GK interviewed Kazuhiro Sakiyama, CEO of C’BON Cosmetics Co., Ltd., on how science-driven innovation and international partnerships are shaping the future of Japanese beauty.
In your opinion, what is it that makes Japanese products so desirable? What gives Japan a competitive advantage?
Japanese products are known for their high functionality, high quality, safety, and reliability. In the case of Japanese domestic companies, the source of competitiveness is the ability to innovate in order for each manufacturer to differentiate itself from competing manufacturers. This is something we have reaffirmed in the recent COVID-19 pandemic.
We received about 150 e-mails from customers expressing their concern for our staff and their appreciation for the courage to temporally close our stores and shorten our business hours. This kind of connection with customers through cosmetics is not only the result of the daily effort of our staff but also something quite unique to Japan. I think the key to differentiating ourselves from other companies is how we communicate the value of this kind of service on a global scale.
Which products are your current best-sellers, and which market segments are you looking to strengthen?
The best product is a cleansing cream, the ‘FACIALIST TREATMENT MASSER’ that has been ranked No. 1 for 11 consecutive years in the cleansing cream category by Fuji Keizai. In addition, we are enhancing our anti-aging products. When I think about the reasons why people come to the salon to get treatments, many of the reasons given are for relieving stress besides the purpose to beautify their skin. In addition to the massage and care, communication with the staff, and so on, visiting the salon is a way to relieve stress over the course of one to two hours.
Our research department is trying to find out if we can find the same anti-stress qualities in the ingredients of cosmetics. Therefore, we are trying to focus our research on cosmetic ingredients that relieve stress. We are strengthening our development on products that will grow out of the salon experience and be realized in the home self-care setting.
We understand that the psychological stress hormone, adrenaline, affects the melanin element. In the end, we are focusing on stress reduction which also equates to anti-aging products.
Can we expect any new, innovative technologies to come from C’BON in the near future?
We have found a way to incorporate anti-stress ingredients from the Calla flower, which is shown as C’BON’s symbolic flower . And we are putting Calla flower extracts in our new products, and now that the anti-stress effect has been scientifically recognized, we are working on putting it in all our products.
What plans do you have with your partnership with CHANCE?
We have been operating salons and making inroads in China for some time, but since our brand awareness is low, we selected a strong partner to start with. Rather than a salon, we selected a partner to help us get the word out about our products, especially through social media, since China has its own unique promotion style.
The Chinese side is interested in our made-in-Japan products and salon-made products, so as a result, we hope that they will recognize the C’Bon brand and understand our products better, so we can then open our salons in China.
