Make-ing up the face of success
March 4, 2007 | 12:00am
"People always think that the head of a cosmetics company should be a woman or a gay person, so they’re constantly surprised to find that I’m the head of Ever Bilena." This is Dioceldo Sy talking, and in this world of stereotypes and pigeon-holing our expectations, Dioceldo is certainly a far cry from who we’d expect to be behind one of the more successful mass-consumer, home-grown, cosmetic brands here in the Philippines. From a 1983 start-up selling nail polish, bulk enamels and packaging material, Dioceldo has steered Ever Bilena and the Careline brands to their present lofty status in the world of cosmetics, body butter, fragrance sprays, whitening and moisturizing lotions. For two consecutive years, Ever Bilena has been Watson’s Most Popular Brand and Philippine Supplier of the Year. Over at Robinson’s, it was the 2006 Top Cosmetic Concessionaire. Factor in (not ‘Max Factor-in’) that you’re playing head-to-head against global giants like Avon and L’Oreal, and you’ll appreciate how Dioceldo’s entrepreneurial spirit has found impressive definition.
The Ever is a play on ‘for-ever’, and Bilena means beautiful lady in Mandarin. Of course, it helps subliminally that Bilena also sounds like Bili Na (buy already!). And as I joked with Dioceldo about this ‘fortuity’, a sly grin spread across his face. Dioceldo’s grandfather was in the importation of face powders and pomades, so from an early age, he was exposed to this world of personal care products. He adheres to the wisdom of such business icons as Henry Sy (Bringing his goods to the market, the people, and not expecting them to come to you.) and John Gokongwei (Selling to the rich, you become poor; while selling to the poor, can make you rich.); and looks at his business from a global perspective. "While the specs, design, and formulations come from us, and it would nice to say ‘Made in the Philippines’; in order to maintain our high quality, while keeping our costs down so as to penetrate the market effectively, I import from China. If you’re not sourcing from China, you’re not in the volume game, it’s as simple as that. Our thrust now is to upgrade the equity of our brand and expand our range, to make more specialized bodycare products that were previously only available upmarket now also an option for the masa."
With an uncanny feel for women’s products ("I’ve always fared better in this segment of the market, than with the men’s products and general consumer range I’ve marketed."), Dioceldo has tapped showbiz celebrities to help promote his brand. His Careline brand has Toni Gonzaga as its "face," giving us a fresh, vibrant appeal that’s reflective of Toni’s outgoing personality. For Ever Bilena, Dioceldo was looking for someone with more mestiza looks, and with her Eurasian provenance (her biological father is from Norway), it is statuesque 5’ 10" Francine Prieto who gets the nod. Ever since her exposure on Bench billboards and print ads, Francine has typified that special blend of sensuous mystique and classic beauty features. For Dioceldo, she has gone beyond the sexy image she used to make her initial mark in the industry, and has since shown an uncanny touch for comedy (Bubble Gang and Bahay Mo Ba Ito on GMA 7), hosting live events, and entering the mainstream "radar." Coincidentally, Kristine Gabriel, who heads business development for Dioceldo, is an old friend of Francine, and so now they’re collaborating on the new Ever Bilena campaign of TVC’s and print ads.
As Dioceldo avers, "It’s always exciting to sign up a new endorser; and with Francine, we really see an exciting new vista to how fashion-forward and global-looking our campaigns can now become. Visually, there is no doubt that Francine is an excellent choice. Our creative team is now tasked with using her features to make definitive statements about Ever Bilena and beauty, how EB cosmetics can be an instrumental beauty aid, maintaining high quality standards, while remaining affordable." As for corporate strategies and positioning, Dioceldo looks to thrusting Ever Bilena as an ASEAN brand in 2008, with Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia as strong candidates for Business Development. In true entrepreneurial spirit, Dioceldo is not one to rest on his laurels. High on his list of priorities is developing his Nusa Everyday Shoe line  "These are sandals that look like Crocs, but at 1/3 the price!" Again, it’s the Gokongwei axiom brought to vivid life.
Dioceldo’s management sytle can best be described as modified laissez-faire. "I want to trust my people 110 percent, allowing them to do their own thing and delivering the numbers. One can’t be guarding all their moves all the time, you carefully select the team, and allow them to justify my decision to hire them. As for advice, I can only say that Experience is always the best teacher. First take the time to know your market inside-out, make the adjustments, and prepare yourself for the "long haul." It’s all about Instinct, Business Skills, and Good Timing. One needs all three working in harmony, and of course, there’s the fourth element of having God’s blessings."
Nowadays, choosing a celphone can be as tricky as entering a minefield, or having a lengthy conversation with Borat. I have three boys (ages 15, 12 and seven), and they are all into music; so you can bet your spot on the Black Parade that they’ll always have an eye out for the latest phones with a strong music dimension/affinity. You talk Music and naturally, one thinks Walkmans and i-Pods; so is it any wonder that the Sony-Ericsson 850i would incorporate all the best features of the Walkman, while making its case as a 3G celphone?
With the 850i, one can transfer music tracks from a CD to the phone, or import from a PC to the phone. There’s a handsfree track ID feature, Sony’s Play Now, radio, a camera for photos and video clips, and access to the Internet for reading e-mail. While most of these features are by now, pretty standard stuff for most celphones, it’s the Music features that set the 850i apart. For my boys, it was like having a regular Walkman that also operated as a phone, making one gadget have all the cool things they look for when heading out of the house.
My two younger boys are into Rock music and so it was an argument of "whose phone is it in the first place" as they discussed which songs they wanted to upload to the 850i. My choices of tracks by Matisyahu, James Morrison and Corinne Bailey Rae were getting crowded out by My Chemical Romance, Blink and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. There I was, thinking my choices were pretty contemporary, but Luca (7) was arguing that my music uploads "needed a boost." A boost? I loved how he was suddenly my music authority... and could I please raise his allowance. Attempted blackmail has never found a sweeter embodiment.
My boys joked about how the phone was "so not me" and I should just turn it over to one of them; so if this 850i needed a strong endorsement for its capabilities and features, I guess one can’t look further than my boys, who solidly found the phone "cool."
The Ever is a play on ‘for-ever’, and Bilena means beautiful lady in Mandarin. Of course, it helps subliminally that Bilena also sounds like Bili Na (buy already!). And as I joked with Dioceldo about this ‘fortuity’, a sly grin spread across his face. Dioceldo’s grandfather was in the importation of face powders and pomades, so from an early age, he was exposed to this world of personal care products. He adheres to the wisdom of such business icons as Henry Sy (Bringing his goods to the market, the people, and not expecting them to come to you.) and John Gokongwei (Selling to the rich, you become poor; while selling to the poor, can make you rich.); and looks at his business from a global perspective. "While the specs, design, and formulations come from us, and it would nice to say ‘Made in the Philippines’; in order to maintain our high quality, while keeping our costs down so as to penetrate the market effectively, I import from China. If you’re not sourcing from China, you’re not in the volume game, it’s as simple as that. Our thrust now is to upgrade the equity of our brand and expand our range, to make more specialized bodycare products that were previously only available upmarket now also an option for the masa."
With an uncanny feel for women’s products ("I’ve always fared better in this segment of the market, than with the men’s products and general consumer range I’ve marketed."), Dioceldo has tapped showbiz celebrities to help promote his brand. His Careline brand has Toni Gonzaga as its "face," giving us a fresh, vibrant appeal that’s reflective of Toni’s outgoing personality. For Ever Bilena, Dioceldo was looking for someone with more mestiza looks, and with her Eurasian provenance (her biological father is from Norway), it is statuesque 5’ 10" Francine Prieto who gets the nod. Ever since her exposure on Bench billboards and print ads, Francine has typified that special blend of sensuous mystique and classic beauty features. For Dioceldo, she has gone beyond the sexy image she used to make her initial mark in the industry, and has since shown an uncanny touch for comedy (Bubble Gang and Bahay Mo Ba Ito on GMA 7), hosting live events, and entering the mainstream "radar." Coincidentally, Kristine Gabriel, who heads business development for Dioceldo, is an old friend of Francine, and so now they’re collaborating on the new Ever Bilena campaign of TVC’s and print ads.
As Dioceldo avers, "It’s always exciting to sign up a new endorser; and with Francine, we really see an exciting new vista to how fashion-forward and global-looking our campaigns can now become. Visually, there is no doubt that Francine is an excellent choice. Our creative team is now tasked with using her features to make definitive statements about Ever Bilena and beauty, how EB cosmetics can be an instrumental beauty aid, maintaining high quality standards, while remaining affordable." As for corporate strategies and positioning, Dioceldo looks to thrusting Ever Bilena as an ASEAN brand in 2008, with Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia as strong candidates for Business Development. In true entrepreneurial spirit, Dioceldo is not one to rest on his laurels. High on his list of priorities is developing his Nusa Everyday Shoe line  "These are sandals that look like Crocs, but at 1/3 the price!" Again, it’s the Gokongwei axiom brought to vivid life.
Dioceldo’s management sytle can best be described as modified laissez-faire. "I want to trust my people 110 percent, allowing them to do their own thing and delivering the numbers. One can’t be guarding all their moves all the time, you carefully select the team, and allow them to justify my decision to hire them. As for advice, I can only say that Experience is always the best teacher. First take the time to know your market inside-out, make the adjustments, and prepare yourself for the "long haul." It’s all about Instinct, Business Skills, and Good Timing. One needs all three working in harmony, and of course, there’s the fourth element of having God’s blessings."
With the 850i, one can transfer music tracks from a CD to the phone, or import from a PC to the phone. There’s a handsfree track ID feature, Sony’s Play Now, radio, a camera for photos and video clips, and access to the Internet for reading e-mail. While most of these features are by now, pretty standard stuff for most celphones, it’s the Music features that set the 850i apart. For my boys, it was like having a regular Walkman that also operated as a phone, making one gadget have all the cool things they look for when heading out of the house.
My two younger boys are into Rock music and so it was an argument of "whose phone is it in the first place" as they discussed which songs they wanted to upload to the 850i. My choices of tracks by Matisyahu, James Morrison and Corinne Bailey Rae were getting crowded out by My Chemical Romance, Blink and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. There I was, thinking my choices were pretty contemporary, but Luca (7) was arguing that my music uploads "needed a boost." A boost? I loved how he was suddenly my music authority... and could I please raise his allowance. Attempted blackmail has never found a sweeter embodiment.
My boys joked about how the phone was "so not me" and I should just turn it over to one of them; so if this 850i needed a strong endorsement for its capabilities and features, I guess one can’t look further than my boys, who solidly found the phone "cool."
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