Mucca develops new campaign for Korean beauty retailer Chicor

Korean beauty retailer, Chicor, worked with NYC-based branding studio, Mucca, to develop a new campaign, consisting of a series of bold and vibrantly colored visuals that aim to reflect the brand’s playful spirit.

Mucca developed the Chicor brand, which is owned by Korean fashion and lifestyle franchise Shinsegae, when it launched. It deisnged its in-store graphics, signage, uniforms, packaging, in-store and online videos, in addition to other assets.

“Using an elegant, custom-made font combined with a lively and feminine gradient juxtaposed with lots of black, we were able to build a brand that was sophisticated but also playful. Shinsegae wanted customers to come in and feel free to try things themselves - creating a ‘playground for beautyholics,” says Mucca founder and creative director, Matteo Bologna.

This year, Chicor looked to push this creative direction even further, introducing a wider colour palette and a new 3D treatment for the typography and graphic elements.  Influenced by the rise of online retail during the pandemic, Mucca created a much more “digital” feel to the visuals, as if the models and products were playing in a computer-generated cyberspace. 

Mucca design director, Andrea Brown, says, “We moved away from the core brand elements to expand the audience’s idea of what Chicor is and can be. Now that the brand is well established in people’s minds, we could be more free to introduce new ideas that generate excitement about the brand without losing brand recognition.”

“We’ve learned that working with companies outside of the US means it’s crucial to build an awareness of the cultural landscape, which is why our visits to Seoul were essential to these projects. However, we also realised that Shinsegae counted on our outsider perspective to help them differentiate themselves from other Korean brands,” Brown adds.

“As in most markets, the beauty industry is saturated with brands that talk and behave very similarly. With our past branding work and new campaign for Chicor, we’ve created something iconic that can become synonymous with the brand, be instantly recognisable and can help carve a bright and optimistic path forward for a brand evolving in times of tremendous change,” Bologna says.