This story was originally part of the 2024 Glossy 50 feature. Click here to see all of this year’s honorees.
Laneige, the K-Beauty brand owned by AmorePacific, has no plans to slow down as the year comes to a close.
“Laneige has been the No. 1 holiday brand at Sephora for the past two years,” said Julien Bouzitat, the brand’s U.S. gm. As such, it treats its gift sets as true product launches and “invests significantly” in marketing them. This year, that included a splashy social campaign featuring buzzy influencers including Nara Smith, Jake Shane and Plastique Tiara.
The brand’s holiday gift sets index heavily on lip products — Laneige has been the top-selling lip treatment brand in the U.S. for two years running, according to Circana. According to Bouzitat, one of the brand’s two hero lip products sold every two seconds last year.
To further build on the brand’s holiday momentum, it opened a three-month pop-up at L.A.’s The Grove in October. Laneige has employed the strategy before, though on a smaller, shorter-term scale. This time, it took the opportunity to test-drive categories it sells in Korea but not in the U.S., such as makeup.
At the beginning of the year, one of the brand’s key goals was to become a “significant player” in the skin-care space, expanding its reach beyond lip. To do so, it leveraged partnerships with celebrities and influencers and hosted activations around zeitgeist-y moments. For example, it became the official skin-care partner of the Phoenix Mercury and hosted a multi-faceted activation at the WNBA All-Star Game.
Also in January, Sydney Sweeney, the brand’s ambassador since 2022, became its first-ever global ambassador. As such, she served as the face of the brand’s biggest launch of 2024: the Bouncy & Firm franchise. In partnership with Sephora, the brand executed a 360-degree Bouncy & Firm campaign, which included a Times Square takeover that encompassed the nearby Sephora location and subway station. It was massive for brand exposure, Bouzitat said.
Laneige tapped culturally relevant figures beyond Sweeney, too. In March, Alix Earle “leaked” new flavors of the brand’s Glowy Lip Balm. And, after Charli XCX organically mentioned her love for the brand in a GQ interview, Laneige tapped her for paid social content, in August. Laneige also worked with jewelry brand BonBonWhims to create charmed keychains. According to Bouzitat, the partnership kicked off a trend. “You now see every single brand doing keychains or charms with lip balms, but we were the first to do it,” he said.
