Fashion employees are the new influencers gaining consumer attention in Korea

[Courtesy of LF]

Employees at fashion companies are becoming the new brand ambassadors as content on their personal social networks using the products and sharing impressions are gaining traction among consumers in South Korea.

Fashion companies are turning to employencers, a term that combines employees and influencers, to promote their products as they provide more candid information about the items based on their own experience as company employees.

In Korea, a growing number of consumers are finding product reviews from fashion employees to be more approachable and trustworthy than advertisements featuring celebrities or famous personalities.

Products recommended by employencers often become sold out due to word of mouth.

LF Corp., a Korean fashion clothing and lifestyle company, is at the forefront.

On its official YouTube channel Hang out with LF, the company’s young employees plan and produce content focused on shopping trends. The channel only has about 30,000 subscribers, but its influence is significant.

In particular, content that introduces fashion company employees’ everyday fashion, and the short videos of the employees’ work week outfits, are popular.

The DAKS Black DD logo cowhide mini crossbody bag, introduced by an LF employee as a light option for lunchtime became a hot item, has generated sales of over 100 million won ($74,810) in just ten days after the number of video views increased significantly.

The Athe Vanessa Bruno backpack, which was introduced by an LF employee along with her work outfit in a shorts content uploaded in mid-November last year, saw a 20-fold increase in sales after the content was aired.

More recently, Athe Vanessa Bruno’s Les Bon ribbon backpack and shoulder bag, which were also featured in the shorts, have been garnering much attention.

Within two weeks of being introduced, the shorts recorded 150,000 views, leading to a flood of purchase confirmations through comments and selling out the initial stock in three weeks.

Another fashion retail company E-Land Group is also reaping the benefits of employencer marketing with kidikidi, a platform for children’s fashion and supplies. Kidikidi, launched in April 2020, saw its sales grow by about 30 percent last year compared to the previous year.

The key to kidikidi’s growth is that employees directly reflected their parenting experiences in product curation, forming a consensus with consumers.

“We suggest products that satisfy parents, such as whether our children can easily wear and take off their clothes, or whether they are less damaged even after being in a dryer, leading to high customer satisfaction,” said a company official.