Quick reaction & True communication

As the number of smart phone users has increased, the number of social media’s users has inclined too. Looking around the blog before buying a product or using twitter as a marketing tool is not that unusual anymore. Especially, the reviews on the blog give confidence because it is not a sort of an advertisement, but a comment of a consumer just like me. In this post, I want to introduce two companies that seem to be succeeded in taking social media in their marketing strategy. The first company is Missha and the other one is Samsung.

To talk about Missha first, it is a cosmetic brand which was started from online ‘Beauty.net’ in the year 2000. Multi-faceted communication with the customers was the driving force behind its improvement. Now Missha has over 1.8 million customers throughout the world and the way they got this much closer to the customers is by reducing the distribution chain and actively exchanging information with the customers through different levels. It tends to be a strict pro-consumer brand which is made through suggestions and criticisms by the consumers. It really is not much to say that customers made the brand, Missha. At the time of the early launching, Missha didn’t hesitate to ask the customers about the products and as a result, they got the most helpful answers and coping strategies. Without an extra cost, it developed a new product referring to the 40~50 ideas (per day) of over a million of online members. 10 new products were launched every month and some of those were boldly stopped to be produced because it was told from the customers that those had no effects. According to the Social Technographics Ladder in the book ‘Groundswell’, the majority of the customers that led Missha to be a beloved brand are critics. They didn’t publish a new website for Missha, but constantly commented and contributed to the products. Also by posting reviews of the products, they supported Missha to make better products. Hence, Missha is a smart company that induced customers to participate in the actual business. This was the right strategy to produce the cosmetics that people really wanted. Nowadays, Missha also has offline shops. However, still over 2.1 million members are actively participating in the website. They even post reviews of the offline shops and their services which are keep stimulating Missha. As it could be seen in this Missha case, I think a quick reaction to the customers could be an excellent strategy in using social media to gain insights. If Missha didn’t react to customers’ evaluations, their social media, Beauty.net, could just have been a useless thing. However, Missha knew that it had to be friends with netizens and after all, they found out that it wasn’t wrong.

Now, let’s talk about Samsung! Actually, the case that I want to share is about Samsung Electronics. Samsung Electronics makes a ceaseless effort in using social media. I remember that few years ago, it ran a blog for a new cell phone. It promoted participation of people by selecting active bloggers and offering prizes. Over 147 contents were made in 5 months and those were clicked over seven hundred thousand times. About two years have passed and now it is using a lot of social networking sites for connecting. They are recognizing the relationships of customers, I think. Facebook is one of the SNSs it is using. On the Facebook widget, there are several icons that directly connect to RSS, Utube, Flickr, and Twitter. Samsung really is making the best use of social media tools. Using the point that Facebook can show several types of contents in one place, Samsung Electronics post all of the events it is holding and even relays from the spot of those. This is really popular among the customers that once it had been stuck with a hundred thousand people at the same time. Not only on the Facebook, but still Samsung tries many new things on the blog too. For example, it introduced the system of Social Media News Release which enables to announce the recent news of the company to the press and the social media at once. The good point here is that it can communicate with customers in an open place with a variety of ways including video clips and images. Of course this system is linked with all of the other online communication channels that Samsung has. Therefore, it’s not just one-sided information transmitting, but rather a fast mutual communication. Having a look on this case, a true communication which tells everything including bad and good things is one of the best strategies for companies to use social media. A positive communication in an open area where everybody can see is not a free advertising tool of a company. It is a tool for a communication.

To make a short conclusion, I think quick reaction and a true communication are the two best ways to use the flooding social media of these days. A lot of things are conducted in online and this means the relationships in online got much important than ever before. Companies have to show that they are listening carefully to the consumers and the social media has appeared to help those out. Making the best use of social media, it will be a win-win situation both for the companies and customers! J  

Tree? Desk? Tree+Desk? What about it?

Hey, all J

I’m kind of testing my creativity this time. I know that I’m not really good at these things, but I just want to make a try. I’ve sent messages to my friends to give me an unanimated random word and got TREE and DESK. What could I come up with these two words? Just for fun, have a look what I’ve done!

First word: TREE

Forest, life, green, flower, squirrel, nature, environment, wood, landscape, bird, drama, root, apple, coconut, scent, fresh, shade, picnic, life, relaxation, whistle, book, rest, mat, grass, branches, hill, road, hole, snow, 5^th grade, wind, seasons, “The Giving Tree”, paper, amazons, air, cabin, house, park, leaves, yellow, maple, bench, streetlamp, acorn

What a coincidence! I can’t really explain why I feel like it, but from one day I thought I had a deep relationship with trees. Maybe it’s because of a soap opera titled “Fall Story” that I liked so much. 10 years has passed since that drama was on air, but I still remember a line that the main character said.

“I will be a tree in my next life.

A tree that doesn’t ever move again once it has been implanted.

So I will never be apart from anyone.”
Altering this line a little, I promised to my classmates that I’ll be a person like a tree that always is next to them. Thanks to it, I was chosen by the classroom president for 2 years in a row (when I was in high school). From then, I just feel tree as a close object to me and actually I do like trees a lot. Streets that are bunch of trees make me to pick up a camera. Colorful trees allow me to think my life as a cool thing and that’s why I like Austin much. J

Second word: DESK

Studying, computer, stuff, messy, drawers, school, pens, chair, basket, materials, organized, clock, pictures, notebook, lamp, office, antique, pencil, board, post-it, whiteout, radio, bookshelf, mirror, calendar   

Most of the time, I use my desk. Especially, since I am living in a cooperative house there’s not much space to move around in my room. I just sit down by the desk all day long. So it is not too much to say that “my desk is my life space”. Everything needed for my studies and most of the things that I need during the day are on my desk including cosmetic products, glasses, laptop computer, and even a water bottle. Sometimes I use my desk as a dining table also. Therefore, a desk is a necessity to me rather than just furniture. 

Combination Ideas of the Two Objects: TREE+DESK

1. A desk made out of trees.

2. Tree printed desk.

3. A desk that is attached with a switch which changes the environment like under a tree. (Ex. cool breeze blowing, warm temperature like when the sun shines on a tree, etc.)

4. Hanging a desk up on the tree as building a house up on a tree.

5. Tree-shaped desk.

6. Decorating a tree with desk-shaped ornaments.

7. A small tree up on the desk as an air-fresher.

8. Putting a desk in the middle of the forest (bunch of trees).

9. Tree in a desk.

(Tree bores a hole in a desk. The trunk is at the bottom of the desk and leaves or branches are up on the desk.)

10. A desk inlaid with a tree.

11. Carving a desk-shaped drawing in a tree.

Viable Products or Services

Most of these combination ideas are actually existing and do not seem fresh at all. Some are just ridiculous that doesn’t make any sense or useless. However, one thing I’m really excited is about a ‘desk with a special switch’ which I wrote at #3. I like to study under a tree, and I believe that many people like it also. That’s why there are bunch of students sitting or lying on the grass under the trees in UT also. If there is a desk that can direct a similar atmosphere with around the trees and make one to feel as if he/she is really under a tree, we don’t have to go out to find a real tree. This idea can be produced to either a product or a service. A desk that is possible to control the shade, wind, or even the temperature could be a nice product. To think in other way, a café can provide services related to this idea. Such places can put a bunch of trees around desks and it would be hard for customers to tell if they are in indoor or outdoor. Some artificial elements, such as light substituting for sun or fan covering for wind, would be needed, of course. I’m not sure what others would think, but at least I’ll be willing to buy those desks or go often to those cafes. That will definitely make my mind fresh and help me to study efficiently.  

More than just a cup of coffee...

Wondering if she could possibly finish her paper work that day, she bumps into her friends in the campus. Soon she finds herself heading to her favorite coffee shop around there, which is Tom N Toms, with her friends chatting delightedly. Thanks to her friends, she forgets the pressure of her work for a while sitting on the fancy sofa with coffee shake and sometimes also with sweet waffle. Later that day after sunset, she is going back to the school library with a cup of vanilla coffee in her hand, which she got from the Hollys Coffee located inside the campus. She feels like studying at home tonight so that she could do her paper work with her laptop drinking instant coffee as much as she wants. In this case, she stays up night until 1 am with a couple of instant coffees. The same will be repeated the next day and again.

This is the story of most of the university students in Korea, especially of girls including myself. As a matter of fact, a lot of people are addicted to coffee somehow. However, I wonder if they could have become serious coffee lovers without systematic support with the aggressive coffee marketing in Korea. Actually, I am not a coffee-holic. I even get dizzy or feel sick after drinking the whole cup of coffee. But still, the place I often head to with my friends is the coffee shop. Why is it? Why do I spend money which I do not think it is reasonable? Why are the people killing their times in a coffee shop? How could the coffee shops be crowed all day long even there are a bunch of shops? I thought this quite interesting and believing that there are some reasons definitely, I am willing to study about coffee chains that are only in Korea.       

People in Korea used to spend immeasurable amount of money on instant coffee which is available at discount stores, conveniences stores, and even online. However, obviously, the trend in drinking coffee has been enormously changed as people are looking for more delicate flavor and moderate life style. For example, Starbucks, which started its business in South Korea in 1999, could succeed earlier by justifying its high price with the luxurious image and taste. As it turned out that specialty coffee industry is very profitable market, more companies and individuals joined the business and the competition is getting keen. The coffee industry of South Korea has developed so much rapidly over the past decade. I think they were able to success because they convinced people that coffee could be a luxury product. People are willing to pay 5 dollars for a cup of coffee as long as they can brag they're drinking a luxury coffee. To infuse this kind of conception, the related marketing has played important role especially targeting young generation. At present, there are about 10 popular coffee franchises in Korea and among them seven are domestic brands. Indeed, cafes have emerged as the new office of choice for many small start-ups.

In 1990's, it was usual for middle-aged gentle men to be featured in the TV commercials of coffee products. That's because, at that time, coffee was considered directly as instant coffee that people used to enjoy at home. However, nowadays, coffee is not just one of drinking beverage or something; Drinking coffee means that you're taking your own time to be relaxed and that, more importantly, it is the way to express yourself. You can experience the totally different feeling even through the slight difference in coffee flavor. In other words, by drinking coffee, you experience the cultural code such as romance, relaxation, peace, friends, luxury, or trend. People visit the coffee shops desiring to purchase more than just a cup of coffee. Recently, Caffebenne, one of the popular coffee franchises in Korea, started to role as a cultural space broadcasting a music program. Consumers can send a song request by text messages or internet and then they get to hear that song while drinking coffee. Likewise, coffee shop is not a place where just sells coffees anymore.

Here are two articles related to the popularity of coffee shops in Korea.

http://news.naver.com/main/read.nhn?mode=LSD&mid=sec&sid1=108&oid=044&aid=0000074568

http://news.naver.com/main/read.nhn?mode=LSD&mid=sec&sid1=108&oid=044&aid=0000064479

The first article shows the competitive edge of several coffee shops which includes marketing, and the second article is about creating value from consumer’s experiences. Actually it is not only limited to coffee, but has a lot to do with it.

Below are the marks of five domestic coffee shops that are popular in Korea.

"Minto", the fairyland :)

“What do you sell these days?”

When this question is asked to some company owners, they will probably answer like this.

“Of course we sell products. This and that, these and those…”

However, to be a leader in the market the answer should not be like that anymore. They have to keep in mind that they should sell more than just products. Nowadays consumers want to purchase special ‘experience’, not only the product. They buy the product and instead of remembering the product itself, they tend to recall the memorable experience they had from the object. Maybe this is natural because a human being lives to satisfy itself through its constant experiences. Therefore, it is important for the firms to make the consumers sense, feel, think, act, and relate something with their brands as it is written in the article we read. On this third post (already!) I want to share an experience from a Korean café/restaurant that impressed me a lot. I believe this café/restaurant has a good ability in sense marketing.

 It was two years ago when I first got to know a café named ‘Minto’. Minto is an abbreviation of dandelions’ territory in Korean. I was quite excited being a freshman and being able to enjoy fully of the capital of Korea with my dear friends! That day also, I was hanging around with my friends walking the streets of fresh living Seoul. Looking around to find a great place to chat for a long long time, one building jumped to our eyes. It seemed bit like a castle and bit like a peaceful house. Being touched of the external appearance, we went inside and had a happy time which is unforgettable. From the time we stepped into it, Minto stimulated my five senses continuously till we finished our 3hour journey in a fairy tale.

First of all, things that I could saw made me feel like I was at my lovely home. (Actually, it was lovelier than my real home.J) The wall was painted with pastel colors and was decorated with a lot of paintings of impressionism style. Being a great fan of impressionism, I felt like a lucky girl who got a free ticket of a museum! After appreciating all of those, we sat and called the waitress. All the waitresses were wearing a red checked shirt with a red hair band which seemed like a girl living in a fairyland. In the middle of the café, there was a big model of a tree which consumers can write their wishes and hang on it. No wonder thatI wrote something on it too!  

Minto also touched my sense of hearing. At Minto, I have never heard a pop music. Instead, classical music was played all day long. I was able to chat with my friends and read a book, write a letter in a quiet and cozy place for a long time. It seemed to make not only the consumers but also the employees more calm which makes them to work in a sound place. I couldn’t hear one the day I went there, but I heard that sometimes one of the people coming there plays piano touching others’ heart as well as auditory sense.

My sense of touch was greatly satisfied every time when I visited Minto. Its sofas and chairs are made of cloth and it’s not a manufactured goods but a hand-made. I heard that it invests a lot in interior to make the café not just as it, but rather to make it as a place of art. If the chair was too hard I could have left earlier, or if it was too soft I could have felt lazy. However, the absolutely moderate softness enabled me to stay there as long as I wanted.    

One thing that made me especially more comfortable in Minto than any other places was the scent, I guess. I don’t remember whether they had some seats only for smokers, but fortunately I was free from the smell of cigarettes at Minto. Since none of my family or my close friends are smokers, I am not used to its smell. However, many people smoke these days so I had to leave earlier from some restaurants several times. Happily, I didn’t have to worry about those at Minto. The scent of their own tea was scattered in the whole café. Not only that, but also the delicate scents of flowers they have put on several places were pleasant. Mild natural fragrance in Minto really made the environment more romantic and fresh.

Last but not the least, the taste of the teas and foods provided by Minto is surely memorable. Minto has its own tea named ‘Minto tea’. It offers both sweet-smell like a coffee and lightness like a green tea. Furthermore, it has 28 types of ades and 17 types of other drinks including caffe latte and powder made of mixed grains. Especially, 18 types of coffee only exist there to suit Koreans’ taste. I think I tasted 4 different drinks since those can be refilled for 4 times. Remember that I called Minto not only as a café but also as a restaurant at the beginning? Minto is nearly a café, but actually it also serves many foods! Chicken salad, rice cake, and noodles were the things that I ate every time I went there. Plus, I could have had grain breads as many as I wanted! These were fantastic for me who enjoys eating but do not like big meals that much.

Typing this post, I really wished to go to Minto as soon as possible. It’s not only because of the various types of tea or tasty meal, but because it is the place which makes me and my friends live in a romantic world. You can chat with your chums here, you can have delicious foods here, or you can even have a seminar here! You can do everything here and it will definitely satisfy your senses. I strongly recommend you to visit here once you come to Korea J

Describing real people, Persona!

About a girl who wants to live happily ever after...

Hello again ^ ^ /

This time, let’s talk about an interesting topic, ‘Persona’. What’s Persona? Is it kind of an avatar? Well, looking up in Wikipedia, it says that in ancient Latin, persona meant "mask" but today it does not usually refer to a literal mask but to the "social masks" all humans supposedly wear. It is also written that in marketing field, persona represents a group of customer so that the company can focus its efforts. Besides these, there can be a lot of definitions of persona. However, no matter how many it is, the thing that doesn’t change is that persona is really a useful tool of understanding consumers. Since this has been highlighted over 20 years in business society, almost all of the companies should know the power of consumers’ persona. Even so, why do many corporations still fail to attract consumers’ attention? Why do many firms meet unsuccessful products? The answer might be, or will be, the skip of stages which help to understand the ‘real’ customers. Product designers easily assume that ‘users will think like this’ rather than watching how users really handle the product. As John Pruitt and Tamar Adlin, the authors of the chapter we read, explained,   people who create products for consumers should be sure to focus on users. To cite their example, it’s not enough for a doctor to know only that there is someone who has been injured in the emergency center. Instead, the doctor has to know a lot of information like what kind of injury it is or how serious it is. That way, the patient can be prescribed appropriately. It’s the same sense in product design too! More and more information about the user produces a lot more practical goods.

Then, if a marketer aims at me, what kind of information would be useful to him or her? Information about me can include my age, religion, status, family relationship, personality, hobby, attitude toward studying, lifestyle, demographics, etc. Here is my created persona and it surely will tell you a real life story of me, Sally Lee.   

*Personality

 l  I really want to be challenged so I flew to Texas from Korea to compete with many smart students. Even though I can change my courses to pass/fail I will prefer to get a letter grade.

 l  Play sports and get healthy on free time? I would rather get my mouth exercised by chatting with my sweet friends.

 l  I am motivated, but don’t want to be showy. Even I know answers I rarely speak up. Ashley always raises her hand during class and I don’t understand why she is keep bothering professor.

l  I won’t go to bed until I finish this reading.

l  I know I’m not good at this. However, I still want to try because she is doing it.

l  Hardest thing while watching TV programs? I am sure that it’s keeping back tears. Every single program makes me cry at least once! Maybe my eyes can’t work without tears.

l  Look at her. She is having her meal alone. I can’t pass by letting her alone. I guess I should have lunch with her even though I had lunch 10 minutes ago.

l  World is so beautiful! I should take a picture of this sunshine with the tree.

l  I can’t understand why people go to café for a cup of coffee. It’s so expensive and doesn’t worth it.

*Lifestyles

-Audio/Video

Watching dramas on TV

Own a MP3 Player (Likes to listen to ballad music while walking in the evening)

Photography (Wants to take pictures of everything in her life)

Personal computer/Laptop computer (Likes to communicate with her friends by her own homepage)

-Sports and fitness

Bicycling

Skating

Sledging
(She really does not like sports, but these three are exceptional.)

-Other interests

Writing letters

Keeping a diary (didn’t stop since she was in elementary school.) Babysitting

Decorating albums with pictures and short essays

Reading books

-Strong religious beliefs

Bible reading

Praying

Going to church every Sunday

*Demographics 

-Family (Father, mother, and brother)

Has a great effect on her life. Talks a lot with her family. Even she is far away with her family these days, they talk at least 2 hours when they make a phone call.

-Friends

Like friends so much. Unless her family is against it, she does whatever her friends want and likes to listen to her friends’ advice.

*Goals in this year

-Participate actively in every class at UT.

-Make at least one real friend at UT.

-Improve English speaking skills.

*Life goals

-Work in a broadcasting company for few years.

-Work in a place where she can be with children.

-Establish an orphanage.

-Travel every country in U.S.A and Europe.

-Live a life that dream comes true J

As our professor Mr. Walls said, this persona might just be a snippet. Researchers would have to keep struggle to know about me or people like me! However, I believe that this is the way it goes! Well begun, half done J

Creative Design !

Hello :)


There are some things that are flashing by! Since I lived in Korea for the most of my life, I would like to introduce some products that I have seen in Korea which are very creative to me.


The first item is a water bottle named Vio Soonsoo. This brand is produced by a worldwide well-known company “Coca-cola”. What is so special about this bottle? It seems very normal and similar with other bottles, but this one thinks a lot about the environment. Yellow dust coming before blooming flowers on the spring, sudden typhoon blowing with the quixotic nature of El Nino, and oil flowing in the U.S. Gulf Coast make our environment in a danger. I guess Coca-cola wanted to help our nature! They made the bottle to be only 14g by decreasing 22% of the use of plastic. This doesn’t only make the product lighter, but also cut carbon emissions a lot. Furthermore, due to the lightness, it is easy to be twisted and this results to the less volume of trash and pollutants in the recycling process. In the aspect of concerning the environment, it can be said that Vio Soonsoo agrees to the principle of Dieter Rams. To both of them, good design is concerned with the environment!

Seoul Milk has also a fresh design. Generally, milk does not have the date when it was manufactured on it. Consumers can only see the expiration date and try to drink it all before the due date. However, Seoul Milk began to mark the date it was produced from last year. Giving confidence to customers about fresh milk, there has been a noticeable increase in sales. The design of this milk reminds me the principle of Henry Dreyfuss. More than just pushing boundaries, he thought more about making good products. He believed that designer has succeeded if people are made safer, more comfortable, or more eager to purchase. That’s exactly what Seoul Milk targeted.

Searching about this topic, I found a couple of things more that are used every day and designed in an ingenious way. One of those was a chair also being used as a bookshelf. How could a person sit on it, and use it as a bookshelf at a same time? Can you imagine? I am not sure who made this brilliant furniture, but probably it would be popular in a few years. To describe the appearance of this chair, there is a sitting part and the bottom of it is formed in a curved shape that can handle books. With this chair, a person can sit down and reach for books easily. This chair is different with the tulip chair that Eero Saarinen has made, but I think at the point of demanding simple, sweeping, and arching structural curves they are quite similar. Eero Saarinen wanted to design a thing by considering its next larger context, and one who made this chair would probably thought about the next behavior of the chair’s user.

Another thing I have found out is a soap stick. Every time we use the soap, it gets hard to use when it becomes small. Especially when it gets wet, the squashy soap doesn’t give a nice feeling. For these kinds of drawbacks, a soap stick has been invented! This soap looks like a Lego piece. To use this, we can cut off into pieces and use it one by one. This way, we could clean our hands or bodies in a more hygienic condition. Actually, the purpose of the soap is to clean our bodies and provide refreshing feelings. However, with the clumsy soap that is wet would not be able to give us those feelings. On the other hand, this newly created soap would accomplish the particular purpose which seems to correspond to the principles presented by Charles Eames.

Writing about this subject, I realized that there are many innovative products and services which are enough to meet the consumer’s insight! I haven’t cared about it much and used things unconsciously. I must have just thought that everything is so natural and exits because they have to. However, now I know that many designers tend to concern a lot about every product to produce intriguing items which satisfy customer’s needs. Maybe I will get to find more interesting things after all!


p.s. These are some images of a creative toaster that I've found! Take a look!
Doesn't this has to be in the hospital? lol

My First Entry

Hi  :)
Glad to meet you all!
This is Sally Lee, an exchange student from Korea.
Everything here in Austin, TX is sooooo new to me as well as this blog!
Hope and expect to have superduper exciting things here ^ ^ /