[MarqVision seminar recap] How K-beauty brands can succeed in the US

Thinking about expanding your business globally?

Our seminar recap shares insights you can put to work right away, from brand protection to growth and operations strategy.

Build a strategy for successful global expansion with MarqVision.

K-beauty has become a major trend in the US, the world’s largest beauty market, and its growth and popularity are expected to hit new highs. K-beauty recorded 78% sales growth on Amazon US, and 89% of TikTok users who saw short-form content went on to buy beauty products. K-beauty brands’ popularity in the US keeps growing. On December 3, MarqVision hosted a seminar on strategies for succeeding in the US, focused on global expansion opportunities for K-beauty brands and how to prepare strategically.

Hosted by MarqVision with Amazon, TikTok, Memebox and SKIN1004, the seminar brought together more than 90 industry professionals from beauty and inner-beauty brands, beauty manufacturers and e-commerce platforms to discuss K-beauty’s growth and long-term challenges.

The seminar focused on what K-beauty brands need to expand successfully into global markets, especially the US: intellectual property (IP) protection, e-commerce and marketing operations, and success stories from global markets.

If consumers are where a brand ends, IP is where it begins

MarqVision: “Crisis and opportunity for K-beauty: brand protection strategies for global markets”

MarqVision uses AI-based IP protection to monitor and block, in real time, IP infringement that damages brand value. Hwaeun Shin, a team lead who manages popular Korean beauty brands, explained threats beauty brands face that often go unnoticed, emphasizing in particular the harm IP infringement does to consumers and why it matters. She stressed that IP protection is key to a brand’s success in global markets.

The US counterfeit market keeps expanding, both online and offline. This is a serious threat for beauty brands planning to enter the US, and a risk of leaving a bad first impression on consumers. MarqVision presented strategic responses not only to counterfeits but also to newer forms of IP infringement on the rise, such as brand impersonation and gray-market (unauthorized) sales.

Beyond cases of online brand IP infringement, the session also shared insights into how exposed consumers actually are to counterfeits and brand impersonation, and what effect that has.

When exposed to counterfeits, 23.6% of US consumers said their trust in the brand dropped, 29.4% said they wouldn’t buy from the same brand again, and 15.8% said failing to act against counterfeits was also the brand’s fault. Brand trust and reputation can be damaged far more seriously than brands themselves realize.

Over the long term, this infringement has a major impact on brand revenue and can even threaten consumer safety. That’s why it’s important to act quickly against bad actors on marketplaces and social channels. Efficient IP management and securing trademarks in line with your brand strategy are essential.

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Why Amazon and TikTok see K-beauty succeeding, and US beauty trends

Next, Mikyung Jeon, new business seller team lead at Amazon, used Amazon data in her session “Beauty branding that wins over US consumers on Amazon” to highlight why K-beauty succeeds and its unique position. As a platform where many users browse and buy, Amazon also shared US beauty trends, successful branding examples and operating strategies.

Then Yujin Ahn, client partner at TikTok, shared insights into what drives viral content, along with content flows and US beauty trends. She suggested the content direction K-beauty brands should take as they expand into the US and other global markets, and explained how to build an efficient content marketing strategy. This helped brands develop more effective branding and marketing strategies.

These two sessions showed consumer and market trends through the platforms’ own data analysis, from two of the most loved and influential platforms in the US. It was a chance to approach K-beauty brands’ operating strategies systematically.

The future of K-beauty, seen through Memebox and SKIN1004

MarqVision also hosted a session where K-beauty brands that have succeeded in the US and other global markets shared their business strategies. They emphasized differentiated strategy and branding rooted in brand philosophy, and presented long-term solutions based on consumer data analysis. The session offered insight into how beauty brands can shape their path forward in global markets.

Memebox presented its successful US expansion strategy using its K-beauty brand Kaja as a case study. By partnering with retailers to raise brand value and taking a differentiated approach to the market, Kaja was an important example of how K-beauty brands can build competitiveness.

SKIN1004 shared examples of strategic offline and online operations built on product quality, and explained how it used the resulting data to understand consumer trends and expand steadily in global markets. These real-world stories of beauty brands’ successes, failures and challenges drew strong interest from manufacturers as well as beauty brands.

K-beauty’s challenges and opportunities in global markets

Through this seminar, MarqVision established itself not just as a brand IP protection platform but as a partner in K-beauty brands’ global growth. The event vividly showed how brands can block a wide range of IP infringement, including gray-market sales, trademark issues and impersonation as well as counterfeits, and expand successfully into global markets.

Building on this, MarqVision is preparing for its next leap. Marq AI, MarqVision’s brand protection solution, helps K-brands beyond K-beauty offer consumers in global markets a safe, trustworthy place to shop and a better buying experience. It will be a partner and a solid foundation for K-brands’ global expansion.

Start something new with MarqVision

Building on the strong support and response at this seminar, we’re planning more events to meet and exchange insights with industry professionals and popular brands. MarqVision aims to protect K-brands’ innovations and ideas and to lead the way toward a world where all IP is safely protected. Take your first step toward global expansion with MarqVision today.

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