Will MLB be the next 3CE?
- Chaileedo Press
- Sep 20, 2022
- 4 min read
MLB Beauty has chosen China as its debut market in Asia. The brand fully considers the individual needs of Chinese and Asian consumers in terms of product categories, appearance, and texture.
Recently, the trendy clothing brand MLB launched "MLB beauty", and Tmall MLB beauty flagship store officially launched the MLB perfume series, MLB air cushion series products. From the pricing and brand concept, MLB beauty may intend to enter the mid-range market, and its positioning will continue the trendy style of MLB brand clothing.
Fashion brands crossover beauty
In 1997, F&F Group began to be responsible for the product design, sales, and brand operations of the MLB brand. In June 2019, the MLB brand officially entered the mainland China market and opened the official Tmall mall. As of May 2022, it has over 600 offline direct & authorized stores in mainland China.
CHAILEEDO noticed that it has opened "MLB Beauty" accounts on Weibo, Xiaohongshu, TikTok China, and other platforms, and the official flagship store of MLB Beauty was also launched on Tmall in early September. It is understood that the newly launched MLB beauty brand is operated by F&F Group.
The authentication information of MLB beauty's official account and qualification information of the operating store of Tmall MLB beauty's flagship store is Shanghai Fanco Cosmetics Trading Co. The company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of F&CO Corporation, which is part of F&F Group and is responsible for the operation of the group's beauty brand Banila and lifestyle brand KU:S in China. In other words, MLB beauty and Banila are operated by the same company.
According to the official website of Shanghai Fanco, MLB Beauty is positioned as an Asian high-street makeup brand, which is an extension of the MLB brand in the field of beauty and aims to further deepen the lifestyle brand positioning of MLB as "Asia's fashion trendsetter".
At present, the MLB beauty flagship store on Tmall has a total of two categories of MLB perfume series and MLB air cushion series products, priced between 160-580 yuan ($22.81-82.70). Among them, the highest-selling air cushion has sold more than 900 pieces. From the product packaging, MLB Beauty continues the sports fashion style of the MLB brand, with its logo as the main design element. It is known that MLB Beauty's 50ml size perfume is priced at 580 yuan ($82.70), while the air cushion products are sold separately with the box and powder core, with the box priced at 160 yuan ($22.81) and the powder core priced at 200 yuan ($28.52).
It is reported that this time, China as MLB beauty in Asia's strong debut market, the brand from the product category, appearance, and texture to fully consider the Chinese and Asian consumer's "wear fragrance" attitude and foundation needs.
CHAILEEDO noticed that several products on the flagship store of MLB Beauty on Tmall are all filed in May this year. In addition, Shanghai Fanco also filed several lipstick products in July this year, and some of the publicity of MLB beauty also appeared in lipstick. In other words, MLB lipsticks will probably be available soon.
Probability of success?
Entering the beauty market at a time when the consumer market is in the doldrums, can MLB Beauty create a successful path?
First of all, from the product category, unlike the previous licensees, this time F&F Group launched MLB Beauty to enter the market with foundation and perfume products and has also filed lipstick. From this point of view, MLB beauty is obviously like other crossover beauty fashion brands, aiming at the makeup and perfume category.
Some industry insiders said, compared to skincare products, the makeup, and perfume threshold is slightly lower, but also more emphasis on fashion sense, and fashion brand fit is higher.
In Another look at the market environment, the Chinese fragrance market has developed rapidly in recent years. According to Euromonitor data, China's fragrance market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 14.9% between 2015 to 2020, and the market share is expected to reach 30 billion yuan ($4.278 billion) by 2025, a growth rate that will be about three times faster than the global market. This shows that MLB Beauty chose to launch perfume products, which also highly correlated with the market trend.
It is worth mentioning that compared to the huge potential of the fragrance market, the situation of the Chinese makeup market has been relatively sluggish in recent years.CHAILEEDO noticed that MLB Beauty did not launch lipstick at the beginning like other fashion brands, but entered the Chinese market with air cushion, a base makeup product that South Korean brands are good at.
It is not a piece of fresh news that fashion apparel brands crossover beauty areas. Forever 21, H & M, ZARA, etc. have all launched beauty products. This year, Dries Van Noten, the fashion brand of Spain's PUIG Group, also launched perfume and lipstick for the first time, officially entering the field of beauty. And streetwear brand Off-White's PAPERWORK beauty series also hit the shelves of luxury e-commerce platform Farfetch this year. There are media reports that Estee Lauder Group is also negotiating with luxury brand Balmain for a license to operate its beauty business.
Furthermore, the South Korean makeup brand 3CE was first opened by the founder as a makeup line in addition to the clothing brand STYLENANDA, but it has grown rapidly since its launch and was acquired by L'Oreal Group in 2018. According to public information, during this year's "618 shopping festival" promotion, 3CE sales once again broke 100 million yuan, ranking 2nd in the Top 10 Tmall 618 makeup brands, second only to Yves Saint Lauren.
The timing of MLB beauty's involvement in the Chinese market is far more intense than the competition faced by 3CE at that time. But from the market point of view, MLB beauty has the brand power of MLB clothing extension, and the operation team behind has rich insight and experience in the Chinese cosmetics market, so it undoubtedly has the basis for success. Therefore, MLB Beauty also has the opportunity to become the next 3CE if it makes every effort to hold the direction of long-term opportunities in China's beauty market.
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