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New Korea Economic Slice - "Ten Big Ideas About Marketing to Koreans"
Steven S. Bammel is creator of Korea Business Central and director of the Korea Business Central Professional Certification Program, as well as president and lead consultant at Korean Consulting & Translation Service, Inc.
Based on nearly 20 years' affiliation with Korea, advanced Korean-language studies and a master's degree in Korea from Hanyang University in management strategy, Steven's professional efforts focus on helping international clients raise their business effectiveness in Korea through better in-country communications, understanding and networking.
In addition to his recent support to hundreds of clients and partners around the world, Steven previously worked at LG International Inc. in Seoul and has served as FDI advisor to GyeongGi Province and consultant to the GyeongGi Association of Foreign Invested Companies. He also writes the Nojeok Hill: My View from the Top weblog.
Steven can be reached directly at sbammel@koreanconsulting.com and he welcomes inquiries from companies and individuals committed to taking their business in Korea to the next level.
April 24, 2012
Ten Big Ideas about Marketing to Koreans
By Steven S. Bammel
| Editor: |  |
Eun-Shil Park | Proofreading: |  |
It is important to keep certain rules of thumb in mind when marketing to Koreans. While not every Korean will share the following outlooks completely, these ideas represent conventional social views in Korea and are applicable and useful for a wide range of marketing purposes.
This report focuses exclusively on people from and in South Korea, which is also known as the Republic of Korea. While many of these marketing insights may apply to North Koreans, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (also called North Korea) is inaccessible to outside marketing efforts and not relevant to this discussion.
Idea #1 - Koreans aspire to high achievement quickly.
Koreans credit much of their success to one thing: hard work. Even today, with government-mandated shorter workweeks, many Korean “salarymen” still put in full days at the office on Saturdays and Sundays and wouldn’t know what it’s like to arrive home from work before 9pm during the week. Korean high school students wishing to get into the best universities are expected to study late into the night and on weekends.
This national obsession with success both leads to and derives from unusually heavy competition for the best spots in school and work. Koreans are frequently reminded about quasi-national goals to achieve ever higher rankings in international indices, such as GNP, Olympic medals, Nobel Prize winners and others. Koreans also crave personal perfection in terms of beauty and status, leading to a booming market for plastic surgery, cosmetics, luxury goods and others.
Another aspect of Korean achievement that gets a lot of attention, particularly with expatriates living in Korea, is how fast things change and move in Korea, exemplified in the common Korean expression “balli, balli” (meaning, “fast, fast”). Considering how quickly the Korean economy and society have changed and how much further Koreans feel they still have to go to reach their goals, it’s not surprising that life moves quickly in Korea.
* Additional Insights: What a Come-from-Behind Win Means to Koreans
Marketing Takeaway: Marketing messages to Koreans can take it for granted that the audience is working hard and trying to succeed. Telling Koreans to take it easy and enjoy a life of leisure may not communicate in ways expected in other societies since, even in rest, Koreans often take a remarkably hectic approach.
Idea #2 - Koreans think their country is small.
Koreans often refer to their country’s diminutive size. This is somewhat true when considering land mass, but it is no longer the case from a population or GNP standpoint. Still, considering that throughout Korean history, the nation continuously struggled to get along with much larger powers (mainly China, Japan, Russia and the US) vying for influence in the region, it makes sense that Koreans would think they are a small fish in a big pond.
Korean TV shows play on this theme too, with seemingly every storyline containing an unlikely sequence of chance encounters between people in their daily lives. While real life is not quite like TV, residents of Korea find themselves amazed at how often they see and meet people they know while out and about in the big city and how many Korean acquaintances know other Koreans that they know. This reinforces a “small world” perception in Korean society.
Marketing Takeaway: Messages that might make Koreans feel they are at or could be at the mercy of outside influences (including companies and nations) should be avoided. On the other hand, Koreans will identify with serendipitous or coincidence-heavy scenarios.
Idea #3 - Korea had a rough time entering the modern era but is now on a roll.
According to the Korean collective memory, the years 1900-1960 were a nightmare, a time of colonization by the Japanese, civil war and finally grinding poverty and political unrest and stagnation. This memory influences the social fears mentioned in Idea #2, and explains the Korean wariness toward Japan, even today, and Korean determination not to let the country become subservient to outsiders again like it was before.
On the other hand, Koreans are extremely proud of their achievements since the early 1960s and the success of the past fifty years informs Korean outlooks today in ways that can be inspiring.
Going back to the 19th century and before, Koreans treasure their long history and in the bustle of modern life still look for answers to life’s problems in the nostalgia of the distant past.
* Additional Insights: "New" is the "New Old" in Korea Today
Marketing Takeaway: Be sensitive to Korean memories of the first half of the 20th century and to the influences of foreign powers during those years. Marketing that recognizes modern Korean success can be effective, as can finding and applying lessons from the traditional past.
Idea #4 - Korean relationships are characterized by sharing.
Koreans maintain personal and business relationships through a constant process of give and take. In ways Westerners would consider extreme, Koreans find excuses to give gifts, including surprisingly large sums of money, in many different life situations.
While not always stated explicitly (and oftentimes the boundary here between legitimate business gift-giving and corruption is fuzzy), the purpose of these gifts is to pay back or create new obligations within relationships. Strong and ongoing Korean relationships never reach a state of equilibrium where each person’s “account” is in balance.
The sharing of alcoholic drinks in social gatherings is also part of this dynamic, facilitating a range of personal connections and sharing.
* Additional Insights: "Top 10 Gifts to Give in Korea to Make a Great Impression"
Marketing Takeaway:Marketing messages about gift-giving that are based on the idea that “it’s the thought that counts” may not communicate to Koreans as intended since Korean gift-giving is typically tied to social obligations and agendas.
Idea #5 - Koreans see themselves as racially uniform and unique.
Koreans believe they share one history going back 5,000+ years, and they don’t see that history as overlapping with nearby countries, except when they were invaded or pressured by China or Japan.
There is only one dialect of the language in South Korea which is considered standard, and Koreans value sameness to the extent that the author’s daughter was recently instructed by a teacher to dye her brown hair black so she’d look like every other child in the local Korean school.
Today, Korean society is rapidly diversifying (from a low base) due to immigration, primarily from other countries in Asia, and Koreans are very interested in these changes. But this trend has not gone far enough to alter basic perceptions, which also contribute to the Korean group-oriented social dynamic, and a very strong sense of patriotism.
On the other hand, Korean political views are diverse, and regional rivalries deeply influence the national political debate, in spite of the apparent “sameness”. Many Koreans also have disturbingly racist views of the world, perhaps due to a history of being on the receiving end of such prejudices for so long.
* Additional Insights: Korean Cultural Nationalism: "Generation High Speed", the Vancouver...
Marketing Takeaway: Koreans are not anti-foreigner and are receptive to marketing messages brought to them by non-Koreans when presented in the right way. However, efforts to push the envelope for cultural diversity should be handled with care. In addition, Koreans respond strongly to fashions and fads due, in part, to their sense of group belonging, as well as other dynamics presented in this report. It is important to stay on top of social and business trends and to adapt quickly to changing demands by Korean consumers.
Idea #6. Korean society is role and hierarchy based.
Koreans dress and behave for the role they are in at the time. Hill climbers always wear the same style of outfit and carry the same gear. Dress code in the office is predictably formal. Even the weather ladies on TV (they’re all women!) dress in a raincoat for the camera if it’s raining outside.
Furthermore, society is infused with a complex awareness of hierarchy, and this is reinforced by the Korean language which requires a speaker to subtly adjust every sentence to his or her position relative to the listener and that of those about whom are being spoken.
These role and hierarchical aspects of Korean society are said to be based on a Confucian outlook on life. Koreans are also uncommonly interested in the ages of people, such that references to persons in the news generally include their age, even when age would seem to be irrelevant to the topic at hand.
* Additional Insights: Succeed in Korean Business by Understanding Korean Company Hierarchy
Marketing Takeaway: Advertising which does not match the role and hierarchy expectations of a Korean audience will cause message dissonance which may influence effectiveness.
Idea #7. Koreans all want to unify the country.
Koreans are painfully aware of the division of their country and while there are plenty of Koreans who are discouraged by the 60-year wait and who are going out of their way to sound realistic by talking about how expensive and difficult unification will be, once you get past that veneer, there's hardly anyone who wants to maintain the status quo. In spite of coffee shop talk, should the northern regime fall, the younger crowd will be even more enthusiastic than their elders about unification.
However, the North and South have mutually exclusive ideas about how this unification should take place, and even among South Koreans, there is a big disconnect between the political left and right on the issue.
Koreans tend to see the division of the country as a main factor preventing them from achieving their potential as a nation and generally feel that national division is someone else’s fault (namely, the US and Russia).
* Additional Insights: The New Chinese Province of Chosun
Marketing Takeaway: Korean unification is a sensitive subject for Koreans and particularly when discussed with foreigners. This topic should be avoided in marketing messages to Koreans, especially if coming from a perceived foreign perspective.
Idea #8. Korean society is getting old fast.
Korea is undergoing dramatic demographic changes. The Korean birth rate is now one of the lowest in the world and the effects of this are starting to show. The author’s son is in fifth grade at elementary school; the class entering first grade has barely half as many students as the fifth grade class, which has 20% fewer students than the class two grades ahead! This school is the norm, not the exception.
Korean transformation to an old-age society is underway and relentless, and while discussed a lot, is not necessary something Koreans are adequately prepared for yet.
* Additional Insights: From Birthing Center to Nursing Home in Ansan
Marketing Takeaway: Over the next few decades, products and services to senior citizens will find a growing market and those for children and young people will struggle.
Idea #9. Koreans dream of creating a new and better world.
Koreans are fascinated by the new. From the new cities that Koreans have been building around the country for the past 30 years or so, to Koreans’ love of new technology, Koreans are looking to reshape their world. In fact, the author is aware of two recent projects by Korean organizations to build brand new cities in the northern wilds of Canada.
Today, as part of this desire to mold life to a better image, the Korean plastic surgery industry is a leader in Asia, and Koreans are at the forefront of efforts to clone animals and genetically engineer food. They are also proud of companies, such as Samsung, which are global leaders in high technology.
As a demographic imperative due to ageing of society, but also buttressed by a cultural affinity for technology, Koreans are already leading the way to acceptance of new technology-based solutions to social and individual challenges.
* Additional Insights: Weighing the Pros and Cons of New City Development Along the West Sea
Marketing Takeaway: Koreans are receptive to marketing messages that emphasize the latest and snazziest devices and solutions, and those most likely to help a user achieve self-improvement and personal convenience.
Idea #10. Ultimately, Koreans think they can’t be understood by outsiders.
Koreans see their society as a black box that only they can open and see inside, and they aren’t the only ones to think this. Even among foreigners, Korean society and business are known to be very tough for outsiders to penetrate.
This doesn’t mean Koreans don’t try to explain themselves. In fact, Korean culture is a focus of attention right now thanks to the Korean Wave, also called “Hallyu”, throughout Asia and Koreans are working hard to fan this popularity. But efforts to share about the country and culture with others tend to be shallow attempts at communicating what they want others to know about them and no more.
In spite of a relationship with Korea that goes back almost twenty years, during which time the author has learned Korean at an advanced level and been married to a Korean for 15+ years, he’s lost count of how many times he’s been told, “Oh, you wouldn’t understand. You’re not Korean.”
* Additional Insights: I Sometimes Wonder if "Face" in Asia is a Figment of People's Imaginations
Marketing Takeaway: Koreans are not generally receptive to new perspectives about themselves that they perceive as coming from outsiders and marketing efforts to Koreans must be mindful of this. It goes without saying that a Korean reading this paper would have mixed feelings about the ideas shared here, not least because they weren’t written by a Korean.
Transferring These Lessons to Japan and China
While Korea, Japan and the Chinese-language region (China, Taiwan and Hong Kong) are separate countries and cultures with individual characteristics, there are still a striking number of ways in which, to the eyes of a Westerner, they are similar. In general, the cultures of Korea and Japan are more similar to each other than they are to the Chinese region, but of course, in terms of those perceptions which originate from historical events and where each country played a different role, the outlooks in Korea will be much different than those of Japan and China. Marketing approaches must be wisely tailored to each country.
Views: 1136
Replies to This Discussion | 이 토론에 대한 답글들
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Permalink Reply by Carl Kwan on -
Nice insight from someone with a lot of experience in the Korean market.
Marketing your products and services, to anyone, needs to consider how the prospect will benefit from using/having what you're selling. Steven is bang on when he talks about helping people achieve self-improvement and personal convenience in #9. This applies to marketing to anyone in the world, so that's why #10 is a good reminder of something else that needs to be considered.
And that's getting into, and understanding, the mindset of your prospects. If carefully presented, taking into consideration culture and background, you can certainly succeed in marketing to Koreans by following Steven's advice.
I'd add one more thing and that is to go against what most ad agencies will tell you to do. Most ad agencies will help you create expensive, beautiful ads, but you'll never sell anything. Building a brand is far less important to a business owner than is selling their stuff.
What your ads should focus on is directly communicating to your target market how you understand their situation and that you have a solution. Conversing, educating, and engaging your prospects through your marketing... Not shouting... are what I consider keys to successful marketing and it's not done very well in Korea.
Done correctly, marketing makes it practically unnecessary to sell. This is especially true of higher priced products and services. It's not about making a quick sale and getting as many people to buy as possible, but rather of building a long-term relationship and selling over time.
Plus, in Korea, if you establish a good relationship with your customers, you'll benefit from the referrals because of the influence of Korean networks.
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Permalink Reply by Jonathan Clemons on -
Most ad agencies will help you create expensive, beautiful ads, but you'll never sell anything.
This is 100% true. While working for Groupon I was brought to Korea to fix the marketing department. I saw ridiculous practices that just didn't perform because the agency told them what to do or they thought it "looked cool like a magazine". I met lots of resistance because like Steven says...
10. Ultimately, Koreans think they can’t be understood by outsiders.
It was simple to solve though through tests and the outsider's marketing method won every time - and not by small margins, up to 500% improvements!
To their credit they quickly jumped on these new methods as Koreans do truly care about their job and have a fiery, competitiveness to them.
What your ads should focus on is directly communicating to your target market how you understand their situation and that you have a solution. Conversing, educating, and engaging your prospects through your marketing... Not shouting... are what I consider keys to successful marketing and it's not done very well in Korea.
Great Advice and what every director should consider when evaluating their Korea office's marketing methods.
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Permalink Reply by Carl Kwan on
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Thank you, Mr. Clemons! Appreciate the supporting comments.
Need more people like you here in Korea :)
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Permalink Reply by Maharaj Varatharajah on -
Great point about the referral network Carl. As you said before, content is key and ultimately the brand that succeeds in creating meaningful, beneficial customer relationships wins the game. Having a complete and holistic view of your audience allows you just that by reaching out to the audience with relevant content that allows you to build these relationships.
Marketing should work like any relationship - one that continuously nurtures mutual beneficial interaction. Too many marketers forget this lesson in favour of cool apps or shiny eyecatching ATL tactics.
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Permalink Reply by Michael Conforme on -
Steven, excellent insight and well written. Michael
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Permalink Reply by Stephen Ronto on -
Steve,
OK. But how exactly can these 10 Big ideas help me pursuade my Korea local leads to buy into my business?
Case in point:
[First Demo Sales, Product SWOT completed with 30 internal & external QC]
APRIL: I have 5 "ajumas" listening to my Korean spiel on how to assemble a Made-in-USA DIY premium baby carriage assembly set. Their first question to me is "where are you from?". While they are watching the Demo they are mainly chattering about "I never saw this on TV". After the demo they of course ask me for a discount on the RSP, and then they sincerely reckon me, "could come back another day to do the demo again with their other friends".
MAY: Experience points that I'll demo in front of a larger group as scheduled. Perhaps you can elaborate on how your Korean marketing ideas could help me close the sale: baby carriages for middle-class, single-income household, first-child housewives, residing in rural Cheonan.
Should I focus on Idea#1 or Idea#4 while I'm assembling the DYI baby carriage....or....
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Permalink Reply by Steven S. Bammel on -
Focus on Idea #5, which alludes to the group-based orientation of Korean consumers and explains how Koreans do things that they see others do. A few years back someone came through our neighborhood doing in-home presentations selling juicers from Germany. My wife bought one... so half a dozen of her friends did too! Get one ajuma to buy and like it and you'll get the rest of her friends to buy too... and you'll have a kernel to build on to expand out from there.
You might also leverage #4 by coming in with some free gifts. My wife's been to two events in the last week that attracted her by the gifts they were giving away through a raffle approach; she managed to get a nice big bag of rice out of the effort for one event. It depends on the economics of your transaction, but you should likely give away more than you might be comfortable with otherwise. Then offset that with relatively high pricing, which will also let you give discounts.
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Permalink Reply by Mike Park on -
Stephen,
On top of what others have said, one will need to examine #6 - Korean society is role based. What do I mean by this? A century ago, foreign diplomats (of upper class) in Korea were playing a game (lawn) tennis. What did a high ranking Korean say about this? Do you know?
Well, he (the Korean high official) had asked why aren't their servants engaged in that difficult (physical) activity? Why break into sweat by trying to chase and hit a (silly) ball? This meant that rigorous hard labor - running around and sweating - was (a role) meant for servants - not for a noble individual whom belongs to higher status.
If I think of India, for a second, where labor is cheap. The DIY kit (buggy) will probably be assembled by a house helper and not the head of household....more to come...
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Permalink Reply by Mike Park on
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Now if we think of how DYI products have not fully set roots in Korea (a very new concept), I wonder how many of the 5 ajumas (women) in your audience were actually planning to assemble(do the final assembly of) the premium baby carriage at home by themselves after their purchase, or future purchase?
Would it have been possible that in their minds, they were thinking of calling on their husband, brother, cousin or a neighborhood ajusshi (for example, apartment guard - or multi-purpose doorman/handyman) to help them with the assembly? With this assumption, we can see why non of them were paying strong attention to the assembly demo - it would not have been up to them (in terms of role) to assemble the carriage, but it would be within their role to ask for a discount.
Now, if you offered free-delivery and/or give instructions/ideas on who could help with the assembly (perhaps even provide a helper to do so) and also build the cost into your final "list" pricing; and then leave room to give them a discount, then your audience (target segment) of ajumas may show a different type of response. For many Korean ajumas, their primary role (within the household) is to cut (haggle) as much as they can to get discount rather than doing assembly work (traditionally a man's or helper's role; and a secondary role for them). I am not arguing that what I have said, or hypothesized, is correct but it is certainly one scenario that could very well happen in the real world. I hope my comments help provide some level of insight (explanation) in terms of marketing to Koreans in the Korean market.
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Permalink Reply by Carl Kwan on
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Mike... And for Stephen, too...
What you said is not only relevant to Koreans. What you've just outlined is, forgive me Stephen, the error that was made in the entire process. Mike, you're hypothesis is spot on because you understand the mindset of the prospects. This is important regardless of ethnic or social background.
Stephen...
In my opinion, what you should do is not go directly for the sale in the demo. That's too big a leap from the prospect's perspective and will immediately lead them to raise their objections, especially in terms of price. Also, a product demo mainly addresses what you're interested in conveying, not what the prospects would be thinking about.
You need to get into the mind of the person who would be thinking they need a baby carriage. Therefore, your target market needs to be chosen very carefully. If they already have a child, then they already have a baby carriage. They wouldn't want another one unless it did something for them emotionally that made them have to have it. Or unless it was too good a deal to pass up.
The ideal target market, in my opinion, might be soon-to-be grandmothers.
Another approach would be to partner with a prenatal hospital or other people that offer prenatal services. You could leave a carriage there and let people play with it. Make a game or contest from it, perhaps...
Whoever can assemble it the fastest wins it for free. The others can get a discount coupon to buy it and maybe they can test drive the carriage for a week without obligation to buy it. Make sure you get everyone's contact information! The winner will be great for a testimonial.
You might want to consider putting together a free video or guide on how to choose a baby carriage properly for the lowest possible price. Make this available on a single page website. It will take away anxiety over getting a sales pitch.
You should educate your prospects on what to look for, what questions to ask, how to tell the difference between good quality and poor quality, etc. Do not say that yours is the one they should choose. The goal is to educate, gain their trust and not make them feel like they are being sold.
Then, offer to mail/email them a weekly tip on raising a smart kid, or staying healthy during pregnancy, or a simple, nutritious recipe, etc. And offer your free test drive of the carriage at the bottom of each piece of correspondence.
If your prospects can make an informed buying decision and you've been the one helping them to gain that knowledge and information, then guess who they're going to buy from?
So, what you need to do before your next demo is educate them in advance and get them genuinely interested in your carriage before you ever show up at the door.
Hope this helps... Let us know what happens!
Carl
ps Stephen, if you want more details about what you can do, I'd be happy to help you work out a complete strategy... For FREE. Pay me only if it works :)
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Permalink Reply by Steven S. Bammel on
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Mike - As usual, great insights! In fact, I would like to suggest that in addition to the role issues of asking Korean women to put a stroller together, Idea #1 is also pertinent, which discusses how many hours Koreans put in at the office. Working around the house is not something husbands really want to do on a Sunday after putting in 50-70 hours during the week on company work. It'll be interesting to see if these mindsets change after IKEA sets up in Korea, but for now, DIY assembly seems like a tough sell.
In fact, the whole DIY concept, as Mike mentions, is undeveloped in Korea, and I find that Koreans are generally willing to pay a more to cover those extra service items. I was introduced recently to a mobile app that would let golfers send in their food orders to the clubhouse while still out on the links. In an American context, this is a great value-add. But golf in Korea is about more than love of the game and efficiency in getting through a round of golf isn't high priority. I'm not even sure the target demographic is all that smart-phone savvy, being made up of successful businessmen who are used to barking orders to subordinates, and Korean golf courses provide plenty of service personnel to take orders.
Finally, I'd be interested to know what kind of brand value there is to back-up the strollers. That would seem an important credibility factor anywhere. Which does lead me to question some of Carl's advice above where it seems that he's discounting the value of branding. I would also point out that if other factors are in-line, going directly for the sale in the demo isn't necessary a bad thing to do. As I mentioned before, my wife and her group bought those German juicers once they believed in the product and someone they trusted had tried it out. These are not necessarily Korea-specific, but perhaps they are more important in Korea than elsewhere.
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Permalink Reply by Justin McLeod on -
I agree with Mike here 100%. In fact the average "adjumma" does not assemble anything at home. I do not mean that they cannot do basic assemblies I mean they just don't do them as it is not normal for them.....why?...It is because of the existing levels of service that Koreans have come to expect as consumers! It is perhaps one of the highest levels of service in the world that Korean's receive?
In Korea, when we order something it is delivered either in an assembled state and ready to use or the delivery man spends the next 30 minutes assembling it, taking care of the garbage and then placing it in your apartment until you are satisfied of its new location. If it is an electrical/ electronic appliance then the driver also becomes the showroom manager and does a number of trial runs on how to work your new purchase. This level of service is what Koreans have come to expect. So offering a DIY stroller to Korean adjummas in my opinion is not suitable. Then spending time and money on showing them "how to assemble" the stroller is unlikely to be time or cost effective.
At first in Korea I was a bit taken aback when we had new things delivered as I personally wanted to put them together myself. I liked to do that....doesn't everybody? So I got out my drivers and tools and tried to help with a bed we had ordered. The guy was being as polite as he could but actually he just wanted me to get out of his way as he was used to doing it and it would be much faster with me just making him a drink. So my "western" DIY mentality was squashed right there and I came to understand that DIY consumer products are not the norm here in Korea as yet. As a New Zealander who loves to DIY my wife is always telling me to get out of the way, the most recent was when we moved apartments two weeks ago. I was busy trying to carry stuff, pack stuff, disassemble stuff and the moving company actually asked my wife if I could go out. She sent me on some run around mission and then told me later. My DIY ego was officially deflated. Next time I might just get a deck chair, and a beer and watch the show!
To offer a solution: I think you could offer free delivery and a cheaper price for disassembled strollers and then a premium price for assembled strollers. With the stroller you could add a CD-Rom to the box on how to use it or assemble it also. If you did this it would be interesting to see how many of each you would sell. I would bet that you would mostly sell assembled strollers and the extra price would not be a consideration to the Korean mums. They just want to use it........not make it!
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