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`Sometimes in Guardian, we're number one in skincare. It's not easy for a local player to get to this position. That's why they respect us a lot - that a local company can come up with good products and do unexpected things to promote them,' [S Jackie Tor] declares.

Where personal care was its staple, today it accounts for only 30% of Ginvera's turnover. Bio Essence and Ebene, a range of `Bio Ray' health products, are its flagship goods. Other brands include the Green Tea series, Syahirah, Nu-Teen, Sofkin, Le Secrets perfume, NuGeno, Ginvera Kids and Pro Kleen.

Tor says that the sales of Ebene, launched three years ago, has been `wonderful', with 500,000 of the products having been sold in Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia. The range currently has knee guards, elbow guards, ankle guards, men's and ladies' briefs, massage socks, and body-shaping belts. Ginvera plans to introduce `hats' for both adults and children in the next few months. According to Tor, the `hat' was designed to promote blood and oxygen in the brain and would thus help prevent strokes.

GINVERA'S Jackie Tor started off humbly, plying his products in a van around KL before making it big. Today, Ginvera is one of the top local brands in the country for skincare and beauty products. He shares the secrets of his success.

JACKIE Tor was fresh out of the Singapore National Service when his father sent him to Kuala Lumpur in 1988 to expand the small family business to Malaysia. The 23-year-old started a van sales operation peddling just two products, a cleanser and a shower milk. Tor and his only salesman would travel in a loop through KL, Penang, Ipoh, Melaka and Johor Baru, visiting mini markets, provision shops and Chinese medicinal stores.

The company's only other employee was stationed at a tiny 10-by-10-feet office in its rented premises of 1,500 sq ft at Old Klang Road. The rest of the space was a warehouse. Tor often joked about having a huge bedroom of 1,100 sq ft.

`Actually, it was just anywhere in the warehouse I could find a spot to sleep!' he laughs.

Every Friday night at 10 pm, Tor would catch a bus to Singapore, arriving there at 6 am the next morning and then going in for a meeting. Likewise, he would catch the 10 pm bus from Singapore on Sunday, and start the working day upon arrival in KL the next morning.

Business was tough. Tor faced a lot of rejection simply because being new, no one knew about Ginvera. The advertising budget was also minute.

`I remember my chairman (his father) telling me that as long as we don't make a loss in Malaysia, it was okay,' Tor reminiscences, as he recounts the trying first two years.

A strong mindset, determination and regular doses of positive thinking kept Tor going.

`When I was tired (of it all), I would exercise to sweat it out and then tell myself that all these are small issues and could be resolved. To be successful, you have to do what the successful do. You cannot think and behave like a loser, or you'll become one,' he shares.

`Although it was very tiring, we enjoyed it. At the end of the day, if you work hard, you will enjoy the fruits later,' he adds.

After three years of hard work, Ginvera sales increased tremendously to over RM20 million with a profit of over RM3 million! Its product range had increased to 20 and its staff, 30.

It was also in the third year that Ginvera managed to spend a little more on advertising and promotional activities such as telephone quizzes and a jingle competition on the radio. `All these created awareness and contributed to better growth,' says Tor, one who truly believes in the power of advertising.

Today, Ginvera has about 250 Stock Keeping Unit (SKU)s and 650 staff. Its plant in Kajang is about 150,000 sq ft built on a 4.5-acre land. Adjacent to it is another piece of 4.5-acre land - plenty of room for future manufacturing expansion.

Though the brand originated from Singapore, Tor considers Ginvera Malaysian. `After 21 years, it's a local company. A lot of the products are developed for and catered to local needs,' he says, adding that he had been given a free hand to run the business.

With its success in Malaysia, the Tor family has also expanded to China (where it also has a manufacturing plant of about 70,000 sq ft), Hong Kong, Taiwan and Thailand. Through agents, it has also penetrated into Vietnam, Australia, Myanmar, Cambodia and the United States.

Malaysia still accounts for 30% of the group's sales and is its `most outstanding' market.

Ginvera's product innovation and fresh approach in marketing are the twin core contributors of its success.

Realising that it does not have the financial muscle to compete head on with multinationals (MNCs), Ginvera explored ways to stand out, to `do the things no one else has done'.

`We have to be different and not launch me-too products or no one will remember us. It's the Blue Ocean Strategy - find things that others have not. Then you can shout out loud because you're the first to do it,' reasons Tor.

Enter Bio Essence, the skincare range targeted at the premium mass market.

`We launched a face-lifting product, which no one else had launched before. We were also the first to come up with a massive sampling exercise and provided a lot of samples for the consumers. To show how confident we were, we provided rulers for people to measure the effects themselves. At the same time, we conducted the 100-people challenge in Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong,' says Tor, who beams with pride as he recounts how the various promotional activities successfully lifted the awareness level of Bio Essence and contributed to its excellent sales figures.

Bio-Essence today remains Ginvera's bestseller and is among the nation's top-five mass-market brands.

`Sometimes in Guardian, we're number one in skincare. It's not easy for a local player to get to this position. That's why they respect us a lot - that a local company can come up with good products and do unexpected things to promote them,' Tor declares.

Ginvera appreciates the need to remain `very aggressive' to maintain the presence and market shares of its various brands, and allocates 20% of its sales to advertising and promotional (A&P) activities. It takes A&P very seriously, and even has its own in-house agency GME Advertising (M) Sdn Bhd that handles all its creative needs, whether in advertising, packaging ideas and designs, or point-of-sale materials.

`In this industry, you have to be fast,' quips Tor. Having the creative team located just five steps away from his office is more than telling of how much importance Tor attaches to speed of responding to the market.

`We cannot follow people's footsteps. Big MNCs can spend RM10 million to build a brand but we can't. We can avoid their mistakes - that is the one thing I can learn from them,' he says.

Where personal care was its staple, today it accounts for only 30% of Ginvera's turnover. Bio Essence and Ebene, a range of `Bio Ray' health products, are its flagship goods. Other brands include the Green Tea series, Syahirah, Nu-Teen, Sofkin, Le Secrets perfume, NuGeno, Ginvera Kids and Pro Kleen.

Tor says that the sales of Ebene, launched three years ago, has been `wonderful', with 500,000 of the products having been sold in Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia. The range currently has knee guards, elbow guards, ankle guards, men's and ladies' briefs, massage socks, and body-shaping belts. Ginvera plans to introduce `hats' for both adults and children in the next few months. According to Tor, the `hat' was designed to promote blood and oxygen in the brain and would thus help prevent strokes.

So far this year, Ginvera has already launched the SilkyShine range of shampoos in July, and the SyaSya range of skincare in August.

Tor reveals that healthcare would be a major focus for Ginvera going forward, as consumers are today very health-conscious. Besides expanding the Ebene range, Ginvera plans to venture into health food in the next two years.

`We already have a clear direction and aim ... we are currently developing the range,' says Tor.

Tor is upbeat on Ginvera's continued growth and expansion. But then again, this is one determined and optimistic man with the track record to prove it.

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