LG

■ LG Group Chairman and CEO Kwang Mo Koo has been demonstrating LG's commitment to customer centricity since his first New Year's speech after taking office, when he declared 'LG's direction is the customer.'
 □ In 2019, Mr. Koo defined 'LG's unique customer value' in three ways: Something that touches customers and can change their lives, something that is ahead of others, and something that is created continuously, not just once or twice.
 □ In 2020, Mr. Koo led the company to focus on customer pain points as the starting point for creating customer value.
 □ Setting the tone for 2021, Mr. Koo outlined three strategic directions - understanding, empathy, and persistence - to improve customer satisfaction and cultivate a stronger fan base for LG.
 
① Understanding and empathizing through micro-segmentation:
- Dive deep into customer segments and understand their unique needs.
- Comprehensively grasp the customer experience journey and empathize with their lifestyle and values.
 
② Perfecting the customer experience and fostering fan base:
- Innovate beyond traditional methods to improve customer satisfaction and make a small, but important difference.
- Convert satisfied customers into fans and expand LG's reach through exceptional experiences.
 
③ Relentless pursuit of customer satisfaction:
- Maintain unwavering dedication to customer satisfaction, ensuring that every interaction, even the smallest, leaves a lasting impression.
 
 
The 2021 LG New Year's Letter, a digital video featuring a New Year's message from LG Chairman and CEO Kwang Mo Koo, was delivered to more than 250,000 LG employees worldwide on Thursday morning. 
 
In a departure from traditional auditorium ceremonies, this digital format ensured accessibility to employees worldwide and was also provided with English and Chinese subtitles.
 
As a result, LG employees around the world were able to receive the message directly, especially those who were working from home due to COVID-19. They were able to start the New Year by watching the special New Year video on their PCs or mobile devices.
 
In his first New Year's speech since taking office in 2019, CEO and Chairman Kwang Mo Koo declared that 'LG's direction is the customer' and has since continued to refine the customer value management message.
 
"Happy New Year, LG Family! I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all of you for your unwavering commitment and dedication in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic," said Mr. Koo. "Two years ago, I said that the direction of LG's future is our customers and last year, we tried to focus on customer pain points as the starting point of our journey to realize LG's unique customer value. Today, we'll spend time together thinking about how we can take LG's customer value to the next level and what we can add to our practices."
 
"As people's lifestyles become more personalized and consumption patterns change much faster, it's even more important to read our customers’ minds. It's time to understand them better, find out their aspirations, and turn them into reality so that we can elevate our customer satisfaction" Mr. Koo added, making his first point by underscoring the significance of understanding customers through micro-segmentation and delving into specific needs.
 
"We need to segment our customers and deeply understand not only the ordinary and universal needs, but also the unique needs in order to satisfy them perfectly. To achieve this, we also need to grasp the entirety of the customer journey and empathize with their diverse lifestyles and values.”
 
Mr. Koo’s second strategic direction centered on perfecting the customer experience by transcending conventional boundaries to create value. Leveraging digital advancements like AI and big data, he envisioned transforming satisfied customers into enthusiastic advocates and expanding LG's loyal fan base.
 
"We need to think about how to reflect customer insights into concrete value in products and services in a wide variety of ways, and digital technologies such as AI and big data will definitely help us in this regard. I believe that new attempts which go beyond the existing frameworks and methods will make a small but important difference, and only then we will be able to fully satisfy our customers. That’s how we can spread satisfaction to more customers and create a broader fan base."
 
Mr. Koo highlighted this relentless pursuit of customer satisfaction once more and urged employees to meticulously craft each interaction to exceed customer expectations.
 
"The most important thing in all of this is to persistently pursue higher customer satisfaction," he said. "I hope we create even the smallest things carefully, with tenacity that shows our customers that we will never compromise until they are impressed and happy."
 
He also expressed confidence in LG's global workforce, noting that it is poised to embrace these strategic directions and drive meaningful change. "I have travelled around the world over the past year and have seen the full potential of our LG people. I am confident that this potential will give us the ability to achieve our goals.”
 
The video concluded with Mr. Koo reiterating his desire to see 2021 as a year dedicated to understanding customers in detail, perfecting touchpoints, and cultivating enduring loyalty. The video also featured testimonials from customers, underscoring LG's commitment to addressing their pain points and fostering meaningful connections.
 
"I expressed my disappointment with the service and it felt good to see that changes actually happened," said one customer. Another shared that he “felt LG’s difference when I saw that LG listened to each individual's little voice.”
 
An LG representative affirmed Mr. Koo's unwavering advocacy for customer-centricity, saying that "since taking office, Chairman Kwang Mo Koo has consistently articulated his management philosophy of practicing customer value through his annual New Year's speech. This year, he emphasized the importance of having detailed understanding and empathy for customers, and asked staff to show persistence in perfecting customer satisfaction as action plans to further enhance customer value."