Shampoo ads ditch blondes for 'beautiful Japanese women'

Shampoo ads here typically feature glamorous blondes praising imports from Procter & Gamble of the U.S. and Europe's Unilever.

Actress Yu Aoi (left) and model Anne pose with Shiseido Co.'s popular Tsubaki shampoo in this official handout photo made for last spring. SHISEIDO CO. PHOTO/AP

But ads for Tsubaki, the latest hit from cosmetics maker Shiseido Co., show famous Japanese women and an unusually direct slogan: "Japanese women are beautiful."

The message has struck a chord at a time when Japanese women are increasingly looking to role models in their own ranks, rather than stars from abroad, for definitions of their self worth. Advertisers are beginning to catch on to the trend.

"Japanese women are starting to have confidence in themselves," said Yoko Kawashima of marketing company Itochu Fashion System Co.

For decades, beauty standards in Japan were dictated by the West, home to famous fashion houses like Christian Dior and Gucci, which remain extremely popular in Asia.

But now, young people are taking a different cue from Westerners and rediscovering sushi, "manga" comic books, "anime," kimono and other elements of Japanese culture, said Kawashima, who has written a book about the success of Shiseido's branding strategy.

"Westerners are saying Japan is cool, and that view is winning acceptance in a kind of reverse import," she said. "Shiseido's advertising didn't even talk about the shampoo's features. Its message, that Japanese women on the go are beautiful, was more about a feeling."

Tsubaki emerged as No. 1 in shampoo sale rankings by the Nikkei business daily, a victory for the Tokyo-based company used to trailing Unilever, P&G and Japanese rival Kao Corp. The shampoo has chalked up ¥18 billion in sales of 43 million bottles during its first year. Shiseido has no U.S. or European sales plans for Tsubaki.

The company pumped ¥5 billion into marketing and hired a dizzying array of Japanese faces to push Tsubaki. TV, magazine and billboard ads feature models, actresses and a figure-skater. It hired a popular vocal group to perform an original song, singing the praises of Japanese women. The song became a hit.

"Our message really appealed to Japanese women, who are starting to awaken to a sense of self-confidence," said Hiroyuki Ishikawa, who oversees hair care at Shiseido. "Up to now, Japanese women haven't generally been chosen as global symbols of beauty."

Shiseido's campaign also introduced brand loyalty, which in Japan hasn't been linked to commodity products such as shampoo and detergent, said Kazuo Ikegami, a professor of business administration at Rissho University in Tokyo.

"Shiseido has totally changed the shampoo market," Ikegami said. "Tsubaki has become more like a Louis Vuitton bag."

The Tsubaki story reflects broader societal changes in Japan, and some say future marketing will choose images that are even closer to home.

Kaori Sasaki, who heads a communications consulting firm, said Japanese businesses long viewed female consumers in three oversimplified categories — housewife, office worker and schoolgirl.

But that formula is rapidly growing obsolete as more women pursue ambitious careers and more mothers join the workforce, she said.

"Marketing is changing to reflect a changing lifestyle," Sasaki said. She noted a recent TV commercial for detergent that depicts a man doing the washing — something once virtually unthinkable in male-dominated Japan.

Meanwhile, other shampoo makers are also featuring Japanese stars.

Departing with past marketing featuring Western beauties, P&G hired a Japanese actress to introduce H&S, a new shampoo developed for Japan, based on Head & Shoulders, which goes on sale Saturday.

Japan is a key market because the people here use more shampoo than in other countries, washing their hair an average of 6.4 times a week compared with Americans at 4.4 times, according to P&G.

Tsubaki's success came on the heels of Kao's success with its Asience shampoo, whose TV ads starred Chinese Hollywood actress Zhang Ziyi showing off her long black hair to the jealous gasps of Western women. The latest Asience ads have added a female Japanese saxophone player and a Japanese beauty queen.

Sakura Ikeda, 31, an artist, is sold on Tsubaki.

"It makes my hair soft and moist," she said. "The ads have a groundbreaking feeling with all the women lined up with their hair swaying."

But the potency of Tsubaki's message to domestic consumers may be hard for outsiders to grasp, even for experts.

"It's funny to me how traditional and formulaic it seems," said Bob Dorfman, executive creative director of Pickett Advertising in San Francisco. "You could run it in the U.S., and it would hardly stand out — attractive, young women shaking their lustrous hair, to the tune of a hip and energetic music track by a hot young band."