Opening ceremony of Henkel’s “J-beauty innovation hub” In Tokyo. From left: Koji Takata, Head of R&D, Henkel Consumer Brands Japan; Linda Zhang, Regional Director, R&D Asia at Henkel; Carsten Knobel, Henkel CEO; Wolfgang König, Executive Vice President, Henkel Consumer Brands; David Tung, Regional President Asia, Henkel Consumer Brands; Naoki Hanamura, Vice President Brand Unit Shiseido Professional.
With an international workforce of approximately 100 people, including 40 R&D experts, the hub will significantly increase Henkel’s capabilities in new product development and ingredient formulation. The R&D lab, equipped with state-of-the-art equipment, will focus on hair product and color development for the Japanese market and Asia, while the advanced product evaluation studio will be used to test the sensory performance of hair care products, hair color, perm, and styling solutions.
Key features of the hub include a color observation room, which is fitted with a special lighting system for constant observation of hair color, and a behavior observation cube, a reproduction of a typical household bathroom that will enable the team to develop customized solutions and improve product designs based on user experiences.
At the opening ceremony, Carsten Knobel, Henkel CEO, said, “Asia is a highly dynamic region generating many trends and innovations, especially in the consumer goods market, which we are expanding and leveraging globally. With its inspiring and collaborative environment, our new innovation hub will help to accelerate impactful innovation and further strengthen our Hair Professional business in this strategically important region for Henkel. It supports our ambition to further advance our competitive edge and turn innovation into a true competitive differentiator.”
“We purposefully built the J-beauty innovation hub in Japan, as it is the world’s second largest Hair Professional market. Together with our Schwarzkopf Professional hubs in Los Angeles and Hamburg, we now have a global ecosystem across North America, Europe, and Asia for our Hair Professional business. We will tap into this exciting opportunity to elevate our iconic brands and drive new innovations to meet the changing needs of hairdressers and consumers,” explained Wolfgang König, Executive Vice President Henkel Consumer Brands.
The “J-beauty innovation hub” brings together the Schwarzkopf and Shiseido Professional teams, who will co-locate within the premises, to create a unique fusion of Asian and Western beauty concepts, trends, and solutions for Asian salon partners and consumers. The hub will also focus on strategy, marketing, product development, and hairdressing education and operations.
SOURCE: Henkel AG & Co. KGaA