MLB Enters the Cosmetics Industry!
- Chaileedo Press
- Sep 5, 2022
- 3 min read
Apparel brand MLB has announced that it will launch its beauty products on Tmall.
Recently, MLB released product preview information on multiple platforms such as Weibo, Xiaohongshu, Tiktok China, and WeChat, teasing the launch of MLB beauty products, and the MLB beauty flagship store will soon be available on Tmall.
According to Xiaohongshu, WeChat official account, and other platforms, the "MLB Beauty" account belongs to Shanghai Fankou Cosmetics Trading Co. The company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of F&CO Corporation and is part of the F&F Group in South Korea. Its brands include the makeup brand Banila, etc., and the makeup remover Zero has a monthly sales volume of over 9,000 pieces in its Tmall flagship store.
According to Jiemian News, MLB Beauty will make its debut in China's online e-commerce, with the brand's Tmall flagship store set to open on Sept. 5th.
The brand is positioned as an Asian highstreet trendy makeup brand, and its debut product serie covers three fragrances as well as two air cushion compacts. The perfumes are priced at 580 yuan ($83.68) per 50ml bottle. The air cushion compacts are available in two colors, High Street Black and Wild Berry Barbie. Its case is sold separately from the replacement, with the former costing 160 yuan ($23.09) and the latter costing 200 yuan ($28.86).
From the product diagram released on its official Weibo, the air cushion outer packaging is leather texture, and the main body of the product still continues its apparel product features, printed with the iconic "N" and "Y" patchwork brand logo. The perfume is divided into three colors: black, blue, and red, and the bottle and cap are also printed with the MLB brand logo.
It is reported that MLB comes from Major League Baseball and its apparel products are authorized by MLB and operated by a third-party company. The South Korean apparel company F&F Group is one of the authorized agents of MLB, which founded the apparel brand MLB KOREA in 1997, and the MLB-related apparel products in China are currently represented by F&F Group.
It is worth noting that the MLB baseball caps seen on the market are basically from MLB authorized by another American company New Era to produce. According to the report of Jiemian news, F&F Group's entry into the beauty industry is undoubtedly an attempt to make MLB KOREA a multi-lifestyle brand image, thus separating it from other licensees such as New Era that focus on the baseball apparel cap line.
Despite MLB KOREA's rich experience in the Chinese market, South Korean cosmetics have been experiencing a chill in the Chinese market in recent years, with brands such as Innisfree and ETUDE HOUSE closing stores frequently. Referring to Euromonitor data, the market share of South Korean cosmetic brands in China has gradually declined in recent years to 3.6% in 2021 after peaking at 3.9% in 2019, and they are constrained by the relationship between China and South Korea to achieve large-scale marketing of their brands.
Furthermore, the South Korean makeup market has been further squeezed by the accelerated rise of new local Chinese beauty brands in recent years. According to Euromonitor statistics, the Chinese market share of local beauty brands has increased from 8.9% in 2011 to 26.8% in 2020.
South Korean makeup emerged from the "Korean wave", but was also implicated by the "Korean wave". The F&F Group has launched MLB makeup in the Chinese market, whether Chinese consumers are willing to pay for it, it needs to be tested in the subsequent market.
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