After a string of hits, is FLOWFUSHI facing its last winter?
Hot cosmetics startup FLOWFUSHI has seen a strong series of beauty hits and nabbed numerous awards thanks to its new and imaginative products. However, the company caused a stir recently when it announced it will terminate its brand by the end of 2018. The rationale: FLOWFUSHI simply could not realize its dream to “Liberate Beauty”.
FLOWFUSHI started in Tokyo in 2011 by two people who had absolutely no experience in the cosmetics business. Nevertheless, the company soon found success when its debut product MOTEMASCARA reached number one in Japanese sales in the category of mascaras containing skincare components (January 2011 to December 2013). Since then, each new product released has become a huge hit, one after the other.
The lip gloss Lip38°C Lip Treatment, a world first that mixes FLOWFUSHI’s original beauty component, End Mineral, and the lactic bacteria La Flora EC-12, recorded sales of 300,000 in just two weeks after launching on 7 July 2017. When FLOWFUSHI opened a pop-up store for one week in the spring of 2018 with a limited-edition color available for purchase, the resulting buzz led to lengthy queues with people waiting up to 90 minutes to get in.
The idea behind LIP38°C is that the color of people’s lips differs due to temperature differences. So it creates the ideal lip color temperature of 38°C by warming up the lips, producing a slightly flushed shade. It comes in five colors, from +5°C Coral Orange to -2°C Ice Green.
LIP38°C introduced a new approach to shopping for a lip gloss — going by temperature rather than color. This and many more FLOWFUSHI innovations are grounded in the three keywords at the heart of its philosophy: function, fashion, and fun.
In LIP38°C’s case, the lip gloss is functional as it uses beauty-enhancing components like natural mineral ores that produce highly-concentrated negative ions to help solve lip issues such as chapped lips and dullness. In terms of fashion, the bottle’s design expresses a high level of sophistication in its beauty and impact. As for fun, LIP38°C introduces us to the new idea of shopping based on temperature. You could say that the soul of FLOWFUSHI is embodied in LIP38°C.
The charming character of the FLOWFUSHI brand also shines through in its name. FLOWFUSHI sounds like the Japanese word “furou-fushi”, which means “eternal youth”, and the product name MOTEMASCARA literally means “Because I am so popular” in Japanese. There are a real playfulness and wit which catches a person’s attention and draws them in. This has proven especially popular with young women, who instantly spread the product names via Instagram or Twitter. The catchy names have no doubt helped FLOWFUSHI’s success on social media.
In a 2017 interview, FLOWFUSHI’s planning development supervisor explained: “Because users will always add a hashtag to product names when they post on social media, we put a lot of effort into naming our products.”
But, despite its top form, FLOWFUSHI has announced the end of its brand. In September this year on its official Instagram, it said: “We’ve connected with people of different races, genders and ages, but in our current form we’re unable to properly realize LIBERATE BEAUTY*. Due to this, in 2018 FLOWFUSHI will close the book on its seven-year history. For the sake of LIBERATE BEAUTY around the world.”
There’s been no word since then on future developments, but its products apparently will not yet disappear from the shelves come the end of December. In an unusual move, it said there’s no need to stock up on products, and to wait and trust the company.
Furthermore, it recently tweeted: “With an ending comes a beginning. 2019 — the first year of BEAUTY.” This suggests not so much a withdrawal as a renewal of the brand.
The cosmetics industry is looking at this new move through a more sober lens. Some are calling it a “makers-first marketing strategy” because the company is presumably drumming up the demise of its brand to prompt a surge in purchases so it can clear its stock. The idea being that, by becoming leaner, they’re able to put more effort into growing a new brand.
Consumers have mixed views. While some fans on social media have exclaimed they’ll need to buy FLOWFUSHI’s products quickly while they still can and voiced their regret to see the brand go, others have said that the company ought to clarify more, wondered if it is just trying to push its stock and questioned the merits in causing concern among its fans.
It is definitely sure that the brand is very good at making topical gimmicks and stirring up social media world. However, the most important is if their new brand will catch fans heart more than ever.
Come 2019, will we see FLOWFUSHI live up to its tag of “eternal youth” and be reborn?
*FLOWFUSHI’s brand philosophy is “To remove all limitations and liberate women, to allow being beautiful a possibility once again. For beauty unheard of in this world and unseen by anyone before”. “Liberate Beauty” is its term that encapsulates this philosophy.
Text: Denyse Yeo
Original text (Japanese): Keiko Shinoda
