I stayed at an Ayurveda healing retreat in Sri Lanka for two weeks. A nice German lady who was alone like me suggested that we share our tables on the first day. He was talking about his freedom and his retirement celebration after thirty years of service. He even showed me the last day’s cake that his friends had made for him and it was shaped like a can of Nivea cream, but I had no idea what his job was.
A day or two before I left, I asked her, Sylvia, where did you retire from? what was your job He humbly said, “I served in Newa for thirty years.” My last position was vice president of international product development. I have been one of the creative and production managers of the Nivea Men line!
I was surprised, we sat down and got up with this lady for two weeks, had dinner and lunch, went for a walk, and finally I have to find out who she is? I could ask him important questions during this time! The proverb water in a jar and we are thirsty for lips was a suitable analogy for this situation. I told him what my profession is and apart from that I am a teacher. Wherever I go, I have to gather information and tips to carry a bag for young people, so I asked him for an interview.
Since Niva brand has a long history and background in Iran, my first question about the introduction of Niva company was when and how was the decision to create the brand? Sylvia Latimer replied I might say the whole story started with a Nivea cream (small size). The creation of Niva and becoming a brand is perhaps a hundred-year-old story, Niva cream started its work in Hamburg and now it can be said that it is one of the most important products for us, especially for the brand in Iran, we also started with Niva cream, of course we must say that It’s very interesting that all over the world when they ask me what company do you work for, when I answer “Byers Dorf” they all wonder where?! While everyone knows Nivea cream. Niwa’s main location is in Hamburg, Germany, and we have local branches in Dubai for the Middle East and Africa. Iran is actually connected and fed with our local branch in Dubai.
He then asked me if you want to know what exactly we do or how the brand was created and expanded. I answered yes, I want to know how Niwa has developed over the past 30 years? Silvia pointed out that (as a brand) since 1970, it has slowly added its products to the catalog and developed with the new catalog, in fact, this process went very cautiously, and that is why we are one of the brands that this development process And we did and manage the expansion (new products to the catalog) well. Of course, this process is very slow and cautious, because at every step, country by country must be checked to see if they are ready (offering other products) to go to the next stage or take the next step or not? Therefore, we have countries to which we only offered body care products, we went to the next stage and offered facial skin care products as well, but it was not well received! On the other hand, we have countries where 4 classifications of our products are offered, so it is very important where the country is located and at which stage we are offering the product.
I asked Silvia to give us an example and she told me from Germany that it is one of the main countries in this field and has a strong business in the field of skin care, and recently it has also been successful in shaving products. Therefore, it has nothing to do with how advanced the country in question is or at what stage of development it is, but more important for us is the stage of development and progress of the brand within the country in question.
I asked, so you have a strong and long background in Iran? It was very interesting for Sylvia that almost everyone in Iran knows Niva cream and knows that it has existed since their mother’s time and there is a very strong relationship between them. If you remember something from your mother, you trust it and that’s why. Iran is a powerful market for us. It is very important for the future of our brand because of this strong context in which it exists.
I wanted to know who in Niwa is responsible for researching and identifying consumers in each district? This question was interesting and lovely for Sylvia because she herself was responsible for that task before, which was actually a difficult task. where is it? What do they believe in? What are their thoughts and beliefs? What do you want them to believe in the future? Once you know where the problem is, then start gathering information. How do we do this? Of course, I alone cannot work on 175 countries, but I can work on some of them for a specific problem. In each country, information about consumers, markets, marketing and backgrounds is obtained through the questions that are asked. The effort is to answer similar and common questions. Then we share feedback, their take and understanding of the problem. It is very interesting when you collect data and then classify, for example, you see that some answers in China, Brazil, Germany, etc. are similar to a question, and the answers of some other countries are completely different. Then we decide whether it is a general and global project or a problem limited to a specific area.
Because Silvia was involved in the creation and production of the Nivea Men line, I asked her to explain about Nivea products for men and how it started. He explained to me briefly about the history of Niwa and that mothers from A
I spoke because mothers do not discriminate between their children and whether they are girls or boys, and they use Niva products for both. In fact, Niva is not a brand for women only, it belongs to both sexes, right? Like a mother who loves her daughter and son, this rule applies to Niwa and includes both sexes. We’ve always had more products for women and a few (shaving products) for men and I think it was from 1992 (if I remember right) when I was New Product Manager at Neva in Germany that I decided in 1992 (it was kind of unusual) ) It was strange to find facial skin care products for men on the market, it was very interesting, and that’s why we first launched the test market, and at first we tried to go ahead to offer men’s facial care products in the same way as we did for women, which was completely wrong. and we realized that we should present these products in a completely different language and we learned a lot in this test market and now after twenty years we are proud to be the biggest brand in men’s products in the world that was caught from a timely idea. is raised
I was curious about a Nivea product called Booty that had been discontinued Sylvia explained that it was actually a mistake, even though it seemed right at first We talked about care color, a color for a Nivea care product You get it, and that’s great, but over time I think we’ve gotten caught up in a color matching game. Finding a new color every time and this was not compatible with the core and structure of the Niva brand, that’s why I think “Booty” was good at the beginning, but over time it moved away from the core of the brand. I asked, so you don’t believe that the strength of a brand is in the development of its products? He replied, I still believe that the strength of the brand is in its first product, the Nivea cream, and the main value is in the core of the brand, which gives it credibility. Again, I was asked, so what is your opinion that the value is in the core and foundation of the brand? That helps to develop and advance the product? And Silvia answered yes and that means brand DNA has a lot of value and you should always check everything around brand DNA. Sometimes a product looks interesting to you but when you check the DNA of the brand it doesn’t seem strong and conversely a product may seem small (ordinary) but when you check the DNA of the brand it is strong.
When we were talking to Silvia about the history of the brands, she mentioned that her colleagues call her the “Princess of Niwa”, they made a cake that says her name and the story of the brand. He patiently explained that I think what was behind this brand would have given me a lot of power if it could be recognized and its story told well. In my position that I speak to many people around the world and that every year we gather 300 people from all over the world to collaborate, I have to feel what is right to present and I have to give a speech in such a way that when these people go back to their country Let them know what they want and don’t need to read from the catalog. In fact, there are many aspects of the brand that should be considered, but if you really want to work on a brand, you must first believe its history and story to tell it to the next generation.
We were nearing the end of our conversation, I told Silvia that if she wants to have a conversation with young Iranians who are looking for a career in marketing in Iran, hopefully, as you know, the Iranian market will soon be open to everyone again, as someone who has a career in This industry works. What is your advice to these young people? Sylvia replied with the same kind smile that she carried throughout the conversation. I believe that everyone should work hard and if you love what you do, you will work hard for it. I believe that the main issue is this, if you feel that what you are doing is completely suitable for you and it satisfies you, you will definitely do it well, and I have no doubt about this. I thanked Silvia for her advice to me and my students. I was happy to be able to hear the points that can never be heard from such a person!
