Lab Series, the leading skincare brand only targeting men, is betting big on Korea whose style-conscious male customers make up almost one-fourth of the brand’s global sales every year.

Over the past three years, Korea has been the No. 1 market for the New York-based brand affiliated with Estee Lauder Group.

“Korea is a pilot market. The head office is also paying keen attention to the grooming trends here,” said Kim Byung-ick, brand general manager at Estee Lauder Companies Korea, also known as ELCA Korea. 

The brand last week launched a new ginseng-based line of its flagship anti-aging label, Age Rescue, in Korea in another move to better appeal to Asian demands, especially those of Korea.

“I wouldn’t say the new lineup is targeting Korean men only. But it is obvious that they are one of our priority target customer groups,” Kim said.

The Korean chief of the brand also joined a strategic task force team that was set up eight years ago to cover four key markets, including Korea, Japan, the United States and the United Kingdom.

Since then, the team has played a key role in developing new products for the Lab Series and some of them are believed to have originated from Korea such as blemish balm creams, lip balms and face masks.

“Japan used to lead the grooming trend. But now Korean style that is younger and more creative has become an inspiration for others, especially those in Asia,” he said.

Kim said the brand is still bullish in Korea, where the men’s grooming market has yet to hit its peak day amid the almost saturated female cosmetics market.

Currently, the men’s grooming market is estimated to be 800 billon won to 1 trillion won, according to him.

“In the coming four to five years, the Korean market will continue to grow at an annual rate of eight to 10 percent,” he said. “That means more business opportunity for Lab Series as well.”

He hinted that more Korea-oriented products would continue to come out into the global market considering the dominant presence of Korean consumers and their sophisticated tastes.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)