Naturel - Established Brands Winner

IN A world of fast food and unhealthy diets, the Naturel line of products stands out with its healthier alternatives.

"Its original brand positioning was focused greatly on educating consumers to have a diet high in monounsaturated fats which will reduce the bad cholesterol while maintaining the good," says Mr Whang Shang Ying, executive director of the Lam Soon Group, which manufactures Naturel.

But, when Naturel was first created in 1993, Mr Whang says many people were unaware of the meaning of "monounsaturated".

So, it was a challenging task to promote Naturel, which counts monounsaturated cooking oil and margarine among its products.

"Over the years, Naturel has evolved to embrace healthy living in a wider sense, summed up by its tagline - perfectly Naturel," says Mr Whang.

Just this year, a new campaign, Join the Naturel Living, was initiated "to reinforce the importance of exercising, eating healthy and leading a healthy lifestyle", says Mr Whang.

Naturel went through a packaging revamp and included new products in its line-up in 2001.

Since then, Mr Whang says, the Naturel brand has registered double-digit growth in Singapore and Malaysia.

As an added recognition of its healthy range of products, Naturel has also won the Singapore Institute of Food Science and Technology's Healthier Choice Award for the Naturel Reduced Fat Spread.

This year, Naturel added another accolade to its list by winning the Singapore Prestige Brand Award in the Established Brands category.

Mr Whang says his company is honoured to win the award as it rewards "the work that has gone into this brand".

"Consistency in our product quality, new product development, strong brand positioning and brand strategy are the key drivers to our success," he says.

Mr Whang says now that the Naturel brand is already established in both Singapore and Malaysia, the company is pushing for its growth in Indonesia, Thailand and Brunei.

"Our next target would be to bring Naturel to more countries and make it the core brand for Lam Soon in the 21st century," he says.

Mr Whang feels that a "little lapse in quality or service will easily destroy the years of work" that goes into establishing a good branding.

"Branding is about building loyalty and lifelong relationships with your consumers," he adds.

"On a daily basis, our ground staff will be on a lookout for any quality irregularities in our products. We also have experienced marketing staff to answer to any consumer queries or feedback."

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