INNOCOS, Irina Kremin, Managing Director & Co-founder
Q. Please introduce INNOCOS.
A. INNOCOS events are taking place across unique locations all over the world e.g. London, Paris, New York, Rome, Madrid, Lisbon, LA, Miami and Dubai. INNOCOS quickly became known as the destination conference for innovation and thought leadership, fostering real community and inspiring conversations. I currently spending most of the time and energy expanding the INNOCOS events internationally and helping to facilitate the conversation between beauty brands, retailers, suppliers, technology and to foster creative partnerships and collaboration within this space. We select the highest respected speakers, industry experts and inspirational leaders from the most innovative beauty companies. Presentations are based on real-business case studies and interactive workshops; the presentations are short, compact and candid with the focus on value insight, lessons, and learnings that can be easily translated and taken back into the business.
Q. I heard INNOCOS summit 2019 is the second event in Korea. Please explain each subject of 2018 and 2019.
A. The subject of the first Asian INNOCOS summit was ‘East Goes West and West Goes East’. The summit was designed for both, Asian beauty brands looking for expansion internationally as well as for international brands looking to present your brand to distributors and retailers in Korea. The summit agenda covered consumer insights, product positioning, distribution and marketing, unique concepts and export strategies.
The Second theme was ‘The Beauty Industry Innovators Changing the Game’. In the beauty sphere, where heritage brands and conglomerates once ruled the roost, emerging names are now setting the pace. This year’s program provided invaluable insights on new technology-driven trends that will transform commerce and consumer experiences in beauty. we invited brands and retailers to share their strategies on how they leverage new platforms, deepening digital engagement through personal conversations and direct connections at INNOCOS Seoul.
Q. I wonder why you hold the event in Korea?
A. For many years already, Asia has been a driving force for new innovations in beauty, starting from BB cream, cushion boom, medical aesthetic, men’s grooming, social media and digital (with Wechat one of the most advanced mobile marketing platforms), etc. South Korea in particular for many years was on the top of the list of Fortune 100 most innovative companies in beauty and still driving many current trends. These trends were very successfully implemented internationally and created a new category in beauty, K-beauty.
Q. What are the advantages of participating in INNOCOS?
A. Most of all, we believe that heartfelt and human connections are the foundation of business; so our goal is to create an intimate environment of learning and insight, networking, and engaging experiences, debate and discussion. We build a community of senior-level professionals who trust to do business with each other at INNOCOS, a “circle of trust” if you will… We have been telling it as a fun joke at first, but then we realize that this is what happens. Want proof? Join one of our summits! Do we have a “secret formula” for that, you bet we do!
Q. How about the next plan?
A. First, 2020 event is going to start from Scottsdale, USA on March 2~3. Europe/ Global summit will be hold in Marrakech, Moroco on June 4~5 and Asia summit will be scheduled on 2020 Sep or Oct. A part of creating a community with INNOCOS events involved listening to our members. We vote for the next locations and next topics during and after each of our conferences. We are now finalizing the research for the agenda 2020, which will be focusing on the evolving consumer and the emphasis on experience.
In an era in which consumers can buy anything online, the customer experience becomes more and more important to drive sales. Product presentation, for instance, can go a long way to stimulate purchase behavior. The same way Amazon might make recommendations based on items in a consumer’s cart, retail stores will bundle products as part of their merchandising strategy to augment the total basket. There is also a big trend in introducing services “as a new product” in beauty. Just like INNOCOS events, successful beauty brands and retailers differentiate themselves through signature moments that are directly aligned to their brand. This experience should be consistent and seamless across all relevant platforms and budding emphasis on experience provides a distinct advantage to smaller, more agile brands and retailers. We will hear how developments in digital are affecting different aspects of the industry, from how companies are organized and changes in business models, to online commerce and the future of brick-and-mortar retailing, while examining shifts in marketing strategies and consumer behavior. We will cover clean beauty trends, customization, personalization, circular economy, health, wellness trends and much more!
Q. What is your future plan?
A. In addition to annual INNOCOS Europe, USA, and Asia – a destination senior executive innovation summits, this year we just started introducing a new format: INNOCOS INN – more targeted one-day conferences, which will be taking place in business capitals of the world – New York, Paris, London, and more, with first CBD beauty event in Los Angeles, which was sold out in 2 weeks. We have more events coming up in 2020, including Zero Waste conference and Blue Beauty Awards and more! Follow us @innocos to learn more!