Japan
www.mandom.co.jp

Sales: $757 million

Key Personnel: Motonobu Nishimura, executive president, representative director; Masayoshi Momota, senior managing executive officer, chairman of subsidiary, director; Yoshiaki Saito, managing executive officer, director; Ryuichi Terabayashi, managing executive officer, director; Kazuyoshi Okada, managing executive officer, director; Yasuaki Kameda, executive officer, director of second chain stores sales; Hiroshi Kanayama, executive officer, director of second product development.

Major Products: Men’s toiletries—Gatsby, GB and Lucido; Women’s toiletries—Fraiche, Treatia, Lucido-L, Produce, Pixy, Baby Veil, Cleansing Express, Aroma Breeze and Simplity.

New Products: Gatsby Moving Rubber Hair Wax, Lucido-L Designing Pot, Lucido-L Foaming Hair Color.

Comments: Net sales for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2012, rose 4.4%. This was the second year in a row of record revenues for the group. Mandom attributed the positive performance to gains in its core domestic Gatsby line of products, as well as strong sales of women’s cosmetics products at its Indonesian subsidiary and increased sales at other overseas subsidiaries.

On March 1, Mandom established Mandom Corporation (India) Private Limited, its 11th overseas subsidiary. The unit will lay the foundation of, and further expand, its cosmetic business in the fast-growing Indian market, the company said.

Along with its business, Mandom is looking to expand its global outreach—as seen in a boom in social networking as well as a new marketing campaign for its leading personal care brand, Gatsby. In 2011, Mandom Corp. opened two English-language Gatsby sites—a global website and a Facebook page—as a means of communicating with more consumers on a global basis.

Gatsby, which was introduced in 1978, is a top-selling cosmetics brand among young Asian men. But there’s growing interest in the West for the looks Gatsby products help style and create, said the company.

Consumers in Asia and the Westare posting articles and videos about Gatsby on the internet, including SNS and video-sharing sites, showing an increased interest for the brand and hairstyles groomed with Gatsby products. This year, Mandom kicked off a new campaign targeting worldwide consumers on its Gatsby English-language global website. In the campaign, the Japanese brand collaborates with the Yasutoko Brothers (Eito and Takeshi), who are half-pipe in-line skating world champions.