Cossma1611_GB

: photos: Renzo.luo (flag), Takayuki, Vepar5 (hand), Shutterstock.com plan of in ral c twe • H ing the ban ucts vers dom med effic skin mea man that on t al C buy Kore and Kore • T very prod prod surp wor Man reac ado bran One ion neig Amo tion ion, perf adv visib plica into laun was nati Lanc K-Beauty going strong in China Markets | What are the main features of Korean cosmetics? And what has led to the strong- ly increasing exports of Korean cosmetics? Mei Gräfe from Intergate Consulting explains. AUTHOR: Mei Gräfe Consultant and Managing Director of Intergate Consulting, Haar, Munich m.graefe@intergate-consulting.de www.intergate-consulting.de C hina is the second-biggest market for cosmetic prod- ucts worldwide; therefore, it is a very desirable market for cosmetic brands from abroad. While many brands from North America and Europe started tap- ping the Chinese market decades ago, cosmetics from Korea have been entering the market just in the past few years. In spite of this, they have turned into the si- lent winners of the strong market competition. The Korean cosmetic industry has a long history, supported by local consumers with a strong affinity for health, beauty and vi- tality. Korean consumers spend almost 7% of their available in- come on cosmetics. They are very much aware of brands and asso- ciate well-known brands with a luxurious lifestyle. Korean cosmetics in a nutshell Korean cosmetic products are characterised by some important features: • Advanced user experience: while the products tend to have a light texture with a subtle fra- grance, corresponding to what local customers expect from high-quality products, the pack- aging constitutes an integral part of the product itself. Popular Ko- rean cosmetics are characterised by pastel colours and aesthetic designs. • Most Korean cosmetics are natural-based. Local ingredients are very popular in the products: Korean ginseng, other local plant and fruit essences, volcanic earth, etc. Korean cosmetic products are associated automatically with “plant- and natural-based”. How- ever, there are only a few brands that are organic certified. It seems as if consumers make do with products that are just natural- or 40% of Korean cos- metics exports went to China in 2015 KOREAN COSMETICS are not only popu- lar in neighbouring Asian countries, but also in the US and Europe Korea’s cosmetics exports in 2015: a year-on-year increase of 53.6% BACKGROUND 28 l COSSMA 11 I 2016 KOREA’S ECONOMY AT A GLANCE With a population of 51.46 million and an average monthly income of almost EUR 2,500, Korea with its liberal market economy is one of the most developed countries in Asia and worldwide. On the other hand, Korea is a country with few natural resources and therefore strongly dependent on raw material import. The main industrial sectors are elec- tronics, telecommunication, the automotive industry, shipbuilding and chemicals. The service sector constitutes more than 60% of the Korean economy. It can be divided mainly into financial service, retail service and tourism. N N COS1611_28_Graefe_Korea.indd 28 27.10.16 15:52 COS1611_28_Graefe_Korea.indd 2827.10.1615:52

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