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Hallyu, which translates to ‘Korean wave’, is a cultural phenomenon where the global popularity of South Korean pop culture has dramatically risen since the 1990s.
In 2013, AmorePacific brought Innisfree to India, making it one of the first Korean skincare brands to become available in the country. At the time, a majority of their marketing spending was on educating the Indian consumer in Korean beauty, Mini Sood Banerjee, Assistant Director & Head of Marketing at AmorePacific, tells us.
They introduced their brand of toners, serums, sleeping masks and sheet masks to the Indian market, which were pioneering product categories. Since then, AmorePacific has brought into the country other K-beauty brands from under their wing, like Laneige, Etude and Sulwhasoo.
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The Indian Skincare Market Has Evolved
“Sheet masks are a popular Korean beauty trend that Innisfree brought into India. And by 2015, the Indian market became flooded with sheet masks.” Almost every skincare brand - from Forest Essentials to Garnier and L’Oreal, began adding sheet masks to their product portfolio.
Mini tells us that their K-beauty competition brands are also doing well in India. “In Covid, a lot of us began to understand the importance of me-time.” People began to indulge in self-care, and categories like serums and sleeping masks became bestsellers across beauty multi-brand outlets.
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Decoding Their Brands
All four brands - Innisfree, Laneige, Etude and Sulwhasoo - have different target audiences. Innisfree is aimed at mature skin, but every range has its own defined target audience. “I would pitch the Green Tea range to someone just starting with the skincare. But the Perfect9 regime, I would pitch to a person looking for anti-ageing.”
Laneige’s target group is younger. Today, every other 16-year-old likes using lip balms, which come in colourful tubes and different flavours. However, the sleeping masks and Water Bank range would be aimed at a customer of around 25 years.
Etude products are about 80% makeup and 20% skincare available within a sweet price point. “You can get a water tint that can be used on the lips, cheeks and eyes for around Rs 500. And Gen-Z loves such multitasking, on-the-go products.”
Lastly, Sulwhasoo is a luxury brand. The pricing is upmarket and caters to women really looking for moisturisation and richness in their routines.
Catering To Indian Needs
As India is a majorly tropical country, heavy or rich creams don’t do so well. For instance, “Innisfree has a soybean essence, which is doing well in other countries, but we never launched it in India.” Mini explains that the product is best suited for people with very dry skin or who live in extreme cold weather conditions.
Korean sunscreens are doing particularly well in the Indian market. People are starting to realise the importance of sunscreen in the land where the sun always shines. “Newer formulations of Korean sunscreen don't leave a white cast and are lightweight and watery, which is what customers are looking for these days.”
While AmorePacific brands follow global trends for product development, within each country, the marketing team has the liberty to decide whether they want to push that product as the engine product or make it a sub-product.
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The Marketing Strategy
AmorePacific does multiple marketing activities around the year, with influencer and digital being at the core. “As a Korean brand, we have to Indianise content so as to resonate with the Indian audience.” They do shoots and collaborations with Indian brands and have offline, experiential events for VIP consumers and the media.
Their brands are now spread across over 250 stores in India through multi-branded outlets like Tira, Nykaa Luxe and Shoppers Stop. E-commerce has also taken a large chunk of sales. “I would say the sales split between e-commerce and offline is about 60:40.”
On A Final Note
Outside of skincare, Korean culture has taken the country by storm in its own right. The viewing of K-dramas in India increased by more than 370% in 2020 over 2019. People have started to experiment with Korean foods like kimchi, bibimbap and ramen. K-pop is also booming, with bands like BTS and BLACKPINK making waves.
AmorePacific’s goal in India is for every person to know and understand K-beauty. They are working on extending their availability across all platforms so that anyone wishing to try Korean products can do so easily.
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