‘Social purpose not profit’: Shiseido Life Quality Beauty Center launched in Singapore to help those with severe skin conditions
Shiseido Asia Pacific President and CEO, Jean-Philippe Charrier highlighted that the center represented the firm’s social purpose.
“This is not at all a profit centre. This is a representation of the vision of Shiseido Group… The beauty industry gives a lot of people opportunities to give happiness and confidence. This is what we want to do here.”
Masahiko Uotani, Chairman, President and CEO of Shiseido Group said that the purpose of the Shiseido Life Quality Beauty Center was in line with the company’s mission to create “beauty innovations for a better world”
“We are not in the business of selling cosmetics… from a mission viewpoint, we are delivering happiness, energy and solutions to people in society. We want to proactively come up with solutions for society in the beauty categories where we have expertise.”
Creating social value
The Perfect Cover range consists of a foundation, powder and make-up remover which range from S$30 to S$46 ($22 to $34).
The center offers free consultations and staffed by Shiseido’s own employees who volunteer their free time.
The Shiseido Life Quality Beauty Center was founded a decade ago in Ginza, Tokyo and has since been launches in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
The opening of the fifth location will also see the release of five new foundation shades that will better suit Singapore’s multi-ethnic demographic.
Uotani added the centre was a “uniquely valuable” part of the company and that it was his goal to further expand the project globally to serve more consumers.
“Having one in Singapore means a lot for us,” said Uotani. “This is the hub of the Asian region. Singapore is going to be more and more influential among the ASEAN countries, so we really want to make this work here.”
He called upon the medical community in Singapore to help the company by reaching out to patients who will benefit from its products.
“We don’t know exactly how many people are suffering from the issues we are talking about today, but there is a substantial hidden number of people. And people simply don’t know there is a solution like this.”
In today’s society, a company’s value to the consumer is increasingly dependent on what it contributes to society, said Uotani.
“The company’s value right now and in the future will be a combination between economic value…and what I call social value. It is increasingly more and more important.”
He elaborated: “When consumers look to companies like ours… they [evaluate] whether the company is delivering value to society... without causing problems such as environmentally.”
Uotani said the group is aiming to be more sensitive to the expectations of its consumers.
For instance, he said the company is now working on replacing its packaging with biodegradable materials.
