Peter keen to spread word on pain relief
THE Gold Coast-based distributor of pain relief cream Fisiocrem has big plans to spread its success among Australian consumers as it marks 12 years in operations.
Part-time Kiwi Peter Smith, who splits his time between New Zealand and the Gold Coast, acquired the rights to distribute Fisiocrem in 2007 through his company Pronat Group Australia Pty Ltd.
Mr Smith said the business, which recently moved to expanded premises in Molendinar, has great potential to make inroads beyond its core customer base of female shoppers and the elderly.
“We have a huge following from aged-care residents and 25-45 year old women who are buying for their families.
“But how do we target footy players? What about the 55year-old male who plays golf who takes Nurofen before they play because their back is stiff?”
Fisiocrem was developed by Paul Jeffrey and first sold in
Spain in 2003. The cream is marketed as a herbal remedy and includes plant-based active ingredients from arnica monica, hypericum perforatum (commonly known as St John’s wort) and calendula officinalis.
It competes against a raft of other products including Voltaren Emugel (the number one product), Pain Away, Deep Heat and Dencorub in what Mr Smith calls a “fiercely competitive sector”.
“We brought the product here because we saw a gap in the market,” Mr Smith said. “There was no natural or herbal product that was doing well.”
Mr Smith said most of its customers come to Fisiocrem after trying other products and finding them lacking.
“Most people like using our product because it is clean, easy to use and it doesn’t have a strong smell. It disappears after a few minutes and it is also not sticky. The elderly love it because they do not need to get up and wash their hands after use.”
Mr Smith said he targeted practitioners – physiotherapists and other professions using pain relief creams – for the first five years of the business.
He said that was a conscious move to win over that market before moving on to pharmacy chains.
“We did nothing but practitioners for the first five years. That was our most difficult period. We would attend their conferences, send them free product, and follow up to get their opinions.”
Mr Smith said it was a long and difficult process involving cold-calling.
“But the start up is the hardest part. The first 100 customers were harder to get than the second 100.”
He said the strategy worked with Fisiocrem doubling its customer base every year for the first five years.
“We would attend a conference with 20 or 30 people at our stand and physiotherapists in the background telling them to buy it. They sold it for us, we hardly had to sell it,” he said.
“The physiotherapists liked the fact it worked. Most of our customers are people that used Fisiocrem as a last resort and have come to trust our brand.”
Six years ago Fisiocrem landed in Good Price Pharmacy stores and three years ago made it into Chemist Warehouse – the largest chain in Australia.
Mr Smith said most sales come from Chemist Warehouse, however the addition of the pharmacy giant has not led to a drop off in business from the other chains.
Fisiocrem recently moved to premises on Production Ave in Molendinar that are almost triple the previous space on Newheath Drive in Arundel.
Mr Smith said sales grew 20 per cent last year and he intends on maintaining that momentum.
“Our challenge is to keep developing our product range in store, making it look better, getting more space, advertising to get more consumers, which is why we have created a new marketing role.”