SK-II's road to recovery

By Guo Jun (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-02-01 09:43

Cosmetics brand SK-II has been in recovery mode since its product safety scare in September last year.

Its distribution channel remains. All final sales points will be ready to start business after they are refurbished. 

And as for the products, SK-II is enhancing its research and development to avoid future problems.

Parent company Proctor & Gamble (P&G) has spent 420 million yuan on primetime advertising on China Central Television, and SK-II is not short of money to rebuild the brand.

But the incident has had a negative impact on the brand, despite P&G's repeated claims that SK-II sales have been stable since it returned to the shelves.

P&G did not show enough concern for local customers during the scare, and appeared arrogant and indifferent throughout.

Although the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine and China's Ministry of Health said traces of the metallic chemicals chromium and neodymium, which inevitably come from raw materials, potentially cause minimal harm to humans when used correctly, customers still had concerns over the safety of SK-II products.
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