Nerium confident relationship marketing will succeed in Japan

The direct selling industry in Japan has been the second largest market in the world for years behind the U.S., says Jeff Olson, CEO of Nerium.

Headquartered in Addison, Texas, Nerium International is a relationship marketing company with breakthrough skin care and anti-aging products which it develops with Signum Biosciences. Since its August 2011 launch in the U.S., Nerium has achieved record-breaking sales and industry accolades while attracting millions of fans.

Now, Nerium has come to Japan, its first foray into Asia after extensive research and investment. Olson is confident the company can succeed in Japan as well. Since he first joined the industry in 1988, Olson has earned a reputation as a top distributor, earner, CEO, founder and best-selling author. Often referred to as “The Millionaire Maker,” he has helped thousands of people build successful relationship marketing businesses. He has spoken to more than 1,000 audiences throughout the United States and around the world.

Prior to founding Nerium, Olson put in place a national satellite-training program for an independent sales force by placing 30,000 individual satellite dishes in homes across the U.S. He then went on to found The People’s Network (TPN), a company that became one of the largest personal-development training organizations in the nation. As the CEO of TPN, he created over 900 television programs on personal excellence in health, family, relationships and finances. He also authored the best-selling book, “The Slight Edge,” which outlines his key principles that can help people transform simple daily choices into the massive success and happiness they desire.

Japan Today caught up with Olson during a recent visit to Japan.

How optimistic are you about the Japanese market?

The direct selling industry in Japan is the second largest market in the world after the U.S., although China is coming up. If you walk into any department store in Japan, you’ll see a huge interest in beauty and anti-aging products, definitely a high awareness and consumption.

What is your business model?

We call our distributors brand partners. When a person joins this company, the biggest gift they give is their time and relationships. That’s how this business is built - sharing a product with someone else.

In this kind of industry, there is pull-through marketing. That is, I go to a store to buy a product. Then there is push-through marketing, which is relationship-based. The product is felt, touched, explored, handled and experienced. That’s our way and it’s a great way to take a product into a market. It is sharing your experience with the product with another person.

One of the things that sets us apart from most direct sales companies is over 90% of our product goes directly to the end users. From Day One, we made ourselves a product first company, then business opportunity company second. If we have happy customers, those are the best people to turn into distributors.

How has 2016 been for the company?

It has been good. In fact, we’ve had a phenomenal first five years. The cornerstone of our success is that we have products of value. I really do believe that every one of our products is underpriced and overvalued. What I mean by that is that if you walk into any department store, the first thing you’ll see is beauty and anti-aging products. You won’t find any product in those stores at our prices that do what our products do. We bring a huge value to the customer.

Was it tough when you first launched the company?

The day we launched our company, when people looked at our website, tools and training team, we looked like a 10-year-old company because we have a mature management team that knows what they are doing. We didn’t cut back on anything. Our training, marketing materials and communications platform were world class. So I think the combination of having products that are valued and a business model that is well thought out made us attractive. There were a lot of people watching us. I didn’t care how fast we got to a billion dollars. I just cared that we got there right. We didn’t need to do any media advertising.

Why did you finally decide to enter the Japanese market?

Most companies having our kind of success would have been in Japan a long time ago. It’s a big market. We held back. We went three years before going across our borders into Mexico and Canada and we are launching in Australia this month. In Asia, it was kind of a flip of the coin between Korea and Japan. I don’t know of a company that invested as heavily as we did before we opened our doors in Japan, with zero revenue, no pre-marketing. We began by opening a brand center to give Japanese people a sense that we are real.

Is the business model for Japan the same as for the U.S.?

First, we tested our products and we used Asians in our clinical trials, so we haven’t had to make many adjustments. The actual relationship marketing model is the same. We live and die by our ability to get this product in your hands. If you don’t like it, our business doesn’t work. At the end of the day, 95% of our sales are happening out in the neighborhood.

What about product cycles?

It’s not about how many products we bring in. That would be like a franchise opening too many stores too quickly. I have seen many companies making the mistake of introducing too many products too fast. But certainly, it’s important to strategically add a product or two a year and we make sure we have patented products that nobody else can knock off.

What sort of people are your brand partners?

Anybody can be a brand partner. In Japan, they are looking for self-development and to earn a bit of extra income. Most of our brand partners have a job, family, other things going on in their lives. Nerium is attracting people who don’t have a lot of experience in network marketing but feel they can become better people by being involved in our self-development programs and family spirit.

From Day One, I said I want to be about purpose and meaning. It’s about who you are. We focused on not just giving people a product and a business model but information about their life. I wrote a book and built a TV network and produce hundreds of shows about being a better person. I’ve launched a magazine about positive psychology. It builds a culture and culture is like the DNA of a company and it attracts who you are and repels who you are not. It’s like self-selection. That’s why we invested heavily into the purpose and meaning of the company.

Any differences in the end users?

In terms of demographics,in the U.S., they are 35-50 years old, probably 70% female. One thing I am seeing in Japan is the attraction of younger people, and men too. They can put a cream on their face and go to bed.

How far can anti-aging go?

When I was in my teens, I wrote down that I wanted to live to be 120. I put that thought in my brain and I believe it. So often, your attitude about your life determines how long you will live. I use every single one of my products.

What’s your lifestyle like?

I travel a lot, probably half a year. I’ve been doing that my whole life. I’ve always said I work seven days a week and I play seven days a week. I always try to enjoy the moment I’m in. I stay in shape, work out. I like golf and hiking. I am hands-on in the marketing and field side because that’s my sandbox. I’m not a scientist or engineer but I think I know what the consumer wants.

When is your next visit to Japan?

We have a big event on Jan 8, the first time we will launch a product globally at the same time in every market. We are sending key people to our various markets and I have picked Japan.

© Japan Today