ChosunBiz, an economic media outlet under Chosun Media Group, held the 13th Consumer and Retail Forum on the 11th at the Grand Ballroom of the Westin Josun Hotel in Seoul. The theme of the forum was ‘In an age of uncertainty, K brands respond.’ A total of more than 400 participants from the retail industry and government officials attended the event.
Kim Won-i, a lawmaker of the Democratic Party of Korea and the ruling party’s executive secretary of the National Assembly Trade, Industry, Energy, SMEs and Startups Committee, noted during his congratulatory speech at the opening ceremony, “In all fields, K-pop, K-drama, K-fashion, K-movies, it’s an era where just adding a ‘K’ shakes the world. Even after the success of Parasite, the recent release of the Korean animation King of Kings in the U.S. is achieving box office success,” and said, “We are considering how to continue the K brand power through the K initiative under the Lee Jae-myung administration.”
Choi Eun-seok, a lawmaker of the People Power Party and a member of the National Assembly’s Strategy and Finance Committee, formerly CEO of CJ CheilJedang, said, “All industries will expand into the global market centered around K brands” and added, “Based on the experience accumulated in corporations, I will provide policy and legislative solutions for the future of Korea’s retail industry.”
Han Ki-jeong, a chairperson of the Korea Fair Trade Commission, stated, “The healthy development of the retail industry is directly linked to the competitiveness of K brands,” and emphasized, “We will establish fair trading orders in the retail sector to guarantee corporations' creative management activities and spread a culture of win-win cooperation, enabling manufacturers and distributors to develop complementarily together.”
Oh Se-hoon, the mayor of Seoul, said in a video congratulatory message, “In the midst of global turbulence, K brands are capturing the hearts of consumers worldwide with quality, emotion, and storytelling,” and he added, “I look forward to the synergy that will emerge at the intersection of the city’s brand of Seoul and the commercial brand of retail.”
◇K brands that have changed the U.S. online and offline shelves
The keynote speech was delivered by Will Watts, Founder and Sr. Consultant of W Global Innovation. Watts, who previously worked at Walmart’s Food Safety Collaboration Center, stated, “Over the past decade, K brands have completely transformed the offline shelves and online platforms in the U.S.,” pointing out examples like the K-beauty brands Laneige and COSRX, which expanded their businesses across nearly all U.S. offline and online retail channels.
Watts emphasized that to continue this trend, it is important to have ▲new products armed with fresh ideas ▲participation in artificial intelligence (AI)-based advertisements ▲a shift to a premium strategy. He advised, “Retailers, including Walmart, are increasingly strengthening their premium product lines, and we must maintain Korean identity while incorporating localized quality and emotions.”
Hannah Shin, Head of Amazon Global Selling Korea, cited the factors that contributed to the success of K-beauty: ▲understanding customers ▲product capability based on manufacturing ▲marketing that creates trends ▲rapid operation and execution. She mentioned, “Besides beauty, there are many categories like wellness and fashion that have a high probability of success in the U.S.,” and added, “We need to benchmark how to build reputation and shorten that period for the success of K-beauty.”
Song Gil-young, a big data expert, commented, “What foreigners want these days is not tourist attractions but actual places that Koreans visit, and locations with good content,” stressing the need to properly identify what aspects of our lifestyle are accepted and yearned for abroad. He cited the example of Starfield in Suwon, which recorded high viewership outside the country, stating, “We need to consider what unique value we can create in the most unique space of this land. Content that comes from such contemplation will be unlike anything found anywhere else in the world. Ultimately, local becomes global.”
Nuno Guerreiro, Booking.com Regional Director for North & South Asia Pacific, diagnosed that the K-pop craze is driving demand for travel to Korea. He stated, “Reservation demand for K-pop related areas such as Seoul and Busan is growing by 30-40% annually, and the number of overseas travelers visiting Korea for music festivals or performances is steadily increasing,” emphasizing, “Now is the time to accurately capture the emotional connection between K brands and travel experiences.”
He added, “K-pop is at its golden age now, and if we utilize it properly, we can expand tourist inflow beyond Seoul and Busan to more regions,” and noted, “Travel ultimately connects people, emotions, and cultures, and we are in an era where technology can deepen and refine that connection.”
◇The important thing is ‘uniqueness’... Products must be developed with Korea’s potential
Choi Hyun-jung, the head of food and beverage development at Starbucks Korea (SCK Company), stated that Korea’s unique emotions and potential are the driving forces behind beverage and food development. She mentioned, “In the U.S., Fizzio was discontinued after two years, but it is still being sold here,” adding that they have upgraded it by launching Fizzio with Korean ingredients like plum or removing caffeine and increasing vitamin content. Choi advised that the development process needs to consider how to incorporate Korea’s distinctive characteristics, elements, and ingredients.
Caleb Hill, the vice president of the advertising division at Coupang, shared Coupang’s success story in transforming Korea’s retail market and small business operations. According to Hill, more than 270,000 small businesses are active as sellers on Coupang, accounting for over 75% of all sellers. He said, “More than 23 million Coupang subscribers log into the app an average of four times a day to buy products or leave reviews, among other activities,” and emphasized that based on this data, Coupang strives to ensure that products desired by consumers are timely exposed and supports the growth of small businesses.
Kim Hyun-soo, deputy minister at IGIS Asset Management, gave a presentation on the topic of ‘retail from the perspective of place-making.’ He said, “The value of offline retail lies in creating spaces where customers can voluntarily and repeatedly stay long, which is the essence of place-making,” analyzing that retail corresponds to the three key values of place-making: relationships, experiences, and consumption, among the six key values including symbolism, comfort, and others.
He stated, “Until e-commerce emerged, the value of offline retail was in information accessibility and resource efficiency, but with the advent of e-commerce, those values have collapsed,” emphasizing that it signifies the need to build ‘space media brands’ separate from the connection value of manufacturing and sales.
◇Policy cooperation is necessary for sustainable K brands
Lee Hyun-jin, who oversees content partnerships at YouTube Shopping, introduced the strategies behind YouTube Shopping’s launch in Korea. Korea is the first country outside the U.S. where the ‘YouTube Shopping Affiliate Program’ has been introduced. According to YouTube Shopping, as of March this year, over 25,000 creators in Korea are participating in YouTube Shopping.
Lee added, “YouTube’s vision is to create a space where viewers can naturally discover and purchase new brands or products through creators they like,” and pointed out that since Korea is accustomed to home shopping and consuming through watching videos, YouTube Shopping is expected to grow even more rapidly in the Korean market.
YouTube creators also participated as panelists to share their experiences in operating YouTube Shopping. ‘Scarlet Sister’ mentioned, “In the past, advertising revenue accounted for about 95% of total revenue, but since participating in the YouTube Shopping affiliate program, commission revenue has made up 50% of total revenue from the first month,” adding, “With the additional revenue, I have more room to invest in content.” Lee Ye-rin, who runs the YouTube channel ‘IntroTip,’ noted, “Not only the feedback regarding the fun of the content but specific comments like ‘Product B is better than Product A’ have started appearing, leading to positive interactions with viewers.”
A panel discussion on the theme of ‘sustainability of K brands’ was moderated by Kim Sung-jun, vice president of Simmons' brand strategy planning division, along with Colin Marshall, a columnist from The New Yorker, Lee Joon-sung, head of HAGOHAUS strategy, Choi Jung-hee, representative of Stuart (Andersson Bell), and Lee Seung-min, CEO of Amuse.
Lee Seung-min highlighted the rapid response to trends as a key to the success of K brands. He explained, “In the K-beauty market with around 50,000 competing brands, Amuse has gained presence by leading trends like keyring (keychain) culture, highlighting the speed of trend response.” He noted that to survive in the global market, there is a need for sophisticated strategies that incorporate brand identity and emotions.
Lee Joon-sung referenced Matin Kim’s entry into the Japanese market, explaining, “There was also some luck in entering at a time when Japanese consumers showed heightened interest in Korean brands,” and emphasized that foreign expansions are not something a brand can manage alone; a structure for information linkage and policy cooperation at the government level must accompany it.
Choi Jung-hee emphasized, “After passing through Hong Kong noir, Japanese culture, and American culture, the era of Korea has come. The real competition starts now,” stressing that while what Korean brands represent as ‘1’ yields an effect of ‘3’ on the global stage, more effort and challenges are needed to become sustainable brands. Colin Marshall remarked, “The way Korean content breaks down the boundaries of emotion and genre creates a unique ‘jumble’ that is the global competitiveness. We must leverage these differentiating points well.”