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FOREO: How to Make a Top-Selling Facial Cleanser

The secrets behind the company who gained the biggest share in the Chinese beauty instrument market.

 

Pudong, Shanghai -- (ReleaseWire) -- 07/03/2018 --On May 22nd, the Shanghai Expo Creative Show witnessed a futurist launch event. With the help of holographic technology, Filip Sedic, founder of FOREO, landed on the FOREO UFO show and shared his story behind this Sweden-based brand.

Though FOREO sounds like an unfamiliar name to most people, LUNA Facial Cleansing Brush, its flagship product, may ring a bell.

A Gift for His Wife

Filip Sedic has been a tech enthusiast since he was a child. When he was a 10-year-old, he developed an idea of developing a new toothbrush. In 2012, as an industrial designer, he was still full of his electric toothbrush.

The birth of LUNA Facial Cleansing Brush was just an accident. One morning, Filip was testing a prototype electric toothbrush in the bathroom. It was when his wife, Ivana, complained about how her face condition became worse after using a popular facial cleanser. The husband looked at his wife's cleansing device and soon found the reason.

That was a cleanser with a brush, which would make great friction. The brush will be still wet in the morning, and it is easy to accumulate dirt and bacteria. When you use it, the brush will rub the skin's protective layer, and the bacteria will invade, so your skin will get worse," Filip said," I looked for an alternative in the market but could not find one. We decided to design one by ourselves. We know that woman's facial skin is super tender and delicate, so we decided to use medical grade silicon-based material instead, which is anti-bacterial and perfectly safe. We want the product to have a simplistic look but fully functional."

A year later, Filip founded FOREO and launched the first product, the LUNA Facial Cleansing Brush. Its shell and brush head are made of medical-grade silicone material, and it also adopts the T-sonic technology developed by the company. Once launched, it quickly became an online hit.

3 Trump Cards

In less than five years, FOREO has won more than 100 awards, and its sales volume has increased rapidly year after year. In the beauty device market, LUNA Facial Cleansing Brush gained the most significant share in China in 2016 and 2017. In 2017, its global sales increased by more than 500%, ranking first in the worldwide beauty instrument market.

According to the company, three factors have contributed to its brilliant achievements: advanced technology, quality user experience, and the impression-shaping offline stores.

Advanced Technology

Filip pointed out that the biggest difference between FOREO and traditional skin care brands is that, thanks to the groundbreaking technology, the former can complete beauty treatments in less time.

FOREO is a technology-oriented company. With more than 100 patents, the company's R&D team accounts for more than 30% of the total number of employees. In the Shanghai office, the R&D team has more than 50 technical experts from 26 nations.

Filip believes that a diversified team that allows every R&D staff to be a part of the ongoing projects will ensure open minds and better creativity.

While hundreds of R&D projects are underway, only a few FOREO products have gone to the rack. Every time the company is making decision to develop a new product, Filip will repeatedly ask himself a question: can we use this new product to change the industry?

He said:"We will continue to say no to thousands of projects so that we can really focus on the few that are truly important and meaningful to us."

This is also FOREO's corporate goal: to produce the most disruptive and user-friendly products of the most commonly used skin care products.

User-friendly Experience

Specifically, there are four highlights of LUNA Facial Cleansing Brush. First of all, many users can feel the effect immediately after using this product. People commented online that for 18 years they had never felt their faces were washed until they used this product for the first time.

Second, it is easy to use. The LUNA Facial Cleansing Brush is pleasingly simple in appearance, and it is easy to get started with only three buttons. Unlike some cleansing devices that require regular replacement of brush heads and frequent charging, LUNA Facial Cleansing Brush adopts silicone material that can be used for life. It is easy to clean and does not need to replace the brush head. Also, the battery can be used up to nine months after it is fully charged.

Lastly, FOREO promises a two-year after-sales warranty service, which allows consumers to have a new LUNA Facial Cleansing Brush if any problems happen in two years. Filip said that FOREO is the first to promise a two-year warranty in the industry, and he is proud of it. He said: "In FOREO, we are all about customer experience. Memorable moments were mostly from our customers."

Impression-Shaping Stores

In general, electronic product counters in shopping malls are located on the 5th or 6th floor or other isolated areas. However, Filip did not think of his products as consumer electronics, but instead clearly positioned them as beauty products.

On the one hand, presenting them together with skin care products, cosmetics, and perfumes is more conducive to shaping consumer awareness for FOREO. On the other hand, placing products on the first floor can also allow more consumers to see.

In 2013, the first FOREO counter in China was set up in Shanghai. Today, there are more than 350 offline counters and stores in this country. According to the company, these stores can convert 80% of the experiencers into purchasers.

Take FOREO to the Next Level

LUNA's word-of-mouth marketing was successful. The fact that only a single product has become a hit, however, also causes some troubles. "Most consumers have heard of Luna, but few people know FOREO," Paul Chan, General Manager of FOREO Asia Pacific China said, "When consumers buy the LUNA Facial Cleansing Brush, what is being promoted is LUNA, not FOREO."

Therefore, FOREO now is marketing both online and offline. Regarding the online promotion, the company invites celebrities as brand ambassadors. On the offline market, FOREO continued to expand counters and stores to expose other products of FOREO further.

Paul said that Filip, an entrepreneur with geek spirit, can quickly learn the characteristics and culture of the local market with a very open mind, which is one of the reasons why FOREO can soon adapt to the Chinese market. Today, FOREO's sales in Chinese market already account for about 40% of the total sales.

Filip believes that Chinese consumers and FOREO are a natural match, because Chinese people, like other East Asian, have paid more and more attention to skin care and spend more time on this than people in other countries and regions. Also, the Internet allows Chinese consumers to be more willing to experience and try new products.