Kim Seung-hwan, New Head of Amore, Takes a Direct Approach with a 'Frontal Breakthrough' Strategy

Direct Participation in Official Events Like Next Year's 'Jeonlyak Gongyuhoe' Even Before Term Starts

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] Kim Seung-hwan, the new CEO (Vice President) of Amorepacific Group, has appeared in official settings even before his formal term began, aiming to soothe the market.

According to industry sources on the 10th, the newly appointed CEO Kim personally attended the business strategy briefing for next year held under the name "Strategy Sharing Meeting" on the 8th. After attending the launch ceremony of the "K-Beauty Forum" held at the National Assembly on the 20th, shortly after the personnel announcement last month, where he engaged with government officials, academia, related associations, and company representatives, he has now introduced future strategic directions to financial investment industry stakeholders.

At the briefing, CEO Kim was joined by two executives, including Lee Chang-gyu, General Manager of the Group Strategy Office. An Amorepacific official said, "In the past, we held 'Analyst Days' around quarterly earnings announcement seasons, but this is the first time the CEO has personally taken the stage to share next year's business strategy and direction." This move by CEO Kim reflects awareness of the intensified management difficulties and growing market anxiety, following four consecutive years of declining performance and the company’s first-ever voluntary retirement program amid the COVID-19 impact.

For the first time, restructuring plans, including offline store closure figures and schedules that were previously confidential, were disclosed. As part of offline store efficiency efforts, a total of 141 Innisfree stores have been closed, and an additional 170 stores are planned to be shut down next year. An Amorepacific representative stated, "We have accelerated the offline channel efficiency work faster than originally planned, and this trend will continue next year."

The briefing also covered the need for swift decision-making during the COVID-19 crisis and strategies for personnel and physical restructuring. CEO Kim said, "COVID-19 has become an opportunity to implement changes that should have been made earlier but were delayed," and announced next year's business directions including strengthening the Laneige brand to target younger consumers, digitalization, and workforce optimization. The plan is to focus on growing the Laneige brand, following the flagship Sulwhasoo line, with China as the main target market. The recent personnel reshuffle that separated Laneige into an independent unit and replaced its brand head aligns with this strategy.

Amorepacific achieved remarkable results with online sales growing by 60% domestically and 20% in China as of the third quarter cumulative figures this year. Next year, the company plans to raise the online sales ratio to 30% of total sales domestically and 50% in China. To this end, more than half of the entire marketing workforce will be invested in digital efforts.

There is also a forecast that performance in the duty-free sector, which had been a major concern, will somewhat recover in the fourth quarter by expanding large-scale clients. An industry insider commented, "It is quite unprecedented in the industry that the CEO himself, rather than the Chief Financial Officer or relevant department heads, took the lead in sharing the strategy with the market and drawing attention, employing a straightforward approach."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.