South Korea’s cosmetics giant Amorepacific Corp. has yet to see its rebranding efforts for its signature luxury skincare brand Sulwhasoo pay off as sales from overseas haven’t increased as expected.

Sulwhasoo has achieved some results in raising its global brand awareness and easing the perception as cosmetics for mothers, but its overseas sales in the U.S. and Europe have not been as successful as expected.

“There has not been a significant increase in sales in overseas markets yet,” said an Amorepacific official. “We expect it to take more time.”

It will not be easy for a rebranding campaign to lead to an increase in sales in a short period of time. However, market observers said that Amorepacific’s current achievement is disappointing, given the enormous expenses it spent on marketing.

Sulwhasoo saw its brand online mentions, or brand buzz, increase by double digits and the number of followers on its official Instagram account surge by 50 percent to 200,000 from 150,000 following its rebranding campaign.

Furthermore, the number of visitors to the House of Sulwhasoo Bukchon, the brand’s flagship store in Bukchon, a historic area in Seoul, increased significantly, recording the largest number of visitors ever in March this year, after Rosé, the main vocalist of K-pop girl group BLACKPINK, filmed a commercial for the brand, according to the company.

This change by Amorepacific also indicates an effort to shed its image of Korean herbal medicinal cosmetics favored by middle-aged women and expand the customer base in Korea to include women in their 20s and 30s.

In September last year, Amorepacific launched a rebranding campaign for the luxury brand, dubbed “Sulwha, blooms again.” The cosmetics giant appointed Rose in September and Tilda Swinton, a British actress in March this year, respectively, as a global ambassador for its rebranding campaign, engaging in extensive brand marketing to expand its overseas markets.

The brand’s package design was also renewed. In order to appeal to more global consumers, the brand’s newest products featured an English logo, instead of the usual Chinese character logo, and white and orange colors were used to make it trendier and more sophisticated. In particular, its first care activating serum, a bestselling signature serum, drew attention from the design world to the extent that it won the Red Dot Design Award 2023 for its container design.

By Kim Hyo-hye and Yoon Yeon-hae

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]