Goodai Global: Moving Beyond “Whack-a-Mole” to Intelligence-Led Brand Protection

As the global popularity of K-Beauty continues to skyrocket, brands face an escalating threat from bad actors looking to capitalize on their success.

For Gyucheol, Intellectual Property Manager at Goodai Global, protecting the highly acclaimed skincare brand “Beauty of Joseon” is about more than just revenue – it’s about consumer safety.

Because cosmetics are performance-driven products applied directly to the skin, counterfeit versions not only fail to deliver results but pose severe health and safety risks. Left unchecked, these fakes threaten to irreversibly tarnish the hard-earned reputation of the Beauty of Joseon brand and the wider K-Beauty industry.

The Challenge: The Blind Spots of Basic Monitoring

Before partnering with Corsearch, Goodai’s brand protection strategy was hindered by a lack of actionable visibility. Working with a previous local vendor, their efforts were restricted to basic online monitoring and manual takedowns.

Gyucheol described the frustrating reality of this approach as a continuous “game of whack-a-mole.” While they could remove individual listings, they lacked the deep investigative capabilities needed to uncover the sources, physical locations, and network connections of the counterfeiters. Without solid intelligence, it was impossible to take decisive action to disrupt the manufacturing and distribution of fakes at their root. The manual process of reporting listings also drained valuable time and team resources.

The Solution: Intelligence-Led Enforcement and Automation

Goodai turned to the Corsearch Investigations Team and Corsearch’s automated platform to bridge the gap between online monitoring and offline action.

Automated Takedowns

Unlike their previous service, which required Goodai to manually report infringing listings, the Corsearch platform automatically detects and removes counterfeit seller listings. Gyucheol highlighted this automation as a massive upgrade that immediately reduced the administrative burden on his team, freeing up time for higher-value strategic work.

In-Depth Landscape Reports

To tackle the root of the counterfeiting networks, Corsearch provided a comprehensive Landscape Report. The intelligence gathered showed that over 80% of the targets identified by Corsearch matched the “heavy sellers” Goodai had already suspected on platforms like Amazon and Alibaba. Corsearch provided the missing pieces of the puzzle – the personal information of the counterfeiters and the decisive evidence required to actually prosecute them.

The Impact: From Online Listings to Offline Seizures

By using data from Corsearch, Goodai transformed its brand protection strategy from reactive to proactive, achieving measurable offline impact and optimizing its global budget.

Targeted Offline Enforcement in China

Utilizing the intelligence from the Landscape Report, Goodai instructed a local agency in China to conduct an on-site visit targeting a major counterfeit seller. This intelligence-led approach resulted in a successful administrative enforcement action, leading to the physical seizure and destruction of 100+ units of counterfeit Beauty of Joseon stock.

Strategic Global Resource Allocation

As Beauty of Joseon recently expanded into major retailers in a new market, Gyucheol’s team considered dedicating a substantial budget to local enforcement in that region. Instead, by using Corsearch’s rapid investigation and reporting they confirmed that counterfeits were not yet widespread in the region. This insight prevented unnecessary spending, allowing Goodai to confidently allocate resources elsewhere.

Securing Future Budgets

The concrete data and intelligence provided by Corsearch didn’t just stop bad actors; it empowered Goodai internally. The reports served as the foundational evidence needed to secure an increased internal budget for offline enforcement and to plan comprehensive customs training programs for the upcoming year.

Intelligence-led enforcement allows us to see the forest, not just the trees. We’ve moved beyond simple ‘whack-a-mole’ takedowns to identify and take action against the real targets.

Gyucheol, IP Manager, Goodai Global

The Future: Expanding the Perimeter

Their next phase involves expanding their enforcement scope into emerging, high-risk markets like Southeast Asia, India and Russia with Corsearch as a partner. 

Through ongoing communication with the Corsearch Investigations team, Goodai remains equipped to adapt to new counterfeit trends swiftly and decisively and have gained a new confidence in their Online Brand Protection program through our Corsearch Investigations solutions.