Novuhair head bags Agora Award

Nutramedica Inc. President and CEO Sheila Mae Velilla earned the Outstanding Achievement in Entrepreneurship–Medium Scale prize at the 37th Agora Awards, held at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) on October 26.

The Agora Awards recognizes individuals and organizations for exceptional marketing skills and strategies. It is touted to be the premier marketing awards body in the country and sets the high stan­dards of excellence in the industry.

Founded by Velilla in 2004, Nutramedica is a 100-percent wholly-owned Filipino enterprise that develops beauty and health­care products from natural and mostly indigenous ingredients. It is a pioneer in the commercializa­tion of virgin coconut oil (VCO) and gained great success with its slogan “healthiest oil on earth,” which led to its acquisition by a big company.

It continued to create more VCO-based skin care products, and has hit the jackpot with its latest, and now banner, prod­uct—Novuhair, dubbed as nature’s answer to hair loss. Launched in 2009, this breakthrough product is made of 19 herbal ingredients and comes in topical scalp lotion, herb­al shampoo, and herbal condition­er. It effectively battles the effects of hair loss and helps enhance and restore one’s crowning glory.

Since its launch in 2009, Novuhair has enjoyed tremendous success, and it is widely accepted not only here in the Philippines, but also in other countries. In fact, it is set to enter the international market, starting with the United States in December of this year. Such bold, yet timely, move of the company to export Novuhair to the US and, eventually the Middle East, also opens the opportunity for other Filipino products to penetrate the global market.

Novuhair’s popularity and market leadership may be attribut­ed to the company’s initial market study, coupled with right timing, as well as the smart use of resources by coming up with an effective triple-media campaign that’s best described as low-budget, yet high-impact marketing.

Leveraging on its organic growth from a microenterprise to medium scale with over 30 employees in a span of 12 years, Nutramedica continues to further develop, market and distribute high-quality goods that could bring honor to the country.

The firm raises the bar in entrepreneurship with its faithful adherence to best business practices, such as the provision of high-quality products and excellent services, adaptability to market trends, constant innova­tion, diversification of trade, and giving back to society.

“Great things in business are never done by one person, they are done by a team of people,” Velilla quoted the late Steve Jobs when asked about her secret to success in the competitive beauty and healthcare business.

“We at Nutramedica also adhere to our core values of in­tegrity, trust, fairness, discipline, humility, leadership, teamwork, and faith in God. That’s our win­ning formula,” she added.