Kosé banking on flagship Sekkisei brand to drive growth

Japanese beauty player Kosé has stated it will push its flagship Sekkisei brand on domestic and international markets in the coming few years, in order to cater to growing consumer demand and achieve further international expansion.

According to the Nikkei Asian Review, Kosé currently brings in about 30 billion yen in annual Sekkisei sales, and by 2020, is looking to build this figure to as much as 60 billion yen ($532 million).

The skin care giant is reportedly planning to achieve this growth by opening up more space for Sekkisei on the retail floor, via dedicated larger sections that will position it as 'a global brand'.

Kosé will begin by rolling out the reorganised space allocation across its current retail outlets in Japan, before ultimately taking it onto the global stage too.

Room for global expansion

Kosé's tactic of giving its most popular brand space to dominate within retail outlets will reportedly launch in department stores across Osaka, Tokyo and Fukuoka in the coming few months, eventually rolling out internationally.

Through the push on its flagship brand, the company is ultimately looking to expand further its global reach: the Asian Review notes that Kose has indicated it is looking to increase the Sekkisei network to seven countries in the next three years.

Dominant player

Along with Shiseido and Kao, Kosé one of the top beauty players in Japan, according to L2's Digital IQ Index on Japan beauty.

According to the 2015 report, the three local conglomerates control 34% of the country’s skin care and 43% of the colour cosmetics market.

The report observes, though, that Japanese brands arenow having to make big efforts in what is a stagnant market; colour cosmetics are projected to decline by 0.2% between 2013 and 2018 and skin care sales are expected to grow by just 0.1%, according to recent Euromonitor figures.

Kosé's move to privilege its most popular brand at home and abroad suggests it is one Japanese player making moves to maintain its leading position, and strive for growth despite the underwhelming domestic market predictions.