Baek Byung-yeul is a journalist at The Korea Times focused on cultural content, including films and cultural events in South Korea. You can contact him at baekby@koreatimes.co.kr to share your insights.
Olympic marketing losing ground on trade tussle, anti-China sentiment
Olympic athletes test Samsung Electronics' smartphone in this Jan. 30 photo. Courtesy of IOC
By Baek Byung-yeul
By Baek Byung-yeul
The Olympic Games have been a great platform for companies to market products and services, but the ongoing Winter Games in Beijing are losing ground as a promotion tool due to criticism from the international community over China's human rights abuses and the prolonged U.S.-China trade tussle.
To make matters worse, Korean companies are refraining from Olympic-related marketing as much as possible as the sentiment toward China is reaching its worst here after a woman dressed in traditional Korean clothing appeared representing an ethnic minority of China during the opening ceremony of the Games as well as Monday's short track speed skating event that was biased in favor of Chinese skaters.
Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, Korea's two IT giants, are also maintaining a low profile in their Olympic marketing as they are not conducting active promotional events during the Olympic season.
Company officials said Tuesday that the international community is minimizing marketing efforts aimed at the Beijing Games due to the negative sentiment towards China. Also they presumed that the demand for home appliances including TVs is slowing down from its peak as many people have already purchased these items due to spending more time at home because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
“There were no pre-arrangements among Korean companies to jointly reduce marketing activities. They made such decisions on their own, taking various factors into consideration,” an official from a local IT company said requesting anonymity.
Samsung, the only official Olympic sponsor among Korean companies, seems to also have reduced their promotional activities other than marketing its mobile devices during the Games on its webpage.
Another official at a local IT company said Korean companies are taking a cautious approach in the U.S. and Europe, the premium markets where they are most focused, at a time when these Western countries are exercising diplomatic boycotts by not sending their government officials to Beijing due to China's oppression of human rights.
“Basically, the Chinese market has been dominated by local Chinese firms, not Korean makers. Instead, Korean companies are betting big on the U.S. and Europe, the markets that have high purchasing power for their high-priced gadgets. This could be the reason why Korean firms are cautious about increasing their voices toward the Beijing Games,” the official said.
Currently, anti-China sentiment is severe among young Koreans. In a survey of 1,031 adults aged 18 or older by the Seoul National University Asia Center from November to December last year, 60.2 percent of respondents aged 19 to 29 said China has a negative impact on Korea, while only 8.4 percent said the country has a positive effect.
Due to this sentiment, the food and beverage industry is focusing on marketing home-meal replacements and snacks to consumers who have more time to gather in front of the TV, instead of utilizing the Beijing Games.