Page 27 - Sphere No.29 (Jun 2011)

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Sphere
Watsons Water is established to
provide pure water in Hong Kong
and Mainland China.
Hutchison Group acquires a controlling
interest in A S Watson & Co.
1903 1963
Like Hong Kong, Watsons
stores have kept changing and
are now barely recognisable
from the “hat and glove”
days when Britain’s Princess
Margaret (in the photo far left)
stopped by during a Royal
Visit in 1966.
Ask anyone in London if they know who owns the
ubiquitous UK health and beauty chain, Superdrug, or
someone in Brussels who owns leading Belgian health and
beauty retailer Kruidvat. Chances are they will be surprised
to discover that the owner is far away in Hong Kong. The
A S Watson Group’s rise from a small home-grown chain of
Hong Kong dispensaries to the world’s largest retailer of
its kind in just 30 years, with over 9,300 stores in 33
markets, is one of the city’s global success stories.
Kong was reinventing itself as a sophisticated international
business centre. Prosperity was spreading.
For the first time, large numbers of local consumers had
money to spend on what were once considered luxuries. The
number of Watsons stores ballooned. They became as much
a part of everyday life for residents of New Towns in the New
Territories, and of Hong Kong’s expanding urban districts, as
they already were for well-heeled shoppers in cosmopolitan
Central and touristy Tsim Sha Tsui.
Brand transformation
In step with the city’s improving living standards and rising
consumer expectations, “Watson’s The Chemist” became
“Watsons Your Personal Store”, widening its customer appeal
and signalling a new approach to the brand’s evolution.
Margaret Lau, who joined Watsons in 1985 as a pharmacist
and is now Chief Pharmacist as well as Operations Controller,
Health & Fitness, was among the first to notice the shift.
Traditionally, she said, Watsons’ pharmacists were health
professionals who stood behind a counter and dispensed
medications “when asked”. That, at least, was until Ms Lau and
other pharmacists were selected to join Watsons’ management
training programme.
“We were drawn out to the shop floor, where we began to
understand our customers’ needs better,” she recalled. “It was
a good way to build rapport with customers. Our lab coats
gave them faith in us and they became our friends.” In smaller
stores, pharmacists took on the additional role of assistant
manager. “We were no longer just counting pills behind the
counter; we became a much bigger part of the management
and leadership systems,” said Ms Lau.
Television commercials were widely used to market the
cosmetics brands, toys and accessories sold by the chain and,
of course, the Watsons brand itself. “Watsons Your Personal
Store” was soon a catchphrase with which every consumer in
Hong Kong was familiar, said Ms Mounger.