French yogurt brand growing fast in Korean market

It has been four years since French food product maker Danone entered Korea and its Activia, the world’s best-selling yogurt brand, is already the second-best-selling drinking yogurt in local hypermarkets after Namyang’s Bulgaris.Last year, Danone joined hands with Korean fresh food maker Pulmuone and is aggressively expanding distribution channels here where home delivery accounts for 40 percent of the yogurt market.“We plan to gain a firm foothold for Activia in the Korean market this year in

May 6, 2013

FDI will help Korea achieve 2nd Miracle on the Han

During her inauguration speech in February, President Park Geun-hye paid homage to her father’s legacy and his important role in laying the groundwork for Korea’s rapid economic development, which is often described as the Miracle on the Han. In the midst of ongoing economic uncertainty stemming from the global financial crisis, she pledged to revitalize the Korean economy to enable a second Miracle on the Han. While Park did not provide any specific commentary on the role of the foreign busines

April 22, 2013

‘Korea saved European outdoor brands’

European outdoor wear and equipment brands such as Millet of France were hanging by a thread when demand in Korea began to jump over 30 percent each year as hiking became fashionable and hikers started to dress up.“Due to strong nationalism in terms of the brands and differences in tastes and sizing, the European market is very fragmented, meaning the French only buy Millet and the Germans only buy Jack Wolfskin,” Julien Provot-Ragueneau, senior executive officer at MilletEdelweissHoldings, said

April 22, 2013

Finding pattern that works is the secret to success

As an executive search professional, and coach to company leaders, I work with many fine leaders from various countries within a variety of businesses in Korea. I often witness firsthand what works and what doesn’t in Korea. Life for me is not boring ― it’s a roller coaster.How can we smooth out the ride of our careers in Korea? Why do books not always deliver? Well, because life is not so cut and dried that it can be captured easily between two hard covers. In looking for a career, don’t assume

April 8, 2013

La Prairie unshaken by economic slump

The economic downturn has dealt a blow to overall department store revenue in recent years, but sales of premium cosmetics have remained intact.The proliferation of “brand shops” of low-priced beauty products didn’t have an impact either, according to Allen Kim, chief of La Prairie Korea.“A high-end French restaurant won’t be afflicted just because a lot of McDonald’s spring up,” Kim said in an interview with The Korea Herald.“It’s good that those low-priced brands help expand the entire cosmeti

April 8, 2013

No two chaebol are alike, author says

While Koreans’ rising presence on the global stage is hard to ignore, how to do business with them as a non-Korean is an increasingly tricky area little covered in English-language literature. Don Southerton explores the niche with his recently published book “Korea Facing: Secrets for Success in Korean Global Business,” which picks apart how to work with a Korean conglomerate from the ground up, for non-Koreans working in Korean branches overseas.“Over the years I witnessed firsthand cross-cult

April 8, 2013

Time for insurers to rethink their investments

As we move into the new year and closer to full implementation of a post-crisis regulatory regime, global de-leveraging of the financial sector is taking firm hold. Regulatory reforms, including the Dodd-Frank Act, the Volcker Rule and Basel III, are putting pressure on banks to be smaller and more risk-averse. As a result, banks around the world are adjusting their business models to meet higher capital requirements while streamlining or closing their proprietary hedge funds and other alternati

March 25, 2013

Search firm CEO advises staying with same employer for at least 3 years

The head of a search firm that has found more than 1,300 executives for its client companies since 2000 advises experienced workers to stay at one employer for at least three years.“My advice is to do your job as well as you can with sincere effort and to maintain good relations with your superiors, peers, subordinates and customers,” George Whitfield, president of Halcyon Search International in Seoul, said in an interview with The Korea Herald.“It is also best to stay at one employer for at le

March 25, 2013

GE Lighting taps LED market through local partnerships

The light-emitting diode is like the hydrogen-powered car of the lighting industry. One day, energy-efficient LED lighting will replace all fluorescent lamps. Inefficient incandescent bulbs will soon be nonexistent in Korea as the government banned their production and sale from next year, as in many other parts of the world. But for now, the LED lighting industry is just blossoming, with government offices taking up most of the local demand. The Korean government is replacing old lighting equip

March 11, 2013

Acuvue continues growth in Korea, its 4th-largest market

When Johnson & Johnson Vision Care introduced its first daily disposable contact lenses in 1997, it didn’t know its next major product would be developed in Korea.“Circle lenses produced by local makers became popular from around 2000, and we saw growth potential in the Asian market, so we made a proposal for research and development to our headquarters based on our own market research,” Chung Byung-heon, chief of JJVC’s Korean arm, told The Korea Herald.“One-Day Acuvue Define circle lenses were

Feb. 25, 2013

Media-planning agency sees growth in Korea

Marketing and advertising used to be all about the creative side, but in this fast-evolving digital world, weaving the latest technologies into an effective formula is increasingly important, according to David Holtham, chief executive of Aegis Media North Asia.“Creative is important, but it’s not everything anymore. The advertising industry is now more about how you interact with your clients,” Holtham said in an interview with The Korea Herald.“For example, when a consumer sees a television co

Jan. 28, 2013

Time to struggle for return: HSBC

The year 2013 will be the investors’ struggle for a comeback amid a low-yield environment, making high-yield bonds and emerging market equities attractive, said Philip Poole, global head of macro and investment strategy at the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. on Monday.According to HSBC’s scenario, the key developed world interest rates will stay close to zero for at least another two years. Poole advised investing in emerging countries rather than developed countries, and to go for private b

Jan. 14, 2013

‘Asian bonds, Chinese real estate promising in 2013’

Global asset management firm BlackRock has predicted that bonds of Northeast Asian countries and Chinese real estate will be the best pick for global investors in 2013.“Asian and emerging market fixed incomes experienced strong inflows in 2012 relative to other fixed income markets, and we anticipate this trend continuing into 2013,” said Joel Kim, BlackRock’s managing director and head of Asia-Pacific fixed income, at a press conference last week.The Asian fixed-income market will show a positi

Jan. 14, 2013

Top-end mattress sales bounce as more Koreans seek quality sleep

Like Coca-Cola, nobody knows what it is made of.The viscoelastic material was initially developed to cushion and support astronauts’ backs from the massive pressure during lift-off in the early 1970s. The pressure-absorbing material was temperature-sensitive and it evenly distributed body weight. NASA released this material to the public in the 1980s.It took about a decade for scientists in Sweden to develop it into Tempur material for use in mattresses.Ju Jong-kyu, chief of the Korean arm of Te

Jan. 14, 2013

Yu-Tsui from China to lead IBM Korea

IBM said on Sunday it has appointed Shirley Yu-Tsui, general manager of IBM’s global business services for China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, as the new chief executive of IBM Korea.Yu-Tsui has been named one of China’s top 10 women professional management leaders in 2004, and person of the year in China’s IT service the following year.She will be replacing Lee Hui-sung, who has headed IBM Korea for the past eight years. Lee was promoted to vice president of strategy for the growth market unit at IBM

Jan. 6, 2013