Brand Description

  South Korea www.lgcare.com Sales: $5.3 billion Corporate sales: $6.6 billion Key personnel Suk-Yong Cha, chief executive officer and vice chairman; Hong-Gi Kim, chief financial officer; Seon-Gyu Park, chief technology officer; Paul Yi, chief executive officer, The Avon Company; Sang-Beom Lee, managing director and head, production; Il-Gap Lee, managing director, head, cosmetics and department store sales; Jae-Min Ryu, managing director and chief risk officer; Hyeok-Kyung Kwon, managing director and head, logistics; Jun-Sik Han, head, legal and compliance support; Jin-Hui Moon, managing director, head, marketing; Byeong-Yeol Kim, managing director, head, China marketing Major products Cosmetics: The History of Whoo, O Hui, SU:M37, Belif, Beyond, Dermalift, CNP, CNP Rx, VDL, Isa Knox, Sooryehan, Code Glokolor, Vonin, Carezone, The Saga of Xiu, Nature Collection, TheFaceShop, FMGT, Dr. Belmeur, Yehwadam. Health: Hair care Elastine, Organist, Reen, Silk Therapy; Oral care: Perioe, Bamboo Salt. Cleaning: Homestar, Safe, Jayeonpong, PongPong. Skin care: Veilment, Gentology. Laundry: Saffron, Hanip, Tech, Super Ti, Fiji, Oxygen Clean New products Physiogel hand cream, mist, toner and lip balm

Comments: Corporate sales rose 2.1% to a record $6.6 billion. It marked the 16th consecutive year of growth. LG competes in three categories: beauty, home care and non-alcoholic beverages (refreshment). For the first time in company history, all three sectors achieved the No. 1 market position in South Korea. Gains, however, were uneven as sales of beauty products fell, while sales of home care and personal products increased. Last year marked the first full year that The Avon Company was under the control of LG H&H. In 2019, LG agreed to purchase what was then known as New Avon from Cerberus Capital Management for $125 million. In October, LG opened a flagship Avon retail store and beauty education space in Los Angeles. The 19,000 square-foot space is open to Avon representatives and consumers who want to purchase Avon products or best-selling LG beauty brands like The History of Whoo, O Hui and SU:M37. Two months later, LG opened The History of Whoo concept store in Vancouver, Canada. Like the LA retail spot, The History of Whoo carries a range of LG beauty brands. Earlier this year, LG changed the name to The Avon Company in an effort to capture the history of success the brand enjoyed in North America. “Our name has changed to more clearly represent our vision and provide a more independent front as we continue to growth build our business,” said Avon CEO Paul Yi. “It better captures Avon’s diverse array of brand and product offerings such as Belif, Mission Luxereve, Chi, Physiogel and Daily Essentials home products.” Despite the addition of Avon, beauty product sales still fell 6.1% last year, as the cosmetics market was unable to recover from the effects of COVID-19. But there were signs of recovery. In the fourth quarter Duty Free Sales of luxury brands managed a slight gain year-on-year. More good news came from China. Q4 sales soared 41% and ended 2020 with a 21% gain. The best performing beauty brand was The First, which posted a 46% increase in 2020. Sales of home and personal care products rose nearly 26% last year. LG credited a focus on differentiated premium brands such as Dr. Groot hair care and Veilment skin care. The Reen hair care brand posted a 53% increase in sales and Veilment’s sales rose 24%. The business also benefitted from the fast-growing e-commerce market by expanding online brand stores, strengthening online marketing and actively promoting sales via e-commerce. The Physiogel line of hand cream, mist, toner and lip balm had a strong debut in Korea. Now LG is expanding the brand into China, Japan and the US. Within China, premium brands such as Yungo and Dr. Groot drove sales growth. For the first quarter of 2021, sales rose 7.4%. The best news was that beauty sales rose for the first time since the outbreak of COVID-19.