AROMATICA's Rosemary Root Enhancer 100ml recently reached #1 on Amazon US, proving once again the strength of K-beauty on the world stage. At the center of that milestone is Kang Hee-jo, who handles viral marketing and performance marketing on the Global Marketing team. We sat down with her to talk about what it's really like introducing AROMATICA to consumers around the world.
Q. Hello! Could you introduce your team and what you work on?
Hi! I'm Kang Hee-jo (Sery), and I work on the US part of the Global Marketing team. Our US marketing team introduces AROMATICA to the US and select European markets through social media, PR activities like magazine and news coverage, and paid advertising. My main focus is viral marketing and performance marketing — finding influential creators who can genuinely convey the efficacy of AROMATICA's products, then turning that content into ads that drive real sales.
Q. What's the atmosphere like at AROMATICA, or on your team specifically?
AROMATICA feels like a company that's both open and warm. As long as you're on top of your responsibilities, we have solid policies and benefits that give people real flexibility with their time, and the culture leans toward encouraging and collaborating with each other rather than criticizing or competing. There's very little stress outside of the work itself. Our team, in particular, is probably the loudest and liveliest one in the building! Since our brand only recently began serious global marketing efforts, we've been through a lot of ups and downs together — and that's built genuinely strong teamwork.
Q. What led you to choose this line of work?
I lived in the Philippines for 12 years. Korean cosmetics were always popular there thanks to their reasonable prices and excellent quality. I experienced firsthand, from my undergraduate years onward, just how much local interest there was in K-beauty — and I became convinced that this role was the best way to put my overseas experience, market instincts, and passion for beauty to use. Since joining AROMATICA, I've felt again and again that it was the right choice.
Q. What do you think is the most important skill for working as a global marketer?
First, being a heavy, everyday user of TikTok and social media — and above all, being a genuine beauty enthusiast (a "beauty deok") — helps you instinctively read where the market is heading, and gives you the drive to stay genuinely immersed in the work.
Second, you need the outgoing personality and communication skills to build flexible, trust-based relationships with influencers. And finally, in a landscape where trends shift constantly, you need a spirit of experimentation — a willingness to try new tools and content formats without hesitation.
Q. What does the process look like for the US Marketing part to get a product established in the US market?
The basic process — understanding market needs, then planning, testing, and producing a product — is similar across brands, but there's something distinctive about how AROMATICA's Global Marketing team works. We believe that to become a truly global brand, the voice of overseas consumers has to matter from the very beginning. So from the earliest stages of new product development, we run product reviews and naming surveys with overseas customers, shaping direction together with them.
Before a product developed this way launches, we send finished samples to a wide range of local customers and creators to gather feedback. That process often surfaces keywords or content hooks we never would have anticipated. Carefully handling every step this way, closing the gap between global consumers and the brand — that's the process our team goes through to help a single product take root in the US market.
Q. I heard the Rosemary Root Enhancer recently hit #1 on Amazon US. How did it feel when you got the news?
I woke up, saw the news, and honestly wondered for a second if I was dreaming — I was that happy. The K-beauty market in the US runs largely on viral marketing, so early on we put a lot of effort into forming and testing hypotheses about the "formula" behind breakout content and finding the right influencers for our brand.
Q. Was there a strategy that was especially key to reaching #1 in a market as large as the US?
The US market is so large that lifestyle and spending patterns vary enormously by gender, age, ethnic heritage, and region — which meant we needed much more precise targeting. Starting around last year's BFCM (Black Friday/Cyber Monday) season, we used data analysis to identify our core target group and build a marketing strategy tailored to it — and that became the real catalyst behind reaching #1.
Q. Why do you think this particular product resonates so strongly with US consumers?
There was a big TikTok trend of people boiling rosemary themselves and applying it to the scalp for hair growth. To this day, rosemary remains one of the most talked-about ingredients for hair growth.
AROMATICA has deeply researched Rosemary since 2004, giving us a stronger heritage in this space than almost any brand, domestic or international. On top of that, we can offer a complete scalp care routine built around rosemary — from [product name] to [product name], [product name], and [product name] — which has resonated strongly with US consumers.
Q. Is there another project from your time on the US market that stands out to you?
There have been a lot of meaningful projects, but the one I'm proudest of was running our very first global ambassador program (AROMATICAN season 1) after joining the company. Even our department head got directly involved — the whole team put together PR kits with products and handwritten notes for each creator. Creators were genuinely touched and sent us thank-you messages of their own, and watching each of them express the products in their own unique way on video gave me a real sense that we were connecting authentically with the brand.
Q. Running large-scale projects must mean a lot of cross-team collaboration. How does the Global Marketing team work with other teams?
One example: our team works most closely with the Sales team. When the Global Sales team shares an Amazon promotion scheme with us, we use that as the basis for planning key visuals and key copy for Amazon and social media, and line up the right influencer partnerships. We also use paid ads to concentrate traffic during promotional periods.
During major sales events especially, we work hand-in-hand with the Sales team, closely monitoring sales and any issues in real time. Hitting targets together like that has kept our collaboration with the Sales team running smoothly and consistently.
Q. What's the area where you feel you've grown the most while working on the US Marketing part?
I feel like I grow right alongside the scope of the team's work. As our brand ambassador program (AROMATICAN) expanded beyond the US into Italy, Spain, France, Germany, and the UK, and as our work expanded into offline channel marketing as well, I could feel our whole part becoming an increasingly well-optimized global marketing group.
Q. What's a goal you'd like to achieve at the company going forward?
Growing the share of our global revenue. Just as AROMATICA has become a well-established brand domestically, my biggest goal is building the same level of recognition and fandom in global markets.
Q. Finally, any message for someone hoping to join the US Marketing part?
If you want to experience global marketing and grow through it, now is the perfect time — and if you want to experience that journey fully immersed and genuinely enjoying it, I'm confident our US Marketing part is the best team for that.