VODANA (CEO :Choi Soo-jung) completed its export in May to enter the top 20 Don Quijote sales stores with the help and cooperation of U.S. Asia Holdings (CEO :Choi Kil-sung), a supplement of the Korea LA Times. Inoue, head of Elematec Corp., a Japanese subsidiary of Toyota, and U.S. Asia Holdings, actively contributed to the company’s entry into Japan by purchasing all of Korea’s best and most popular hair straighteners. VODANA products are sold at domestic drug stores and online stores.It is a popular offline product that is sold in Asia and Europe. Although Dyson’s products are famous brands, Don Quijote has achieved rapid results in two to three months by evaluating the general public’s preference for VODANA products with product design and various production convenience. Just as the business values trust and interrelationships, it has already led to results through its relationship with Elematec, the boss of Toyota’s giant company in Japan. U.S. Asia Holdings (CEO :Choi Kil-sung) calls and e-mails almost every day with its Japanese partner, Inoue Elematec.Through video conferencing, opinions on the technologies and products of Korean SMEs are shared and introduced. Rather, I am already a very popular product in Korea and have a very high preference from the public.Representative: Choi Soo-jung’s excellent management skills and the teamwork of development design teams stand out for a good grasp of consumers’ perspectives and habits.

According to VODANA, it has received dozens of inquiries from general agencies about exports and inquiries from local (Japan, the United States, etc.).However, it secured accurate presentation and sales destinations, and decided to export through US Asia Holdings, which made inquiries. I think it was possible because a transparent transaction line was formed into a long network. Elematec, a Toyota subsidiary in Japan, is currently consulting with major department stores as well as Don Quijote and linking VODANA and U.S. Asia Holdings’ highly recommended products and technologies across Japan to trading partners.

In addition, the popularity of the product is provided to more consumers throughout Japan, and sales and sales are also expected.

SAM KIM
ASIA JOURNAL

In the hair and beauty tool market, which is divided into expensive overseas brands and low-cost brands, it is leading the market by introducing various types and sizes of curling irons. In particular, Dyson Air Lab Styler has recently suspended domestic sales for the time being due to instability in semiconductor supply and demand and the global logistics crisis, which has shifted to Vodana, showing strong reflective profits.

According to the industry, it is gaining popularity among women rather than the already famous domestic brand for its “glam wave curling iron sold once a minute.” Vodana started as a small and medium-sized company in 2012 and is now introducing a variety of products that target women’s hairstyle needs, including wave straighteners and wireless mini straighteners. In 2015, it launched a 40mm-sized Glam Wave curler for the first time in Korea, and last year, it continued to launch innovative products such as 40mm of Korea’s first and largest wave curler, leading the market. In the meantime, waves have been possible with a curling iron and straight hair with a flat iron, but when creating a wavy perm, also known as a “hipi perm,” hair rolls or perm procedures have to be performed.

The secret to Vodana’s popularity is that it boldly introduced pastel-tone colors such as pink, mint chocolate, and pitch, breaking away from chromatic colors such as black and gray, and introduced portable products by diversifying them into sizes. It accurately targets the design and size of the hair tool that women want. In the case of hair styling, including waves, many people wanted to fix it like makeup because it loosened a lot over time, an industry source said. “Female consumers prefer it because it is easy to carry and bright and refreshing in pastel tone.”

Interest in interior design is increasing as the time spent at home increases due to the COVID-19 incident. In particular, as interest in household appliances used every day increases, object appliances with product performance as well as design are gaining popularity. Apart from its rough and general design, the object home appliance with a soft color and sensuous design adds points throughout the house to give interior effects. What small “Objet Home Appliances” are gaining popularity among the “MZ Generation” recently, focusing on practicality and individuality? According to related industries, Vodana, which has established itself as the representative hair brand of the MZ generation by introducing colorful design products such as Pink, Creamy Blue, and Rusty Lemon, introduced a Glam Power Ionic Dryer (photo) with emotional color and soft object design thanks to customer requests. It has reduced size and weight than a typical dryer and is simple but has a color and design that can be a point, making it an object on the dressing table.It is equipped with a semi-permanent BLDC motor to generate strong wind, reducing hair drying and styling time, and providing comfortable use with 400g of ultra-light weight and non-slip hand grip, reducing the burden on the wrist even for long-term use. It is convenient to use by situation as it can adjust the volume of wind and temperature of the third stage, and perfect cold air operation without slight heat is also possible with direct cool shot buttons.

In particular, Vodana products have become very popular among the underprivileged throughout Asia (China, Japan, Southeast Asia). Japan’s largest distributor (Dong Quixote) has also produced export results that will enter battery stores on a large scale from April. Usasia journal Holdings (CEO: Gil Sung Choi) is Saturday, Japan.At the request of the group’s Elematech boss, the deal was concluded and vodada’sort to Japan was created. In addition, Clean First is said to be trying to expand its progress by receiving inquiries from trading companies.

KS Choi

Asia Journal

As the pandemic makes people avoid going to the salon and feel comfortable for online sales of hair-styling products, the expenditure in hair grooming and styling has risen globally and the market for hair-styling tools has witnessed significant growth. According to Allied Market Research, a global research firm, the global personal care electrical appliances market is expected to garner $28,007 million by this new year and hair care appliances, such as hair stylers or straighteners, is the strongest market in the current scenario. Asia Pacific is considered as the fastest growing region, which was propelled by the innovation in terms of product design and implementation of social media marketing.

VODANA Inc. in South Korea became one of the major players, contributing to the growth of the electric hair-styling gadget market. The company introduced novel and fresh hair-styling products – from hair straighteners, hair curling irons, to triple flow hair waver – that enable individual consumers to create new looks easily. VODANA Inc. tipped for stardom in a short time and became a trendsetter for the new hair-styling product market. The company launched a 40mm-sized curling tong, which was the largest one ever produced in Korea. The product, VODANA Glam Wave Curling Iron, is known as ‘a curling tong sold once a second’.

VODANA’s pastel-tone colors such as mint, pink and lavender served as an important factor in the visual appearance and brand recognition of the brand. It broke away from chromatic colors such as black and gray, by adding cachet to its branding. Portable products also accurately targeted the design and size of the hair tool that consumers want. VODANA’s unique designs also provide ergonomics advantage and instigate ease for consumers by providing consumers its intimate brand experience.

CEO Choi built up its own brand image to lead people to aspire to buy and possess the product, which makes the product recognized as a personal or daily product rather than a professional equipment in a hair salon. As the company threw off hesitation to work in collaboration with other brands, its marketing clout achieved clever market positioning. The company also interacted more deeply with customers so as to build a strong and sustainable foundation for the brand. New product planning is all based on consumer’s feedback and demands. After launching a hair-dryer this January, the company is also in the process of launching additional hair care products. Consumers, in order to replicate the hairdo followed by professional salons, are expected to push the demand for different types of products with the advanced technology.

Craze on VODANA swept across China and Hong Kong, which was a big hit. VODANA’s products are being sold on Amazon, too. The company is preparing to make inroads into Japan, which has one of the biggest global beauty markets including Don Quijote. CEO Choi said expectedly, “Can’t wait to meet global consumers.” She will put her full efforts for strong growth and global expansion.

Kayla Hong

Asia Journal

Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, many corporations worldwide have been experiencing a reduction in sales for the last two years. Correspondingly, means of conducting business internationally have been severely impeded.

Despite national efforts to help domestic companies reach the international market, the disparity between pre-pandemic and post-pandemic outcomes has been quite obvious.

Yet even during these less than favourable times, Korean businesses “incubated” by the LA Times Asia Journal continue to be connected to businesses in Japan and prosper.

Korea’s GB Soft (developer of AI technologies that interpret camera images to identify such vital signs as blood pressure, oxygen saturation level, heart rate, and body temperature) signed an NDA with Japan’s Data Scope (a company that develops facial recognition software; it plans to collaborate with Taiwan’s Foxconn to set up a Shenzen Data Scope factory in China and globally distribute facial recognition cameras, security cameras, and the like). They continue to meet virtually at present, to discuss licensing and joint development agreements. This is a result of the LA Times Asia Journal facilitating the meeting of GB Soft and Elematec (a subsidiary of Toyota), and Elematec subsequently doing business with Data Scope.

Korea’s Infomining (developer of a system that uses an AI server to analyze one’s electrocardiogram, blood pressure, blood sugar, oxygen saturation level, heart rate, and body temperature gathered from a smart watch and relays the results to a smartphone) is working together with Japan’s OMRON (manufacturer of medical devices) and OMRON’s research laboratory in Dalian, China, to jointly develop innovative medical devices targeted at the Chinese market. An NDA is scheduled to be signed by the beginning of February. This too, is a result of the LA Times Asia Journal facilitating the meeting of GB Soft, Infomining, and Elematec, and Elematec subsequently doing business with OMRON.

Korea’s VODANA (manufacturer of hair straighteners and curling irons), Korea’s Emma Healthcare (manufacturer of Plasma Skincare Device), and Korea’s Skin Watchers (manufacture of cosmetics) have already completed their exports to Japan’s Clean First (Trading Company). Clean First, in partnership with Japan’s Toda (Trading Company), has scheduled its entry into Don Quijote (a Japanese discount store). They are also planning for sales on such online platforms as Japan’s Makuake (Cloud Funding company). This too, is a result of LA Times Asia Journal facilitating the meeting of VODANA, Emma Healthcare, Skin Watchers, and Clean First.

Like so, it is expected that the “Incubating System” put into place by the LA Times Asia Journal will continue to connect Korean and Japanese companies and to catalyze business activities between them.

Mike Choi

Asia Journal