QUENCH has a range of Path-breaking Korean Skincare products powered by effective natural ingredients like Korean Ginseng, Cica, Lotus Root, Grapefruit, Cherry Blossom Extracts, Sea Buckthorn, Tea Tree Oil, Moringa Oil, Witch Hazel along with gentle actives like Salicylic Acid, Glycolic Acid and classic skin-loving boosters like Niacinamide, Hyaluronic Acid, Vitamin E and Glycerine Creating perfect recipes for happy, healthy and radiant skin, these intensely nourishing and refreshing formulas target, care and prevent skin concerns like acne, blemishes, oil control, open pores, dull and uneven skin and promise you only smoother, hydrated and healthier-looking complexion. All Quench products are free of sulfates, parabens, phthalates, and alcohol, they are 100% vegetarian and cruelty-free.
At Quench, we take great care in simplifying Korean beauty for you and bringing the most unique and authentic skincare formulas that relentlessly work to make your skincare routine much more effective. All our products are best suited for Indian skin and help it reset to its best and the most supple state ever.
Janvi Kapadia, Brand Manager – Quench Botanics speaks to medianews4U exclusively on the brand, the launching of Korean Skin products, marketing initiatives, and much more…
What made you launch QUENCH with Korean skincare products in India?
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. Consumers 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.
What is the brand’s USP when it comes to the crowded skincare segment in India?
Quench’s 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.
For eg: 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.
As a Brand Manager, what would be your role in the marketing strategies for the brand now?
The main idea in the marketing strategy is to raise more awareness among consumers to help them identify the right products for their skin. We have launched products with unique ingredients that are very new in the Indian market. It is important for us to educate our consumers about these ingredients are their benefits.
We have also introduced new categories of products in India such as cleansing balm, essence, 2-in-1 cleansers, etc. so here again, it is important for us to explain to consumers about the product, its benefits, how it is supposed to be used, and how they can incorporate these in their skincare routine.
As a brand manager, I am very closely associated with product development. So my team and I play a large role in assisting the marketing team to develop and plan such content. The idea is to help our marketing team simplify Korean skincare for Indian consumers.
What has been the marketing initiative for the launch of Quench Botanics?
2 things – First is leveraging social media to create awareness about Korean skincare, the importance of preventive rather than reactive skincare, unique ingredients and new concept products. Second is to really make the products available pan India. Though we launched just 4 months ago, we are present across 390+ retail outlets in India, through our website we ship products to almost 270 cities, further we are also on Amazon to enhance the accessibility of our products.
What will be the Media mix for the brand going forward?
We will continue to focus on a 360-degree media mix that involves a holistic balance of online and offline communication channels. We have been aggressively pushing influencer and social media marketing activities, along with heavy amplification through other digital marketing campaigns. The spotlight of our marketing plans will remain across our brand-owned Website, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and Linkedin channel – with a focus on strong content marketing. You will also see Quench aptly placed & promoted on various other e-commerce platforms in addition to Amazon (where we are currently available). Offline, we will continue to promote Quench on Modern Trade & General Trade channels through value-adding offers and innovative gifts, exclusive merchandise & in-store influencer marketing campaigns.
How has the brand identified the Indian woman’s skin, their issues, has the brand done extensive research on this?
As I mentioned previously, the idea was to develop a skincare brand using inputs from skincare enthusiasts. We used social media to reach out to over 200K skincare users and got their feedback on various things including major skincare concerns, products they use daily, the average amount they would like to spend on skincare, the average time they would like to spend on skincare, kind of ingredients they would like to have in their products, what kind of products do they like, what do they not like, etc.
Through this survey, we learned that the top 2 concerns are oily skin and dull skin. Hence we launched our brand with 4 ranges targeting these concerns. Mama Cica (cica focused) and Chialeader (chia seed focused) for oily and acne-prone skin, Mon Cherry (cherry blossom focused) for skin brightening, Bravocado (avocado focused) for sun protection and skin brightening.
