WHEN Follow Me shampoo made its debut in the local market in the 1980s, many snickered at the choice of name.
Today, its manufacturer Tohtonku Sdn Bhd is having the last laugh as the brand has built up a strong following, not just in Malaysia but also in most areas of South-East Asia as well as Hong Kong and Japan.
Back then, the big bottle packaging and reasonable pricing made Follow Me a popular brand of personal care products for many housewives.
“Even now, consumers, especially housewives, probably still remember the big bottle of shampoo that the whole family could use for a long time,” says Jasper Lim, a director of Tohtonku and a third-generation Lim at the company.
Jasper Lim ... people want something that is unique and attractive that comes in an average- sized bottle Jasper says Follow Me was actually the name of an English language programme that his mum attended in the 1980s.
“My mum’s enthusiasm and loyalty to this programme struck my father that Follow Me could be a brand as he was looking for a unique name for his shampoo product.
“And that was how the brand was born,” he tells StarBizWeek at the company’s office in Subang Jaya.
When Tohtonku started its new business of personal care products in the early 1980s, it only had Follow Me shampoo, followed by the shower foam.
Later the company widened its product range to toiletries, skincare, oral care and other household products like dishwashing liquid and detergent under several brands such as Secret, Nano White, Nutox, Uber Men, Alaisyah and Oil Control.
Tohtonku’s factory in Penang manufactures shampoo and shower foam products while other products are outsourced.
“We have come a long way. It was tough when we introduced our products to neighbouring countries many years ago.
“We were stacked up against the more entrenched MNC (multinational corporation) brands which had a headstart in those countries.
“They had better resources and easily outspent any local company,” Jasper says, adding that the company also had to compete with cheaper products from China.
Established in 1964, the Penang-based company started as Tohtonku Trading, distributing Japanese medicinal products like plasters and the King Kong brand insecticide via door-to-door sales.
The King Kong brand of insecticide was so popular in the 1960s that company founder Lim Joi Him was nicknamed King Kong Lim.
The company subsequently attracted some Japanese investors in the 1970s and secured the distribution rights for other Japanese brand medicinal products such as Yoko Yoko and KoolFever (the white medicinal patch) as well as Sawaday car and bathroom air freshener products.
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