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| LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo, center, is seen with employees in a video New Year's message to employees released Monday. Courtesy of LG Group |
By Kim Bo-eun
LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo has kept a low profile since he took helm of the group in 2018. But in rare messages to employees that have been made public, he has continued to emphasize the need to cater to customers' needs.
In his New Year's message for 2022 unveiled Monday, Koo urged employees to "focus on creating valued customer experiences."
"LG has focused on making quality products, but what customers want goes beyond this. The reason customers are touched is because of valuable moments they have experienced, and this is where we should be headed," Koo was cited as saying.
"We need to convey those experiences to customers ― those that make it difficult for them to return to what they previously had after encountering these experiences."
In the latest video message to employees, LG employees introduced successful examples of such customer experience.
One was LG Electronics' StanbyMe, a battery-powered TV that can be moved around on a stand. The TV enables consumers to watch a show while doing chores in the kitchen or lying in bed, for those fed up with having to hold up their smartphones. The TV is wireless and has wheels for easy movement. The product launched in July was an instant hit, selling out each time LG offered limited amounts of the product through online sales channels.
StanbyMe is set to be introduced at the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show in January and to hit markets globally in coming months. LG is set to join the niche market for unconventional TV products and remains second to Samsung in the global TV market.
LG underwent major changes in 2021, as it scrapped its smartphone business of 26 years and realigned operations to strengthen those related to automobiles. LG also separated from the company a number of affiliates, to be headed by Koo's uncle Koo Bon-joon, under the newly launched LX Group. In its executive shuffle conducted last month, LG appointed multiple young executives in a bid to make the conglomerate more dynamic and adaptive to change.
LG Electronics remains the group's crown jewel, but other affiliates also have a notable presence in the global market. LG's battery affiliate, LG Energy Solution ranks second in the global market after China's CATL. LG Display is the only display maker that is capable of mass-producing organic light-emitting diode display panels, which are considered the next generation of displays.
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