Search for content of interest

  • About
  • ServiceS
    • Branding
    • Innovation
    • Naming
    • Strategy
    • Research
    • Design
  • Work
  • Insights
  • News
  • LOCATIONS
    • Shanghai
    • Paris
    • New York
    • Singapore
    • Malaysia

CN FR
  • About
  • ServiceS
    • Branding
    • Innovation
    • Naming
    • Strategy
    • Research
    • Design
  • Work
  • Insights
  • News
  • LOCATIONS
    • Shanghai
    • Paris
    • New York
    • Singapore
    • Malaysia
CONTACT

EN

  • CN
  • FR

Home Insights Our Thinking Detail

EXPERTISE

  • Strategy

INDUSTRY

  • Cosmetics & Beauty
Contact Us

WEI Beauty: Can an American Herbal Skincare Brand Succeed in China?

In the summer of 2013, US based cosmetic herbal skincare brand WEI Beauty celebrated the launch of its WEI and WEI to go in Sephora China. WEI East, also from WEI Beauty’s portfolio, has already entered China last year. WEI took advantage of the popularity of the American comedy 2 Broke Girls in China amongst its target audience, and invited the show’s lead actress Beth Behrs to join WEI Beauty’s founder Wei Brian at the launch event.

Beth Behrs to join WEI Beauty’s launch event

With distribution in over 11 countries worldwide, WEI Beauty has been growing steadily in popularity. The brand’s products regularly make headlines with Hollywood celebrities obsessing over their unique herbal remedies. For instance, Demi Moore once tweeted a picture of herself using one of WEI’s facial pads, praising its ability to give her an instant facelift.

WEI Beauty: Can an American Herbal Skincare Brand Succeed in China?

WEI Beauty’s success in foreign markets also relies heavily on brand differentiation. WEI Beauty has three brands in its portfolio: WEI, WEI East and WEI to go. Both WEI and WEI East appropriate the philosophy of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) for skincare products with taglines highlighting “balance”, “healthy” or “Asian beauty secrets”; while WEI to go targets young professional women that are “on the go” featuring portable packs of routine skincare products. With the combination of the mysterious Chinese herbal treatment and celebrity endorsement, WEI Beauty’s marketing strategy proved to be a success in the west.

Wei beauty, Wei east and Wei go

Yet in China, WEI is far from the first brand to leverage the traditional Chinese medicine, especially in the cosmetic industry. In fact, many Chinese cosmetics brands including Herborist, Inoherb, Herborn, and Arboreal as well as Asian brands such as Kose and Innisfree already adopt a similar positioning. Moreover, many international brands that are fully established in the Chinese market (such as L’Oreal and Shiseido) have developed in-depth localization strategies and are tapping into the herbal skincare market as well. Our research of High-end Cosmetic Trends in China  discovered that Chinese consumers have a strong preference of cosmetic products made of natural ingredients. They “generally associate traditional Chinese medicine with quality, safety and efficiency in the long-run.” Therefore, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the hottest skincare items in China are those of pharmaceutical cosmetic brands.

Chinese skincare brand: Herborist

It is obvious that the competition is fierce. Being a new name and an American brand to the Chinese consumers, it would be a great challenge for WEI Beauty to establish a convincing image of expert of Chinese herbal treatments, despite the founder’s Chinese roots. 

WEI Beauty: Herbal Skincare Brand Succeed in China

So what are some of the questions WEI should be looking at? To begin with, whether premium, sophisticated or stylish, the visual identities that WEI Beauty brands embody are always unique compared to its local competitors who often opt for a “green” palette. Chinese beauty brands in this category also price at a middle to low end range, which leaves space in the high end market for WEI to explore.

In order to gain success in the Chinese market, WEI Beauty may want to carefully evaluate its brand identity and competition to identify the differentiating factors that make itself important and relevant to Chinese audience, then fully leverage them in future brand actions. It was a good choice for WEI Beauty to partner with Sephora for its entry in China as a premium brand. Product packaging design and celebrity endorsement could be the key differentiating areas to build up brand stature in the Chinese market.

  • SHARE
  • 
  • 
  • 
  • 
BACK

Sign up for our newsletter to get the latest insights, tips, and trends in branding, naming and innovation.

Related Article




안녕하세요!What Does Korean Culture Bring to Brand Naming

Unveiling Korean Brand Naming Trends: How Culture Shapes Brand Names From Samsung, Korea’s homegrown tech giant that rivals Apple, to the natural skincare brand Innisfree…

Magazine Design: SPD Names Bloomberg Businessweek Magazine of the Year

In May 2012, the Society of Publication Designers (SPD) revealed its annual winner of the "Magazine of the Year" award, putting the spotlight on exceptional 'Magazine des…

Brand Marketing Strategies: How Chinese Teens Use Digital: Getting to Know Your Customers of Tomorrow

In this comprehensive report on brand marketing strategies, we consistently refer to the terms “teenagers” and “post 90s.” Although the year of birth may not be a perfect…

Same Same but Different: Staying True to Core Brand Essence While Localizing

Core Brand Essence - Tackling the Delicate Balance Pushed by globalization and e-commerce, brands are expanding beyond their familiar territories. For brands that soar in…

Single Character Chinese Trademarks

When encountering a brand logo, what catches your eye first? Colors, images, or the name? Scientific studies reveal that the brain processes shapes before colors and cont…

Webinar Recap: Cultural Innovation and Design

Uncover the often-overlooked aspect of innovation—Culture, the elephant in the room. Addressing the questions of brand culture awareness and improvement, delve into the r…

Brand Naming in Asia: IP Lessons from “LV Dak”

World famous luxury brand Louis Vuitton (LV) was awarded 14.5 million won ($12,500 USD, or 83,000 RMB) this April in a lawsuit with a Seoul fried chicken restaurant named…

What’s in a Name? Testing Your Brand’s Verbal Assets

Unraveling the significance of a brand's verbal assets is like delving into the essence of its identity. The name encapsulates the fundamental attributes, becoming the co…

Ready to take your brand to new heights?

Let's start a conversation.
  • NEWSLETTER
  • CAREERS
  • PRIVACY POLICY
  • Labbrand Group
  • Labbrand
  • Madjor
  • SpringPillar

* Will be used in accordance with our Privacy Policy

A Labbrand Group Company © 2005-2025 Labbrand All rights reserved

沪ICP备17001253号-3
  • Follow us:
  • 
  • 
  • 
  • 
  • 
  • 

Contact us to get the latest insights, tips, and trends in branding, naming, and innovation.

* Will be used in accordance with our Privacy Policy

Cookie Notice

To improve your experience, we use cookies to provide social media features, offer you content that targets your particular interests, and analyse the performance of our advertising campaigns. By clicking on “Accept” you consent to all cookies. You also have the option to click “Reject” to limit the use of certain types of cookies. Please be aware that rejecting cookies may affect your website browsing experience and limit the use of some personalised features.

Accept Reject