in-cosmetics Korea show director stresses importance of marketing
“In South Korea, the success of cosmetics and personal care products is all down to the marketing of the products and how to engage the younger consumer, who are the biggest spenders,” said Gibson.
“The same can be said of the in-cosmetics Korea event, it really is about how you approach the marketing of the booth and the strategy that is used to engage a broad spectrum of industry professionals, including those who are newer to the industry.”
Product trails and sensory bar
Product trails were new this year and were a big success, Gibson says. There was one for natural actives, one for anti-aging and another for moisturisers and the trails generated a lot of interest at the selected stands.
“Visitors loved the interactive element to this initiative and the trails really helped put the spotlight on the products. Because of this, people took more notice,” Gibson said.
And the two-day Marketing Trends and Regulatory conference programme was also a big hit, with visitors lining up well before each presentation and almost every one filling up to capacity. On top of that, the event organiser also reported that visitors gave a 92% satisfaction rate for the programme.
Sensory bar gets thumbs up.
The sensory bar was another new addition to the Korea chapter of the in-cosmetics portfolio this year, and feedback indicated that this was one of the most popular highlights at the show.
“The visitor response from the show floor indicated that the sensory bar was one of the most important aspects of the show, with visitor feedback indicating that 96% were either “completely” or “very” satisfied,” Gibson said.
“What is interesting to observe at this show is that, as the industry is in a constant state of evolution, so too are the visitors that come to the event, and this year the next generation of industry professionals can clearly be seen amongst the visitors,” Gibson said.
“This is the generation that is connected to social media and likes to have interactive experiences with new products at a trade show, which is in marked contrast to more traditional events, held in the past. And this is part of the reason that the sensory bar was so popular.”
Take an interactive approach with younger professionals
Gibson also added her belief that if exhibitors want to connect with this newer, younger generation of show visitors, they have to ‘think outside of the box’ in order to engage with them and carefully integrate the liking for interactivity into the strategies for their booths.
“It’s not just about throwing money at the marketing programme for the show, it is also about carefully considering how to engage all the visitors that are coming here, because now there is such a big difference in the way which different groups of visitors interact with exhibitors at the show," Gibson said.”
This year the number of exhibitors was in line with last year’s figure, at 214, while event space increased by 20% and 58% of the exhibitors were from outside of Korea, reflecting that approximately 70% of cosmetics ingredients are imported into Korea.
Looking towards the 4th in-cosmetics Korea
Next year the event is likely to focus on the younger generation of formulators that are coming to the fore.
In line with this, Gibson says that the most noteworthy addition to the show will be the roll out of the Formulation Lab concept, which is already an incredibly popular part of all the other shows in the in-cosmetics portfolio.
“On top of everything, next year we will also be focusing on increasing business matching at the event by extending an invitation to exhibitors to facilitate introductions to prospective new business,” Gibson said.
