[Marketing Secret] "Clothes Capturing Girl's Emotions, Moms Are Also Satisfied"

Interview with CEO Kigijun Kikiko
Fashion Brand Targeting Teenage Girls
Designs Tailored to Youth Preferences Using High-Quality Fabrics
Offline Store Opening and Annual Sales Goal of 10 Billion Won

"Just as we gave teenagers the confidence that 'even if you buy pretty clothes you want, they fit well,' we want KIKIKO to be recognized as a brand where you can comfortably purchase the items you need."

Lee Gijun, CEO of KIKIKO, said this about the brand's goal in an interview with Asia Economy. Since 2007, Lee has been leading the fashion brand 'KIKIKO' for teenagers for 16 years.

Lee Gijun, CEO of Kikiko.
[Photo by Kikiko]

CEO Lee started the business influenced by his parents who sold children's clothing. Initially, they sold children's clothes, but after encountering the concerns of early to mid-teen adolescents, they expanded the business. He explained, "At this stage (early to mid-teens), kids are in a growth phase, so they look for clothes bigger than children's sizes, but when they wear teenage clothes, they often feel they are too big. In terms of design, we strive to precisely match the tastes of kids who are very interested in middle and high school students' styles."

KIKIKO, born this way, positions itself as a "fashion brand for teenage girls." It offers designs reflecting the tastes of early to mid-teen adolescents and provides various sizes. In fact, on KIKIKO's direct-to-consumer (D2C) shopping mall, reviews from kids and parents satisfied with the clothes have been posted. On KIKIKO's product review board, one review said, "When buying clothes, if I bought according to height, the waist was too big, and if I bought according to weight, it was too short, but here the clothes fit perfectly and looked pretty."

KIKIKO employs a strategy that targets not only kids' tastes but also parents' hearts at once. Instead of simply offering pretty and cheap products, they provide high-quality products. When processing fabric, they use a 'tumble processing' method that applies moisture and heat to the fabric after production to prevent shrinkage and increase durability. Thanks to this, even after using a dryer, the fabric can maintain its original shape as much as possible.

Lee Gijun, CEO of KIKICO. [Photo by KIKICO]

CEO Lee feels the greatest satisfaction when parents see their children happy wearing the clothes. He emphasized, "Recently, many in the fashion market try to secure competitiveness through price, but KIKIKO focuses on increasing customer satisfaction visiting the D2C shopping mall to raise average spending and repurchase rates. Thanks to these efforts, many customers buy all their seasonal clothes from KIKIKO, allowing the average spending per person to exceed 70,000 won."

KIKIKO's popular product line is the 'EveryK Basic' line, which can be comfortably worn anytime and anywhere. About 5,000 pairs of straight pants were sold in the fall season alone. CEO Lee explained that the popularity is due to offering multiple sizes to cover various adolescent body types and targeting the tastes of teens who prefer simple training wear.

KIKIKO is also engaging in customer communication and promotional activities for branding. Among these, keyword advertising on portal sites and social media (SNS) advertising in collaboration with Cafe24 Marketing Center have shown good results. CEO Lee expressed satisfaction, saying, "Consultants suggested the appropriate timing and methods for promotion, achieving an efficiency of about 1000~1500%. This efficiency means that spending 1 million won on advertising returns 10 to 15 times in sales."

KIKIKO plans to continue operating mainly through its D2C shopping mall, which accounts for 90% of sales. At the same time, they plan to open offline stores and expand the business, aiming to achieve annual sales of 10 billion won this year.