Olive Young Santa Village Unfolded at DDP... "Filled with Emerging and Small Brands"

Olive Young 2022 Awards and Festa
Showcasing 128 Hit Products with 'Santa Village' Concept
Many Emerging and Small Business Brands... Strategy to Discover from the 'Tteok-ip' Stage

The venue view of the 'Olive Young 2022 Awards and Festa' held at Dongdaemun Design Plaza on the 14th.

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jinyoung] "If I had known I would receive this much, I should have brought a carrier." A customer holding a shopping basket bursting with cosmetic samples looked enviously at those who had brought carriers.

At 1 p.m. on the 14th, Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP), where the ‘Olive Young 2022 Awards and Festa’ was held, transformed into a Christmas Santa Village. The 1,500-pyeong space decorated with Christmas trees and lights was divided into Hall 1 and Hall 2, showcasing 128 hit products of Olive Young this year in makeup, healthcare, and skincare categories. Participants freely roamed the booths, experiencing brand values and filling their red Olive Young shopping baskets with samples and other giveaways.

Some customers even brought carriers and handcarts. A female participant in her 20s, attending for the second time since last year, hinted, "If you don’t prepare like this, you can’t carry everything home." Most participants were women from the MZ generation (Millennials + Generation Z), Olive Young’s main customer base. Another female participant in her 20s said, "I used to buy a lot from Olive Young, and now I’m actually working part-time there," adding, "It’s great to come because you can see popular products in one place and actually receive them."

This year’s event highlighted emerging and small-to-medium enterprise (SME) brands. Among the participating brands at the Festa, 50% were emerging brands with less than three years since entering the market, and SMEs accounted for 82% of the products awarded at the Olive Young Awards this year. At the booths on site, people flocked to brands that, although SMEs, had gained popularity through Olive Young. Long lines formed at Gudal, famous for its ‘Cheonggyul Serum,’ and Round Lab, known for its ‘Dokdo Toner,’ as participants tried products and received samples.

Participants are waiting in line to experience at the Gudal booth of small and medium-sized brands participating in the 'Olive Young 2022 Awards and Festa'.

This also reflects Olive Young’s value that ‘the growth of partners is the growth of Olive Young.’ Olive Young places emphasis on expanding strategic product groups where merchandisers (MDs) discover, nurture, and develop new products. They are committed to providing comprehensive support from marketing and promotion to sales at the product planning stage for brands with growth potential.

The strategy is yielding results. Rom&nd, a small-to-medium brand of color cosmetics introduced by Olive Young, ranked first in the lip makeup category at this year’s awards, with sales from January to November increasing by 108% compared to the previous year. The vegan beauty brand Amuse, newly launched in September last year, saw its sales grow eightfold during the same period compared to the previous year.

An Olive Young official said, "Our role is to continuously discover talented brands and nurture them so they can demonstrate their capabilities not only domestically but also in the global market," adding, "We will actively support raising the status of ‘K-Beauty’ centered on domestic SMEs."

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