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By Lee Chang-sup
Seoul National University professor Kim Nan-do has well crystallized the sentiments of Korean consumers in his Trend Korea report for 2012. Marketers and advertisers have closely followed Kim’s annual publication since its debut in 2006.
The book has been one of the bestsellers. Unlike in the past, his 2012 Trend Korea has a political message. It may be far-fetched to interpret the consumer trend report as a yardstick to read the mindset of voters. But this report merits review for gauging the shifting sentiment of voters. Actually voters are also consumers, and candidates, in fact, are marketers, producers and advertisers.
Kim uses the 10 letters of “DRAGON BALL” to predict trends of consumers and voters next year. He says successful producers and candidates will be those who catch the hidden messages of DRAGON BALL next year.
In fact “Dragon Ball” was one of the most successful Japanese cartoon and animation series, which sold more than 350 million copies worldwide from 1984 to 1995.
In Korea, a dragon is the symbol of the president; twin dragons appear on the seal of the president. This seal represents and authenticates documents coming from the president.
It can be surmised that the DRAGON’s BALL is the ball that the President holds or uses. The DRAGON BALL exudes the impression of a magical jewel in Buddhism that is allegedly capable of granting all wishes. Korean voters want a dragon-like president who uses one’s ball to help them attain their desires. Koreans want a leader who can ease economic polarization. They want a trustful national leader who can embrace the weak and filter different opinions. They seem to yearn for a new leader with a high morality, keen philosophy and excellent communication skills.
The 10 letters denote;
(1) Deliver true heart: Consumers and voters will search for products and candidates that carry the human heart. Heartless products are faulty. A heartless leader cannot read the true sentiment and plight of the people.
(2) Rawganic fever: Rawganic is a combination of raw and organic. Consumers and voters will be hungry for something raw and organic. Producers should be organically adaptive and responsive to emerging consumer preferences to create something fresh. The national leader must be organically flexible to accommodate new economic and social realities.
(3) Attention, please!: Products and brands that get the attention of social networking services (SNS), will become popular among consumers. Candidates popular among SNS users will be successful. SNS has become an indispensable marketing tool.
(4) Give products personality: Consumers and voters will favor goods and candidates that have personal and human touch. Candidates without being true to oneself will lose in the elections.
(5) Over the generation: Products and candidates appealing to all generations, both young and old, will become popular. The next president will be one who commands support in all age groups.
(6) Neo-minorism: Consumers will be hungry for innovative brands made even from unknown minor-league makers. Votes may vote for an unaffiliated candidate.
(7) Blank of my life: Consumers should restrain their desire for buying everything in this age of economic downturn. Producers should not be greedy in overpricing their products. An unselfish and self-restraining candidate will be the winner of the presidential election. Sacrifice and charity are key traits for leaders.
(8) All by myself society: The expression denotes autogenesis, spontaneity and self-sufficiency. Marketers must read the individualized and personalized style of consumers. Voters are now independent and spontaneous in picking a new leader.
(9) Let’s plan B: Consumers and voters will choose the alternative or the second-best brand or candidate.
(10) Lessen your risk: Both producers and consumers and candidates should manage their risks for survival. Risk management is the key word next year when the economy is expected to be uncertain.
To paraphrase Kim’s statements, the next president will be persuasive, emphatic, capable of communicating with people of all generations, ready to sacrifice their life and deliver their true heart.
The next leader might not be a practicing politician as voters do not care about a minor candidate. The successful candidate will be the one who gets the attention of the SNS generation.
His report smacks of promoting IT mogul Ahn Cheol-soo in a subtle way. Ahn is now the frontrunner in opinion polls although he has not made up his mind on whether to run for the presidency. The report also illustrates why Ahn is popular.
Other candidates must ride high on the DRAGON BALL concept if they want to win the hearts of voters.
Both the governing and the opposition parties are ill-prepared to meet public expectations for DRAGON BALL. The governing Grand National Party faces implosion; and floats the possibility of three options ― remodeling, a new party or a breakup.
The main opposition Democratic Party will shut down for a grand alliance. Seven out of every 10 voters say they do not favor any existing party, and are ready to vote for any empathic candidate, even one with no party affiliation. This indicates political parties must undergo a Big Bang to embrace cynical voters.
Professor Kim’s hidden message seems to be that the next president will have the opposite image of President Lee Myung-bak.
Lee Chang-sup is the chief editorial writer of The Korea Times. His email is editorial@koreatimes.co.kr
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