During her time as Regional Planning Director for Ogilvy Asia Pacific, Tish Vallés drove consumer-inspired and culturally attuned brand strategies and communication plans that inspired 360o communications across the twelve markets in the vital and dynamic Asia Pacific region.  
One of the brands she worked on was Pond's, a leading global skin care brand in the region heavily involved and highly influential in global skin care , beauty and cosmetics.  In particular, she was tasked to develop the strategic direction for its anti aging launch.

Background

Pond's enjoyed dominance in Asia Pacific and established itself as a strong brand with good heritage, but Olay's entry into the market was chipping away at the Pond's brand equity. Olay's  associations with making women feel feminine and being a beauty brand were increasing, and Pond's needed to refresh its narrative.

The challenge for Pond's was to tap into our strong heritage and begin to present something substantial, relevant and aligned with our ambitions for the brand

The Way forward: A Big Brand Idea

We needed a big brand idea that would bring back beauty and femininity into the brand’s image in a contemporary way.  The brand idea would drive the relaunch of its dominant range, Pond's White Beauty and set a confident tone for Pond’s in the region.

The Driving Insight: The Rise of the  Self-Defining 'Chick' in Asia

Asian women have enjoyed prominent places of political authority

  • Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga
  • India's Indira Gandhi and daughter-in-law Sonia Gandhi
  • Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan,
  • Sheik Hasina Wazed and Khaleda Zia of Bangladesh
  • Corazon Aquino and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo of the Philippines
  • Indonesia's Megawati Sukarnoputri
  • Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma
  • Wordlbank 2005 data cites these numbers of women in Parliaments across Asia (# of seats) to conrtast the UK's 18 and the US' 14

–China: 22

–Indonesia: 8

–Japan: 7

–Korean Democratic Republic :6

–Malaysia: 10

–Pakistan: 22

–Philippines: 18

–Singapore: 16

–Thailand: 9

–Vietnam: 27

Women’s Economic role In Asia was also increasing in Importance , with  1/3 of Asia-Pacific households headed by women alone and women being more active than men in setting up new businesses. And while the numbers were pointing one way, it was important to understand  that this was a fundamentally new role for mainstream women in the region. We had to reflect this newfound confidence in a fresh and charming way that would resonate. For the women whom Pond's hopes to attract, this phenomenon looked and felt more like this:

The Brand idea: Pond's bring out the SUPERCHARGED ME

 

… a Supercharged Me with a boost of feminine energy, able to live life to the full, with no reservation and with my best, most beautiful face.

The Creative Direction:A soft strength, with woman is inspiring hero and beautiful skin as secret weapon was at the center of a highly successful integrated campaign across the region.

 

This strategic direction lead to successful integrated campaigns for Pond's in skin brightening, cleansing and the anti-aging relaunch.