Gyeongnam Pharmaceutical "Lemona, Chosen by Korean and Chinese Consumers as '2021 Brand of the Year'"

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunseok Yoo] Gyeongnam Pharmaceutical announced on the 6th that its vitamin brand ‘Lemona’ has won the ‘2021 Brand of the Year Award.’

Hosted by the Korea Consumer Forum, this event annually selects and awards the best brands and products chosen by consumers in each category. With this award, ‘Lemona’ has achieved 16 consecutive years of recognition in the domestic ‘vitamin preparation’ category and 7 consecutive years in the Chinese ‘inner beauty’ category.

Launched in August 1983 as the first domestic effervescent vitamin C product, ‘Lemona’ is a representative long-standing brand in Korea celebrating its 38th anniversary this year. As of 2021, it has surpassed a cumulative sales volume of 4.3 billion packets, maintaining steady popularity.

When ‘Lemona’ first appeared in the 1980s, most vitamin products were in pill form that had to be swallowed with water. During a time when it was difficult to easily consume vitamins, after years of research and development to popularize vitamin C, ‘Lemona’ was born as a powder form vitamin product that anyone could easily and conveniently take.

Lemona is an effervescent vitamin product containing 500mg of vitamin C (ascorbic acid), vitamin B2 (riboflavin), and vitamin B6 (pyridoxine hydrochloride) per packet (2g). It also uses coated Zeppia ascorbic acid, which reduces vitamin oxidation. With Gyeongnam Pharmaceutical’s unique know-how, the fine coating process specially treats the product to reduce sourness, lessening stomach burden so that people of all ages can comfortably consume it.

‘Lemona’ is also famous for recruiting top stars of the time as advertising models. In 2012, singer IU, who rapidly rose as the nation’s little sister, was selected as a model. From 2014, Hallyu star Kim Soo-hyun was chosen as a model, gaining great popularity among Chinese tourists.

Later, in 2018, Irene from the group Red Velvet was appointed as a model, and at the end of 2019, the group BTS was selected as an exclusive model to enhance brand value. This year, the new model for ‘Lemona’ is the group TWICE, and since June, advertisements for the new products ‘Skin Vitamin Lemona Pink’ and ‘Lemona San’ featuring TWICE have been on air.

Efforts are also being made in product planning that matches trends. This year alone, various attempts have been made, including ‘Isultoktok Lemona’ in collaboration with Hite Jinro’s Isultoktok, ‘Lemona Dr. You Gummy Vitamin’ jointly developed with Orion, a collaboration edition with Kakao Friends, and the launch of ‘Skin Vitamin Lemona Pink’ containing vitamin C and hyaluronic acid to help with skin hydration.

A Gyeongnam Pharmaceutical official said, “We are pleased that ‘Lemona,’ which has been steadily loved for 38 years, continues to enjoy unwavering popularity not only domestically but also among Chinese consumers,” adding, “We take pride in being one of the few long-standing brands in Korea and hope to perform well in the Chinese market as well.”

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