#Executive Interview
2016.11.17
Na Jungkyun, Amorepacific ASEAN RHQ
EXECUTIVE
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
Interview with members of the board aims to share the leadership's vision and promote seamless global communication
ASEAN Joins the KRW 100B Revenue Club
Growth Set to Continue
Amorepacific has achieved remarkable growth in the ASEAN market. LANEIGE's first entry into Singapore in 2003 was followed by Sulwhasoo, ETUDE HOUSE, innisfree and Mamonde entering various ASEAN markets. 2016 has been particularly successful with sales revenue in the region surpassing KRW 100 billion in October. For this column, we met with the new ASEAN RHQ General Manager, Na Jungkyun, to hear about the achievements being made in the region and the vision going forward.
Hello, Na Jungkyun. You were appointed the president of ASEAN RHQ this year. We'd like to know what your 10 months at the RHQ has been like.
Most of all, I've been impressed by the enthusiastic and enterprising attitude shown by employees and I feel quite honored to work alongside such excellent talents. Today, we have many local talents applying to work for Amorepacific and realize our vision together. I want to set up a good system to support their passion and hope.
Could you please tell us a little more about the performance of ASEAN offices?
ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) consists of 10 countries, of which Amorepacific has founded offices in five. The focus for business in the region is primarily on Sulwhasoo, LANEIGE, innisfree and ETUDE HOUSE. With Mamonde launching in Thailand and Malaysia this year, all five global champion brands are now in ASEAN. In other news, innisfree opened its first store in Vietnam and grabbed much attention from local customers. We can expect to expand our activities in the region next year significantly, particularly as Mamonde is set to expand into Singapore and innisfree to Indonesia.
As of today, we have 200 stores, primarily led by our global champion brands in five ASEAN countries, which constitute more than 50% of our annual growth on average. With 40,000 new customers buying our products every month, our growth rate of new customer acquisition has almost reached 50%. Looking ahead then, we can expect to see much better performance.
As of today, we have 200 stores, primarily led by our global champion brands in five ASEAN countries, which constitute more than 50% of our annual growth on average. With 40,000 new customers buying our products every month, our growth rate of new customer acquisition has almost reached 50%. Looking ahead then, we can expect to see much better performance.
What is the market environment of ASEAN like?
Why do you think our brands particularly appeal to ASEAN consumers?
Great reviews from Korean customers and innovative products of Amorepacific brands are the key drivers of our rapid market expansion. Our brands rank in the top 10 across all premium channels, while ETUDE HOUSE and innisfree are dominant players in the roadshop channel.
The synergy with the Korean Wave, as well as the extraordinary value and quality of innovative products and K-style, really engages ASEAN customers, especially Millennials. I believe Amorepacific's philosophy of Asian Beauty is at the center of our popularity.
The synergy with the Korean Wave, as well as the extraordinary value and quality of innovative products and K-style, really engages ASEAN customers, especially Millennials. I believe Amorepacific's philosophy of Asian Beauty is at the center of our popularity.
Sales from the ASEAN region recently surpassed KRW 100 billion (as of October 13, 2016), which marks an important milestone in our history. Please tell us about other important achievements in the region.
LANEIGE Beauty Road and the 50th anniversary celebration of Sulwhasoo took place across major markets, featuring events with famous celebrities and bloggers that helped us really connect with local media, bloggers and consumers around LANEIGE Water Bank and Sulwhasoo Concentrated Ginseng Renewing Cream EX. The Beauty Road event in Malaysia attracted more than 20,000 customers, proving its amazing popularity.
With ETUDE HOUSE having now entered Thailand following a two-year gap, it has just recorded KRW 250 million per month for four months running, which is a record. innisfree is the leader in roadshop channels in Singapore and Malaysia. We will continue to make good results in markets where innisfree has recently entered – Vietnam and Indonesia.
With ETUDE HOUSE having now entered Thailand following a two-year gap, it has just recorded KRW 250 million per month for four months running, which is a record. innisfree is the leader in roadshop channels in Singapore and Malaysia. We will continue to make good results in markets where innisfree has recently entered – Vietnam and Indonesia.
ASEAN RHQ defined its focus for the year as "raising the customer rate with cushion compact experience." Could you share with us how it's been going?
It seems we are on track to smash sales of 600,000 this year, representing a 55% increase on last year. Considering that most of our competitors are busy launching cushion compacts with extensive marketing promotions and campaigns, I nevertheless believe we are able to communicate the value of Amorepacific's cushion compact as the leader of the category.
E-commerce seems to play a very important role in the ASEAN region.
E-communication is developing at a surprising speed given the size of the regional economy and average income levels. (Thailand has the most LINE users in the world, while Indonesia has the 4th most Facebook users.) However, e-commerce accounts for less than 0.5% of cosmetics sales due to inadequate infrastructure, including payment systems and package delivery service. Nevertheless, the high growth rate is enticing more and more global service providers to enter, so it's expected that the size of the e-commerce market will grow ten-fold within five years. To meet this burgeoning demand, we have a dedicated team in Amorepacific Singapore tasked with modularizing our strategic direction and preparing proactive measures.
Can you let us know about Link 21, which was implemented in ASEAN this year?
Link 21 is a new human resource management system designed to support and accelerate our global business. The system was first implemented in Korea and then rolled out to all our global offices based on global standards. Earlier this year, we unified our hierarchy system and modified promotion, compensation and evaluation systems, so that they can be better aligned with the headquarters in Korea, and meet the characteristics of our global offices. We plan to make the system take root through change management by next year. Link 21 is an integral part of our endeavor to make Amorepacific an excellent company and support our growth in the ASEAN market.
As we close the interview, could you please share with us the goal and vision of ASEAN RHQ?
Currently, we aim to earn KRW 500 billion and reach No.1 in the premium channel by 2020, which will be the first meaningful accomplishment in the ASEAN market as the Asian Beauty Creator. To achieve the goal, we are developing specific strategies for each brand, channel, state, customer type and major product, while recruiting excellent local talents for marketing and public relations. We hope talents from Korea can join us in our journey of exploring the ASEAN market.
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