PROMOTIONStarting with a small retail company that sold
household goods in 1980, an ambitious Sin-
gaporean entrepreneur has grown a business
that today spans a range of leading lifestyle
and wellness brands available in 24 countries
around the world.
Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s,
Ron Sim built a regional firm selling health
and wellness products in Hong Kong, Taiwan,
Malaysia and China after the recession in 1985
made it clear that he needed to grow beyond
the Singapore market to thrive.
The company, which was renamed OSIM
International in 1993, expanded rapidly
following the phenomenal success of its
flagship line of OSIM premium massage
chairs. Over the years, the brand has crafted a
reputation for innovation across its compre-
hensive range of products, winning numer-
ous industry awards for design and business
excellence, including the prestigious Red Dot
Design Award four times.
His entrepreneurial achievements have
also led to personal honors. In 2003, he won
Ernst & Young's prestigious "Entrepreneur of
The Year" award in Singapore. That same year,
Singapore-based The Business Times named
him “Businessman of the Year.”
The company survived the 1997 Asian
financial crisis and 2008 global financial crisis,
emerging stronger each time on the strength
of its brands and a commitment to financial
prudence.
With the OSIM product line providing a
solid foundation for the firm, Mr. Sim has
expanded his portfolio of brands through a
series of acquisitions over the past 15 years.
He renamed his company V3 Group in 2016.
The company's vision is to become Asia's
leading luxury group in the lifestyle and well-
ness business categories as well as aspira-
tional brands.
Apart from OSIM in the lifestyle category,
V3’s portfolio also includes T WG Tea, in which
the group initially acquired a 35% stake in
2011 and subsequently upped its holding to
70% in 2014. TWG Tea has expanded to more
than 60 tea salons & boutiques worldwide,
and is now recognized as one of the finest
luxury tea brands in the world. To ensure the
quality of its products, TWG Tea tasters travel
thousands of miles across the globe every
year, sampling hundreds of teas in search of
the best harvests direct from the source.
In 2003, Mr. Sim acquired ONI Global, which
holds the exclusive franchise rights to the
GNC brand in Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan.
Together with its subsidiary LAC, a wellness
brand that combines Eastern herbal ingre-
dients and modern technology, ONI Global
helps customers improve their overall physi-
cal, mental and emotional wellness.
V3’s most recent investment is its 69%
stake in Futuristic, a Singapore companythat manufactures high-quality store fixtures
for leading global brands such as Victoria's
Secret and H&M. Given V3’s emphasis on store
design and delivering a premium retail expe-
rience, Futuristic is set to bring synergies by
offering valuable insight on trends and devel-
opments in branding and store presentation.
All of V3’s offerings enjoy strong brand rec-
ognition in their core markets and together
have a presence in more than 100 cities
worldwide. With continuous innovation,
high-quality products and focus on customer
experience, V3 has become a brand creator
and developer in lifestyle and wellness.
"You have to create and make that differ-
ence. Besides brand positioning, you have
to have good concepts, good design, good
material, at the right price," says Mr. Sim,
the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
of V3.
It is a philosophy that is practiced at all the
group's brands, and one that will drive its con-
tinued success for years to come.Following the success of its lagship product OSIM massage chairs, the Singaporean retailer aims to become
Asia’s leading luxury lifestyle and wellness group through its portfolio of premium brands.V3 GROUP:
FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH
Ron Sim, Chairman and
Chief Executive Oicer of VOSIM uInnity LuxeTWG Tea