By Maan D’Asis Pamaran
There’s still a stigma attached to availing one’s self of beautifying services. People closely scrutinize celebrities and try to guess if they have “had something done,” as if doing so would take away from their luster. What should be understood though, is that undergoing aesthetic procedures can be a big confidence booster. This was explained by fashion stylist, interior designer, and online influencer Cat Arambulo-Antonio when she was launched as the Philippine representative for the MERZ Aesthetics Serendipity Journey, also known as the MASJ campaign.
This MASJ squad is comprised of 11 women from across the Asia-Pacific region who happily share their personal journeys to self-love and the feeling of being empowered to pursue the best version of themselves through the Merz portfolio of aesthetics products and procedures. It is a powerful movement, one that is supported by two men in particular: Merz Asia Pacific regional commercial director Conway Rappa and Merz Philippines Healthcare Inc. country manager Jorge Tuazon Libanan.
In their professional and personal capacities, the two know very well how beauty and self-confidence are intertwined. Libanan mentions a study conducted by Merz Aesthetics in partnership with Frost & Sullivan called The Merz Aesthetics APAC Consumer Study: “Discovering The Truth About Beauty and Self-Confidence,” wherein women were asked if they saw themselves as beautiful. “70% of the respondents across 11 countries in Asia Pacific lack self confidence and half of these less-confident individuals find it difficult to associate themselves as being beautiful,” he explains.
Rappa adds, “For way too long, the beauty and aesthetics industry has been focused on problems with the face and what needed to be corrected. This Serendipity Journey campaign is a social movement where there is a chance for us to realign what it means to be beautiful; and that is to focus on each of our favourite features. We want to make this a more positive approach to beauty, and make sure that everyone is happy and able to share their experience, because they are proud to show the best version of themselves.”
The two also criticized how the beauty industry has placed too much pressure on women to look a certain way. is, according to the gentlemen, leads to unrealistic expectations. ere are those who come to clinics, show the doctor a photo of a celebrity, and say, “I want to look like her.”
For Libanan and Rappa, the MASJ campaign aims to help clients embark on a journey of self-discovery, where they will find and fall in love with their favorite features. The end goal is to make them feel confident by enhancing the features that they really like about themselves.
“The message will be to help them understand why and how they can go about their own personal journey,” Libanan shares.
The two gentlemen have had extensive exposure to the pharmaceutical industry before joining Merz, coincidentally both starting out their careers as medical representatives. This exposure has helped them understand the importance of talking to doctors and getting them on board with the advocacy. Doctors, they say, are the touchpoints with the patients.
Rappa says that the Merz representatives visit as many doctors as they can, to talk about their products and then schedule training for them both here and abroad so they can understand better how the products complement each other to provide the best results. “We must remember that the face is not just bones and flesh. There are layers of muscles connected with collagen, fat and blood vessels. The doctor is supposed to be the artist who can understand structure of face and visualize how the patient will look like. They will be the ones to advise patients where and how much to inject, where to apply micro-focused ultrasound treatment for lifting.” This is why training is important and also why one should avoid buying things off the Internet because it is cheaper, they caution.
Libanan says that moving forward, they will also involve the doctors in the MASJ campaign to change how they talk to their patients. “The traditional way of interacting with the patients is to say, ‘I think you have a problem.’ With the MASJ campaign, we can help change the conversation where the doctor can say, ‘I think I want to enhance your lips, because they are beautiful already,’ because telling the patient they have a problem goes back to that lack of self-confidence.”
The two share wide grins when asked if men are also their target market. “The answer is yes,” Libanan reacts. “I can readily say that men are not as open to talk about it, but I think this campaign will help them too.”
“More and more men are secretly using their wives’ creams and lotions as part of their routine,” Rappa spills and laughingly admits that he is one of them. “There are men who want to discover how to look their best but don’t have that same avenue as women do.” Libanan adds, “It is not about being vain. It is just that they want to project the best version of themselves as men.”
There are more studies now where the advancement in the beauty and aesthetics industry is looking into different applications of a product, and making treatments safer, less painful, and more long-lasting and natural-looking.
Social media has had a big impact on the industry, but not always on the positive side. With the launch of the Merz Aesthetics Serendipity Journey campaign, the two men and their “squad” hope to achieve big changes in how people perceive beauty. Libanan says, “I envision that with what we have started, that survey result that I mentioned earlier will be reversed, wherein more women will be able to love themselves and confidently see themselves as beautiful.”
