fourth day, it still occupied the top rank of Tmall Cosmetics. Traffic via Tmall accounts 37% of the whole internet B2C business. Therefore, our JSKIN Essence might be considered as “No. 1 domestic essence brand”. The active ingredients of the product are Fermento TM and active peptide G16, which were optimally selected and constantly tested.

Realization of Originality & Differentiation

In fact, we believe there are still plenty of improvements to be made in product quality, image and marketing. In the future, while having standard products provided by our suppliers, we shall seek further cooperation. For example, our beauty gurus have a large number of fans and they understand the needs of particular customer groups. They visit the R&D sites of our suppliers and convey the information to them. They might also conduct the research and decide the product positioning. That is to say, we will carry out closer collaboration with our suppliers in customization in mKobe AD EP Shoes