Shiseido
Shiseido Company, Limited is a Japanese multinational personal care company, that is a skin care, hair care, cosmetics and fragrance producer. It is one of the oldest cosmetics companies in the world. Founded in 1872, it celebrated its 140th anniversary in 2012. It is the largest cosmetic firm in Japan and the fifth largest cosmetics company in the world. Shiseido is only available at cosmetic counters at selected department stores or pharmacists. The company owns numerous brands and subsidiaries worldwide, in addition to its founding label. The company is headquartered in Tokyo, and is traded on the Tokyo stock exchange.
Company History
Founding
, former head pharmacist to the Imperial Japanese Navy, established the Shiseido Pharmacy in 1872. After a visit to the United States and Europe, Arinobu added a soda fountain to the store. This later grew into the Shiseido Parlor restaurant business, and eventually led to the introduction of ice cream in Japan. The name Shiseido derives from a Chinese expression meaning "praise the virtues of the earth which nurtures new life and brings forth significant values".Arinobu passed on his company to his son, Shinzo Fukuhara, who became the company's second president in 1913. After Shinzo's experience traveling to Europe and the United States, he became interested in advertising as a large selling point for Shiseido which lead him to dedicate extensive resources to the company's design, much of which can be seen from product packaging and magazines from this time.
Expansion
In 1917, Shiseido introduced Rainbow Face Powder. This was a face powder with seven colors in a period when white face powders were the norm in Japan. In 1923, the company began expanding its store-base; it now has approximately 25,000 outlets. A joint-stock company was formed in 1927.Early 20th Century
In 1916, Shiseido transitioned from using historical images of Japanese female beauty to more Western ideals of beauty. The more contemporary images showed women with hair swept up rather than cascading back and incorporated trendy art nouveau style block scripts. This shift in imagery coincided with increasing Western influence in Japan, allowing Shiseido to capitalize on this cultural change.The Ginza district burned during the Kanto Earthquake of 1923. This incident and the great depression in the 1930s caused a decrease in sales of Shiseido. Shiseido partnered with stores to form the Shiseido Cosmetics Chain Store System. Therefore, consumers could rest assured that they could purchase Shiseido products at the same price at any store. In 1932, the representative Shiseido brand of top class cosmetic products of the time, De Luxe, was born. Following the outbreak of World War II, the De Luxe brand was considered an extravagance and production ceased. However, it was re-launched in 1951 when the economy began to recover. Shiseido started to expand its cosmetics markets to the international market in the 1950s to 1980s.
World War II
Luxury Ordinances
A major concern in Japan during the Second World War was wasteful consumption of luxury products. This led to the imposition of luxury ordinances against goods explicitly tailored to luxury consumption. Due to these concerns, Shiseido emphasized the health benefits, high quality and patriotic national production of their cosmetic products. Since Shiseido did not want to tarnish their deluxe brand image their designs and advertisements contuned to incorporate highly stylized luxurious motifs. Despite an adherence to these motifs, Shiseido advertisements explicitly emphasized the utilitarian aspects of their products over their luxury, for instance toothpaste was endorsed for keeping teeth and gums healthy.Company magazines
The company began publishing company magazines in 1924 with Shiseido Monthly, which contained product advertisements and advice about cosmetics and fashion. Shiseido Monthly was replaced in 1933 with The Shiseido Graph, and then renamed to Hanatsubaki in 1937. Shiseido Monthly and The Shiseido Graph'' featured photographs by Shinzo Fukuhara, the company's second president and a well-known photographer.Shiseido's public relations magazines are aimed at “inspiring a life of beauty and culture,” following the company's stated corporate ideal.
International expansion
In 1957, Shiseido began sales in Taiwan, closely followed by Singapore and Hong Kong. In 1962, Shiseido expanded to Hawaii; in 1965, it established Shiseido Cosmetics America. European sales began with Italy in 1968 and Oceania with New Zealand in 1971.In 1985, Shiseido was the first company to produce sodium hyaluronate from non-animal origin sources.
Finances and operations
In the first quarter of 2013, Shiseido made a profit of ¥2.66 billion on sales of ¥162.36bn. On 15 July 2013, Shiseido announced it was opening a wholly owned subsidiary in India. On 20 February 2014, Shiseido agreed to sell its Carita and Decléor brands to L’Oréal for €227.5M. This sale resulted in Shiseido showing profits despite running into losses.Acquisitions
On January 18th, 2017 Shiseido acquired digital tech company MatchCo. To supplement MatchCo., Shiseido later acquired Giaran Inc., a data driven company, in November, 2017. In January 2018, the company acquired all of the assets of Olivo Laboratories.Make-up
Shiseido produces a line of cosmetics simply called "The Makeup" that provide a full range of products including: lip products, powder eye shadows, eye liner pencils, mascara, fluid and compact foundations, concealers, and powder blushes. Their hydro powder eye shadows which have a creamy texture are among Allure magazine's top beauty picks.Shiseido stepped into the world of cosmetics with the introduction of Eudermine in 1897, and established the Cosmetics Division and a store selling cosmetics in 1916. With the birth of new cosmetics, the definition of makeup started to alter in the 1920s. The cosmetics were not used exclusively by women. Men started to use makeup to rebuild their image. Shiseido's scented hair tonics were among their most popular early cosmetics for both men and women, fueled by a reaction to Western distaste for less fragrant traditional hair oil products. Shiseido also began to produce floral perfumes which contributed to the brand's "De Luxe" and "rich” aesthetic.
Meanwhile, modern beauty methods became a popular beauty topic in advertisements, newspaper columns and magazines in the late 1920s to early 1930s. At that time, cosmetic consumers focused on the selection of the makeup and their uses. The single makeup method of painting the face white was considered outdated. The beauty consumers liked to apply up to seven different colors of face powder including ‘’ white, yellow, flesh, rose, peony, green and purple’’ to match their skin tone. In order to explore more potential consumers, Shiseido trained beauty advisers, who demonstrated and illustrated the uses of the cosmetics on the on-site demonstration briefing.
Packaging
Shiseido invested heavily in the packaging of its products. One of the company's most popular products was Eudermine, a scented skin toner. Eudermine translates to "good skin" in Ancient Greek. The product was sold in a liquid form and came in a vibrant shade of red, meant to resemble the color of wine, evoking prosperity and vitality. The glass bottle was small and came wrapped with a red ribbon around the neck. Eudermine was advertised as a barrier that would prevent sweat and make one "smell like an angel,". Additionally, it was advertised as a way to prevent damage from the poisonous lead in makeup powders. In the general advertising of Shiseido bottled products, bottles were often presented individually, or sometimes in groups. The sensuality of the bottles was influenced by the product arrangement.Shiseido also produced a line of five different skin creams designed for cleansing and softening the skin. As well as being associated with health and beauty, the cream containers themselves were considered visually appealing and often used as an accessory on a woman's dressing table.