Mannings Hong Kong wins Retail Product of the Year

It was awarded for transforming cotton and paper from everyday basic commodity to making it extra special with brand reinvention.

Mannings is Hong Kong’s leading health and beauty products chain store. It’s part of the DFI Retail Group. In Summer 2020, DFI Retail Group embarked on a transformation journey to reinvent its Own Brand Health & Beauty: Mannings. 

Mannings transformed its cotton and paper own brand product strategy and brand image. The goal is to offer customers great quality everyday products at great value. According to the company, Mannings Cotton is considered the No. 1 brand in Hong Kong and Mannings Paper sells every two seconds in Mannings Hong Kong stores. 

The cotton assortment was relaunched with a clear tiering system to cater to different customer needs at different moments. One of the exciting innovations launched by Mannings is the Face Towel.

The Face Towel is a combination of a beauty product and an everyday essential paper towel. The softness of cotton with the strength of paper makes it truly multi-functional. It can be used wet or dry on the face and body and is packaged in a convenient drawstring bag.

From launch, it was well-received by customers and it was an instant bestseller.

Mannings revamped the packaging to better reflect the softness and freshness of the product. Bunnies on the packaging and in key campaigns make it more loveable and appealing. 

The launch was big and bold with advertisements on train station panels, train escalators, bus seats, and a front-page newspaper feature.

The Mannings stores in Hong Kong and Macau were fully dressed up with window stickers, gondola ends, stackings to the cashier area, and lots of products.

The company said that store team members were fully engaged and received positive feedback from the customers.

In the digital space, it had social engagements involving 100 micro-influencers and live streaming with key opinion leaders. This was considered a cross-over initiative with its National Brands partners and with e-commerce. The live streaming was also used to help customers discover the many usage options of the different products. 

For this relaunch, the company was given the Retail Product of the Year - Hong Kong award at the 17th Retail Asia Awards. It is a prestigious annual event that gathers the region's best retailers and recognises the most outstanding retail initiatives.

In giving this award, the judging panel took into consideration three major achievements by the company.

First is that it noted a significant sales growth transformation record and high sales growth after relaunch. It recorded double-digit sales growth and its market share increased to new heights.

Second is that it was able to focus on product and assortment transformation with a customer-centric product strategy. The company was able to achieve this by making everyday standardised commodities loveable and relatable through product innovation, adding quality and value, improving packaging design, and spearheading a strong campaign.

Third is that it was able to have remarkable marketing and communication transformation. It was considered the first retailer in Hong Kong to have a massive marketing campaign on cotton and paper.

The panel also took into consideration the multimedia advertisements done in trains, buses, and front-page newspapers, its strong social media engagement with 100 micro-influencers, live streaming, and in-store dress-ups.

Everyone deserves to feel special - every day. Mannings Cotton and Paper make Everyday Commodity special. This is real Innovation!

The 17th Retail Asia Awards is presented by Retail Asia. To view the full list of winners, click here. If you want to join the 2023 awards programme and be acclaimed for your company's outstanding retail initiatives, please contact Jane Patiag at [email protected].