"Increase Customer Mindshare"... Koo Kwang-mo Style Customer Value Management

Strengthening Dedicated Control Towers for Customer Value by Subsidiary
Establishing Special Award for Customer Delight Practice by Integrating LG Awards
Targeting Niche Markets through Ultra-Segmentation of Customers... Contributing to LG Fandom
Proactive Response to Inconveniences through Customer Data Analysis

[Asia Economy Reporter Suyeon Woo] "LG's innovation should not be an end in itself but must be thoroughly focused on enhancing customer value."

"The foundation that created today's LG and ultimately determines LG's future is the customer."

Gu Kwang-mo, Chairman of LG Group, always emphasizes the importance of 'customers' in official settings. He believes that increasing market share in customers' hearts rather than just market share itself is the growth engine supporting the group's future. Since Chairman Gu officially took office in June 2018, LG Group has been making various efforts beyond simply securing market share to turn customers into 'LG fans.'

▲Koo Kwang-mo, Chairman of LG Group, is visiting the LG Electronics Design Management Center in Seocho-gu, Seoul, examining the customer convenience design of the clothing care device installed inside the future-type connected car. Photo by LG

First, Chairman Gu established dedicated organizations serving as control towers for customer value innovation in each affiliate or strengthened existing organizations. In 2019, the group-level innovation performance awards, which were previously divided into research & development and business divisions, were integrated into the 'LG Awards,' focusing on customer value. This year at the LG Awards, a separate top prize called the 'First-Class LG Award' was given in the 'Customer Contact' category, and a 'Customer Delight Practice Special Award' was newly established. This was to recognize and encourage the efforts of frontline members who meet customers, such as service centers, call centers, and B2B customer response departments.

Efforts to actively listen to customer pain points were also carried out in parallel. Beyond the existing online and offline customer centers, all possible means such as portals, SNS, and customer experience groups are mobilized to collect customer inconveniences and monitor and manage customer contact processes.

Koo Kwang-mo, Chairman of LG Group, 2021 Online New Year's Address Capture / Photo by Yonhap News

Additionally, attempts to increase customer satisfaction through 'customer micro-segmentation,' emphasized by Chairman Gu in this year's New Year's address, continue. A representative successful case is the 48-inch OLED TV released by LG Electronics last year. The 48-inch size had not been released in the OLED TV market as it is relatively small, but through customer micro-segmentation, LG discovered demand for high-quality gaming and launched the product. Since its release, it has caused a sensation as a gaming-dedicated TV in the global market, contributing to the LG fandom.

Efforts to discover hidden customer needs and inconveniences through customer data analysis are also ongoing. LG Chem collected and analyzed inconvenience data from about 500 customer companies and, based on this, opened the industry's first integrated digital customer relationship management system for ABS (high value-added synthetic resin) customers called 'LG Chem ON' last month. This system allows ordering to delivery on an online digital platform, enabling customer companies to contact LG Chem's in-house research labs, sales teams, and technical staff in real time on a single platform, thereby enhancing customer convenience.

LG Electronics, which has the most contact with general consumers, also established the 'Customer Experience Innovation Award' to recognize excellent cases where customer inconveniences were proactively identified and applied to products. Examples of excellence include the wireless vacuum cleaner docking All-in-One Tower that automatically empties the dustbin to eliminate hassle, and the integrated one-body washer and dryer with braille stickers attached so that visually impaired people can easily locate the touch buttons.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.