Daily Times

I sat down with the helm of affairs of beauty brand Oriflame Pakistan, Tahir Majeed, who talked about the lifestyle brand in detail, a brief overview of his professional journey, the initial challenges in way to cementing the brand, Evolve Magazine and the recipe for success. “I joined Oriflame as a National Operations Manager, saying hello to the direct selling industry, falling in love immediately with it and the way it changes lives of people. Later, promoted to the country director position immediately taking over the new and complex job responsibilities head-to-head,” he said.

I asked him how in his own words he would describe the brand. “During our 50-years history, we have always been dedicated to inspire and offer people the opportunity to achieve their dreams through our unique business concept. Your Dreams – Our Inspiration is a manifestation of our commitment to our clients and brand partners; their dreams play a large role in developing our new beauty products and inspiring programmes that help to develop their own business,” he said.

I asked him what challenges he faced when he joined the brand as country manager and how did he overcome them?

“Pakistan is a hardcore retail market and being into direct sales business itself brings lots of challenges. You see different strong brands fighting a media war while other Brands indulging into activations and trade marketing strategies, all for customers and shoppers, the very same people we approach but without any loud marketing. Company believes in people, and thus invest in people. Our ads are our sales brand partners running the brand,” he said.

It’s not the marketing, but the tools have changed. I asked him how effectively the brand is aligned with new marketing tools? “Marketing is evolving at an astonishing rate, no doubt in this, new and more complex marketing mix are being introduced every day. The brand, however has a unique way of indulging its consumers and potential sales brand partners. Digital marketing is evolving tremendously as a very important marketing tool in current era. Digital marketing tools are very efficient to interact with targeted audiences in real time. Engagement in any form is what your customers expect to receive when interacting with your brand or business. Plus, we focus on improving the lives of our sales force through giving out better commissions, planning amazing events for their entertainment and going to their cities and towns for trainings that will help them work smart,” he said.

I asked him what metrics he finds useful in measuring customer engagement?

“It’s always the ease in interaction, with ease comes a high chance of engagement, this captures the heart of customers and shoppers alike, we at Oriflame make sure that any person that encounters our brand/ product, has a very good idea of what he/she is buying and what are the advantages of the product,” he said.

I asked him what kind of culture he has maintained at the brand and how would he throw light in its significance?

“At Oriflame we are committed to creating opportunities for both professional and personal growth. Working at Oriflame means working in a company defined by a dynamic culture, meaningful work and professional growth; this is what we offer to our employees. We demand a lot of our people, but we also empower them to live up to their challenges, to have an entrepreneurial spirit and to deliver on our brand promise. And, importantly, we recognise their efforts and reward their achievements,” he said.

I asked him what sets the brand apart from its competitors? “The obvious difference, there is no direct competition of direct sales companies in Pakistan. But in my opinion, it’s the way we are changing lives of normal people. Take a normal housewife, or a teacher, a person who in their entire life, only dream of international travel. Now with Oriflame we see such people go every year, even twice a year. People have improved how they live and spend; they have improved even their personality in the light of Oriflame and this is what I am proud of.

I asked him what are the important benchmarks if kept in a right direction can help any company to attain success?

“In my best opinion, following things are the core of success: Sustainability responsibility and opportunity to achieve real, lasting, positive change. Moral and Ethical values from top level down the grass root level. Being a Family Unit, Employees spend half of their day even life in Office, any office that focuses on teamwork and togetherness will always prove more efficient Customer Service, I have complete faith in phrases like “customer is the king”, the better you treat them during your interaction, more and more chances of loyalty are ensured.”