FROM L2 / THE DAILY THURSDAY / MARCH,31, 2016

Innisfree is one of the most popular Korean beauty brands in China, as evidenced by its high search volume on Baidu, Taobao, and Youku. (Innisfree was the top Beauty brand according to both the Taobao and Baidu Indexes.) L2 research finds the success of Innisfree to be a result of robust digital properties on the brand site, mobile, in-store and on social media.

Innisfree maintains a sophisticated brand site designed for consumers to spend time on; a gamified cross-channel loyalty program, user-generated content syndicated from multiple social platforms, and video libraries are among the features offered. Furthermore, the brand site ensures product research and purchases are seamless with grid pages that include quick-view and product pages featuring reviews and recently-viewed products. The brand’s site is also mobile optimized with swipeable carousels and mobile-specific offers.

Social media also plays an important role in Innisfree’s success. Consumers can create a customer profile by logging in with their Weibo, QQ, or Alipay accounts. These accounts allow Innisfree to create an omnichannel loyalty program that tracks online and offline purchases. Users can also gain points by engaging on social media or checking into a brand site.

Innisfree’s Spring 2015 social campaign “Summer Love”, featuring Korean influencers Lee Minho and Yoona, became one of the most successful campaigns among Korea Beauty peers. The campaign promoted the Innisfree Summer Foundation Cushion with five videos on Youku with the storyline of a young couple. The two most viewed videos from the campaigned averaged 181,000 views, more than four times the brand’s average video view count. The Youku campaign was supported by desktop and mobile advertising, as well as WeChat and Sina Weibo promotions. The most successful WeChat post was viewed 10,600 times while the campaign’s Sina Weibo post remains the brand’s most engaging post with 2,000 interactions. But much of the success is evident in the sheer number of users who spread the word; the campaign hashtag #innisfree received 17.7 million impressions and 36,000 mentions on Weibo. Yet, Innisfree expanded the campaign beyond just promotions, and connected the buzz to shopping. The popular couple remains featured on the Innisfree Tmall site to promote products and maintain brand buzz.

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