Transformational Ideas
FILIPINO FIRSTS – Four Filipino product innovations
In the course of its 50 years of operation in the Philippines, Johnson & Johnson has made many contributions to the development of the country, the economic retail industry, and to the community. But perhaps more than its economic, technical or even philanthropic contributions, what has impacted the daily life of common consumers the most has been the proudly Filipino- developed products the the Company has launched.
Despite being an American company, the Company has encouraged the development of local innovations to best address the unique needs of the markets it operates. The Philippines market is no exception and has in fact served as the inspiration for some Filipino innovations that are now enjoying success beyond Philippine shores.
Four particular Filipino innovations have stood the test of time and have become staples in the Filipino household. These products were conceived to answer the baby care, skin care and feminine needs of the Filipino consumer. They have been recognized by the international Johnson & Johnson community as successes Filipino can truly be proud of and can call their own.
JOHNSON’s ® Baby Cologne
JOHNSON’s ® Baby Cologne was introduced to the local market in 1959 and quickly became one of Johnson & Johnson Philippine’s leading products. It was a brand that was widely used by adults and children alike. While the brand was not originally conceived in the Philippines, its future locally-driven efforts in the field of product development and brand strategy would make it one of the Company’s most significant Filipino success stories.
Today, JOHNSON’s ® Baby Cologne is an icon in the Baby Care category. Its original scent has become a well-loved classic. Many of its earlier variants, meanwhile have also endured the trials of time and continue to contribute significantly to the brand’s business. JOHNSON’s ® Baby Cologne’s variant strategy likewise continues to be a key factor in the brand’s success. Recent product launches of the brand have built on this strategy by expounding the approach through the introduction of thematic variant ranges than just a single scent variant. These Philippines-led innovations have further cemented the brand’s dominant leadership if the market.
JOHNSON’s ® Baby Powder
JOHNSON’s ® Baby Powder is probably the most widely available and recognizable Johnson & Johnson product in the world. In the Philippines, the brand has become a icon and a cherished household staple. The brand’s enviable position in the market and in the hearts of the Filipino consumers can be attributed to the brand’s universal appeal as well as the unique Filipino innovations that have kept the brand relevant and accessible throughout the years.
JOHNSON’s ® Baby Powder was the first product of Johnson & Johnson in the Philippines. Prior to the set-up of Johnson & Johnson Philippines in 1956, the brand was already being manufactured and distributed in limited quantities by Shiro, a local trading company under the license from Johnson & Johnson.
As Johnson & Johnson Philippines expanded its business, JOHNSON’s ® Baby Powder remained the anchor of the company.
By 1991, however, Tender Care Powder, a Colgate-Palmolive brand, was able to grab share from JOHNSON’s ® Baby Powder through an aggressive campaign highlighting its fragrance benefit. Feeling the effects of these competitive moves, Johnson & Johnson Philippines responded by developing its own fragrance powder targeted at the consumers looking for a more strongly scented talcum powder. In August 1992, the local team launched “Blossoms,“ the first ever scent variant of JOHNSON’s ® Baby Powder.
The Company complemented the launch with the introduction of a 25g bottle for both Classic and Blossoms variants. The smaller bottle was intended to reduce cash outlay of lower-income consumers while allowing the brand to broaden its distribution among smaller stores. This was another first in the Johnson & Johnson world and successfully turned the tide for the brand.
By the end of 1990s, JOHNSON’s ® Baby Powder was able to double its volume and triples its value. Today, JOHNSON’s ® Baby Powder is stronger than ever with Blossoms and the 25g bottles still contributing a significant part of the brand’s business.
JOHNSON’s ® Pure Essentials
JOHNSON’s ® Pure Essentials had its beginnings in 1990 when Johnson & Johnson Philippines launched JOHNSON’s ® Face Powder for young women. The product was not yet called JOHNSON’s ® Pure Essentials at that time, but it served as the spark that would develop into an extensive product range sold both locally and in other countries in the region.
JOHNSON’s ® Face Powder as inspired by the insight that young Filipino women used JOHNSON’s ® Baby Powder on their face and made do with carrying around the product in loose tissue or handkerchiefs. To address this unique Filipino need, Johnson & Johnson Philippines decided to offer consumers a more convenient and sanitary way to powder their faces by introducing compact face powder which it called JOHNSON’s® Face Powder. This was the first Johnson & Johnson product if its kind worldwide.
The launch of JOHNSON’s® Face Powder proved to be a huge success. The Company recognized that this launch represented the potential to develop an entire product range that would target young Filipino women who had outgrown JOHNSON’s ® Baby products but were not yet mothers who would use the brand on their children. To seize this opportunity, the Company expanded the Johnson’s young adult line to include a body spray and soap. This was followed by the launch of a range of skin lotions.
While JOHNSON’s ® Pure Essentials was a product originally developed by Filipinos for Filipinos, the universality of its appeal has helped the brand tap into markets outside of the Philippines. The brand is now available in Thailand and Malaysia and can thus be truly called an international success that Filipinos can take credit for.
Modess®
Another shining example of Filipino perseverance, creativity and ingenuity is the Modess® brand. While the brand itself was not conceptualized in the Philippines, the innovations that were developed by the Johnson & Johnson Philippines team for the product have made it one of the most successful products of the Company and of Johnson & Johnson affiliates in the region.
The Modess® story in the Philippines began in 1961, when Johnson & Johnson Philippines, prompted by protective tariff walls that made the local manufacture of sanitary products attractive, established a joint venture with the Metro Drug Corporation to pursue such a business initiative. In 1961, the two companies formed a new company called Philippine Medical Products (PMP). The PMP was tasked to manufacture MODESS® Sanitary Napkins among other personal care products.
MODESS® was launched in 1962 but the brand did not fare well . MODESS® suffered from lack of distribution focus and advertising support and growth was also hampered by internal difficulties encountered in the joint venture. The joint venture was eventually dissolved in 1964 and the PMP was absorbed by the Johnson & Johnson Philippines organization.
MODESS® faced a bleak scenario in the following years which led to the Johnson & Johnson’s head office to recommend the shutdown of Johnson & Johnson Philippines’ sanitary protection line. Johnson & Johnson Philippines, however, took this recommendations as a challenge and in response, proposed setting up a manufacturing line to locally produced “non-woven” raw materials for its sanitary protection products. This plan was approved and Johnson & Johnson Philippine became the first affiliate in Asia to produce its own non-woven material requirements. This enabled Johnson & Johnson Philippines to have a significant cost advantage over competition.
The Company’s local Research and Development team developed the first beltless napkin in the Philippines and introduced the product under the STAYFREE® brand in 1975. A year later, a locally-developed beltless version of the MODESS® was launched. These two products were well-received by the market and eventually became market leaders. The Philippines-developed MODESS® Beltless Sanitary napkin even went on to being successfully launched in other Asian countries.
