During this project, our integrated marketing solution helped a South Korean cosmetics brand expand its toehold in seven US markets. Catalyst's expertise in beauty marketing allowed the company to generate word-of-mouth critical to its growth.
At over two hundred billion dollars annually, beauty products are one of Asia Pacific's (APAC's) biggest exports. The most popular brands work to expand into the US market. They need to do more than put products on shelves, though; they need to get noticed. That means understanding what connects and differentiates their audience. Using strategic partnerships to capture new marketshare quickly. And finally, standing out in an, already competitive, local market.
Dr. Jart+ is a premium cosmetics brand from South Korea known for its loyal following. The brand combines an authoritative voice with a distinctly young, urban aesthetic to reflect the spirit of it young, educated, and creatively-driven audience.
Dr. Jart+ was introduced to North American audiences quietly through a partnership with US-based beauty retailer, Sephora in 2011. Though the brand succesfully grew its shelf presence, its overall market share remained low compared to its local competitors. The company knew that it needed to spark word-of-mouth in the young, urban segment that made up its core audience. It saw the launch of its newest product as the perfect opportunity to do it.
Our strategy focused on driving upwardly mobile, urban consumers back to the point-of-sale with unique oversized creatives and an interactive follow-along campaign.
As a growing mid-market brand, Dr. Jart+ had a small US-based marketing team. To pull off the planned strategy, it would need supplemental strategic, creative, and operational expertise. We built a project team that included large format graphic design experts, visual design, development, and street teams in seven markets.
Over eight weeks, we became the center-point for the campaign's small in-market creative team as well as additional partners. Our project manager drove each task to completion while ensuring that the campaign's deliverables continued to align with its desired outcomes. Our project management strategy included email and regular sprint calls as well as feedback and iteration through collaborative tools like Figma.
Catalyst helped Dr. Jart+ gain a US foothold that could be used to begin growing its marketshare. The campaign surpassed both Dr. Jart+ as well as Sephora's goals for both in-store and online sales.
Unique submissions to the social media contest
Growth in in-market sales through Sephora brick and mortar
Increase in total number of US-based social media followers
"The Catalyst team consistently brought great ideas to the table. They helped shape the campaign's overall strategy based on our goals and followed up on it with great project management support. "
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