An interview with Mr. Kondo Hideki, Founder and CEO
of ARTISTIC&CO.
Japan’s ARTISTIC&CO. has several decades’ experience in developing medical devices for cosmetic and plastic surgery clinics and professional equipment for beauty salons. Led by the Founder Mr. Kondo Hideki, ARTISTIC&CO. has joined hands with top experts in the industry and launched Dr. Arrivo and Miss Arrivo. Among the various ranges of Dr. Arrivo, The Zeus is a highly praised star. The products of ARTISTIC&CO. are applauded by hundreds of medical cosmetic institutions and doctors in Japan.
With a persistent pursuit of scientificity and safety, as well as ultimate beauty, Dr. Arrivo keeps upgrading its techniques and products to address the unique skin characteristics of modern people. From product development to manufacturing, ARTISTIC&CO. carries out strict inspection and control on every detail. The professional production management team is responsible for managing the work in the factory and inspects the device manufacturing according to the highest international standards.
Mr. Kondo Hideki is the Founder and CEO of ARTISTIC&CO., the developer of the company’s products, MFIP patent inventor, the representative member of Asia Anti-aging Association, and the member of JEIA, AFAS and KAAS.
SpaChina interviewed the Japanese entrepreneur.
ARTISTIC&CO.’s vision is to “become the No.1 beauty device manufacturer in the world, making every user feel happy through ARTISTIC&CO’s beauty experience”. What inspired you to have such a vision?
When I was developing the device, I found that the existing beauty devices in Japan’s market mostly focused on singular technology. One device often has just one function. Meanwhile, the devices are big in size and require professionals to manipulate, so they can only be used in the beauty salons. Therefore, I wanted to develop some smaller, easy-to-manipulate and multi-functional devices for people who pursue beauty. Take Dr. Arrivo Ghost Premium for instance. It is smart in size and appearance and able to realize several functions. MFIP medium frequency intermittent pulse simulates the shiatsu massage of therapists. Meanwhile, the UP ultra-pulse electroporation mechanism releases pulses, EMS and intermediate and high-frequency waves. EMS stimulates muscles through microcurrent and generates unconscious muscular movement. In addition, the five modes of three kinds of LED light address different skin problems while the VR vibration system alleviates the irritant feel triggered by the current and at the same time massages the skin.
In 2018, Artistic&Co. China Co., Ltd. was officially established in Shanghai to focus on the brand marketing, promotion and after-sales services in China and to carry out regular training. In 2019, Artistic&Co. product sales in China was RMB 2.3 billion. Among them, The Zeus and Ghost Premium, due to their remarkable anti-aging effect, have gained high recognition and satisfaction among the customers. Many celebrities are our loyal followers. Our brand spokesperson Ms. Lin Chi-ling is one of them. She manages to keep her skin healthy and beautiful through long-term use of our products.
When did Dr. Arrivo enter China? Who are your fans?
We officially entered China 3 years ago. But since 10 years ago, many customers have bought our products from Japan’s beauty salons. Many celebrities in China have also actively recommended our products and shared their experience of using the products. The China market’s consumption level continues to upgrade. Women at different ages all feel the needs of improving their beauty. So skincare and beauty treatment are not just the concerns of “women of a certain age”. “Staying young” is the topic for everyone. Through ten years’ observation and study, I find that people who pursue beauty, especially women, will immediately seek skincare solutions once they discover any trace of fine lines on their face. Dr. Arrivo is such a solution that targets their individual needs and helps them appear young and radiant. So no wonder Dr. Arrivo has gained so many fans in China even before we did much marketing here.
Has the epidemic influenced your business?
The epidemic hit the globe all of a sudden. It also affected us a lot since the physical shops and duty-free stores at the airports where our products are sold, especially those in Korea, saw a sales decline during the epidemic. But thankfully, our team in China gave a very quick response after the outbreak. They launched an online business right away and saved a lot of loss. Due to the quality and functions of the products, the online marketing has done very well. Now, we have further enhanced our online marketing and relevant services. For instance, we do online beauty classes twice a week and do live streams to show how to use our devices. We hope that our customers can get more knowledge of the functions and technology of our products via our online marketing and experience the meticulous Japanese services as well.
In Japan, Dr. Arrivo mainly does offline marketing while in China you shift to online marketing. Please share with us your future development plan.
Dr. Arrivo has product lines that are especially developed for salon-use which are highly recognized by the professionals in Japan’s beauty industry in terms of the products’ smart design, effect and sense of experience. Before we officially entered China, we already had won a lot of Chinese customers’ hearts through the online channels. In Japan, the purchase rate at physical stores is over 50%, and we also began to do online business. Customers who buy online may also choose to pick the device at physical stores and thus receive professional services and guidance for usage.
We are also looking forward to a better integration of online and offline services in the Chinese market. On one hand, we will provide Chinese guests with more convenient buying experience with our online platform as well as enrich our product categories online. Meanwhile, we will keep updating customers’ interactive experience and satisfaction by continually upgrading our physical stores services. So whether they buy online or offline, they can always enjoy the advanced beauty technology of Japan and experience the high-quality and exclusive service of artistic & Co.
Home-use beauty devices is a hot trend in Japan. Do you think China will see the same trend?
I believe yes. Today, females are more and more independent and confident. They pay much attention to their appearance. However, due to their busy work, they don’t have so much time to visit beauty salons or spas regularly. So they really hope that they could achieve the same skincare effect at home or keep the spa treatment effect for long even when they are back to their daily life. Our devices meet their needs. Our patent technology MFIP completely simulates the shiatsu massage conducted by professional therapists.
Do you have any new development plans for the second half of 2020 and 2021? To be frank, the epidemic upset our original plans. But we will now try our best to gradually put the plans into practice. We have our own factory for device manufacturing. From product development to manufacturing, all the sections are done in Japan. In the future, we will develop more high quality products to help more people improve “beauty” and “happiness”.
