Business | Telecoms
LG targets youth market with mobile phones
Hyung Sik Paik, the president of LG Electronics Gulf, is attempting to move forward on an unusual marketing campaign.
- By Scott Shuey, Chief Reporter
- Published: 22:47 June 24, 2009
Dubai: Hyung Sik Paik, the president of LG Electronics Gulf, is attempting to move forward on an unusual marketing campaign.
He wants to keep the "comfortable" image that LG believes it has with older buyers in the region while expanding the brand's reach to younger buyers, to whom he wants LG to seem edgy and cool.
Paik's plan may seem a little daring, but it's all based on product lines. He still plans to sell his company's home appliances to older consumers, while marketing the company's extensive line of new phones to the younger generations.
"Not only are younger consumers interested in the latest products, they haven't formed strong attachments to brands yet and more open minded to trying new products," he said.
"They're also the ones who make their decissions based on knowledge." LG Electronics offers a wide-range of products, but mobile phones are the one area that Paik said he wants to improve in.
Paik said LG even plans to challenge Nokia's dominance of the market by portraying their devices as traditional or, worse, as their parent's phones.
While many companies are busy trying to find ways to use online social networking and advertising to reach consumers, Paik - while certainly acknowledging the role of online marketing - is trying a more simple approach.
LG is simply presenting its products in places that are likely to attach younger people, such as Knowledge Village, various malls and even launching their newest phone, the Arena, at a local nightclub.
"Mass media is nice to create awareness, but you need something extra," he said. LG plans to roll out 40 phones a year, or around 3-4 phones a month.
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