Suh Kyung-bae used to raise eyebrows by turning up to business meetings sporting bright nail varnish. Today the chairman of South Korean cosmetics group AmorePacific

徐庆培(Suh Kyung-bae)曾因为涂着鲜艳的指甲参加商务会议而惹人侧目。如今，这位韩国化妆品集团爱茉莉太平洋(Amore Pacific)的董事长穿着更素淡的灰色商务西装，但是他仍然声称尝试了自己公司以及对手公司的大多数美妆产品。唯一的例外是睫毛膏，他觉得睫毛膏太难涂了。

is more soberly attired in a grey business suit but he still claims to have tried out most of his company’s beauty products, as well as its rivals’. The exception is mascara, which he finds too hard to apply.

“我已经让我的员工研发更容易使用的睫毛膏，”这位52岁的企业家玩笑称，“在我小时候，化妆品对我来说就像是玩具，我会查看所有的产品并使用它们……只有在你真的了解自己的产品时，你才能有效地推销它们。”

“I’ve asked my staff to develop mascara that is easier to use,” jokes the 52-year-old. “Cosmetics were like toys to me when I grew up, watching all the products and using them . . . You can market your products effectively only when you truly know them.”

事实证明，徐庆培乐意使用化妆品的心态感染了许多韩国男人。韩国男人已经部分放弃了传统的大男子主义，成为了全世界男士化妆品最大的消费者群体：这一趋势受益于爱茉莉太平洋积极、持续的市场推广。

Mr Suh’s willingness to embrace cosmetics has proved contagious among South Korean men, who have compromised traditional macho ideals to become the world’s biggest consumers of male cosmetics: a trend aided by aggressive, sustained marketing from AmorePacific.

但是，这只是该公司增长传奇的一部分。过去两年，爱茉莉股价增长3倍之后，该公司的市值已经攀升至200亿美元。徐庆培拥有该公司的控股权，据福布斯(Forbes)数据，其身家已经达到83亿美元。福布斯将徐庆培评为2015年度亚洲商业人物。

But this is just part of the company’s growth story, which has seen its market capitalisation climb to $20bn after a quadrupling of its share price over the past two years. Mr Suh, who has a

他的公司也引领了韩国化妆品在中国以及亚洲其他地区的销售额猛增。据欧睿国际(Euromonitor International)数据，2009年以来，中国在护肤品上的支出增长了近80%，去年达到人均支出19美元。在兰芝(Laneige)和悦诗风吟(Innisfree)等品牌出品的中档价位乳液和面霜热销的推动下，自2010年以来，爱茉莉太平洋在中国的销售额增长超过两倍。

controlling stake, has a personal value of $8.3bn according to Forbes, which has named him its Asian businessman of

徐庆培如今是韩国第二大富豪，身价仅次于三星(Samsung)掌门人李健熙(Lee Kun-hee)。徐庆培承认，爱茉莉太平洋受益于韩国音乐和韩剧在亚洲地区大受欢迎。该公司是肥皂剧《来自星星的你》的主要赞助商，该剧的女主角全智贤(Jeon Ji-hyun)在中国引发了购买热潮。不过，他对依靠这种现象增长的态度颇为谨慎。“这可能促使他们买一次我们的产品，但是如果产品质量不够好，他们就不会再次购买我们的产品了，”他称。

the year.

他把该公司在海外的成功更多地归功于市场研究和本土化策略。自爱茉莉太平洋1992年进入中国市场以来，徐庆培前往中国超过100次。去年，爱茉莉太平洋在上海开设了新工厂和研究中心，使生产能力扩大了9倍。大多数韩国跨国公司通常会派遣韩国员工到海外分公司工作，但是爱茉莉太平洋非常依赖于本土人才。

His company has also spearheaded a surge of South Korean cosmetic sales in China and other parts of Asia. China’s spending on skin care has risen nearly 80 per cent since 2009 to $19 per head last year, according to Euromonitor International. AmorePacific’s own sales in China have more than tripled since 2010, driven by mid-priced lotions and face creams sold under brand names such as Laneige and Innisfree.

“我们认为可能广受欢迎的一些产品并未成功，那些我们没有寄予太多期望的产品反而热销，”徐庆培称，“结论是我们不知道什么可行，这意味着我们应该更努力地学习，并尊重当地人。”

Mr Suh — now South Korea’s second-richest man behind Samsung patriarch Lee Kun-hee — admits AmorePacific has benefited from the regional popularity of South Korean music and television dramas . It was the main sponsor of the soap opera My Love from the Star, whose female lead Jeon Ji-hyun sparked a buying craze in China. Yet he is cautious about relying on the phenomenon. “It may have prompted them to purchase our products once but they would not buy our products again if their quality was not good enough,” he says.

韩国企业利用非传统战术在亚洲市场脱颖而出，推出了含有蜗牛粘液、蜂毒和马油等非常规成分的护肤品。爱茉莉太平洋是唯一一家拥有茶叶种植园的化妆品公司，其产品中使用的茶叶提取物来自自家茶园出产的茶叶，该公司还有含人参提取物的产品。这类产品在韩国和中国大受欢迎，以天然成分为特色的传统中药在那里仍然广受信赖。

He attributes the company’s success overseas more to market research and localised strategy. Mr Suh has visited China more than 100 times since the company entered the country in 1992. AmorePacific opened a new factory and research centre in Shanghai last year to boost production capacity tenfold. Most Korean multinationals usually dispatch Korean staff to overseas units, but it relies heavily on local talent.

该公司在研发上投入巨大，以取悦于生活在颜值社会、紧跟潮流的韩国消费者。研发投入为该公司成为亚洲地区的一支生力军奠定了基础。韩国在护肤上的支出在全世界位列第三，仅次于香港和日本。

“Some products we thought likely to be well accepted were not, while those for which we did not have many

在“BB霜”、气垫粉饼、面膜等突破性产品的帮助下，韩国已出乎意料地成为全球化妆品业的潮流缔造者。这些产品集多种功能于一身，帮助亚洲女性节省了化妆时间，简化了步骤繁琐的化妆流程。

expectations sold well,” says Mr Suh. “The conclusion is that we don’t

徐庆培称：“尽管我们从西方人那里学习了技术，但是我们应该创造出不同的东西来呈现亚洲人的美。”

know what works, which means we should study harder and respect locals.”

但是，试图在西方市场打开局面时，爱茉莉太平洋经历了更加困难的时期。去年，该公司进入美国市场11年以来首次盈利；其产品如今在62家高档百货商场以及连锁折扣店销售，但是在亚裔美国人以外受到冷遇。

Korean companies have used unconventional tactics to stand out in Asian markets, rolling out skincare products with unusual ingredients such as snail mucus, bee venom and horse fat. AmorePacific is the only cosmetics company to own a tea plantation, where it grows the green tea used in its products, while others include the fleshy-rooted plant ginseng. Such products have gone down well in South Korea and China, where traditional medicines featuring natural ingredients remain widely trusted.

在欧洲，该公司的表现疲软得多：爱茉莉太平洋的一款香水曾经跻身法国销量前五，但是如今该公司在法国的销售陷入停滞。分析师称，该公司注重护肤品，没能迎合西方人主要对于彩妆的兴趣。

The company has invested heavily in research and development to please trend-conscious Korean consumers in the appearance-obsessed society, which has prepared it to become a regional force. South Koreans are the world’s third-biggest spenders on skin care, after consumers in Hong Kong and Japan.

“亚洲人有类似的审美观，但是该公司在法国遭遇的困难，表明在亚洲以外市场取得成功有多难，在那里，其品牌鲜为人知，文化也大相径庭，”野村证券的分析师Cara Song称。

South Korea has emerged as an un­likely trendsetter in the global cosmetics industry with breakthrough products including “BB creams”, cushion compacts (see box) and mask sheets, which have helped to simplify Asian women’s time-consuming, multi-step make-up regimen through their multi-functionality.

然而，爱茉莉太平洋以其战略重点突出、公司治理良好赢得了投资者的欢迎。徐庆培是该公司创始人最小的儿子。1997年，时年34岁的他登上掌门人之位，自那以来，销售额增长了6倍，去年达到创纪录的4.7万亿韩元(合27亿英镑)，其中将近五分之一来自韩国以外的市场。以销售额来看，爱茉莉太平洋如今是亚洲第三大化妆品制造商，仅次于日本的资生堂(Shiseido)和花王(Kao)。

“Although we have learnt our technology from westerners, we should create something different to deliver Asian beauty,” says Mr Suh.

该公司简单的所有权结构在韩国企业界脱颖而出。在韩国，尽管在关键业务所持的股份很少，但大多数企业大亨通过复杂的交叉持股网对他们的企业集团拥有过大的影响力。

But AmorePacific has had a more difficult time breaking through in the west. Last year it turned its first profit in the US after 11 years of sales there; its products are now stocked in 62 upmarket departments stores as well as discount chains, but have gained little traction be- yond the Asian-American demographic.

“投资者们热爱这家公司，因为它是韩国少有的业务集中、所有权结构透明的企业，不像其他大多数韩国财阀那样拥有广泛的业务，”研究服务机构CEO Score的负责人Park Ju-geun称。

In Europe, the company’s performance has been much weaker: one of AmorePacific’s perfumes was once one of France’s top five, but French sales have stagnated. Analysts say its focus on skin care has failed to match westerners’ main interest in colour make-up.

不过，由于其目前的成功很大程度上局限于亚洲范围，一些投资者对该公司的高市值感到不安。该公司股价是其2016年预期每股盈利的30倍，基准韩国综合股价指数(Kospi)的市盈率为12倍。

“Asians share similar beauty values but the company’s struggle in France shows how hard it is to succeed in non-Asian markets, where its brand is little known and culture is completely different,” says Cara Song, an analyst at Nomura.

然而，徐庆培对爱茉莉太平洋成为全球化妆品巨头面临的挑战满不在乎。

Still, AmorePacific has won investor plaudits for its strategic focus and corporate governance. Mr Suh is the youngest son of the company founder. Since he took the helm in 1997 at the age of 34, sales have risen sevenfold to hit a record Won4.7tn (£2.7bn) last year, with nearly a fifth of this coming from outside Korea. AmorePacific is now Asia’s third-largest cosmetics maker by sales behind only Japan’s Shiseido

“做生意总是艰难的，但是我热爱这个行业，因为它一方面是科学一方面是艺术，”他微笑道，“我们的竞争对手不是化妆品公司。我们应该与顾客竞争，读懂他们的想法，赢得他们的心。”