The Fundamentals of Branding According to Kift, Which Started with Minimal Capital and Raised 800 Million Won in Cumulative Funding
Take this with you!
- It's easy to think that the narrower the target, the weaker the message, but Kift was the opposite. The brand created by thinking of the most specific person created the strongest empathy.
- Multifunctional products are known to be difficult to market in the cosmetics industry. If there are many functions, the message is distributed, and consumers suspect that "this will be insufficient somewhere." Kift solved that limitation with a content strategy.
- He said that the process of planning content, checking customer reactions, running advertisements, and learning to better explain the pros and cons of a product itself allows you to learn the basics you need to run a brand with funding.
The first goal of Kift, a skincare brand created by Ha Seul-ki, a working mother with 14 years of experience in the beauty industry, was to export. However, crowdfunding, which started "because I couldn't stay still" while waiting for export certification, changed the entire brand strategy.
Kift Hasulgi met his first customer at Wadiz, and he refined the product with the feedback and created 800 million won in cumulative funding. In this interview, there are three things to pay attention to in CEO Ha Seul-ki's story. That narrow targeting creates strong empathy, that customers should sell the changes they will experience instead of listing their features, and that they will have fans when they disclose their failures. It contains a story that you should think about at least once if you're a starting brand.
The reason why I started with Korean funding when I was preparing to export
Q. Hello! Please introduce yourself.
Hello, I'm Ha Seul-gi, a working mom who is creating an all-in-one skincare brand and a kift that helps people like me not to miss "me" even in their busy daily lives.
Q. How did you start your own business.
Since I started my social life, I have gone through all the major life changes of marriage, childbirth, and parenting, working in the beauty industry. After giving birth to a child, my life really changed 180 degrees. I've been working on making and selling cosmetics every day, but I haven't really had time to put proper makeup on my face. Seeing myself changing so rapidly, I thought it would be nice to have cosmetics for mothers like me, and that heart eventually became the beginning of Kift.
Q. I heard that you aimed to export from the beginning.
Yes, many people are surprised when they hear it, but in fact, Kift was a brand created with export in mind from the beginning. Starting with a small capital, I wanted to try something rather than stay still while I was waiting for export certification, and what I started at that time was crowdfunding. When you do business, time is really a cost.
Fortunately, we achieved the desired results from the first funding, and our strategy changed. In the Korean market, which I can best understand, we first made sure of performance and then switched to going abroad. Wadiz was a place where small brands could meet customers directly, receive various feedback, and create products and brands together. Thanks to that process, we now have a product line that we can confidently say 'brand'.
"Mom who doesn't even have time to put on makeup."
Q. It was impressive that Kift's target was a very specific brand from the beginning. I wanted to ask you what brand you wanted to create.
In fact, I didn't start by saying, 'I have to create a very famous brand' from the beginning. I'm sure there are mothers like me, but I wanted to make a product that would help them.
Of course, performance is important when running a brand, but before that, I wanted to make the lives of those who trust and use our products a little more comfortable and better.
In fact, during the supporter's review, "I'm under anti-cancer, but I'm using it conveniently even though it's too hard to raise a child. There was a story that said, "I'm satisfied because I'm told that I look good even though I'm sick." Whenever I get such feedback, I think I've already achieved half of my first dream of success.
Q. Do you think the focus on the keyword 'sleep effect' when it's a skin care product originated from this targeting?
If you don't experience childbirth and childcare in person, it may be a difficult part to sympathize with. I used to be very busy when I was working, but the lack of sleep at that time and the lack of sleep experienced while raising children were completely different. I can still take time to sleep if I can't sleep because of work, but the lack of sleep while raising my child wasn't like that. Especially when working and parenting are combined. Actually, I don't think I've slept for more than 4 hours these days.
It's almost like an official story that if you can't sleep, your face becomes dry and you look tired. So I rather wanted to solve that point with cosmetics. Even if I can't really make you sleep better, can I make your skin look like you've slept well. That led to the keyword 'sleep effect'. I thought the supporters would fully sympathize with this reality.
I didn't say "I put a lot" but I persuaded him with "Why is one enough?"
Q. In your story, you wrote difficult ingredients by easily solving them with metaphors such as rice, cook, and rice.
There are so many different supporters I meet in Wadiz. There are people who are older than my mother, and on the contrary, there are people who are much younger than me.
So I think it's really important to create content that anyone can easily understand. There are still many shortcomings, but that's also the point where you pay most attention to planning products and unraveling stories. It's important to contain good ingredients, but I think it's also the brand's role to deliver them in a language that anyone can understand.
Q. The cosmetics industry has known that multi-functional products have weaknesses in marketing various functions. Is there a part that you paid the most attention to to explain the product well?
We focused more on explaining why this product is enough than the fact that we put a lot in it. Rather than just listing the features, I was trying to convey what changes and convenience I could feel when I actually used them. And here, we built trust by showing actual reviews and clinical data together. In the end, I thought that conviction was more important than words for multi-functional products.
Q. It was also impressive that you posted 'Failure Collection.zip' in the new news. It was a very honest content. What made you share "Failure"?
I think luxury cosmetics that cost 1 million won sold at department stores also have disadvantages. How can you make a product that works perfectly for everyone when human skin is different. What's important is not that there are no drawbacks, but how honest you communicate with customers about that.
Rather than just showing good results, I wanted to share what choices I made and what parts I boldly gave up. It's because I felt that people who sympathized with that process eventually became real fans and stayed with me longer. We want to be a brand that goes with our supporters for a long time, not a brand that only sells in the short term.
The funding process itself was an opportunity to learn the basics of brand management
I think it's an important gateway for Wadiz's starting beauty brand. There are not many platforms that give opportunities on the same starting line for unknown brands and well-known brands, but Wadiz is very special in that regard.
Of course, not all projects are successful, and you may experience failure or loss. Nevertheless, I think the process of planning content, checking customer reactions, running advertisements, and learning to better explain the pros and cons of a product itself is essential to running a brand. I also gained the strength to move forward by practicing and improving many things in a short time through Wadiz.
Kift wants to grow into a brand for those who put themselves behind the scenes in their busy daily lives. With the supporters who joined us in the beginning of Kift, we will continue to make it easier and better skincare.
Listening to Ha Seul-ki's story, I think what matters in the time of promoting the brand is not "what did you make?" but the depth of concern about "changing whose day it is."
Hasulgi Maker said that Wadiz funded the product because supporters gathered to find out the true value of the product, not superficial factors such as brand fame and pretty packages.
Wadiz is creating a platform that allows anyone to fund without the familiar limitations and limitations of the industry.
If you're preparing for a new challenge now, start with Wadiz!
📌 If you're curious about more maker stories?
- Are you still thinking about going abroad? Check out the market's real reaction first, even if it's small: The Full Seoul Maker Interview
- Working Mom Maker's 3 Product Differentiation Tips: Angel&B Maker Interview, which has collected 800 million won from eye cushions