Netcoo Magazine English edition Vol. 1│2009048

Inside the Industry

049www.netcoo.biz Netcoo Magazine English edition Vol. 1│2009

Inside the Industry

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Inside the Industry

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WellStar International. Sounds good, sounds like new competent health pioneers. WellStar is one of those German success stories, a company full of youth and just as full of potential. A newcomer with the necessary skills to climb the ladder to success, soon to be playing in the same league with the big players in direct selling. Let us take a look behind the scenes and hear about WellStar’s visions, aims, and strategies. The young and refreshingly target and success oriented firm lead by top-networkers Christian Wiesner, Ali Jason Bazooband and Dr. Keywan Grashoff, has been known for quite a while among industry insiders – not just because each of the three leaders has already built a dream of a career before starting at WellStar. Well-Star conducts its business well, and the figures are an impressive testimony to their success.

C hristian Wiesner, probably one of the most prominent German networkers, is renowned for making sure he always gets a head start and never

letting success be determined by luck or fate. In 2003, he moved with his WellStar headquarters right into the top floor of the famous Business Tower in Berlin, often seen in German TV pro-grammes, directly next to Checkpoint Charlie. Always reaching for the stars, as the name sug-gests, the centre of Christian Wiesner’s new business just had to be right at the top of the capital.

You can see it straight away: WellStar is aiming for ever higher heights.

The product vision:A complete range of natural –and affordable – vital substances:algae for everybody!

Let us go back in time to the beginning of Well-Star. At the centre of this part of company his-tory is Dr. Keywan Grashoff, Christian Wiesner’s mother. She is the first visionary of the start-up business. Dr. Grashoff is an accomplished medical doctor, having run her own practice for many years.

For over four decades she pursued an active interest in natural medicine. She arrived at the conclusion that despite the varied means and methods of modern medicine, more and more people are becoming ill at a younger age – a fact that shocked her.

Three visions are driving WellStar in their motivation to completely redefine the industry

WellStar International

The Vision to Help Everybody Stay Healthy!

Today’s vital substance deficienciesThis became her main motivation to find out about the root causes of the problem. When she began her research, she soon found that “80 per cent of all diseases stem from nutritional deficiencies”, whereby the deficiency symptoms people suffer from directly correlate with another phenomenon: the worrying reduction, according to Dr. Grashoff, in the concentration of vital substances in our contemporary diet. Foodstuffs that ten or fifteen years ago were still full of essential nutrients and vitamins are now suffering a loss of these vital components of up to 80 per cent. When Dr. Grashoff had a first glance at the wellness market in 2000, she soon realised that most of the products only supplied a “relatively small range of these vital sub-stances”: only vitamins and enzymes in separate products, but no holistic approach to health could be found. “The full effects of these health boosters can only unfold when they are used in combination with one another, so that they can complement one another in a highly potent composition”, the doctor explains.

Dr. Grashoff’s dream and vision were born: “to enable everybody, regardless of their income, to lead a healthy life.” However, someone who needs to take up to 10 products simultaneously in order to cover the full range of their needs for nutritional supplements, “would basically have to buy a whole cupboard full of products”, she further argues. “This is not only extremely inconvenient, but first and foremost really expensive. 200 to 300 euros per month for each household or person is a huge amount of spending for disease prevention and wellness, which many people are neither willing, nor able to afford.” This is exactly the reason why,

according to the algae researcher, “So many people have not yet moved along with the well-ness trend.”

Dr. Grashoff started to ask herself, “whether this was meant to be health only for the wealthy, and why wellness was only really an issue for people who could afford it.” Was health after all a matter of class? Of course! The doctor knew that people on the one hand wanted to stay healthy, but on the other hand “had less and less money to spend on this.” This is how she started to formulate her aim in life: to make health available to everyone.

Thus she started researching and found the basis for her future work: “People in the future do not need more medicine to treat the symptoms of their illnesses – they need the natural nutrients back, which protect the body from

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disease and keep it fit and healthy, so that they will not get sick in the first place.”

A conclusion that expresses WellStar’s credo in one sentence, and which represents everything the company stands for.

Spirulina with 4,000 vital substancesDr. Grashoff found what she was looking for in Asia, and from there developed products that could be sold on the European market: a combination of two micro-algae, the Spirulina and the Chlorella, which she turned into the top product “Green Gold”. Green Gold meanwhile has become a registered brand of WellStar International, making WellStar the first company on the European market to offer micro-algae in drinkable form. 4,000 vital substances, 90 per cent of which are directly absorbed into and used by the biological metabolism are included, which make this product unique. Green Gold is not a ready-made juice, but a powder free from any synthetic preservatives, which the consumer mixes freshly with water every day. The prices for the tins of precious powder start at 25 euros, which makes around 12 litres of Green Gold micro-algae drink.

“In this way, a litre only comes to two euros, while comparable other wellness drinks can cost up to 30 to 50 euros per litre,” the algae specialist tells us.

It is therefore no wonder that WellStar Interna-tional in three years has already sold its Green Gold product half a million times. With this turnover, WellStar has become the European market leader in micro-algae products.

The marketing vision:E-networking – the direct approach to the customer! But having a good product is only halfway to being a successful start-up company. One question remains to be solved: how should it be marketed? His mother, Christian Wiesner tells us, had always had “a natural aversion to the tradi-tional retail sector. She found it way too profit- rather than people-oriented.”

Dr. Grashoff was looking for a more direct way to the customers in order to make sure that they could obtain the best possible product for the best possible price. This was the point when synergies evolved: Christian Wiesner knows the

direct selling sector like the back of his hand. At Quorum International, a globally operating network corporation in the 1990s, he became the world-wide number one. Before WellStar, the two had no business relationship, but now his mother was asking him for advice.

“I was immediately excited about the possibilities”, Christian Wiesner recalls.

“We are not giving this one away, we are going to do this ourselves”, he decided. And in his mind the pieces started to fit together. He was certain: the way to success was a top product – namely Green Gold – in combination with the marketing revolution of e-networking. E-networking is a new version of online marketing, which developed in the US. The major players in the e-networking arena are corporations such as Dell Computers, Amazon and Quixtar, a subsidiary of the Amway Group. The latter have reached a sales volume of over one billion dollars within their first seven years – e-networking is therefore proven to work.

High consumer sales, fast duplication –it works! For network visionary Wiesner, e-networking “has an immense advantage compared to tradi-tional network marketing: the products are ordered online and directly sent to the consumer. This means that the distributors recommend the product, but do not need to keep a big stock in order to supply all their clients. They do not need to sell and deliver the products themselves, as the customer can order them directly on the WellStar website.”

“Consequently, we are one of the few direct selling companies in Germany with truly high customer sales”, the WellStar Network President further explains. “No warehouses, no rent, no employees. This, in turn, enables our distributors to work profitably with e-networking from the first month they start.”

E-networking –the system of the futureChristian Wiesner started to look into what happened on the American market and acted according to his motto: “What America can do, Europe can do three times better!”, which he tells us with a healthy portion of self-esteem. They started out with a test phase in four countries: Germany, Switzerland, Austria and, as their first branch in Eastern Europe, Hungary. The purpose of this phase was to find out how the product would be received, to then in turn make it perfect. Only after this would they start with full force – and they did!

Christian Wiesner is happy: “Now we offer fantastic value for money, while in the re-order programme additional price-reductions of up to 50 per cent are possible. This means that one can get our Green Gold micro-algae drinks from two

euros per litre. Furthermore, we are fast: the goods are delivered within 48 hours after payment – with no postage to pay! By downsizing on unnecessary bureaucracy, we were able to reduce our prices drastically, while increasing

“No warehouses, no rent, no employees. This, in turn, enables our distributors to work

profitably with e-networking from the first month they start.”

“With two euros per litre we set off a price avalanche in the wellness sector that never

happened before.”

Ali Jason Bazooband,General Manager Europe

Dr. Keywan Grashoff,Co-founder and product developer

Christian WiesnerFounder and Network President

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the new foundation concept guaranteeing growth and stability for Wellstar and its part-ners, stands most importantly for customer orientation and loyalty.

The service vision: Best price – best quality – best serviceThe back office of the Webstar online portal has been well organized by WellStar. “Really counter-productive to success is when customers have to wait weeks to recieve their orders, the company customer service is not working in the company and the administration is inefficient”, says Christian Wiesner. Fortunately for WellStar, with its high-class and value-for-money products, he was able to win a man who brought with him all the skills to make a perfect customer service a self-evident reality. A manager from traditional industry, who knows in his sleep how to do every-thing that WellStar needs to rise like a real star in the sky. Ali Jason Bazooband, former General Manager Europe for Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS), Europe’s largest aeronautic, space and defense systems company. Bazooband was responsible for Europe-wide business and boss of twelve European Country Managers. “In the aeronautic industry, the reaction time to a problem can be maximum 15 minutes.” This explains why Ali Jason Bazooband is the ideal manager for Christian Wiesner’s inno-vative start-up business.

“The WellStar vision is as ingenious as it is simple”, General Manager A.J. Bazooband comments. However, only if the product stays popular with the customer can success be sustainable, he says. There seem to be no reasons for worry: within the WellStar rank and file, and by now outside the company as well, there is no doubt about the success of the product and price concept.

“With two euros per litre we set off a price avalanche in the wellness sector that never happened before. It is almost like someone selling petrol 90 per cent cheaper”, General Manager A.J. Bazooband explains.

“In many branches distributors normally do not have contact with the final consumers”, WellStar visionary Christian Wiesner adds. “Service is normally lacking. Often, the customers are running after the sales representatives in order to finally get their products, as most dis-tributors would rather not drive all around the area to deliver orders for a few euros to their customers. For many this presents an unstable zero-sum game.”

“We need direct contact between the company and the final consumer. And we need the best tools for the sales representatives, so they can easily gain and retain their customers”, Christian Wiesner is convinced. “This builds new trust, which increases customer retention. Our long-term goal is 90 per cent customer sales, not internal turnover! Our sales to final consumers

are the most stable part of our turnover, and we support that.” Returning to the WellStar vision, Christian Wiesner explains: “We are redefining the industry – and creating New Wellness! With a single product supplying everything, more affordable than anything comparable and offering clear advantages to our customers – thanks to fast, free-of-charge delivery service and a marketing concept unique in the industry.”

The WellStar vision, according to its founder, is really quite simple: “One billion sales with one million permanent customers and market lead-ership in less than five years!”

“We have already reached our target tobecome market leader with low customer

prices and highest premiums for active salespartners”, Christian Wiesner continues

full of excitement.

Headquarters in Berlin

Founder andNetwork President – Christian Wiesner

Co-founder and product developerDr. Keywan Grashoff

General Manager EuropeAli Jason Bazooband

2004 official launch in Germany

Headquarters in Berlin

2005 official launch in Austria

2006 official launch in Switzerland

2007 official launch in Hungary

2008 preparation for market launches

in Poland, Romania and

Scandinavia

“WellStar’s turnover is going

to break the 100 million euros

threshold in 2009 while pursuing

the goal to reach one billion euros

in the next five years throughout

Europe.

At present, WellStar is already

market leader in micro-algae

wellness drinks and aims to

become the number one leader

in the whole European wellness

market.”

bonuses by up to 60 per cent. For this purpose, we introduced our 10 per cent Europe fund for our active top leaders, which provides them lucrative premiums on Europe-wide sales.”

“We have already reached our target to become market leader with low customer prices and highest premiums for active sales partners”, Christian Wiesner continues, full of excitement.

Webstar – the in-house 3D vitality coaching portal With Webstar, WellStar sets new standards in the direct selling sector. “Webstar is our next big step ahead and we are extremely happy about the trust and excitement on the side of our part-ners. The first years have already been a successful but also an important learning phase. We have found and refined our marketing concept. Web-star is now completing this positive development – we are ready for success on a big scale.”

And the amount of pre-registrations for the new vitality coaching portal simply confirms this positive outlook. Webstar registrations have reached a new peak over the last couple of weeks: “The amount of new registrations to Webstar has by now increased to 20,000 per month, with a further upward trend! Our aim – 100,000 registrations in 2008 and one million by the end of next year are absolutely realistic. We are very pleased with the amount of registrations – the hard work of the last years is finally being

rewarded. For 2009 we are expecting even bigger growth than this year. Webstar offers every user, and especially Wellstar customers, a direct way to more vitality and fitness – an ideal tool for our distributors to generate new clients and increase customer retention.”

Furthermore, the new Webstar portal provides all its users with the possibility to order their recommended Wellstar products straight away online. As an avatar, clients are guided through an exciting 3D-animated world, they are also

offered free coaching in fitness, nutrition and stress relief, which increases their knowledge in these areas and builds a trusting relationship between them and Wellstar. Therefore, Webstar,

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What exactly does Webstar encompass?Christian Wiesner: Webstar means advice and coaching for our customers concerning their diet and fitness. This involves the evaluation of per-sonal indices calculated after an extensive initial check-up test. WellStar calls the main index the vitality index. In adition, specific indices such as those for fitness and nutrition are calculated, so that goals and plans can be defined on the basis of these datasets. Webstar, avatar-run in an exciting 3D environment, offers this free service inclusive of coaching in the areas of diet, fitness and stress-relief to all our customers in adition to the Wellstar products.

Why is Webstar being launched by Wellstar?Christian Wiesner: Webstar offers enormous potential and is an excellent tool for our dis-tributors. We want to coach our customers and build a better understanding of health and fitness. More and more people today have the desire to stay fit and eat healthily, but many do not know how. This is where Webstar comes into play. Through the trusting relationship it builds with our users, we also achieve higher customer loyalty. Our goal is to win one million standing customers, which would lead to our sales going up to one billion euros.

How can Wellstar distributors use Webstar?Christian Wiesner: Very easily, by buying a license for 99 euros a year making Webstar free for all of their own customers.

How was the Webstar pre-launch phase?Christian Wiesner: Webstar is already booming in Hungary, Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Everybody is excited and we are witnessing an enormous rise in sales volume in all the countries that are taking part.

With its emphasis on e-networking, Wellstaris setting itself apart from other businesses.Why are you focussing on e-networking? Christian Wiesner: The internet, for the new generation, is as important and taken for granted as cars, for instance. The internet is saving our distributors and our company a lot of time and money. It also makes us faster and more efficient. Like this we can re-invest more money in premiums, incentives and projects such as Web-star. Already today we are effectively paying approximately 60 per cent of our turnover com-mission volume. And time can be “re-invested” in more important tasks such as building our dis-tributive networks and expanding into new countries.

In my view we also have a clear competitive advantage. Since we introduced e-networking (our web office and shop) a year ago, we have increased our monthly sales fivefold. With Web-star (web coaching) we want to grow even further.

Is Wellstar with e-networking at the vanguard of the industy?Christian Wiesner: Definately, and I am certain that we will soon be market leader with this concept – like Dell in the computer industry and Amazon in the book-selling trade. With Webstar we can take advantage of all the possibilities of the world wide web, without losing the personal distributor-client relationship.

Webstar Awarded

European Innovation Prize for Marketing & Service 2008by Netcoo International Business & Lifestyle Magazine

Netcoo in Conversation with

Christian WiesnerThe unique Webstar 3D Vitality Coaching Programme

got off to a fantastically successful start at the World

Launch Convention in Hungary. 20,000 people a month

had already been registering for Webstar in the lead-

up to the event. After a year of preparation, Webstar is

now also beginning to bear fruit in media terms. Well-

Star International has won the Netcoo International

Business & Lifestyle Magazine “2008 European Inno-

vation Prize for Marketing & Service” for its 3D Vitality

Coaching Programme. The Netcoo International

Business & Lifestyle Magazine is Europe’s leading

specialist magazine for direct sales and network

marketing.

Netcoo Managing Director Andreas Graunke expressed himself in the following words: “We are delighted to be able to present the 2008 European Innovation Prize to WellStar International. We monitor a total of over 550 direct sales companies in the European direct marketing market. This is a burgeoning market where the number of companies is constantly on the increase. The criteria by which our Innovation Prize is awarded are strict are not easy to fulfil. WellStar, or in this case Webstar, has met all these criteria and requirements. We are sure that Webstar represents a sure foundation for WellStar to pursue even stronger growth. The impressive feature of Webstar is its forward-looking business model. Today, we are very much in a position to say that innovative direct sales companies represent the future. More and more entrepreneurs are recognising that direct sales is a sales channel of the future. However, you need to be innovative in order to achieve sustainable success in this market.

There is no doubt that innovation constitutes the foundation of lasting success for direct sales companies. Innovations are the engine of growth, prosperity and a rising standard of living within our society. Without inno-vations there can be no future in technical, economic and social terms. Webstar is innovative in that it is at the cutting edge of present developments,

is structured in an end customer oriented manner and offers WellStar sales partners an excellent tool for customer identification and

customer loyalty.”The main focus of the “Netcoo 2008 European Innovation Prize

for Marketing & Service” is on innovative and interesting solutions characterised by the particularly high degree of benefit they bring

and the especially high level of functionality they display in terms of direct sales.

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Inside the Industry