Published : Sept. 24, 2013 - 20:16
Visitors look around the Story Garden, a corporate museum of AmorePacific in Osan, Gyeonggi Province. (AmorePacific)
AmorePacific, celebrating its 68th anniversary this year, is gearing for its next big leap to become a “great global brand” with more than half of its sales in overseas markets.
The nation’s first homegrown cosmetics maker, which has never lost its No. 1 market position, represents the very history of Korea’s beauty industry and trends over the past six decades.
Right after the nation’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule, when shoddy cosmetics products were prevalent in the market, its Melody Cream was the first decent hydrating cream for women.
During the Korean War in the early 1950s, ABC Pormade, a hair-styling wax made of all-natural ingredients, was an essential item for fashion-conscious “modern boys.”
The company’s “Oh My Love” campaign in the 1970s was the first of its kind in Korea, encouraging women here to wear make-up in a more creative and aggressive way.
And the launch of the Sulwhasoo brand in the late 1990s was the culmination of the company’s R&D efforts to find beauty ingredients from the nation’s traditional herbal medicine.
Coupled with a recent well-being lifestyle trend and new attention to oriental values, Sulwhasoo is now among the best-selling luxury skin-care brands, not just in Korea but across Asia.
AmorePacific CEO Suh Kyung-bae speaks at the company’s 68th anniversary ceremony on Sept. 5. (AmorePacific)
“Since starting our journey to promote Asian beauty 68 years ago, we have grown into a top cosmetics maker that creates attractive and innovative products,” said chairman and CEO Suh Kyung-bae.
“Now we are about to set another milestone to become a ‘great global’ brand.”
At the 68th anniversary celebrations held on Sept. 5, AmorePacific reaffirmed its resolution to achieve the ambitious goal of becoming among the top seven global cosmetics brands by 2020.
In doing so, the CEO stressed four key points: prioritizing customer needs, speeding up efforts for global expansion, innovation in management and nurturing human resources with a global mindset.
“If we carry out our pledges as planned, we can achieve more than 51 percent of our sales in overseas markets in the near future,” Suh said.
According to the company, its two flagship brands LANEIGE and Mamonde, which are gaining popularity among young Asian women, are already seeing more than half of their sales from overseas markets.
In the first half of this year, AmorePacific logged 274.1 billion won ($255.4 million) in overseas sales, up 39 percent on-year. Leading the strong performance is its Chinese operation, which soared 35.7 percent to 174.6 billion won during the same period.
In celebration of its 68th anniversary, the company also opened its own corporate culture museum, called “Story Garden,” in Osan, Gyeonggi Province, early this month.
The museum, whose design was inspired by camellia seeds, showcases the past, present and future of the company, it said.
The exhibition starts from the very beginning of the company’s history when late Yun Dok-jeong, mother of the company’s founder Suh Sung-whan, began selling camellia hair oil in 1932.
The museum also introduces the company’s hit products that are made of “best-quality” ingredients and its corporate culture.
By Lee Ji-yoon (
jylee@heraldcorp.com)