It’s Amway or the highway

Leave it all up to art to illuminate things that require maybe thousands of words to express. Andy Warhol created an icon out of the lowly soup can, making the statement that the richest consumer buys the same product as the poorest, equalizing and democratizing the rich and the poor (as well as high art and low art). Norman Rockwell created an endearing and enduring mythology out of America the beautiful. Ideas transformed into images, words turned flesh, the abstract made concrete. The same thing with Howard DeMyer’s sculpture titled "Building the American Way" at the Amway Corporate Headquarters in Ada, Michigan. The piece illustrates the company’s robust example of free enterprise

The sculpture is composed of four tiers. On the first tier are figures representing Amway founders Jay Van Andel and Rich DeVos, longtime friends and direct sales veterans who launched the company in ‘59. On top are the specialists involved in the company – from engineers to dieticians, from scientists to beauty experts. Above are the Independent Business Owners. These IBOs, currently numbering around 3.5 million, are Amway’s front-liners, who own and operate direct-selling enterprises, purveying more than 450 Amway consumer products worldwide. Topmost, of course, are the customers who enjoy Amway goods created with the "best of science, best of nature" philosophy behind them.

As a whole, DeMyer set in bronze the good side of the American Dream, paying tribute to a company "of the people, by the people and for the people."

Alticor Inc., the Michigan-based parent company of Amway Corporation, invited Filipino journalists (including this writer) to visit the Ada complex, the Artistry Beauty Institute in downtown Grand Rapids, and the Nutrilite facilities in Buena Park, California. To get a firsthand look at the care and core technology that go into the conceptualizing, manufacturing and distribution of each Amway product.

Our hosts for the tour around the visitor center are Mark Bain, Alticor corporate communications vice president, and John Faye, visitor center coordinator

"While other companies want to maximize capital, our vision is to help people live better lives," Bain shares. "We are doing this through our products, which help people (become healthier and) to feel better. Also through our business opportunities, which provide people extra income. And through our support of the community."

We are told that Amway has embarked on a campaign called One by One, which supports worthy causes for children. To date, Amway has given $14 million to children’s charities, funding the boat school on Lake Hongze in China, as well as providing Braille textbooks in India. One by One has also offered assistance to cancer-stricken children in Australia, village children in Mexico and Brazil, abused children in Greece, mentally disabled children in Japan, as well as teen gang members in the US

Amway began as a small direct-selling outfit set up by two high school buddies. I believe the phrase for Amway’s genesis is "humble beginnings." Faye, who has been with the company for 32 years, even remembers a time when the office Christmas parties were held in one of the houses of the employees.

Now, Amway operates on every continent except Antarctica. Starting with homecare and hometech products in the ‘60s (the first product was the L.O.C. multi-purpose cleaner), the company has branched out into other consumer goods. Today, its top-sellers are Nutrilite (a multivitamin, mineral and dietary supplement brand) and Artistry (a facial skincare and cosmetics brand).

Amway, according to Bain, makes use of the direct-selling method (going directly to consumers and bypassing retail stores) because their products benefit from a demonstration

He adds, "We explain which product works best for the particular customer. It’s a very different shopping experience from going to a store and buying a product off the shelf."

Stiff and faceless, retail stores usually have this air of impersonality about them. While the Amway founders believed that (person-to-person) relationships are at the core of any successful business. The consumer is always king. Communication, ever essential.

The direct-selling industry has worked hard over the last several years to communicate the difference between responsible direct selling and, the dreaded P-word, "pyramiding."

"There is a lot more the industry wants to do, can do and should do, but Amway has made big progress over the years," says Bain.

There are telltale signs that distinguish a legitimate direct-selling firm (such as Amway) from a business modeled after Tutankhamen’s tomb.

(Remember the firm that allegedly sold dubious gold coins for obscene amounts of money? I think Spandau Ballet got more gold records for Gold than the actual number of members who became successful from this venture. Maybe the only one who struck gold in this pyramid scam, er, scheme is the cunning pharaoh.)

"There are three simple rules," Bain explains. "Firstly, there has to be a product. In a pyramid, there is none. Secondly, the product is something that people can normally afford. Many pyramids have products that are so unreasonably expensive that the average person can’t afford it. Or if they have a product at all, there is no science, engineering and manufacturing experience behind it (unlike Amway). Thirdly, there should be really effective ways that distributors can get a refund on products they can’t sell. In Amway, customers get a hundred percent of their money."

Scott Balfour, Alticor chief counsel for Asia, adds that the direct-selling industry is misunderstood in a lot of places around the world

"We want consumers protected. We want to work with lawmakers (in each of the countries we operate in) in formulating a strong direct-selling law that would regulate the industry and stop fly-by-night companies. We don’t want the reputation of Amway, or any other direct-selling company doing business the right way, tarnished," says Balfour.

Face It

Scientist Sarah Whitehead gives us a tour of the research and development department of Alticor. Here, the company undertakes R&D on a wide range of consumer products, from health to beauty items.

"We have chemists, biochemists, molecular biologists, as well as people concerned with horticulture, plant services, pharmaceutical and clinical research," explains Whitehead. "We also work with 75 universities, 85 trade associations and 250 outside technical consultants."

She takes us to Artistry’s skin-research room, which has equipment fit enough for rocket science. In fact, that is what Bill Luke, Artistry R&D senior group leader, said during his visit to the Philippines a month ago. The department utilizes NASA and military technology in order to study different types of skin – not just of Caucasians, but also Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Thai, and Malay skin types – in order to develop Artistry facial skincare and cosmetic products that are better suited for specific skin types and skin needs

"This is the Laser Scanning Confocal Microscope," says Whitehead, pointing to a piece of equipment that would not look out-of-place in the Heart of Gold ship in The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy. (You also get the feeling that you’re in a room from one of Kurt Vonnegut’s sci-fi sketches.)

"When we got this in ’99, there was only one other institution in the world that had a microscope configured like it – the John Hopkins Research University, which is involved with skin cancer research. We are one of the few skincare and cosmetics companies that use it for R&D."

Another microscope measures skin elasticity. Another can look at individual pores on the skin. Whitehead uses the microscope on our faces and I marvel at how my mug resembles the craggy surface of Mars. (I half-expect Mickey Martian or Marvin the Paranoid Android or Paris Hilton’s brain to pop out of there.) The gadget can even tell scientists the height, angle, volume, depth and total surface area of each wrinkle. "We need to understand the chemistry and physiology of the skin before we develop our products."

Steve Allard, R&D supervisor-group leader, tells us, "We do experiments that will help substantiate our product claims by applying molecular, cellular and biochemical techniques. And we apply the same type of technology for Artistry as well as Nutrilite."

I believe the operative phrase here is "inner health, outer beauty."

The Art Of Poise

At the Artistry Beauty Institute in downtown Grand Rapids, Lisa Hunter, Alticor strategic business line manager, gives us a tour.

The Beauty Spa is where IBOs can get treatments – from quick facials to waxing to deep-tissue massage – using Artistry skincare products. The Beauty Playground is where guests can find out which color cosmetics can enhance their natural beauty, with beauty specialists providing personalized skincare and makeup recommendations. Professional hair stylists also demonstrate styling tips featuring Satinique products. The Spa Café is "founded on the belief that true beauty begins with good health." This is where IBOs can partake of healthy meals planned by Nutrilite nutritionists. The beauty institute was specifically designed to pamper guests while providing an in-depth experience of the science and art of Artistry products.

"We are all about the synergy between inner and outer beauty," enthuses Hunter, adding that Artistry shares the bioassay lab with Nutrilite (so both product lines can benefit from discoveries or breakthroughs). "Our IBOs get to experience our products firsthand in a professional salon environment. We want personalized sessions, not a mass-education program."

Holly Brooks at the Spa Café tells us, "Skincare is not just about washing your face."

Brooks has prepared a meal for the group (complete with appetizers, soups and salads, side dishes, entrees, and dessert) with the complementary Nutrilite and Artistry products to illustrate the point that the face, just like the body, needs the appropriate sustenance and supplements. "You need to ask yourselves, ‘How hungry is your skin?’ and follow a daily skincare regimen," she says

We learn that Vitamin E helps the skin heal faster, while Vitamin A helps it combat blemishes.

She stresses, "Vitamin C is the pushup bra for the face. As you know, we’re one big elastic waistband (as our cheeks sag with age). Vitamin C can make our face firmer and lessen our wrinkles."

The Artistry Time Defiance Intensive Repair Serum, which features Deep Night Action Complex, contains four key ingredients: Ultrasome, licorice root extract, Aplinia leaf extract and that all-important Vitamin C.

Other products in the Time Defiance line are the Nighttime Renewal Lotion, Nighttime Renewal Crème, and Daytime Protection Crème, which works on wrinkles and fights free radicals.

Brooks quips that she tells herself she’s not getting old… she’s just getting more products.

Time Defiance In A Bottle

"If we can’t substantiate a claim about a product, we won’t say it," says John Scimeca, Artistry resident associate for design and form. "Our products perform their stated function, which is validated by outside testing services."

Artistry’s flagship product is the Time Defiance serum, which comes in a box of 14 vials (priced at P13,315). It claims to "reverse the signs of aging in just 14 days." While other products help prevent, protect and treat the visible indications of aging, the Time Defiance serum works at a much deeper level. The product contains a powerful restorative enzyme called T4 Endonuclease, which boosts the skin’s natural ability to repair skin damage caused by environmental stress.

"Scientists found out that marine algae, which have no natural shielding (against the UV radiation from the sun), have special protective mechanisms to repair the damage," explains Scimeca. "They have this substance called T4 Endonuclease, which we also have in our skin."

This restorative enzyme boosts the natural recovery process of cells after being irradiated. But as we get older, the level of T4 Endonuclease diminishes, and as a result, our bodies become more vulnerable to UV rays, pollution, toxins, and stress. The 14-day Time Defiance system works by enhancing the skin’s natural ability to recover and repair itself from sun damage, thus eradicating visible signs of aging. Skin renewal in 14 days, anyone?

While Artistry holds the fort in terms of outer beauty, Nutrilite manages the bastion for beauty within. But that’s another article altogether.

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Special thanks to Rob Zeiger, Ania Zdrada of Alticor, and Suzanne Comagon of Amway Philippines. For inquiries about the Artistry Time Defiance Intensive Repair Serum (or Amway’s other product lines such as nutritional supplements, homecare and agricultural products), call 814-8181 or e-mail helpdesk-phl@amway.com.