Busan eyes K-beauty landmark status with creator matchmaking program

Busan Technopark held a hands-on marketing program called "Pitch the Creator" at Gwangalli on Tuesday, the organization announced Thursday, aimed at strengthening the promotional capabilities of local beauty companies.

The program is part of the city of Busan's "2026 Cosmetics and Beauty Industry Commercialization Support Project," which seeks to develop Busan into a landmark city for the K-beauty industry and help B-Beauty — Busan-based cosmetics and beauty — companies build brand competitiveness and expand into domestic and overseas markets.

Busan's cosmetics industry has been posting strong growth, driven largely by exports. According to Korea International Trade Association (KITA) data, cosmetics exports in the first half of 2026 reached 116.5 percent of the previous year's full-year earnings ahead of schedule, with key export destinations diversifying to include the United States, China, Vietnam and Canada.

Despite that momentum, many promising brands with strong technology and product quality have struggled to connect with consumers at home and abroad due to a shortage of professional marketing personnel and promotional expertise.

Pitch the Creator matched 20 professional beauty content creators one-on-one with local beauty companies — Saltjoy, Korea Bio Beauty Industry, Saerob, Toas, Santé, Cosmedition, Tritanas, Moonlighter, Phytoeco, Kift Company, Skin White, Amaranth, Skin Lab Korea, GM Plant, UN-B, Ramul, Youngmi, The One, Yeolyeolyeo and Podimix — to support the production of tailored content. Throughout the day, the creators staged product displays, filmed content and identified each product's distinctive features and key promotional elements.

"At a time when Busan's cosmetics exports are growing rapidly, the excellent product quality of B-Beauty companies and the creative content-making capabilities of the creators came together to generate real synergy," a Busan Technopark official said. "We will actively support local beauty companies in entering domestic and overseas markets so that Busan can lead global K-beauty."