Interview with Mr. Kim Moon Kwon, the President of EunSung China Headquarters
Data in 2017 showed that China’s beauty and SPA industry now totals annual revenues of over 700 billion RMB, and the number is set to grow further in 2018.
According to a survey by SpaChina, 86% of beauty salons and 17% of SPAs in China have introduced skin and body equipment since 2017. Of the beauty salons with equipment installed, 39% of them have chosen Korean brands, 7% Japanese, 47% Chinese and 5% European and American brands. Of all the equipment, 60% are for skin programs and 40% are for body programs. And 72% of all skin equipment is from Korea. That is surely a significant proportion.
“With social development, people’s pursuit of beauty is no longer confined to the make-up level. They now expect to experience the latest beauty technology and demand health and safety, as well as cost performance and effectiveness in equipment,” said Mr Kim Moon Kwon, the President of EunSung China Headquarters. “Korean equipment can meet all these requirements. That is why I believe Korean equipment is able to guide the beauty world for the next 10 years.”
Korean equipment began to thrive in the mid-1990s, boasting a wide array of types including beauty equipment, medical beauty equipment and professional medical equipment. They feature complete functions, diverse business modes and competitive prices. Since 2015, as medical beauty has come into fashion, Korean-style cosmetology has brought forth a golden age of Korean equipment sales in the China market.
Founded in the early 1990s, Korean equipment brand EunSung has since exported its beauty innovations to Europe, Americas, Australia, Japan and China. With 30 years of industry experience, EunSung is now a leader among Asian beauty companies.
“I love China very much. Originally, I chose to study in China because of the food here,” Mr. Kim Moon Kwon said. China and South Korea had just established diplomatic relations in 1994, so there were hardly any Korean students in China. Mr Kim’s Chinese classmates and friends were very amiable and friendly to him, which made Mr Kim develop more affection towards this nation. “As a Korean who loves China, I hope to bring about a win-win result to both sides of China and Korea in my business. Finally I decided to be dedicated to the beauty industry and introduced EunSung, this top-ranking Korean beauty equipment, to China. I believe that all people, regardless of their nationalities, share a common pursuit of beauty and health. I want to commit myself, together with my Chinese colleagues, to the cause of creating beauty, health and science.” SpaChina interviewed him, and found him to be a low-profile true Korean gentleman.
From your perspective, what are the criteria of China’s beauty salon and SPA operators when they choose beauty equipment?
They will mainly consider the following aspects:
Firstly, safety. Safety is the priority for all skin management programs at beauty salons and SPAs. It is a must to guarantee that the equipment exerts no harm to body tissue. No matter how good the effects might be, if there is no assurance of safety, everything is in vain. China’s market is a little different from elsewhere. In other countries, there is a clear division of medical equipment and non-medical equipment, but in China, many beauty salons ask us to provide them with quasi-medical equipment. People always describe Korean equipment as “flexible”. It is because we always take into consideration customers and markets’ requirements before designing the equipment. We possess a large variety of safe beauty equipment which can deliver the same effects as medical beauty ones.
Secondly, efficacy. The equipment and products need to be effectively target various skin problems and play functions like anti-aging, wrinkle removal, whitening, skin regeneration, hydrating and moisturizing, and acne and spot removal. Combined with highly effective ingredients contained in professional salon products, the equipment delivers amazing effects that ordinary daily skincare fails to realize. The apparent and proven effects of beauty equipment is the main thing that attracts large numbers of people.
Thirdly, strong medical support. One of the key features of the development of Korean equipment is that it combines medical beauty practices with traditional beauty wisdom so that the equipment has a powerful backup of proven knowledge and theory, contributing to the safety and efficacy of the equipment as well. The Korean medical industry has a significant position in the world. It is also very sensitive to the market and able to apply the latest scientific achievements in the development of products and equipment. In this aspect, few can catch up with Korea.
Fourthly, continual renewal. With the development of technology, old equipment will inevitably be knocked out of the market. But Korean equipment and products, in collaboration with well-known medical institutes, manufacturers and skincare product research centers, are continually updated with the progress of technology. We bear in mind product updating and therefore try to control manufacturing costs. This gives more economic space to buyers who can update their storage with us.
Fifthly, high profit. The biggest concern of the beauty salon and SPA operators is profit. Profit is the basis of survival and a motivation for development. The programs delivered by Korean equipment provide a profit 2-3 times more than ordinary equipment. Good effects, high profit and low investment burden for equipment updating will provide a win-win result for both the operators and customers.
EunSung now has a large scale network in China. How do you guarantee sustainable and healthy development?
As a leader in medical beauty industry, our mission is to offer beauty and health solutions for people’s lives with continual research and development. The five core values of EunSung are: innovative technology, great quality, respect for customers, business ethics and corporate responsibility. Our goal is to provide a closed-loop around all services to customers.
In order to give our customers a better understanding of how to use the equipment and achieve the best effects, we have launched the ACADEMY system to constantly carry out training. The training also includes courses on skin and health knowledge. We pay large sums of money to invite famous teachers active in the front lines of the Korean beauty world to teach the courses, which will largely improve the professional knowledge and business operation ability of beauty salon and SPA operators. We have also launched a franchise program “EA” to encourage start-ups with small sums of capital to assist with client openings and operations with EunSung equipment and training.
How do you deal with market competition and fake products?
EunSung takes it as a priority to guarantee the quality of products and equipment because quality and cost performance is the foundation. In addition, we deliver holistic training and after-sales services to clients so that a firm cohesion is formed between clients and us, which means they will not easily change to another brand. Furthermore, we collaborate with the pioneering experts in the Korean beauty and wellness industry to continually introduce new treatments for our clients to update their programs, combined with daily skincare products and home use small equipment. For example, we have various high quality natural products to improve breast, buttock and body shapes, which can be used together with equipment to enhance the results without any side effects. The market has a big demand for such treatments, and our research and development team is very willing to offer clients these profitable and effective solutions. As long as we can continuously satisfy salon and SPA goers with our treatments, and meet operators’ expectations with regard to profit, then we will remain in an invincible position in terms of the competition.
Also, we have a strong marketing team. Our sound development mechanism attracts marketing teams and channels to work together with EunSung with one heart. Undoubtedly, there are many other quality products of the same type from other countries in the market, but our marketing team is able to catch the psychology and true needs of clients and win them over with our high cost performance and value-added services.
The emergence of counterfeit products is inevitable. But being counterfeited doesn’t mean being surpassed. To catch up with the latest technology and make continual innovations is another strong point of EunSung. Meanwhile, we make continuous efforts to crack down on fake products. We’ve mad anti-fake codes through exclusive holographic technique for each EunSung equipment, in the hope that all industry people can identify the genuine EunSung products and also help us expose the counterfeit ones. Every year, EunSung makes huge investments in the research and development of equipment and products. With such a powerful backup force, I feel very confident and proud.
What is your management style?
As a foreigner and a foreign brand, it is impossible for us to have a due share in China’s beauty and wellness market unless we have enough passion for and love of this country. It is crucial to have smooth communications with workers at the production line and positively listen to their ideas. It is also important to handle my work promptly and report to headquarters in Korea on the state of the China market in order to adjust the development strategy and business structures in China on time. It is also important to be both flexible and practical, just like the equipment of EunSung, which features both practicability and design excellence.
What are EunSung’s development plans in China in the next five years?
I believe that China’s beauty market will undergo huge changes in the next five years.
EunSung’s goal in the next five years is to provide China’s customers with high-tech skincare solutions and directions with stable technology and localized and customized training systems to meet their requirements. We will keep updating our high-tech skincare equipment and programs, doing research and clinical work, and carrying out systematic training to the benefit of our clients. It’s also our goal to always be on top of the beauty market’s developing trends and accordingly tailor highly feasible solutions for startups and salon/SPA operators, as well as exploring more supply strategies.
