How Quench Botanics is Using Digital Media to Build a Robust Expansion Strategy

K-beauty has been the talk of the beauty town ever since it made its way into our skincare routines a couple of years ago. For generations, South Koreans have cracked the code to clear, glowing skin –– and not-so-surprisingly, that’s where most of the skincare trends we see circulating on social media originate from. Whether it’s the routines, ingredients, or products, anything K-beauty-related is sacrosanct. 

According to Allied Market Research, “The K-beauty products market size was valued at $10.2 billion in 2019 and is projected to reach $13.9 billion by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 9.0 percent from 2021 to 2027. Asia-Pacific is one of the prominent regions in the market that solely accounted for approximately 70 percent of the total K-beauty market share in 2019.”

K-Pop dramas, Korean Pop culture, and social media are further driving the consumption of K-beauty brands in India. To tap the rising demand for K-beauty products, many brands have forayed into the Indian market. One of such brands that have succeeded in winning the trust of its consumers is Quench Botanics.

“Post-COVID, we noticed a huge uptick in skincare. So we were sure we wanted to launch a skincare brand. The idea then was to identify white space in the overcrowded skincare market. We decided to interview skincare users and develop a brand using their inputs. We reached out to over 200K skincare enthusiasts and realized that there was a keen interest in Korean skincare products. We built the brand on what exactly the consumers wanted. They were excited to try products with globally trending ingredients such as Cica, Avocado, Chia Seed, etc. However, given that there aren’t too many Korean skincare brands in India and the few that are there are quite expensive, Korean skincare is rather inaccessible to most consumers. That’s how we narrowed down on Korean skincare and decided to launch affordable but premium quality K-beauty products in India,” states Janvi Kapadia, Brand Manager, Quench Botanics.

“Quench Botanics is the culmination of an amazing collaboration between product innovation, strategy, and design. While Korean skincare (K-beauty) enjoys a faithful following, we needed to introduce the concept to a new audience. We created a brand that is equal parts science and art. A rigorous approach, combined with natural, rejuvenating botanicals. Our main motto was to build a K-skincare brand which is customized for Indian consumers,” she further adds.

What is the USP?

Quench is different from other Korean beauty brands present in the Indian market as its USP is that it is a Korean skincare brand that is customized for Indian consumers.

“For every new product, we first try to understand the concerns of skincare consumers in India. We then try to leverage our Korean partners’ know-how, technology, and unique ingredients to develop a product to address these concerns,” she asserts.

“For example, double cleansing is a big part of Korean skincare. It is extremely effective and helps to thoroughly cleanse the skin and remove deep-seated impurities, water-proof makeup, and unclog pores. However, double cleansing needs double the time – the first one needs to use an oil-based cleanser and then water. Consumers first have to use an oil-based cleanser and then top it up with a water-based cleanser. However, we realized that an average Indian consumer does not like to spend more than 2 minutes on cleansing so we introduced Mon Cherry Brightening Foam Cleanser which is a 2-in-1 oil-based cleanser + face wash. Double cleansing in a single step! Another example, Indian consumers are used to products with Ayurvedic natural ingredients such as Tulsi, Neem, Lemon, etc. Keeping this in mind, we decided to introduce products that combine unique Korean natural ingredients such as cherry blossom, cica, chia seed, and the likes with various actives to ensure that consumers get a highly effective product. Any Quench product one picks up will have at least 3 natural, unique ingredients,” Kapadia further elaborates.

Retail and Marketing Strategy

Since the lockdown last year, Indians have been showing keen interest in Korean culture- Majorly K-Pop, K-Drama, K-Food, and K-Beauty. There is a huge buzz about this on social media, hence since the start, the brand has been aggressively pushing influencer and social media marketing activities, along with heavy amplification through other digital marketing efforts. 

“The spotlight of our marketing plans has been across our brand-owned website, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Blog, and Linkedin channel – with a focus on strong content marketing. We have been promoting and putting up educational content related to K-skincare, collaborating with several influencers who are creating short and long-format videos that consumers want to see. Our website offers exclusive merchandise and value kits which keeps our customers excited and intrigued,” she states.

“Exploring more into retail marketing, we have a separate set of offers and exclusive merchandise at our retail outlets. We’ve also had bloggers across the country visiting and reviewing Quench Botanics stores in different cities. Visual merchandising has been of our marketing priorities, to be able to create distinct visibility and awareness of the brand through the brick-and-mortar format. We aim to improve our ranks in these doors where we will be present and also to scale it to new heights,” she further adds.

Marrying Technology with the Brand

Technology has been a prime part of making Quench Botanics’ digital space a seamless and hassle-free experience for customers. 

“Technology has also been integrated into various functions like operations, logistics, warehousing, and in-store stock accountability,” she shares. 

Future Plans

Going forward, the brand will continue to focus on a 360-degree media mix that involves a holistic balance of online and offline communication channels. 

“We started our own D2C website and also selling on other e-commerce portals like Amazon. We are also looking forward to launching an app for Quench soon. In retail, we are present in 350+ touchpoints through modern trade and general trade outlets as of now and are working on more retail availability as we plan to launch our exclusive brand outlets in India soon. In general, we are looking forward to growing our distribution, increasing our interaction with consumers by pushing a strong content game on social media, and will continue launching new products and ranges,” she concludes.