Banggyeongmanho, Starting Leap to Global Top Tier... Strengthening Key Overseas Markets

KT&G President's On-Site Management in Mongolia and Taiwan
Market Inspection and Growth Direction at Local Stores
Expansion of Direct Sales Business and Securing Overseas Production Bases
Encouraging Profitability Improvement through Advanced Localization Strategies

Bang Kyung-man, President of KT&G, is accelerating global on-site management as he enters his third month in office. This is a strategic move to leap toward the company's mid-to-long-term vision of becoming a 'Global Top Tier.' The plan is to strengthen the position and profitability of products through localization strategies focused on key overseas markets such as Mongolia and Taiwan.

Bang Kyung-man, President of KT&G [Photo by KT&G]

According to KT&G on the 18th, President Bang recently visited KT&G's Mongolia office and Taiwan corporation consecutively to encourage employees and check the local sales situation. At these meetings, he urged the enhancement of operations through direct management of sales channels, expansion of distribution coverage, and brand portfolio strategies tailored to segmented markets.

Specifically, in Mongolia, he ordered to further solidify KT&G's overwhelming position in the local market. Since entering Mongolia in 2001, KT&G has broken local cigarette sales records every year. Last year, the company’s products surpassed a 50% sales market share, securing the number one position.

Notably, 'Esse' pioneered the ultra-slim category market locally and has become the most popular cigarette product. KT&G has set a goal to increase its market share in Mongolia to 55% this year by strengthening sales capabilities with the Esse product line and nurturing new brands.

President Bang also encouraged the Taiwan corporation to enhance profitability through advanced brand strategies. KT&G began its first export to Taiwan in 2002 and established a corporation in 2021 to strengthen marketing and sales activities. Through this, brands such as Bohem, Esse, and Time have been established, and last year, the company achieved a milestone by surpassing 1 billion cigarette sales locally for the first time. Moving forward, KT&G plans to develop and nurture new brands centered on brand and marketing organizations to further increase market share.

KT&G currently has corporations in five countries, including Indonesia, Taiwan, T?rkiye, and Kazakhstan. Additional factories are being built, including the 2nd and 3rd plants in Indonesia and a new plant in Kazakhstan. The company is also reorganizing its Asia-Pacific and Eurasia headquarters into a Company-In-Company (CIC) system and appointing vice president-level executives to regional overseas headquarters, showing strong enthusiasm for expanding its global business. Last year, KT&G’s overseas sales, including heated tobacco products, reached 61.3 billion sticks, surpassing 60 billion sticks for the first time.

A KT&G official stated, "We will further sophisticate our global business by implementing localization strategies tailored to each market’s characteristics and discovering new growth engines."

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