By Xinhua writers Du Jie, Li Ang
BEIJING, April 18 (Xinhua) -- A handsome 29-year-old man selling women's cosmetics online has made a fortune through his charismatic personal branding while portraying himself as a modern-day Casanova.
Leo Chen, co-founder and CEO of Jumei.com, the first China-based cosmetics group-buying site, clearly believes he has an insight into women that matches his business acumen.
"Why do I sell cosmetics to women? Because I believe women doll themselves up for those who appreciate them, so men's opinions are important for women's choice of cosmetics," Chen said.
Chen's company achieved sales of nearly 1 billion yuan (158.5 million U.S. dollars) in 2011 alone, and in March the young entrepreneur climbed onto Forbes China's list of the "Top 30 Chinese Entrepreneurs Under 30."
Chen has indeed made himself his company's public face, starring in an online commercial, appearing on many billboards and TV shows, and being very active in social media.
"I endorse my own brand because I think a company's reputation and value is indelibly linked to that of its leader. The CEO naturally becomes a company' s public face."
Last July, Chen released a video on weibo, a Twitter-like service, and the post was forwarded over 5,000 times in one day and received over 1,400 online comments. Internet users even coined the term "Jumei style" to describe the commercial.
"Strive for our dreams, live a wonderful life and be ourselves......I'm Leo Chen. I' d like to represent myself," Leo Chen, also known as Chen Ou, said in the commercial.
The blanket promotional strategy has turned his site into China' s top cosmetics e-tailer. Chen said his personal branding has saved his company 100 million yuan in advertising expenses.
Steve Jobs, former Apple CEO, and Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric, have demonstrated the power of CEO branding. But while the leader's reputation becomes an essential component of the overall brand strategy of a company, Chen warned of its risks.
"In China, we have a saying about 'shooting the bird that takes the lead.' Personal branding can promote a company as well as ruin it. Nowadays my words, appearances and even my private life may affect the reputation of my company," he said.
The pressure Chen feels is not without basis.
Earlier this year, controversy arose while he was a judge on a reality TV show when Chen asked a female job hunter about her family situation.
Internet users criticized Chen for asking an irrelevant question and being condescending to female contestants. The drama ended after Chen apologized on his Weibo to the contestant, and the incident appeared to give him an even higher profile rather than hurt him.
Yang Yi, deputy director of the Advertiser Research Institute of the Communication University of China, said the effects of personal branding work best when a CEO's charisma and personality stay in tandem with his company's key corporate values and images.
"But the strategy is risky, as any scandal involving the CEO can jeopardize the company's image," he said.
Yang also admitted successful personal branding reduces budgets and customers may feel the company is more accessible, as they identify themselves with the CEOs.
The growing popularity of social networking sites enables the quick dissemination of brand messages, thus making it possible to run low-budget but effective commercials online.
"Good advertising spreads not only based on the size of the budget but also on reputation. The message of representing myself encourages my customers to take a proactive attitude in life. In this way, the value of our ads exceeds that of an expensive but superficial ad," Chen said.
Chen went to study in Singapore at the age of 16, before becoming an entrepreneur in 2005 when he established Garena, now one of the largest online game platforms in the world. Later he got an MBA from Stanford, sold Garena, and started doing business in China.
Before Chen established the site in 2010, he and two other co-founders, both male, had no experience in e-commerce, or in the selling women's cosmetics. But they found niche opportunities in vertical e-tailing.
"The high market demand and the lack of a leading cosmetics e-tailer prompted us to establish the site," Chen said.
Initially a cosmetics group-buying site, Jumei.com has grown into a major B2C (business to customer) platform for cosmetics. But unlike other similar sites, it mainly sells the world's best-selling cosmetics.
As for his next personal branding strategy, Chen said he will continue appearing in the company's commercials and incorporating himself further into his own brand.
