“Change is the only way out,” said Anthony Mong, managing director of Art’s King Company Limited. Established in 1980, the company started by specialising in semi-precious stone cutting and carving. In recent years it has transformed from an OEM to an ODM, producing its own branded jewellery.
About three years ago, a customer commissioned Mong to produce perfume bottles with semi-precious stones. The previous manufacturer simply bored a hole in the gemstone in which the minerals reacted with the chemicals in the perfume and resulted in many problems such as spoiling the content. Having spent half a year to tackle all technical issues, Mong finally came up with a solution by setting a metal perfume container in the gemstone and the customer was satisfied with the results.
Art’s King later applied a patent for the design and launched Scentainer. Inspired by snuff bottles, Scentainer combines the concepts of healing gemstones and aromatherapy to serve health improvement and adornment functions as jewellery. Instead of jewellery, Mong positions his products as gifts suitable for a wide range of consumers, especially as health and wellness are increasingly prioritised by worldwide consumers nowadays. Apart from bracelets and necklaces designed for female consumers, mobile accessories that are suitable for elderly and male consumers are also available.
Mong pointed out that in the United States, essential oil is very common and is adopted by nearly 80 percent of the country’s population. Combining the powers of healing gemstones relevant to each of the seven chakras of the body and the benefits of matching essential oils, Scentainer could achieve different health effects for different users.
Aside from product design and manufacturing, Mong has also put a lot of effort in marketing. At first sight one may mistake the catalogue of the collection for a lifestyle magazine. It introduces the gemstones representing each chakra with corresponding essential oils. Moreover it comes with a mood board with matching outfits and accessories to complement the products and enhance the wearers’ fashion appeal.
Using the seventh chakra (crown chakra) as an example, the corresponding jewellery collection is called Purple Lotus, as the chakra is represented by purple and this collection comprises of pieces manufactured in purple fluorite and amethyst. Users could pair it with tropical basil, sweet basil, lotus, pepper mint and nutmeg essential oils to achieve effects including clearing the mind, improving focus and enhancing confidence in others.
Launched in mid-2016, the Scentainer collection debuted in Tucson in the United States and received fair feedback with 80 percent of the goods sold. Products of the collection have obtained patent in mainland China, Hong Kong, the United States and Japan. In mainland China the collection is traded under the brand Meli Moli by licensees and distributors while in overseas they mainly wholesale their products.
Regarding the change from an OEM to an ODM, Mong frankly said it was like an uphill battle. Unlike an OEM, they now need to make an immense initial investment to develop a new product with no guarantee of return. While they still engage in gemstone wholesale and carving, their focus is Scentainer.
As competition in the semi-precious gemstone wholesale market toughens, Anthony Mong felt that the old business model could be a dead end that leads to a vicious circle of price competition, especially when there is very limited product differentiation between competitors. While expecting the investment return from Scentainer, he has great confidence in the market potential of the products. He also unveiled his plan to participate in the essential oil trade shows in Europe for more business opportunities.
← Back