Published : Oct. 21, 2013 - 19:25
Charmzone’s skin-care and cosmetic products
Korea’s skin-care product maker Charmzone, which celebrates its 29th anniversary this year, has continued efforts to expand its presence in the crucial Chinese market over the past decade.
Marking the culmination of the efforts, the company was recently selected to sell its products on board China’s top four airlines.
A total of eight products, the largest lineup sold by a Korean beauty firm, started selling as in-flight duty-free products via Air China, China Southern Airlines, China Eastern Airlines and China Hainan Airlines, according to the company.
Among the products sold aboard the airlines, the company is pinning high hopes on its high-end brand Charm In Cell. The hot-selling line contains the patented Tocovita C ― a combination of fat-soluble tocopherol and water-soluble vitamin C.
“We are the originator of ‘K-Beauty’ as we started in-flight sales via Asiana Airlines for the first time as a Korea-based cosmetics brand,” said a Charmzone official.
“With the new sales deal with China’s major airlines, we have paved the way for us to introduce our quality products and expand our presence globally.”
Until the final deal was signed, however, it was a tough process, according to company officials.
Unlike other firms that had prepared for the bidding for four to five months, Charmzone had only two months as it was invited belatedly.
Moreover, Chinese duty-free and aviation officials had almost no idea about the Korean skin-care brand, which started its Chinese business in 1994.
“We have some fanatic customers in China. But our overall brand awareness is still low largely due to our no-advertisement policy,” said the official.
Apart from its hit TV commercial featuring a green frog in the 1990s, Charmzone doesn’t do advertisements either in Korea or abroad. It relies instead on winning customer loyalty through samples and free skin-care service.
In order to lure Chinese officials, the company invited them to its Wonju factory in Gangwon Province in April. There, they participated in a special seminar led by chairman Kim Kwang-seok himself.
Charmzone chairman Kim Kwang-seok
Kim, 74, has guided some 250,000 visitors through the Wonju plant over the past 22 years with an aim to better communicate with them on products and corporate philosophy.
Impressed by the chairman’s passion, the Chinese officials were also given a bag of Charmzone products at the hotel where they were staying.
“We offered all the product samples ranging from cleansing creams to sunblock. Some of them asked to buy the products they liked,” said the official.
Then during the final selection meeting in June in Hong Kong, Charmzone obtained the approval to sell their products through the top airliners.
The new sales deal comes at a crucial time for the Korean skincare company. Since the establishment of its Shanghai branch in 2011, the company was ramping up efforts for more aggressive marketing activities in China.
“Offering our products to all the four major Chinese airlines, we have proved our product quality and management capability. It would also boost confidence of our Chinese retailers,” the official said.
Charmzone, which is doing business in some 20 countries globally, entered the Chinese market in 1994 with its marketing priorities being put on Beijing and Shanghai.
After years of effort to extend sales channels, the company was awarded the 10 million won export tower award by the Korean government last year.
In the same year, its premium brand Charm In Cell made its Chinese debut during the China Beauty Expo in Shanghai, one of the largest fairs within the skin care and cosmetics industry globally.
The company also signed a memorandum of understanding with China’s VIP aesthetic clinic center Oracle to offer its beauty products.
By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)