AmorePacific, South Korea’s biggest cosmetics company by sales, is riding high on booming Chinese demand amid the huge popularity of Korean pop culture in the region.
在韩国流行文化在中国大受欢迎之际，中国对韩国产品的需求相当旺盛，韩国销售额最高的化妆品公司爱茉莉太平洋(AmorePacific)正借助这一有利趋势继续壮大。
The cosmetics maker has become investors’ favourite company, thanks to its rapid earnings growth and bright outlook, with its share price surging nearly 160 per cent to about Won2.3m over the past year.
该公司已成为投资者青睐的企业，这源于其快速的盈利增长以及光明前景。过去一年，该公司股价飙升近160%，至230万韩元左右。

The company’s overseas sales surged 38 per cent to Won382.7bn ($349m) in the first half of this year as it generates one-fifth of its revenue outside South Korea. Its full-year overseas sales are expected to reach Won700bn as growing interest in South Korean drama and music helps boost sales of its skin care products in China and other parts of Asia.
今年上半年，爱茉莉太平洋海外销售额飙升38%，至3827亿韩元（合3.49亿美元），该公司五分之一的收入来自韩国以外。预计全年海外销售额将达到7000亿韩元，此际人们对韩国电视剧和音乐的兴趣日益增强，这帮助提升了该公司护肤品在中国以及亚洲其他地区的销售额。
Young Asian women, especially Chinese tourists, are flocking to Seoul to buy moisturising creams and foundations, with the help of ads featuring South Korean stars from the films, soap operas and music that have taken Asia by storm over the past decade.
年轻的亚洲女性（特别是中国游客）正涌入首尔，购买保湿护肤霜和保湿粉底，韩国的电影、电视和音乐明星们拍摄的广告对此推波助澜，过去10年，韩国的这些产业犹如风暴一般席卷亚洲。
“The Korea Wave has certainly been helpful in raising our brand awareness in the region,” says Sean Kim, the company’s vice-president in charge of business strategy. “We aim to become the Asian beauty creator by answering Asian women’s strong needs for clean and bright skin.”
“‘韩流’肯定有助于提升我们在亚洲地区的品牌认知度，”爱茉莉太平洋负责商业战略的副总裁Sean Kim表示，“我们的目标是成为亚洲的美丽缔造者，满足亚洲女性对于干净明亮肌肤的强烈渴求。”
China lies at the heart of the company’s plans to increase international sales to half of its target sales of Won12tn by 2020. Its total revenues amounted to Won3.1tn last year. Despite its fast growth, AmorePacific is still finding its feet in China with just a 1.2 per cent share of the country’s beauty and personal care market, compared with Procter & Gamble’s 13.5 per cent and L’Oréal’s 9.1 per cent, according to market researcher Euromonitor International.
该公司计划到2020年，将海外销售额增至其12万亿韩元目标总销售额的一半。中国居于这一计划的中心。去年，该公司总收入达到3.1万亿韩元。根据市场研究机构欧睿国际(Euromonitor)的数据，尽管增长迅速，但爱茉莉太平洋仅占据中国美容和个人护理市场1.2%的份额，而宝洁(Procter & Gamble)高达13.5%，欧莱雅(L’Oréal)占9.1%。
“China is the biggest and most important market for us,” says Mr Kim, forecasting Chinese sales will jump more than 40 per cent a year to top Won3tn by 2020 from Won338.7bn last year.
Sean Kim表示：“对我们而言，中国是最大也是最重要的市场。”他预测，到2020年，该公司在华销售额将每年增长40%以上，从去年的3387亿韩元增至逾3万亿韩元。
The company is pinning high hopes on a new cosmetics factory and research centre in Shanghai, which will boost its annual production capacity by 10 times to 100m units, as it tries to wrest share from bigger western rivals such as P&G and L’Oréal.
该公司正对在上海新建的化妆品工厂以及研究中心寄予厚望，该中心将令每年的生产能力扩大10倍，至1亿件。爱茉莉太平洋正试图从宝洁和欧莱雅等规模较大的西方竞争对手手中抢夺市场份额。
While AmorePacific uses famous South Korean actors and actresses to promote its products, Mr Kim stresses that high quality is essential to ensure that Chinese consumers keep buying its products. The company, which has about 3,500 shops in China, is expanding its product line-up tailored toward Chinese customers such as ultra-hydrating creams, cleansing creams and collagen drinks to address their concern about pollution and dry weather.
尽管爱茉莉太平洋利用韩国著名演员来推销其产品，但Sean Kim强调，高质量对于确保中国消费者继续购买其产品至关重要。该公司在中国大约有3500家门店，正扩大针对中国消费者的产品系列，例如超级补水霜、洗面奶和胶原蛋白口服液，以解她们对于污染和干燥天气的担忧。
Chinese sales are driven by mid-priced lotions and face creams under brand names such as Laneige and Innisfree, which highlight natural ingredients such as green tea from the scenic Jeju island. Yet its luxury cosmetics range, Sulwhasoo, based on traditional herbal medicines such as ginseng, is also gaining increasing popularity.
爱茉莉太平洋在华销售额受到兰芝(Laneige)和悦诗风吟(Innisfree)等品牌的中档价位化妆水和面霜的推动，这些产品强调天然成分，例如来自景色美丽的济州岛的绿茶。而该公司基于人参等传统中草药的高端化妆品系列雪花秀(Sulwhasoo)，也正受到越来越多消费者的欢迎。
“While emotional communication is effective for Korean consumers, Chinese women often ask for more scientific functions such as whitening and anti-ageing,” says Mr Kim.
Sean Kim表示：“尽管情感沟通对韩国消费者有效，但中国女性经常会要求更多科技功效，例如美白和抗衰老。”
About half of the company’s overseas sales come from China but the company products such as whitening creams and “air cushion” foundations soaked in a sponge are also popular in southeast Asia. Mr Kim says however that the company must expand further into western markets to achieve its long-term vision of joining the top five global brands by 2020 as well as becoming the number one cosmetics company in Asia.
该公司海外销售额的一半左右来自中国，但美白霜和浸入海绵之中的“气垫”粉底在东南亚也很受欢迎。然而Sean Kim表示，该公司必须进一步向西方市场扩张，以实现到2020年跻身全球5大品牌的长期目标，同时成为亚洲头号化妆品公司。
Its Lolita Lempicka perfume was once one of France’s top five-selling fragrances although sales in the French market have stagnated in recent years. The company is now trying to revive momentum in France after acquiring premium perfume brand Annick Goutal in 2011. In the US, the company is also trying to position itself as a high-end niche player, focusing on premium brands such as Sulwhasoo.
该公司的洛俪塔(Lolita Lempicka)香水曾经是法国最热销的5款香水之一，但最近几年，这款产品在法国市场的销售额陷于停滞。在2011年收购高端香水品牌Annick Goutal之后，该公司正努力在法国恢复往日神采。在美国，该公司也正努力将自己定位为高端利基品牌，专注雪花秀等高端品牌。
“Asia is still our main market but we will have to go beyond the region eventually to become a truly global company,” says Mr Kim. “It will probably be an uphill battle, given our low brand recognition in western markets. However, we see an optimistic sign in westerners’ growing interest in Asian beauty.”
“亚洲仍是我们的主要市场，但我们必须将目光放远，最终成为一家真正的国际性企业，”Sean Kim表示，“鉴于我们在西方的品牌认知度较低，这可能会是一场硬仗。但西方人对亚洲美的兴趣正日益增强，我们从中看到了乐观迹象。”