Flawless keeps up with the times

In this very progressive and competitive world, the name of the game is always reinvention.

Seven years ago, Flawless opened its very first clinic at the SM Megamall and now it has 29 branches all over the Philippines. Undeniably it is on top of the heap and had been very successful since that soft opening on Dec. 8, 2002.

So why tamper with success? The answer is simple: In order to stay as the leader in its own market, Flawless has to keep up with the times. And so a re-branding is in order.

Fortunately, Flawless had always been up-to-date with its machines, equipment and brings in all the time the latest treatments from abroad (forever on the lookout is lady boss Rubby Sy, who passes on all her discoveries to head doctor Michelle Cruz to check if everything is medically safe). On its seventh year, all it has to do is change the logo and standardize the look of the clinic, plus a little add-on here and there — and that is the job of Jacqueline Thng, a top caliber brand consultant from Singapore.  

They also have a new slogan: Less is more. According to Flawless marketing director Francis Labora, that means “less hassle, more beauty.” (You simply go to a mall where there will always be a Flawless clinic and you come out beautiful.)

I have my own personal Flawless slogan. It did not come from Flawless management, but I’m uttering it now anyway and here it is: Less sit-ups, more abs.

For the longest time, I’ve been dying to have firmer abs. Gold’s Gym, of course, is there always to make me fit and healthy, but you need to work it out, baby.

There are ways to have trim waistlines and one is to starve yourself, which I will not do. You give up sugar, salt and everything delectable in life. And then you start to look haggard and prune-like — and still there is fat hanging from your lower abs, which is the most stubborn. You can also do a thousand crunches a day, but eventually your body will no longer respond to the exercise.

Starting this year, I made regular visits to Flawless (I used to go only to have a pimple or two injected — to make it disappear the next day.) This was when I discovered the new machine called photo-gen (short for regeneration) and it does wonders to the abs by tightening the skin (it is also great for contouring the face and firming other parts of the body like the arms and thighs for women).

And so now, instead of spending enormous time doing sit-ups, I just go to Flawless in Robinsons Galleria, have my photo-gen treatment for less than half an hour and sleep through it.

During the Flawless re-launch last Sunday at the Blue Leaf in McKinley Hills, one of the first things that Flawless endorser Lorna Tolentino asked me (we hadn’t been together in a while) was if I lost weight. “Just in the middle” was my quip. My worry is that I leave for the US today on an assignment and heaven knows how much I would be stuffing myself there. (I need to eat and boost my immune system to fight against the swine flu virus.) Fortunately, Flawless is here to undo all the damage once I go on a binge (the richest ice cream and pies that could never be perfected in our kitchen at home). Surely, the Flawless people will be seeing more of me when I get back — fat for sure — but I will not make that my problem anymore (don’t you love modern technology?).

Meanwhile, last Sunday’s Flawless re-launch dubbed as An Endless Night of More Beauty, turned out to be a simple, but elegant affair and that was still in keeping with the less is more slogan. Dr. Vicki Belo, escorted by her lawyer, Atty. Adel Tamano and children Quark and Cristalle Henares, stole the spotlight from everyone else effortlessly. She was hounded by media, but politely tried to stay away from interviews. Less talk, less mistake. Even she now believes that less is more.