News Releases
June 4, 2007
Oak Lawn Marketing Ends Dynamic 2006 Fiscal Year With Record Sales
NAGOYA, Japan – June 4, 2007. Oak Lawn Marketing (OLM) and its subsidiary companies ended the 2006 fiscal year in March 2007 and are pleased to announce record sales surpassing JPY 26.8 billion or approximately USD 231.1 million (non-audited). Estimated sales for OLM’s core operations in Japan exceeded JPY 23.9 billion (USD 206.03 million) representing a 30.5% increase from 2005.
OLM enjoyed a dynamic year in 2006. In August 2006, the company expanded to Europe with the acquisition of Vector Direct and Vector Versand. These established European DRTV businesses with operations in the United Kingdom and Germany gave OLM direct access to the top three DRTV markets outside the United States. OLM also completed the purchase of Global Information Services (GIS) located in Chicago, a product procurement company that sources products for international distributors throughout Europe, Asia and Latin America in addition to servicing the OLM group of companies.
In Japan, OLM owns its own dedicated satellite channel (SHOP 240 on SkyPerfect TV) which reaches up to 8 million households per day. OLM subsidiary companies, Interworld and DMJ, purchased in excess of JPY 6 billion (USD 50 million) of direct response television media time in fiscal 2006. OLM’s President Harry Hill added: “We have been able to continue to grow by focusing on our four converging circles of success - Product, Media, Brand and Entertainment. We are continuing to develop sales and increase our profit margins in what is an exciting time for our industry.”
OLM also celebrated the opening of a new call center in Sapporo to support their existing call center in Nagoya. The new Sapporo facility, which utilizes state of the art telephony technology, opened in November 2006. OLM’s two in-house call centers are essential in servicing and fulfilling the increasing number of orders over the last year as media exposure of OLM products has steadily increased as a result of OLM’s dominance of media time in Japan with 100% penetration into Japanese households. OLM airs more minutes per day combined across all mediums than any other company in Japan airing over 3300 hours per month not including the 720 hours per month aired on its own channel, SHOP 240.
Chief Officer of the Global Optimization Division Scott Reid comments on OLM’s Shop Japan brands: “2006 was a banner year as we were able to maintain stellar product performance by extending the life cycle of our Slendertone and Swivel Sweeper brands. These now famous Shop Japan brands respectively have sold over 600,000 and 1,000,000 units each. ShopJapan has become synonymous in Japan with convenient lifestyle products and appliances”.
In 2006 OLM expanded significantly into continuity products under the Hills Collection brand with main product lines bareMinerals and Hill’s Diet, featuring popular Japanese celebrity Aiko Sato. “We are extremely excited about the growth and prestige potential of the Bare Escentuals line and Hill’s Diet,” says Harry Hill.
In January 2007 OLM rolled out its fully localized Japanese version of the Billy’s Boot Camp infomercial. This exercise DVD series has sold well as evident by its no. 1 ranking on Japan’s largest online shopping mall where OLM hosts one of its several internet stores. At the time of writing, Billy’s Boot Camp has held the number one position for 10 weeks. After a successful test in early 2007, Turbo Jam, another exercise DVD is expected to perform equally as well after its full launch in July 2007 when OLM will begin airing the fully localized Japanese version of the infomercial.
Mr. Hill comments: “The differentiation between brand missions; ShopJapan for a convenient lifestyle; Hills Collection for continuity, beauty and health, and EXABODY for fitness and wellness is a critical ingredient for our long term success”.
OLM remains committed to bringing the best products from overseas to the Japanese marketplace. As Chief Officer of the Brand/Media Convergence Division, Hideki Hori, states: “Oak Lawn Marketing has always believed that successful categories of products outside of Japan will work in Japan. We are especially proud and excited that for the first time OLM has been able to make the Exercise DVD Category a success in Japan, the 2nd largest marketplace in the world.”
About Oak Lawn Marketing - Oak Lawn Marketing is a branding and media company headquartered in Nagoya, Japan with global operations in Europe, China and the United States. OLM is the largest infomercial company in Japan and its strategy for growth is encompassed by its focus on ‘Four Converging Circles of Success - Media, Product, Brand and Entertainment’. Currently the company has over 750 employees in Japan with offices in Nagoya, Tokyo, Osaka and Sapporo. OLM also has over 50 employees worldwide working at quality control offices in Shenzhen and Shanghai, at Global Infomercial Services located in Chicago and at the Vector offices located in London and Frankfurt.
For more information please contact:
Colin Walker
Executive Communications Team
Oak Lawn Marketing, Inc.
Direct: +81-52-950-1192
Fax: +81-52-950-1527
E-mail: colin_walker@oaklawn.co.jp
Web: http://www.oaklawn.co.jp/