LG & 'Blue Ocean' Strategy
Watch the video clip. The Koreans are coming!
(L to R) Park Kyun San, Senior Manager of LG Mobile Malaysia; I. G. Kim, MD and CEO of LG Electronics Malaysia; and SK NG, COO of Zitron Enterprise (M) Sdn. Bhd.
LG Malaysia chose a hip place, Espanda in Jalan Sultan Ismail, to kick off the launch of 'Chocolate' (LG KG800) phone in the Klang Valley. Compare the straight-jacket senior officers and the eye-grabbing beauties ( I mean the Chocolate phone)... LG does have it on the pulse when it comes to trendsetting.
There is a profile In the press kit which talks about the parent company, LG Electronics Inc. It says the company has launched the 'Blue Ocean' Management campaign which calls for a paradigm shift in all aspects of business -- a topic I had mentioned in passing in my i-Witness column (Malaysian Business, April 16, 2006).
Screenshots readers must be familiar with the book "Blue Ocean Strategy", co-written by W. Chan Kim, which I highlighted recently in this blog.
The way LG understands it, Blue Ocean strategy is "about an epoch-making move to strengthen business capabilities and streamline business structure in the five arenas of products, business models, work, systems and human resources.". For LG, the company company says, it is the significant choice for the leap to become one of the global top three electronics and telecommunications providers by 2010.
To achieve this goal, LG plans to double its sales volume and profit by 2010, with 30% of sales and 50% of its profit being derived through "innovative, category-creating Blue Ocean Products".
We don't quite understand the mumbo-jumbo behind these "Blue Ocean Products", but to put in reality terms, I. G. Kim, Managing Director and CEO of LG Electronics Malaysia, makes no qualms about being a late-comer in the Malaysian market. He told the media about his confidence that the LG Chocolate phone has been a success wherever it was launched.
In Korea, where LG Chocolate was launched last November, sales have exceeded 400,000 units. It was alsoa sellout in Europe when it was launched on May 3. In Malaysia, 3,500 units have gone out to the retail channels during the pre-launch -- where the target was only 5,000 units.
Screenshots, which reviewed the Chocolate phone before the May 29 launch, has obtained a video clip ((wmv format, 1.2MB) of the LG Chocolate to share with its readers.
Perhaps, LG Chocolate, which has won the 2006 IF Design Award in Germany for innovative design, besides being certified by the European Union for compliance with the Removal of Hazardous Substances legislation which becomes effective this July, is an early manifestation of such "Blue Ocean Products" to come.
The LG Chocolate phone will be sold at RM1,499.00 for the premium package, which includes the handset, ear phone, travel charger, remote control for music, hard case, hand strap, 2 batteries (800 & 1000 mAh), data cable, CD and a stand charger.
LG phones are sold in Malaysia through its distributors, Zitron.
Paul Choo, LensaMalaysia photographer who covered the launch, has some pictures to share.
Comments
The koreans are already here. They have a comunity around ampang point. Posters and notice in the korean language cas be seen in the surrounding area. there are korean schools and Korean churches. some have been here for ages and some keep on coming back after a stint in their home country. I hope they win the world cup too. That will definitely be a big boost to asian sports.
Posted by: sydput![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jeffooi.com/nav-commenters.gif)
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May 31, 2006 09:25 AM
Jeff, are you getting any perks from promoting LG's new handphone? :P
JEFF OOI says: No free lunches, and I pick theproducts I like to review. I decided to take a look at LG because of its relevance to the BLUE OCEAN STRATEGY which I was promoting hard to Malaysians. I am asking LG Malaysia to give me a free Chocolate phone as reward to my readers by running a game in this blog -- a win-win proposition. They are still considering as there hasn't been such a model in Malaysian blogosphere, but I'm determined to start a precedent. I wil also post pictures I take overseas with the Chocolate phone once I come back to Malaysia. If you have other ideas and suggestions on how I could use theblog to promote broadband content and digital lifestyle, olease email me.
I see Kennysia doing the same as well. :D
JEFF OOI says: Don't you know KennySia is a celebrity among Malaysian bloggers? :-) Envy envy...
Posted by: xes![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jeffooi.com/nav-commenters.gif)
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May 31, 2006 09:33 AM
A celebrity amongst teenagers that can't string a sentence together.
Amongst Malaysian bloggers, I think not.
Posted by: ShaolinTiger![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jeffooi.com/nav-commenters.gif)
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May 31, 2006 11:23 AM
With little natural resources but HIGH literacy level, Korea have many GLOBAL brand comapre to Malaysia. Many years of street protest doesn't cripple their economy. And they recover rapidly after economy crisis.
After acquire Goldstar, LG is competing head to head with Samsung in every electronic product.
In fact, if you keep your eye closely on LG, you will notice they adopt blue ocean strategy before the term being invented.
JEFF OOI says: In 1999, when I bought my LCD monitor, I despised the colours LG produced on its monitors. Six years down the road, a lot has changed in quality, obviously.
Posted by: moo_t![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jeffooi.com/nav-commenters.gif)
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May 31, 2006 11:25 AM
Well the ad has been interesting.
Naming it chocolate may sound a bit BOS.
See how they carry it thru.
Simple BOS will carve its own 'new' market out of non-customers of the category itself. Example, if people who don't spend above RM500 for a phone now spends RM1400 ....lalala
ie: non-lifestyle phone users buys chocolate. if they are going to existing group of customers then it won't really be a great example of BOS.
WIll email you a great BOS strat product launching in July.
cu then. nowadays don't reply coz the whole country is beyond my comprehension anymore. :(
Posted by: doovad![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jeffooi.com/nav-commenters.gif)
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May 31, 2006 02:39 PM
Heard that more than a 1,000 phones were sold during the launch on Monday. Wow, there sure is a lotta people out there with dough to spend. And I thought that times were getting tougher with the petrol price hike and the recent increase in electricity tariffs. Looks like I was wrong. Change lifestyle? I think not ;)
Posted by: Samarium![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jeffooi.com/nav-commenters.gif)
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May 31, 2006 02:44 PM
LG's handsets are still slightly poorer in quality compared to the Big 3's models so far. The Chocolate appears to be an exception, though, but having used their U series before (quite dodgy flip phones sold by UK's 3 network), I think they still have some way to go before getting widespread consumer confidence.
Their ads must be doing something right the, since many Malaysians woudl normally not buy it simply because it isn't a Nokia :)
Posted by: fiish![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jeffooi.com/nav-commenters.gif)
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May 31, 2006 05:08 PM
Dear Jeff,
How come LG's Choc is label with Blue Ocean?? I really dun see much of it going away from the competitors with MP3, 128MB Built In ... still same old Red Sea maa... Shouldnt Blue Ocean about Positioning Strategy going the other way round, away from heavy fire??
JEFF OOI says: Perhaps... I say perhaps, it's the breakthrough technology on fibreglass-shielded TFT screen and the human-warm sensor touch of the function buttons that's a trendsetter. The OK button, because it's censor touch, allows me to capture any picture at the speed of my thought -- which I had tried personally. The other may be the Euro-compliance of Hazardous Materials removals which came into effect this July. Other features I think are run-of-mill.
Posted by: -ah-Liong![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jeffooi.com/nav-commenters.gif)
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May 31, 2006 09:44 PM
Just came from visiting the site looking at its spec. Well, very standard and also not coming with a external slots. With price tag over 1K, not very competitive with models... looks more like some RAZR wanna bee ...
My 2 cent comment.
Posted by: -ah-Liong![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jeffooi.com/nav-commenters.gif)
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May 31, 2006 10:12 PM
I think the Blue Ocean Strategy that LG is playing is probably the Internet Marketing thru Bloggers ... having more Internet Ads and Bloggers to promote them ... This I think is much BOS.
Posted by: -ah-Liong![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jeffooi.com/nav-commenters.gif)
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June 8, 2006 10:09 PM